Tieguanyin Tea, which also goes by the names of Iron Goddess of Mercy, Iron Guanyin, Ti Kuan Yin and Tiet Kwun Yum, comes from the Fujian Province in China.

This tea comes with it’s own legends so it’s not surprising that it is the world’s most expensive tea. Here are a couple of the legends so sit back and enjoy:

Wei legend

Deep in the heart of Fujian’s Anxi County, there was a rundown temple which held an iron statue of Guan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Every day on the walk to his tea fields, a poor farmer named Mr. Wei would pass by and reflect on the temple’s worsening condition. “Something has to be done,” thought Mr. Wei.

Being poor, he did not have the means to repair the temple. Instead, the farmer brought a broom and some incense from his home. He swept the temple clean and lit the incense as an offering to Guan Yin. “It’s the least I can do,” he thought to himself. Twice a month for many months, he repeated the same tasks.

One night, Guan Yin appeared to him in a dream. She told him of a cave behind the temple where treasure awaited. He was to take the treasure and share it with others. In the cave, the farmer found a single tea shoot. He planted it in his field and nurtured it into a large bush, from which the finest tea was produced. He gave cuttings of this rare plant to all his neighbors and began selling the tea under the name Tie Guan Yin, Iron Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Over time, Mr. Wei and all his neighbors prospered. The rundown temple of Guan Yin was repaired and became a beacon for the region. And Mr. Wei took joy in the daily trip to his tea fields, never failing to stop in appreciation of the beautiful temple.

Wang legend

Wang was a scholar who accidentally discovered the tea plant beneath the Guanyin rock in Xiping. He brought the plant back home for cultivation. When he visited Emperor Qianlong in the 6th year of his reign, he offered the tea as a gift from his native village. Emperor Qianlong was so impressed that he inquired about its origin. Since the tea was discovered beneath the Guanyin Rock, he decided to call it the Guanyin tea.

So if you’re itchy to start sipping some Tieguanyin Tea, it can be had for a mere $3,000.00/kilogram, $1,365.00/pound or about $15.00/cup.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Food & Drink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.