Ti Kuan Yin Oolong tea is grown in the Fujian province of China and has a number of wonderful mythological tales surrounding its origin to be known as the Iron Goddess of Mercy. As an oolong, there are a number of grades, and this premium Ti Kuan Yin yields a sweet taste with a fragrant finish, which makes it a very popular choice.

So how does an Oolong tea become known as Iron Goddess of Mercy?

Well, as you would expect, there are a few versions, but we particularly like the version of the poor farmer as a lovely Chinese story around the origins of this tea. The tale is set in the Fujian province of China, where our Oolong tea is grown, and legend has it that there was an old temple that had not been used for a long time and, as such, was in quite a state of disrepair, but inside there still remained a beautiful iron statue of the Goddess of Mercy (Kuan yin).

The farmer passed the temple daily, and while he had no money to make any repairs to the temple, he decided to at least keep the temple clean and tidy, so he regularly swept away all the leaves and dust and lit incense in honour of the Kuan Yin. One night, he had a dream where the Goddess of Mercy told him he would find a true treasure behind the temple. He was to nurture the treasure and share it with others for it to have it's true worth. Sure enough, the next day, the farmer found the treasure—it was a tea shoot—and, for the next while, cared for and nurtured the tea shoot until it became a fully grown tea bush.

The farmer then discovered that when he mixed the leaves with hot water, they produced a delicious tea, so he had something he could harvest and sell. Overjoyed with his findings, the farmer shared cuttings from the bush with all his friends and neighbours so they too could benefit from the tea bush given to him by Kuan Yin. As he dried the tea leaves from the tea bush, their dark appearance reminded him of the iron statue, so he named the tea after the Iron Goddess of Mercy.