2025 Spring First Pick Tie Guan Yin - Light and Dark Roasted 头采铁观音乌龙春茶 (清香型 / 浓香型)

Tie Guan Yin varietal originates from Xi Ping Township of Anxi County, Quanzhou City, Fujian province of China (泉州市安溪县西坪镇), on the west of the county. Tie Guan Yin is harvested a total of 5 times in Anxi but recent years see only 4 harvests - spring, summer, early autumn, autumn and missing the winter tea. The farms we work with only harvest Tie Guan Yin twice a year - the 2 more valued harvests of spring and autumn. The farmer's adage rings loud: Spring water (i.e. a rounder tea body) and autumn aroma (春水秋香). After a long winter, the bush would have accumulated substantial nutrients to brew a thick tea. Through summer till autumn, the bush would have bathed in enough sunlight to create aromatic compounds to brew a tea of higher aroma with a longer aftertaste. The abundance of sunlight in the middle two harvests usually produce teas of lesser elegance and coarser mouthfeel, and are usually sold in the mass market to Chinese restaurants. In Tie Guan Yin making techniques, there are three styles - lightly roasted (清香型), heavily roasted (浓香型) and aged (陈香型). Ultimately, the tea drinker decides his preference.

Our spring tea is from the tea fields northeast of Anxi county, on the tea mountains about 45 min's drive from Anxi urban centre. The tea farm is around 400m, located right on the ridgeline formed by Chinese eucalyptus trees (桉树) used for paper making. Growing amongst wild flora and fauna, osmanthus trees are planted with the tea shrubs to encourage cross-fertilisation between them for a more floral tea. The processing factory is right in the tea farm, allowing prompt processing and avoiding the uncontrolled oxidation experienced by leaves harvested a long distance away from factory. The farm does not use any chemical fertilizer but the tea shrubs benefit from the dung from cows which move through the farm. For speed to market, recent years see spring Tie Guan Yin being harvested before optimum maturity of the tea buds. Our tea avoids this commercial trend and is harvested on time. At the start of May when the best Tie Guan Yin leaves are harvested, noon temperature is high at about 27°C and night temperature drops to 17°C. The diurnal range is beneficial to the development of quality Tie Guan Yin.

2024 Spring tea was made by Parchmen & Co together with our tea master in the mountains of Anxi, Fujian. The leaves are harvested on 3rd May 2024 and roasted at 2 am on 4th May 2024. We have sold out this tea in four months mid September. In 2025, we once again made tea with our tea master in the same tea field as 2024. In 2025, we examined the weather pattern and carefully chose the date of arrival at Anxi. We were lucky to be able to meet good weather to harvest the day after we arrived, on 27th April 2025. Although the field has started harvesting less common varieties like Ben Shan (本山), it was its first harvest for Tie Guan Yin. Parchmen & Co had the first pick Tie Guan Yin from that field in spring 2025. In 2024, we made lighted roasted tea. In 2025, we made both light roasted and dark roasted. The spring dark roasted tea is milder and not as intense as the autumn version. We will keep a portion of our dark roasted Tie Guan Yin for aging to become the third style of Aged Tie Guan Yin in a number of years.

We took 36 hours for the light roasted style and 48 hours for the dark roasted style. Our journey is captured in our Instagram story here.

The tea master who led us to make the tea is Xu Liang Hu (许良虎), who is the Chinese government appointed custodian of the intangible heritage of Tie Guan Yin making techniques (非物质文化遗产铁观音制作传承人). In 22nd May 2023, Tie Guan Yin technique was recognised by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) as a globally important agricultural heritage system.


Brew Flavour
We are brewing this tea in our gaiwan, using 3g of leaves to 150ml of 95°C water, for 45 sec. We can also use the gongfu tea method, by brewing 6g of leaves to 120ml of 95-100°C water, for 15 sec. Such a method will allow a changing profile for each brew. The good stamina of Tie Guan Yin allows it to be rebrewed multiple times, living up to another adage that there is residual aroma even after seven brews.

For the light roasted tea, the dry leaves are in its classic dark green tone, signifying good harvest and good processing, and promising to offer an exciting sensory experience. One first recognises the smooth and soft body, and the magnolia and spinach aromas come after. Brew colour is cinnamon and it gets darker with more brews. Aftertaste is floral and sweet, turning sweeter as it cools. The heavy body gives the tea a juicy texture. A clean, sweet tea without astringency, its elegance leaves an impression. 

For the dark roasted tea, the dry leaves are slightly darker in shade. In a gongfu style of brewing, the caramelly note from the darker roast is the perfect base for the elegant magnolia and orchid notes, and these supposedly opposite notes are well harmonised in the brew. Bolder with a heavier and creamy mouthfeel, there is even a hint of umami and chocolates. The afterflavour is sweet and quenching, with a slight bump at the throat when one swallows the tea. With more brews, the aroma fades out but the sweetness remains.

Welcome onboard Parchmen & Co, and travel with us to savour our world in a cup!