3. How is it made?
”Outdoor withering (sometimes), indoor withering,
shaking and bruising, by hand and by tumblers,
resting stages — a cycle that may be repeated up to
eighteen times for Rock Teas due to high oxidation,
followed by drying, de-enzyming, rolling, de-
clumping, sorting, and charcoal drying. The shaking-
bruising-resting cycle is the most critical phase:
careful and skilled oxidation of the leaves will draw
out their fragrance. If that small window of time for
processing coincides with rain, high humidity or hot
sun, proper oxidation is at risk.”
4. How do you brew it?
• Considerations
– Allow leaves to expand
– Incremental brewing
– Stronger brewing for a shorter time
• Teaware
– Yixing clay teapot
– Gaiwan (lidded bowl)
– Decanter
5. Gungfu Ceremony
1. Arrange utensils and teapot
2. Warm teaware
3. Add leaves- scented steam
4. Wash leaves- full, rich aroma
5. Brew first infusion
6. Decant and pour into cups
7. Repeat (up to 8 times!)
6. Tie Guan Yin
“Iron Goddess of Mercy”
• “We savored twelve infusions: the second immediately gave a hint
of the floral depth to come and we were told that the third is
considered better than the second, and the fourth better than the
third. To be honest, most of us lost track after the fourth or fifth
round, but the memory of an astounding floral aroma followed by
the tea’s sweet, smooth aftertaste has stayed with us long after this
sampling. The mere lifting of the lid from the bowl gave a whiff of
the tea’s lively orchid-like fragrance; the sip itself was a
condensation in liquid form of what the nose sensed. This is a
luscious tea, blooming with natural aroma forced from spring leaves
by gentle bruising and coaxed by light firing that leaves no trace of
any toastiness.”- eastriseteas.com
• Original bush grew from an abandoned temple cared for by a poor,
lone farmer- the tea from the bush gave him strength and fame
7. TGY Processing
• Laid out in sequence, the eighteen steps in making Ti Kuan Yin appear mechanical and dry:
1. plucking (with some preliminary sorting)
2. cool withering (duration depends on ambient conditions)
3. sun withering (again, length of time is variable)
4. shaking by hand (by machine for lower grades); tumbling; resting. Generally, beginning with light tossing
motions, building up to moderate vigor for bruising the edges.
5. repeat step 4; as noted earlier this controlled shaking and subsequent bruising produces the reddish
edge on leaves that remain green in the center — more easily seen in the wet leaves.
6. repeat once more, to reduce moisture
7. repeat again, to force out fragrance
8. repeat, to force out moisture and fragrance
9. resting before de-enzyming; watching, periodic checking.
10. de-enzyming
11. rolling, to press out the juices; the leaves are subjected to the strongest pressure at this point. Judging
the length of oxidation is critical.
12. first drying
13. rolling: the leaves are wrapped in white cloth into a hefty sphere twelve to fourteen inches across with a
big knot on top; the knot is twisted again and again to tighten the ball, binding the leaves compactly
inside the cloth.
14. drying: manual or mechanical
15. rolling (for the leaf shape): the cloth wrapped "ball" of tea goes onto the rolling machine.
16. drying with shape finished: the cloth is unwrapped; the tea is de-clumped by tossing the leaves gently,
and placed in a tumbler dryer. This step itself is repeated. Stems lose moisture more slowly than the
leaves; the tumbling motions here will hasten this.
17. sorting (stems removed, etc.); this is now primary tea (more below).
18. final drying/finishing
9. Feng Huang Don Cong
“Phoenix Single Trunk Oolong”
• A family of stripe-style oolong teas
from Guangdong Province. The doppelganger
of teas, Dancong teas are noted for their
ability to naturally imitate the flavors and
fragrances of various flowers and fruits, such
as orange blossom, orchid, grapefruit, almond,
ginger flower, etc.
• (Wikipedia.org)
11. Ali Shan
• The oolong tea growing areas are situated
between 1000 and 2300 meters in attitude. The
high mountain conditions offer plenty of fog and
low temperatures which are ideal for oolong tea,
and the water used for irrigation is from pure
mountain springs.
• Mount Ali tea is characterized by its sweet
fragrance with overtones of flowers and fruit.
• (http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/Alishan_area)
13. Wuyi Shan: Da Hong Pao
• “Big Red Robe”
• Legendary tribute tea to emperors
• Famed stories of origin
– Presented to emperor a scholar after it helped
him pass civil service exam
– Used by a scholar to treat the sick empress
– 6 original bushes that have had cuttings taken
from them
• UNESCO World Heritage Site
