Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin (roasted)
The traditional roasted style of Tie Guan Yin, which the modern green jade style displaced from the 1990s onward. It is more oxidised and charcoal-roasted, giving a dark, nutty, caramelised cup that shares a cultivar and a county with the floral version and very little else.
Character
Dark, nutty and caramelised, with the orchid aroma of the green style replaced by roasted depth. Ages well, unlike jade Tie Guan Yin, which fades within a year.
- Flavour
- Roasted, Nutty, Sweet, Woody
- Aroma
- Caramelised, Toasted
- Mouthfeel
- Full bodied, Rich, Smooth
- Complexity
- Layered
- Notes
- roasted nut, dark caramel, dried longan, charcoal
- Aftertaste
- Warm, thick and sweet.
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
- Harvest
- Autumn
- Processing
- Withering → Bruising (shaking) → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Roasting
History
The traditional roasted style of Tie Guan Yin, and what the name meant before the 1990s. Its displacement by the light modern style is one of the best-documented recent shifts in Chinese tea, and older Anxi producers still contest it.
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
Two styles under one name. The green modern style and the traditional roasted style share a cultivar and a county and almost nothing else in the cup.
- Wuyi rock tea (yancha)
Charcoal-roasted Fujian oolongs. The Anxi tea is rounder and nuttier, the Wuyi more mineral.
- Tan Bei oolong
Two heavily charcoal-roasted rolled oolongs from Taiwan and Anxi. Both taste more of roast than of leaf and are frequently mistaken for each other.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Dong Ding
Shares 8 descriptors with Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin (roasted): roasted, nutty, sweet, full bodied, smooth, rich, toasted and caramelised.
- Huoshan Huang Da Cha
Shares 8 descriptors with Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin (roasted): roasted, nutty, sweet, woody, full bodied, smooth, toasted and caramelised.
- Da Hong Pao
Shares 7 descriptors with Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin (roasted): roasted, woody, full bodied, rich, smooth, caramelised and toasted.
- Hong Shui oolong
Shares 7 descriptors with Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin (roasted): roasted, sweet, woody, full bodied, smooth, rich and caramelised.
- Aged Shou Mei
Shares 6 descriptors with Nong Xiang Tie Guan Yin (roasted): sweet, woody, full bodied, smooth, rich and caramelised.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.
- Light vs roasted Tie Guan Yin — One cultivar, one county, two teas that share nothing in the cup — and the light one is the newer of the two. A shopper asking for Tie Guan Yin will almost always be handed the newer of the two without being told.