Monday, December 27, 2004

Tie Guan Yin is a type of Oolong tea

When one of my friends told me “I like Tie Guan Yin and Oolong tea”, I knew that he was one of those confused by many tea names floating around. I quickly explained to him that Tie Guan Yin was in deed a type of Oolong tea.

Based production region, Oolong can be devided into four categories:

Oolong from South FuJian. The most famous one is AnXi Tie Guan Yin. One thing that needs to be pointed out is that while Tie Guan Yin means oolong teas made of leaves from Tie Guan Yin tree in AnXi, Tie Guan Yin only means oolong teas processed with the Tie Guan Yin technique in Taiwan.


Oolong from North of FuJian. The most famous one is WuYi rock tea. Da Hong Pao, Xiao Hong Pao, Rou Gui are all WuYi rock teas.


Oolong from Guang Dong. The most famous one is Feng Huang Dan Cong. Feng Huang Shui Xian is a popular tea among Cantonese tea drinkers.

Oolong from Taiwan. Oriental Beauty, Dong Ding Oolong are all famous examples of Taiwan Oolong.

More talks regarding Oolong tea can be found at our Oolong Talk .

Linda
http://www.teahub.com/

4 comments:

TeaHub said...

Hi Ivan,

Sorry for taking so long to reply...

By definition, Oolong tea is a type of semi-fermented tea. Tie Guan Yin, Da Hong Pao are all semi-fermented teas. While they are all Oolong teas, Oolong teas from different regions have their own characters. For example, Tie Guan Yi has Yin Flavor, while Wu Yi teas have Yan (Rock) Flavor.

Did you mean Lao Cong Shui Xian? It is a type of Wu Yi Rock tea with floral flavor. As its name suggests, it is made of leaves from old bushes.

Linda

TeaHub said...

Hi Ivan,

Aged Oolong and aged Pu-erh are two different things. One thing that differentiates Pu-erh from other teas is its special post-fermention process. It is believed that sun-dried leaves that used in Pu-erh making enable the post-fermentation process. As you may have known, Oolong is not processed with sun-dry process.

Yes, Yan means Rock in Chinese. Yin is the same Yin in "Tie Guan Yin". It has nothing to do with the Chinese Yin and Yang. Good "Tie Guan Yin" should be quite heavy...

Linda

Anonymous said...

Hello Linda, sorry to tell you but you are also misinformed about some facts of tieh guan yin and wu-long production. The tieh guan yin that grows in taiwan is produced from clones of the same plants that are in Anxi, so they are infact Tieh Guan Yin plants. Also your friend may have been wrong by saying he likes wu-long and tieh quan yin, but actually there is a varietal of tea bush that is called wu-long just as there is a varietal of tea bush called Tieh Guan Yin, as well as a tea called tieh guan yin

TeaHub said...

Not all Tie Guan Yin from Taiwan are from the Tie Guan Yin tree. Yes, Tie Guan Yin trees do grow in Mu Zha, Taiwan. However, not all Tie Guan Yin teas from Taiwan are from Mu Zha. Also, we all know that slight differneces in soil and weather can make teas from same type of tea tree taste different. That is why Xi Hu LJ is more valuable, and Dong Shan Bi Luo Chun demands more money. The market is getting too confusing. That is why we have to be specific about our AnXi Tie Guan Yin.

When I say Tie Guan Yin is a type of Oolong tea, I mean by tea types, i.e. green, black, oolong, pu-erh, white, yellow, etc. Semi-fermentation is oolong tea's common characteristics.

Linda