Lost Relic Tieguanyin | Oolong Tea

This is a TeaSource exclusive from of our ongoing Tieguanyin Project with Daniel Hong. A cup of strong, yet quiet virtues. The roast is hearty, but the body is so smooth it defies gravity. The toasted sweetness is persuasive in the way that old stories ring true. Harvested and produced May 2, 2025 and completed its third and final roast on October 7, 2025. It’s a one bud, three leaf pick of the Tieguanyin cultivar growing at 2,200 feet in Ying Shan Village, Dehua County, Fujian Province.  What is Tieguanyin? The exact translation for Tieguanyin is “Iron Goddess of Mercy” and the loose pronunciation is “tee-uh-gwon-yin.” By definition, these teas are made from the Tieguanyin cultivar. Anxi County is its home. It gets its name from Guanyin, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, an important figure in both Chinese Buddhism and folk religion. The farmer and scholar Wang Si Nang gets credit for identifying and propagating this cultivar, which is famously difficult to work with, but