Rich, chocolatey, dark-roasted deliciousness. This beautifully aged tiéguānyīn is simply phenomenal. Its flavor is full, sweet, rich, and smooth. This tea is perfect for cloudy skies and impressing tea friends with discriminating palates.
Dry, its leaves cary a mouth-wateringly rich, sweet, chocolatey aroma. Once brewed, their aroma deepens. It is rich, deep, warm, and relaxing, reminiscent of hazelnuts, walnuts, and crepes. Its leaves are rolled in classical Tie Guanyin style, with shades of reddish brown, burnt-wood black, and dark green. Brewed, they become dark green and produce a beautiful, amber brew. This smooth, grounding brew carries a savory, warming, roasted, chocolatey flavor, with notes of ash wood, almond, hazelnut, cherry, and chamomile. Its qi is warm, and it leaves a pleasant chocolatey aftertaste on the palate.
Its character is akin to that of an old bearded wizard, with an oak study stewn with magical tomes, and an overstuffed armchair next to a roaring fire in the fireplace.
(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 4-9 brews