2025 Autumn 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. Autumn Tie Guan Yin is usually harvested end Sept for 1 month. Our autumn leaves are harvested mid October 2025. Comparing spring and autumn weather in Anxi, the daily temperature range is similar at around 20-28°C, with a diurnal range of around 8-9°C. However, it is wetter in spring than autumn, with about 50% lesser precipitation, allowing less dilution of aromatic compounds in the leaves of an autumn Tie Guan Yin. The autumn tea benefits from the hotter and wetter summer prior to its harvest and grows at a much faster rate than the spring tea. Surely, production yield is higher in autumn but its faster growth rate limits the accumulation of nutritional compounds as compared to the spring harvest.

Every year, Parchmen & Co makes spring Tie Guan Yin in the farm. We have yet to make an autumn Tie Guan Yin as the end of the year is often flushed with coffee activities - our other focus. This autumn tea is made by 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 also brewing this tea in our Parchmen Glass Gaiwan, using 3g of leaves to 150ml of 95°C water, for 45 sec - same like how we brew a spring Tie Guan Yin. We can also use the gongfu tea method, by brewing 6g of leaves to 120ml of 95-100°C water, for 15 sec. The latter method allows a more obvious 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 for both spring and autumn harvests. It can be simply said that the first impression of an autumn tea is reversed to the spring tea. One first recognises the smooth and soft body in a spring tea. The strong magnolia and spinach aromas are what define the autumn harvest. Brew colour is cinnamon and it gets darker with more brews. Aftertaste is floral and sweet, turning sweeter as it cools. Its strong aroma lingers in the nose.

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 are also notes of vanilla, chocolates and even a hint of umami and rambutan. For a moment, the tea tastes like sugar cane juice, which extends into the afterflavour - 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!