Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin
The modern light style of Tie Guan Yin, minimally oxidised and barely roasted so that the floral aroma is at its most intense. It now dominates the market and is what most people mean by Tie Guan Yin, although it is younger than the traditional roasted style.
Character
Vividly floral and almost green in character, with the aroma at maximum and the body correspondingly light.
- Flavour
- Floral, Creamy, Sweet
- Aroma
- Orchid, Fresh
- Mouthfeel
- Medium, Silky, Smooth
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- lilac, fresh cream, green apple
- Aftertaste
- Intensely floral and clean.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Anxi
- Cultivar
- Tie Guan Yin
- Oxidation
- Lightly oxidised
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Bruising (shaking) → Oxidation → Kill-green (fixation) → Cloth-ball rolling → Drying
Brewing
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
5–7 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 6 authored infusions
Cold brew tea
1–2 g/100 ml · 4–10 °C · 1 authored infusion
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.
- Chen 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.
- Wenshan Baozhong
From the lightest strip-rolled oolong to the lightest ball-rolled one. Same low oxidation, entirely different extraction behaviour.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Alishan oolong
Shares 7 descriptors with Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin: floral, creamy, sweet, silky, smooth, orchid and fresh.
- Bai Ji Guan
Shares 7 descriptors with Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin: sweet, floral, creamy, silky, smooth, fresh and orchid.
- Tie Guan Yin
Shares 7 descriptors with Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin: floral, creamy, sweet, silky, smooth, medium and orchid.
- Bai Mudan
Shares 6 descriptors with Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin: sweet, floral, medium, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Bai Mudan Wang
Shares 6 descriptors with Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin: sweet, floral, medium, silky, smooth and fresh.
- Ben Shan
Shares 6 descriptors with Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin: floral, creamy, sweet, medium, smooth and orchid.
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.
- 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.
Journeys featuring this tea
- Understanding roast — Someone who likes oolong and cannot tell whether they are tasting the leaf or the fire.
- I want lighter tea — Someone who finds ordinary tea heavy, astringent or too strong.
- Understanding oxidation — Someone who has read that oxidation defines tea categories and cannot taste what it does.