Chen Xiang Tie Guan Yin
Traditional roasted Tie Guan Yin kept for years and re-roasted periodically to drive off absorbed moisture. The repeated roast-and-rest cycle transforms it into something closer to an aged dark tea than to the floral tea it started as.
Character
Nothing like modern Tie Guan Yin — thick, dark and medicinally sweet, with the floral character entirely gone.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Woody, Fruity
- Aroma
- Caramelised
- Mouthfeel
- Full bodied, Rich, Smooth, Complex
- Complexity
- Layered
- Notes
- dried longan, medicinal herbs, warm wood, prune
- Aftertaste
- Very sweet, thick and long.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Anxi
- Cultivar
- Tie Guan Yin
- Oxidation
- Partially oxidised
- Roast
- Heavy
- Post-fermentation
- Natural ageing
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Bruising (shaking) → Oxidation → Kill-green (fixation) → Cloth-ball rolling → Drying → Charcoal roasting → Ageing and storage → Re-firing
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.
- Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin
Same cultivar, same gardens, roughly a century of divergence in method. The floral character disappears completely and dried fruit takes its place.
- Tan Bei oolong
Two heavily charcoal-roasted rolled oolongs from different islands, both tasting more of the roast than of the leaf.
- Aged Baozhong
Two aged Taiwanese and Fujian oolongs, both re-roasted periodically. Aged Baozhong keeps more delicacy because it started far less oxidised.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Aged Shou Mei
Shares 7 descriptors with Chen Xiang Tie Guan Yin: sweet, fruity, woody, full bodied, smooth, rich and caramelised.
- Aged white tea cake
Shares 7 descriptors with Chen Xiang Tie Guan Yin: sweet, woody, fruity, full bodied, rich, smooth and caramelised.
- Hong Shui oolong
Shares 7 descriptors with Chen Xiang Tie Guan Yin: fruity, sweet, woody, full bodied, smooth, rich and caramelised.
- Aged GABA oolong
Shares 6 descriptors with Chen Xiang Tie Guan Yin: fruity, sweet, full bodied, rich, smooth and caramelised.
- Aged Gong Mei
Shares 6 descriptors with Chen Xiang Tie Guan Yin: sweet, fruity, woody, full bodied, smooth and caramelised.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.
- Light vs aged Tie Guan Yin — The same cultivar from the same gardens, made two ways a century apart. They taste so unlike each other that most drinkers would not guess they share a name.
- Fresh vs aged oolong — Most oolong is made to be drunk within a year. A minority is made to be kept for decades, and the two are not the same tea at different ages.
- Aged oolong vs aged white tea — Two categories that reward keeping, by different mechanisms and with very different maintenance requirements. One needs periodic attention and the other needs to be left alone, which decides which suits you.
Journeys featuring this tea
- Understanding roast — Someone who likes oolong and cannot tell whether they are tasting the leaf or the fire.