Rich, chocolatey, dark-roasted deliciousness. This beautifully aged tiéguānyīn is simply phenomenal. Its flavor is full, sweet, rich, and smooth, with a slight, lingering, metallic petrichor sweetness that becomes more and more evident as it lightens up with later brews. A good tea for cloudy skies, and a good tea when you need to win a tiéguānyīn competition. With this tea, one is bound to impress and make friends.
(A note on nomenclature: 铁 Tíe means iron, which refers to the mixed red and green color of the leaves, somewhat reminiscent of rusted iron. This is what makes an wulong an wulong. It is partially bruised, and then fired before the leaves have fully oxidized to stop the oxidation process, thus leaving them with a somewhat mottled appearance.
观音 Guānyīn is the sinified Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, generally depicted nowadays as female, though her affect slowly changed from the masculine Tibetan Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvara, from whom she developed in a manner that was more palatable to the Chinese psyche. This tea is named after Guānyīn because she appeared to a farmer in a dream and told him how to make it.)
Lasts 6-10 brews
Price is per 50 grams/1.76 ounces