Tieluohan
铁罗汉 · Iron Monk
Oolong
Tieluohan is the oldest name on these cliffs.
Long before Da Hong Pao was famous, this was the tea the Song court took as tribute. It grows deep in the Huiyuan gorge, where the rock holds both heat and minerals and gives them back to the plant slowly.
The making matches the age. A slow charcoal roast worked in stages across months, never hurried, never finished in one sitting. The name means Iron Arhat, after the warrior monks, and the tea earns it. Dark wood and cocoa, over a warmth that settles low in you and stays there like a stone.
- dark wood
- cacao
- mineral
- Origin
- Wuyi Mountains, Fujian
- Water
- 100°C / 212°F
- Ratio
- 6.5 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Yes · 5s
Oldest of the Wuyi Si Da Ming Cong; Song-era tribute
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~6.5g of tea
The session
8 infusions after the rinse, about 4m 28s of total contact time.
- Rinse5sWake the leaf and pour it away — this one isn’t for drinking.
- Steep 18sWarmth first, deep and closed.
- Steep 210sDark wood opens over roast.
- Steep 315sCacao bitterness, then it sweetens.
- Steep 420sMineral depth without any harshness.
- Steep 530sDried fruit surfaces from the char.
- Steep 645sThe roast recedes to warm stone.
- Steep 71mSpice lingers, slow to leave.
- Steep 81m 15sA last medicinal sweetness holds.
Also sold as
Iron Arhat, Tie Luo Han, Iron Warrior Monk, T'ieh-lo-han
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.