Tieguanyin Oolong
Notes from drinkers →A lightly roasted oolong from Anxi, rolled into pellets that open over five steeps.
How to brew it +
Water at 90°C, 5g in a gaiwan. Rinse for ten seconds, then thirty seconds a round, five rounds.
What's in the pouch +
50g of rolled pellets in a resealable matte pouch, packed and sealed in London.
Delivery and returns +
Royal Mail tracked from London, free over £45. Damaged pouches are replaced, and unopened pouches can be returned within 14 days.
Anxi · Fujian
Anxi is where tieguanyin comes from. Tight jade pellets that unfurl over several infusions. Ours is a light oxidation, so the orchid sits on top of the roast, not underneath it. Five or six pours from the same leaves, each one quieter than the last.
Four honest fields, no flavour wheel.
Tight jade pellets that open out.
Pale gold, clear, faintly green.
Orchid over warm grain.
Orchid, then walnut, then stone fruit.
One vessel, four steps.
- 01 Warm a gaiwan with hot water, then pour it away.
- 02 Add 5g of leaf, pour on water at 90°C and tip this first rinse away.
- 03 Steep for thirty seconds, then pour it all off.
- 04 Go again five times, adding ten seconds each round.
A Fujian oolong that opens as you steep it. Orchid first, then walnut, then stone fruit.
What people actually said.
I'd never used a gaiwan and was nervous about getting it wrong. It's actually hard to mess up. Got five good cups from one lot of leaves and each one tasted slightly different.
Glad the gaiwan didn't put you off, Sam. The later rounds are our favourite part too. Next time, let the fourth one sit a little longer and see what comes through.
The first cup really does smell like flowers, and by the third it had gone nutty. Lovely thing to sip through the afternoon.
Took me a couple of goes to get the timings right, but it's replaced my afternoon coffee most days now.
The three that come up most.
How should I store this? +
Keep it somewhere cool and dark, away from anything with a strong smell, and reseal the pouch after every cup. The fridge is too damp, so leave it out of there.
How fresh is this tea? +
It was picked in spring 2026 and arrived in the UK the same season.
How do you source? +
Directly from suppliers in Yunnan and Fujian, who name the garden, grade and harvest of every lot we buy. The lots are small and bought fresh each season.