Iron Goddess of Mercy (Tie Guanyin)

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea
Flavors
Bread, Toasted, Toasted Rice, Brown Toast, Butter, Dry Grass, Floral, Fruity, Gardenias, Honeysuckle, Nectar, Roasted Barley, Wet Moss, Wet wood, Wet Earth, Wet Wood, Creamy, Flowers, Green, Roasted, Sweet, Wood, Dried Fruit, Chestnut, Smoke, Autumn Leaf Pile, Burnt Sugar, Cacao, Coffee, Oak, Maple, Meat, Umami, Vanilla, Nuts
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Kosher
Edit tea info Last updated by Rishi Tea
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 9 oz / 260 ml

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60 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I wanted to revisit this tea and give it a proper evaluation for 2 reasons… 1.) This tea is still by far my favourite oolong. And Rishi must have just released their latest and greatest crop into...” Read full tasting note
    94
  • “Thanks to fellow Steepsterite, Tamm, I have a hefty pouch of this tea in my drawer at work. It’s great for work since I can just sprinkle some leaves in a mug and fill it with hot water over and...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “After a whole day of studying I’m glad to relax with this cuppa! This tea has such tiny little rolled leaves. :3 super cute! While steeping the smell of this reminds me somewhat of brown rice or...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “Hurrah! An incredible oolong with fantastic floral notes, a bright flavour with a subtle sweetness. Rishi has upped the game with this Iron Goddess – a tea worthy of rolling in the Oolong gang with...” Read full tasting note
    67

From Rishi Tea

A specially baked tea made to order for Rishi Tea each spring and winter. Tae Guan Yin is known as Iron Goddess of Mercy and is the most famous oolong tea. Our special grade of this tea is hand-harvested from the soft stem Wu-Yi tea bush cultivar that is descended from the original tea bushes introduced to Taiwan from Fujian in the 19th Century. Made according to the traditional Tae Guan Yin oxidation and bamboo coal baking techniques developed in China’s Fujian province, our Iron Goddess of Mercy is a special treat for oolong tea lovers.

About Rishi Tea View company

Rishi Tea specializes in sourcing the most rarefied teas and botanical ingredients from exotic origins around the globe. This forms a palette from which we craft original blends inspired by equal parts ancient herbal wisdom and modern culinary innovation. Discover new tastes and join us on our journey to leave ‘No Leaf Unturned’.

60 Tasting Notes

94
84 tasting notes

I wanted to revisit this tea and give it a proper evaluation for 2 reasons…

1.) This tea is still by far my favourite oolong. And Rishi must have just released their latest and greatest crop into the public because the flavour of my most recent cups of these tea were different from the flavour I’ve had from previous shipments. It’s always been really good, but what I just had is INCREDIBLE. I can’t stop!

Pairs best with fish and spicy foods, but also makes a lovely mid-morning/mid-afternoon treat.
Also, I recommend brewing this in a glass teapot. It’s so beautiful! A teaspoon of Iron Goddess unfurls to fill half of your teapot. I’ve seen few teas that do it like this one, so set the glass pitcher in front of a window and just enjoy the show!

2.) Rishi announced that they are donating 20% of their proceeds from this season’s sale of Iron Goddess to an organisation that is working to provide relief efforts in Haiti. They posted this article in their most recent newsletter:
http://www.foodthinkers.com/2010/03/the-enduring-oolong-of-compassion/
Pretty awesome.

Three things I’m crazy-passionate about include:
-Excellent tea.
-Fair Trade efforts or acts of charity.
-The philosophies surrounding Avalokitesvara/Guan Yin/the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy (so much that a related prayer [the mantra of compassion] is tattooed on me.)

… So this whole ‘awesome-delicious tea / 20% going toward Haiti’ -thing pretty much makes my day. It’s the perfect excuse for you to try it if you haven’t yet. And if you’ve had Iron Goddess of Mercy in the past, and enjoyed it, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the latest crop. It’s fantastic. :)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 15 sec
Jillian

That’s an awesome idea. Haiti needs so much long-term help to rebuild and get their act together. People tend to forget about that there’s still need after the first few weeks have gone and the immediate crisis is over.

Now if only Rishi’s shipping costs were more reasonable. This is something that I’d love to buy, but I’m not paying $20 just to get it shipped across the border. ¬_¬

Oh Cha!

Shipping is a bummer! Agreed!

teaplz

Ahhh, you make everything sound absolutely wonderful, Oh Cha! I’m going to have to snag some of this if I make another Rishi order soon…

Oh Cha!

I try only to evaluate the best teas! That is mostly to blame…

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80
525 tasting notes

Thanks to fellow Steepsterite, Tamm, I have a hefty pouch of this tea in my drawer at work. It’s great for work since I can just sprinkle some leaves in a mug and fill it with hot water over and over through out the day. It is now 2PM and I’ve been drinking from this same sprinkle of leaves since 9AM. I’d say there’s at least 2 infusions left in these babies. Awesome!

The tea starts out very floral and roasty. This is definitely a more roasted version of Ti Guan Yin than I’m used to. While the 3rd infusion of oolongs are considered the best, I find that I enjoyed the first two more. By the 3rd infusion, the flavor is very vegetal. It tastes like thoroughly cooked bok choy with an undercurrent of floral flavors. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve filled my mug, but now I’m seeing the dried apricot flavors mentioned in the description, though it’s really more vegetal than fruity. This is a very enjoyable tea that I’m happy to keep by my side.

Of course, the downside to having such a giving tea is that you get kind of tired of the same tea all day. It takes longer to tire of an oolong since the flavors change and develop with each infusion, but I think these leaves are running out of ideas. :) Maybe it’s time for some peppermint!

Tamm

I’m so glad you liked it! :) I really liked reading your review and I don’t think that I would have picked up the bok choy notes without you mentioning it that way. :p

Mercuryhime

I think a lot of oolongs have this bok choy flavor, but few other people mention it. I wondered if I was crazy to taste it, but if you can taste it too, then I guess I’m ok. :) You know you’re not crazy if others are crazy with you.

Tamm

lolol that could be a plaque! :p I think that I need to give this oolong a bit more of a try; sometimes that roasted-ness throws me off.

Mercuryhime

I also didnt expect so much roasty flavor, but it’s pleasant once you accept it.

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80
541 tasting notes

After a whole day of studying I’m glad to relax with this cuppa! This tea has such tiny little rolled leaves. :3 super cute! While steeping the smell of this reminds me somewhat of brown rice or genmaicha. The leaves are also very darkly colored.
This tea is no pushover! It is very full bodied and would be great for a stronger oolong lover. I’m picking up on the bok choy notes that Mercuryhime was mentioning. Very tasty!

Mercuryhime

Yay! tasty tea!

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67
220 tasting notes

Hurrah! An incredible oolong with fantastic floral notes, a bright flavour with a subtle sweetness. Rishi has upped the game with this Iron Goddess – a tea worthy of rolling in the Oolong gang with my homie Tung Ting.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 min, 0 sec
Rabs

And the streak is broken — hooray! :D

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85
23 tasting notes

This was my first Iron Goddess. If you are going to have a first of anything, this is it.
It set my standard for a baked oolong. You will enjoy seeing the leaves expand to a large full leaf. Beautiful. The flavors are as described and multi-layered.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec
ColumbiaKate

I just enjoyed some on this rainy morning. A dark chocolate drop melting on my tongue after several sips enhanced the experience.

Meeka

Agreed – I also tried this as my first Iron Goddess last week and it was great. You might be on to something with tea/chocolate pairings :)

Ross Duff

Chocolate + TGY = <3

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90
162 tasting notes

I am too exhausted to really write much, however this tea is wonderful. Has a floral oolong taste that is accompanied by a baked quality that compliments it perfectly. Had 2 steeps so far and will continue until I have sucked the life out of the leaves.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

Haha I’m doing the same thing. Although I’m at the point where I want my leaves to die.

jennlea

Lol. I hate it when I want to move onto the next tea but the previous one isn’t dead yet and I feel like I waste them if I don’t use ‘em until they can’t give anymore.

Cofftea

lol yeah especially when you expected them to die a long? time ago. That’s why I love teas that morph as I infuse them so I don’t get sick of it.

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87
429 tasting notes

I must say that this is one fantastic Oolong. I’m not very experienced with this type of tea having drank only Harney & Sons Formosa Oolong. The tea is very floral with hints of baked apricot. At first I thought I had used too much tea. One teaspoon unfurled to a large mass of leaves. The tea is naturally sweet and imparts a warmness though out my being. It steeps to a nice golden color. I will be buying more of this tea.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Dan

The second and third steeps of this one were as good as the first. The third seemed a little more buttery.

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91
596 tasting notes

Probably my favorite Ti Guan Yin: I love the “baked” quality, which imparts a substantial sweetness to the tea.

jennlea

I decided to put this on my ‘soon to buy’ list after you mentioned it in your interview with Susana :)

Lainie Petersen

Good! It is an awesome tea!

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243 tasting notes

Extremely long story short – I was in NYC last night and went to a decent restaurant. Excellent selection of food, beer, wine, sake and tea. Fantastic! Had this tea and was extremely disappointed. It was bitter and burnt, did not have any decent flavor at all. Actually had to add sweetener to try and finish it.

My best guess is that the restaurant did not follow correct parameters – temperature, time, infusion instructions, etc, etc or that they simply gave me a different tea than I asked for.

sigh Will have to get some and brew it myself. Am I becoming a tea-snob? Sounds like it…No rating until I have a proper experience.

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80
41 tasting notes

I have really enjoyed this tea throughout the past year. It’s light toasted qualities make it a comforting tea and brings back memories of working at the old tea shop in MN. Often times I would come in on a cold day and go back to this tea because of its sweet and warming qualities. The tea doesn’t simply stop there, it also possesses the floral qualities of a classic Tieguanyin. For the true TGY purist, let me say that this is a Taiwanese Oolong, but looking at the tea itself it is still very pleasant.

I think if I were to go in to a tea house and have this served to me I would not be disappointed. At the same time this tea doesn’t really possess the qualities that would make it other worldly. Just a simple and comforting roasted oolong…worth picking up a few ounces for general consumption, but I would pass on it for making with people that I am trying to impress with a tea tasting.

Overall: Nice!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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