Tieguanyin

Tieguanyin — the iron goddess of mercy — is the most famous oolong of Anxi in southern Fujian, and the tea that most people picture when they picture a “green” oolong. Its leaves are rolled into tight, semi-ball pellets that look almost like green pebbles and unfurl, over several steeps, into whole intact leaves.

Two styles share the name. The dominant modern green style is only lightly oxidised and barely roasted, all orchid aroma and creamy sweetness. The older traditional roasted style takes the same leaf further — more oxidation, a real charcoal roast — into toasty, honeyed, longer-keeping territory. Both are correct; they are simply different readings of the cultivar.

In the cup

This is a tea for gongfu brewing: a lot of leaf, a small vessel, near-boiling water, and many short infusions that evolve from floral to creamy to mineral. The first proper steep blooms with that signature orchid note the Chinese call guānyīn yùn, the “goddess rhyme”.