Guan Yin Wang

Oolong Tea

The Mothering Tea

Guan Yin means the ‘She’ Buddha, the only female deity in the Buddhist tradition. She is a very loved God in China, and so is the tea that’s named after her.

The tea has all the qualities you would expect a female Buddha to have; It is an extremely smooth and soothing tea. Its scent is sweet and deep, like the smell of white orchid, and drinking it makes you feel comfortable immediately . When people in the West drink this Guan Yin, they can hardly believe how pleasurable it can be, how reminiscent of flowers and spring it is, and how much they feel.

This is a very special tea. People in China spend a fortune for this high grade of Guan Yin tea.

Guan Yin can only be produced in the Anxi county, Southern Fujian province. Its production is the most complicated of all teas in China. After picking, there are 18 steps to follow for the tea to become ready to drink, involving 40 hours of constant work and watchfulness. Each step has to be supervised by an expert tea master. This one is specifically Guan Yin 'Wang', which means ‘The King of Guan Yin’ - the highest range available.

Guan Yin is an Oolong tea. Oolong tea is often called a ‘half-way tea’. This means that it is only partially oxidised (exposed to oxygen), so it is part-green (non-oxidized) and part black tea (fully-oxidized), carrying the flavour and healing qualities of both green and black tea in one.

This is why the Chinese define it a ‘harmonizing tea’, as both the qualities can work as needed to bring a person’s harmony back.

I call this tea a ‘mothering tea’ because of what I have observed over and over again in ceremonies. First people enjoy the amazing flavour and smell of the tea (to drink Guan Yin we use the incredible Smelling Cups Practice where the scent reflects the energy of the drinker). Then, as they drink more, they start feeling calm and expanded. Some people describe a feeling of opening and warmth in their heart, a centring in their body. The mind slows down, speaking becomes unnecessary, a lovely defocussed feeling sets in... it’s a bit like meditation, without the intention.

People also describe headaches dissolving, hangovers dissipating, colds clearing, tummy aches being soothed… and sleeping deeply and contentedly afterwards.

This tea is true mothering - without the nagging.