Guan Yin Tea
Guan Yin Tea
About teas: is 观音 guan yin tea considered as green tea?
I went to a local tea shop to buy some green tea and they offered me a guan yin tea and said they are the same. I have read that it belongs to the oolong family of teas, but I may be wrong since they may know better than I do. I have seen the more common China Tea brand but I prefer the leaf ones, not on tea bags. Any brands that you have tried? thanks.
I wanted the real green tea leaves for health purposes, the tea bags of "China Tea" brand of green tea taste different from the real thing. tie guan yin is good and aromatic but since I think most of you will agree it's more oolong than green. I felt bad after some 15 minutes of sales talks and lecturing that I haven't bought anything because I'm not sure, plus the store owner showed me a pack of guan yin tea with a picture of a cup filled with green liquid pointing and telling me it's really green tea.
Some people tend to include oolong (wulong) teas, especially the lighter kinds like Tie Guan Yin, in green tea, maybe because they don't bother to explain the difference or think "oolong" is to unknown for people in general. Nonetheless, Tie Guan Yin is definitely an oolong, and even probably the most famous of all oolong teas, as well in China as abroad. As one of my tea books states, you can find Tie Guan Yin in virtually "every tea menu, every tea shop and every tea house in China". It is famous not only because it's common, but because it's considered one of the best teas of China. It is also a typical tea for the Chinese tea ceremony (gong fu cha).
As for brands, the only way is probably to try different kinds that are available in your area and then see for yourself which you like. Keep avoiding tea bags, since they are commonly used as a way to make money on tea dust and waste that can't be sold as proper tea leaves.
When you brew the Guan Yin tea, better keep the temperature of the water below 90 degrees centigrade. The Chinese usually say you shouldn't let the water boil at all, because it will spoil the water, whereas the Japanese usually say the tea becomes better if you first let the water boil and then cool down to the appropriate temperature before you pour it in the tea leaves. I don't know who is right, and honestly haven't noticed the difference myself. The temperature of the water when you pour it on the tea leaves so much more important. Every tea calls for its own temperature of the water, but if you don't know exactly, you could start with these rules of thumb: green tea 75C, oolong 85C, red/black 95C.
You could also remember that Tie Guan Yin, like many other oolong (and other) tea leaves can be infused several times. Just pour new water on the used leaves when the cup is almost (but not completely) empty.
Some more about Tie Guan Yin:
http://www.therighttea.com/tie-guan-yin.html
http://www.tching.com/2010/04/why-tie-guan-yin-tea/ (although I would argue he is exaggerating the unknownness of Tie Guan Yin ten years ago ...)
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/How+to+Process+Tie+Guan+Yin+Oolong+Tea%3F-a01073966561
Edit:
Ok, if you want green tea maybe you should try the most famous of the green teas, Long Jing (meaning "Dragon's well", sometimes spelled Lung Ching). There are many variants and many fake copies, so again you'd probably have to try and find out which one you like best. And maybe you should try another store with a less pushy seller ... 
If you try the Longjing/Long Jing, again you can use it for several infusions, but keep the water a little cooler, maybe around 80C. When I visited the village outside Hangzhou where it's grown, I noticed they brew and drink it in drinking glasses rather than in teapots and cups.
http://www.therighttea.com/longjing-tea.html
http://www.tching.com/2008/09/green-tea-dragon-well-longjing-or-lung-ching_twn-0916/
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