A rare Red Tea (Black Tea) version of Tie Guan Yin 铁观音, the famous wulong variety from Anxi county in Fujian Province, China. Harvested in the spring of 2017, after sampling among dozens of versions for 3 years, this is a special edition tribute to 300 years of Tie Guan Yin – one of the most well-known and beloved teas in China, and one of our specialties in tea sourcing.

The story of this unique tea begins in one of our visits to Xiping village in May 2019, where the Wei family hosted us in a luxurious hotel on one of the family-owned tea fields – the 13th generation of Master Wei, who discovered the secrets of Tie Guan Yin production precisely 300 years ago in 1723. Although the cultivation of Tie Guan Yin variety is primarily intended for producing Wulong tea (Oolong tea), to our surprise, the "house tea" served to us that day was actually red tea. At that moment, there was no question – it was the best red tea we had ever tasted, a claim Nadi still holds to this day, more than 5 years later. It was freshly picked just a few days earlier, and its price tag was hefty, but we still managed to acquire a modest kilogram, which we still hold a bit of in our private storage. The tea offered for sale here is not the same tea, but an even older version of it from the same plantation.

The leaves grow on low bushes like all Tie Guan Yin, at an altitude of 800-900 meters, a high altitude in Anxi county. The leaves are not folded like wulong, but scattered, making it easier to achieve full and even oxidation levels. A coppery drink with notes of fermentated cocoa and coffee beans, and fruity  wulongy hints like melon and cranberries. Full-bodied with a rich, complex, and long-lasting finish that is hard to describe in words. A masterpiece that redefines what hybrid tea is, and highlights the qualities of traditional tea making art in Xiping village.

Since the tea is so rare and almost impossible to find red tea versions of Tie Guan Yin – certainly not this original version – there is no grade that describes the process or aroma of the tea like most Tie Guan Yin wulongs. Moreover, there are not too many details about the process that the family agrees to disclose, for fear of imitations that already exist on the internet.

Update (March 2025):
A new 10 gram version is in stock in a new packaging (2 bags of 5g each), which is essentially the same batch of tea as the 40 gram, only re-baked in November 2024. The re-baked tea is characterized by a more baked profile (fire, smoke) with a slight "kick" finish. The 40 gram version is characterized by a more chocolatey, balanced profile.