Ben Shan
An Anxi cultivar closely related to Tie Guan Yin and routinely sold as it. Processed identically the two are genuinely hard to separate, which accounts for a great deal of what is sold as inexpensive Tie Guan Yin.
Character
Close to light Tie Guan Yin with a thinner leaf and a shorter finish. A legitimate tea whose problem is the label rather than the cup.
- Flavour
- Floral, Sweet
- Aroma
- Orchid
- Mouthfeel
- Medium, Smooth
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- lilac, green apple, light cream
- Aftertaste
- Floral but shorter than Tie Guan Yin.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Anxi
- Cultivar
- Ben Shan
- Oxidation
- Lightly oxidised
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Bruising (shaking) → Oxidation → Kill-green (fixation) → Cloth-ball rolling → Drying
Authenticity: Substituting Ben Shan for Tie Guan Yin is not always dishonest — it is a real Anxi tea with its own name. It becomes a problem only when sold as something else.
Brewing
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
5–7 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 6 authored infusions
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 2 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Tie Guan Yin
The substitution, then the tea it substitutes for. Side by side the gap is real and much smaller than the price difference suggests.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Ben Shan
Shares 5 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
- Huang Guan Yin
Shares 5 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
- Jingmai sheng pu-erh
Shares 5 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
- Ling Tou Dan Cong
Shares 5 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
- Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin
Shares 5 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
- Si Ji Chun
Shares 5 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
- Alishan oolong
Shares 4 descriptors with Ben Shan: floral, sweet, smooth and orchid.
Journeys featuring this tea
- Exploring Fujian tea — Someone who wants to see how much one province can do.