Ball-rolled, medium-oxidised and heavily roasted oolong from Muzha (Maokong), Taipei; in Taiwan 鐵觀音 names this method, which may use other cultivars.
Tight, dark balls; amber to orange-brown cup with roast, ripe-fruit and a slight acidity. TRES classes it as medium-oxidised and heavily roasted.
8–12 hours (Taipei tea centre).
Four to five rounds.
Two to three rounds, with three to five re-firings in between.
In Taiwan, 鐵觀音 can name the cultivar or a style with repeated roasting. The research station uses 正欉鐵觀音 for tea made from the Tieguanyin cultivar and identifies 硬枝紅心 as a cultivar used in Shimen. 正欉 therefore specifies the claimed plant material; the wording alone does not independently verify a particular lot.
Chinese Wikipedia gives 1895 (both brothers). Zhang Naimiao's biography gives 12 plants in 1895 and 1,000 in 1896, and the Anxi government 1896. The Taipei centre's own timeline is inconsistent: it credits 張迺妙 with 12 plants in 1895, but also an unnamed Zhang ancestor who later passed the gardens to him. TRES gives only the Guangxu era.
TRES says the brothers 張迺妙 and 張迺乾 brought Tieguanyin from Anxi in the Guangxu era and planted it on 樟湖山 in Muzha. TRES separates 正欉鐵觀音 (from the Tieguanyin cultivar) from tea made by the Tieguanyin method with other cultivars. It names Muzha and Shimen (New Taipei, using 硬枝紅心) as the main areas.
The Taipei Tea Research and Promotion Center (臺北市鐵觀音包種茶研發推廣中心) on 指南路 dates from 1985. It gives Muzha's output as about 6,000 台斤 a year. From 1980 the tourist tea gardens held spring, autumn and winter contests, scored 50% aroma and taste, 30% appearance and 20% leaf colour.
The station groups Tieguanyin with roasted ball oolongs. Its roasting research treats the later heat treatment as an adjustable stage that stabilises and changes aroma, distinct from the earlier leaf oxidation. A dark, roasted cup therefore does not automatically mean old tea or a particular cultivar. Compare Anxi Tieguanyin for the mainland origin-bound name, while Tieguanyin identifies the plant.
For a Muzha lot, the cultivar and picking season describe the leaf; the roasting date and any later re-roasting describe subsequent handling. Separating them avoids reading a roast date as the harvest year, or treating the regional manufacturing name as proof of pure Tieguanyin cultivar material.
In the Muzha entry of Zhongguo mingchazhi (2000, p. 949), the tea is wrapped in cloth while still incompletely dry, worked into a ball, then slowly heated in a baking basket. Repeating shaping and heating tightens the leaf while developing aroma and taste. This makes roasting part of the recorded shaping process, rather than simply a finishing colour applied to an already completed tea. The account is a historical craft description; it does not fix the number of cycles or roast intensity for a present-day lot.
Price ranks compare recorded retail offers for the same tea, including offers outside the current delivery filter. Shipping and import charges are excluded.
| Product | Vendor | Price | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
Muzha Tieguanyin Flat Plantation
Details and price notesPrice in US dollars, the shop's base currency; it also shows converted euro prices. The seller says goods ship from Taiwan and that import duties and VAT are the buyer's, and does not state that the price includes tax. Excludes shipping. |
TaiwanleafteaSelected destinations |
$16.00 / 150 g | $10.67 ≈ $0.85 a session |
Muzha Tieguanyin Mountain Plantation
Details and price notesPrice in US dollars, the shop's base currency; it also shows converted euro prices. The seller says goods ship from Taiwan and that import duties and VAT are the buyer's, and does not state that the price includes tax. Excludes shipping. |
TaiwanleafteaSelected destinations |
$20.00 / 150 g | $13.33 ≈ $1.07 a session |
Muzha Tieguanyin Alpine Plantation
Details and price notesPrice in US dollars, the shop's base currency; it also shows converted euro prices. The seller says goods ship from Taiwan and that import duties and VAT are the buyer's, and does not state that the price includes tax. Excludes shipping. |
TaiwanleafteaSelected destinations |
$23.00 / 150 g | $15.33 ≈ $1.23 a session |
2023 Spring Mu-Zha Tie Guan Yin, Hand-Harvested
Details and price notesCompare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition.
Shop base currency USD. The seller's pages do not state whether this price includes tax. Excludes shipping. |
Hou De Fine TeaSelected destinations |
$22.50 / 75 g | $30.00 ≈ $2.40 a session |
| Tie Guan Yin Spring | The Jade LeafWorldwide |
$29.22 / 75 g | $38.96 ≈ $3.12 a session |
Muzha Tieguanyin
DetailsCompare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition.
|
Mountain Stream TeasSelected destinations |
$11.00 / 25 g | $44.00 ≈ $3.52 a session |
| Muzha Hong Bei Tie Guan Yin Oolong | TheTeaWorldwide |
€25.84 / 50 g | $57.96 €51.68 / 100 g ≈ $4.64 a session |
Muzha Tieguanyin
Details and price notesCompare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition.
Germany/EUR storefront price, excluding tax and tariff. |
Tea HongSelected destinations |
€33.50 / 60 g | $62.62 €55.83 / 100 g ≈ $5.01 a session |
Muzha Tieguanyin
DetailsCompare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition.
|
Beautiful Taiwan Tea CompanyWorldwide |
$46.99 / 75 g | $62.65 ≈ $5.01 a session |
| Muzha Tie Guan Yin light | Tee Kontor KielWorldwide |
€27.95 / 50 g | $62.69 €55.90 / 100 g ≈ $5.02 a session |
| Muzha Traditional Tanbei Tie Guan Yin Oolong | TheTeaWorldwide |
€28.43 / 50 g | $63.77 €56.86 / 100 g ≈ $5.10 a session |
| Muzha Tieguanyin | NannuoshanWorldwide |
€29.00 / 50 g | $65.05 €58.00 / 100 g ≈ $5.20 a session |
| Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin | Länggass-TeeSelected destinations |
CHF 32.50 / 50 g | $78.92 CHF 65.00 / 100 g ≈ $6.31 a session |
| Mu Zha Tieguanyin | Teehaus CölnSelected destinations |
€39.00 / 50 g | $87.48 €78.00 / 100 g ≈ $7.00 a session |
Prices recorded on the dates checked. Conversions use ECB rates dated 2026-10-20; original prices appear alongside. Origin, age and cultivar are stated by the vendor.
| Product | Vendor | Channel | per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muzha Tieguanyin Flat Plantation | Taiwanleaftea | International retail | $10.67 |
| Muzha Tieguanyin Mountain Plantation | Taiwanleaftea | International retail | $13.33 |
| Muzha Tieguanyin Alpine Plantation | Taiwanleaftea | International retail | $15.33 |
| 2023 Spring Mu-Zha Tie Guan Yin, Hand-Harvested | Hou De Fine Tea | International retail | $30.00 |
| Tie Guan Yin Spring | The Jade Leaf | International retail | $38.96 |
| Muzha Tieguanyin | Mountain Stream Teas | International retail | $44.00 |
| Muzha Hong Bei Tie Guan Yin Oolong | TheTea | International retail | $57.96 |
| Muzha Tieguanyin | Tea Hong | International retail | $62.62 |
| Muzha Tieguanyin | Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company | International retail | $62.65 |
| Muzha Tie Guan Yin light | Tee Kontor Kiel | International retail | $62.69 |
| Muzha Traditional Tanbei Tie Guan Yin Oolong | TheTea | International retail | $63.77 |
| Muzha Tieguanyin | Nannuoshan | International retail | $65.05 |
| Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin | Länggass-Tee | International retail | $78.92 |
| Mu Zha Tieguanyin | Teehaus Cöln | International retail | $87.48 |
