Anxi Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea - Wild-Grown

What's so special about this tea?

This old-bush Hongxin Tie Guan Yin oolong comes from a historic tea garden in Huqiu, one of Anxi's classic Tie Guan Yin-producing areas. The garden was cultivated for generations before being abandoned in the early 2000s. In 2012, a descendant of the original family returned to reclaim the mountain, restore the bushes, and make tea again with the help of villagers.

What impressed us most was her decision to let the old bushes grow naturally, with very little intervention. The garden is weeded by hand just once each winter, and the tea is harvested once a year, in spring.

Her approach to tea making is equally traditional. She aims to revive the craftsmanship of Anxi Tieguanyin as it was made in the 1970s and 1980s, with the key steps done by hand: five rounds of shaking and resting to build oxidation, followed by three rounds of charcoal firing interleaved with nine rounds of hand-wrapped kneading, and finishing with a 10-hour refined charcoal roast. All of this effort goes into a single harvest each year. Combined with the age of the bushes and the light touch in the garden, it gives the tea remarkable depth and dimensionality.

From the first infusion, the liquor is a clear orange-amber. The aroma is floral, with orchid layered with osmanthus, followed by ripe fruit and the sweet scent of sponge cake. On the palate, it is smooth and juicy, opening with honey, then peach and mango, with toasted rice and a subtle minerality in the background. The brewed leaves show green centres and pronounced red edges, a hallmark of traditionally made Tieguanyin.

The sweet aftertaste is long and lasts through the whole session. The tea grows more aromatic with each brew, and mouth-watering sensation builds along with it. The throat feel is soothing, leaving a warm, comforting finish.