TEA TALES: Treasured Tea Started As A Dream

According to legend, during the Qing Dynasty around the year of 1725, there was a tea farmer, Wei Yin, in Anxi County who was very diligent about growing a tea bush. Wei Yin also believed in Guanyin, which is a Bodhisattva in Buddhism. He showed his devotion by enshrining a statue of Guanyin at home and worshiping with a cup of clear tea every day at dawn and dusk. His custom lasted more than 10 years.

One night, Wei Yin dreamed that he was wandering in the forest with a hoe and ran into an amazing tea bush by a stream that was full of foliage. Most importantly, the fragrance from that bush was so seductive, and Wei Yin had never experienced this before. He was just about to try to pick some leaves when suddenly a hail of barking roused him.

The second morning, Wei Yin went out and traced the path he took in his dream. Looking carefully, he was surprised to find a tea bush just the same as the one in his dream. It turned out that this tea bush had an elliptical blade and fleshy mesophyll. What was more fantastic was that its leaf buds were sort of purple. He was thrilled and transplanted this bush into an old iron cooking vessel right then and cultivated it, considering it a treasure.

Years passed and the bush grew better and better. Through the years, Wei Yin gathered leaves in good times and prepared them for tea. Just as he expected, the tea was very fine in taste and in fragrance. So, he kept the tea leaves secretly in a caddy as a family collection. Only when he had noble guests visiting would he take out and make that tea to show his appreciation. Anyone who tasted that tea was full of praise until a private school teacher asked about the name of this fabulous tea. Wei Yin explained with details about how he discovered and transplanted the bush. Since it was granted by Guanyin in his dream and was transplanted in an iron vessel, the teacher gave it the legendary name Iron Guanyin.

That is the legend for the tea bush variety Iron Guanyin.

Know the basics

Iron Guanyin belongs to one of the six kinds of Chinese tea: oolong tea (also called qing tea which literally means blue- green tea) and is among the top 10 famous Chinese teas.

As we can see above, it is named after its tea bush variety, Iron Guanyin. This variety is grown, as well as found, in Anxi, a county in the south part of Fujian province. This county has long been well-known as a tea town and a tea distributing center. Every year, especially during tea seasons, many tea businessmen converge there from different provinces to trade with the tea factories, while farmers are busy gathering and preparing tea those days.

Iron Guanyin is picked four times a year — spring, early summer, late summer and autumn. Spring is a top harvest time and the best in tea water taste, while autumn offers the best in fragrance due to the average temperature and moisture at that time of the season. The tea leaves must be picked just in time, according to a certain standard for Iron Guanyin, during those seasons and processed through withering, fixation, rolling and drying. During the process of fixation, fresh tea leaves are partly fermented. That’s why Iron Guanyin (even oolong tea) is different from green tea which is non-fermented, and black tea which is completely fermented.

Picking and processing are both very important for a first-class Iron Guanyin.

Brew a cup

The traditional way to brew Iron Guanyin usually involves a covered bowl made of white porcelain. Other necessities may be a tea pitcher for holding tea water, a tea strainer and small cups. Here are a few tips for making Iron Guanyin (whole leaves, not a tea bag) without certain tea wares.

* Water must be up to 95 degrees.

* Rinse tea leaves one tim.

* After infusing water in the tea cup for about a minute, separate the tea leaves and tea water. Later infusions may take longer and generally, there can be eight infusions until the rolled tea leaves are completely spread out.

Enjoy the legendary tea

We usually appreciate a cup of Iron Guanyin in three areas:

* Fragrance: It has the strong scent of flowers, especially orchids. Just image you were beside a stream with the tea bush in the legend. The enduring fragrance would leave you in ecstasy.

* Color: It’s golden yellow, clear, transparent and shining.

* Taste: It is fresh, pure, sweet and smooth. The fresh and pleasant taste will linger in your mouth and leave endless aftertastes. It is one of the most delightful experiences in one’s life to find out the distinctive qualities of the famous tea by sampling it.

Try to burn a stick of incense while tasting this legendary tea on a quiet afternoon. Nothing would exist in your mind, but a kind of beauty…

Shuai Chen is a certified tea master in China, having earned a national certificate associated with tea knowledge and tea ceremony demonstration. She is also a finance student at Humboldt State University.

This article was taken from: Times-Standard