Tieguanyin
Charcoal Fired

• Min-Nan Region

• Fujian Province, China

• 55-65% Oxidation

• Ball-rolled leaf style with few stems

• Dry, robust flavor

• Clean, minerally aroma

• Golden amber liquor

Traditionally, ball-rolled style Min-Nan oolongs are dried and finish-fired over charcoal. Artisan tea makers love the control and excellent results that charcoal-firing affords. While not many manufacturers can still offer this old-fashioned tradition, some still do and while this style of tea is available we should all be enjoying them as much as possible.

Charcoal-firing reacts with the moisture in the leaf to yield a unique flavor profile. The moisture evaporation throughout the Tieguanyin ball-rolled nugget is more uniform and even when driven by charcoal heat. Only masters of tea manufacture still process tea this way. We have visited several small factories who still use charcoal pits to fire tea and it is fascinating to observe.

An Yixing teapot is the perfect, traditional vessel for steeping ball-rolled style oolong tea, particularly Tieguanyin. This style of teapot allows the leaf to quickly fill the teapot and limit the amount of water introduced, thus encouraging the many steepings that will highlight the subtle changes that occur from infusion to infusion.

The temperature of the water is critical.
Steeping should start with slightly hotter water than modern Tieguanyins: 180° -195° F, because of this, the temperature may only be increased slightly for subsequent infusions. The length of time that the leaves are infused can be increased for additional infusions. Many Chinese begin steeping Oolongs for only 30 seconds, increasing to 2-3 minutes for the final steepings.