Comments
Man, you’re braver than I am. Any tea named “Iron Goddess of Mercy” sounds too scary to drink. I appreciate you taking the time to do the reviews, though.
:D It’s just the western name for Tie Kuan Yin. :) She’s an important goddess in Chinese mythology. I really like the legend behind the tea. For some reason I can’t quite pinpoint, they really speak to my imagination. Check them out at wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_kuan_yin
I like the Wei legend best.
I like the Wei version too. It’s a simple story about the rewards of devotion, but it’s themes are something everyone can understand and relate to, no matter what their religion or country. :)
Kuan Yin is a much better name for a tea than “Iron Goddess of Mercy”, because “iron” is inflexible, hard and doesn’t quite fit in with the concept of “mercy”. Also, people shopping for tea would read the name and may conclude that the tea tstes like iron.
Actually I thought the name sounded kinda cool and intriguing, like I KNEW there was a story behind it – but then that’s just me. Plus you can’t really argue with a tradition as old as this one. ;)
For me, one of the big selling points on chinese teas are the names. Of course I have a hard time remembering which is what with most of them, but I like making mangled attempts at trying to pronounce them, and they all have such poetic meanings. Like this one, for example, or chun mee which means ‘precious eyebrow’. I’ve forgotten what bi lou chun means…
Ding, ding, ding!
http://www.greenteaguru.com/green-snail-spring-green-tea.htm
Man, you’re braver than I am. Any tea named “Iron Goddess of Mercy” sounds too scary to drink. I appreciate you taking the time to do the reviews, though.
:D It’s just the western name for Tie Kuan Yin. :) She’s an important goddess in Chinese mythology. I really like the legend behind the tea. For some reason I can’t quite pinpoint, they really speak to my imagination. Check them out at wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tie_kuan_yin
I like the Wei legend best.
I like the Wei version too. It’s a simple story about the rewards of devotion, but it’s themes are something everyone can understand and relate to, no matter what their religion or country. :)
Kuan Yin is a much better name for a tea than “Iron Goddess of Mercy”, because “iron” is inflexible, hard and doesn’t quite fit in with the concept of “mercy”. Also, people shopping for tea would read the name and may conclude that the tea tstes like iron.
Actually I thought the name sounded kinda cool and intriguing, like I KNEW there was a story behind it – but then that’s just me. Plus you can’t really argue with a tradition as old as this one. ;)
For me, one of the big selling points on chinese teas are the names. Of course I have a hard time remembering which is what with most of them, but I like making mangled attempts at trying to pronounce them, and they all have such poetic meanings. Like this one, for example, or chun mee which means ‘precious eyebrow’. I’ve forgotten what bi lou chun means…
Isn’t that something about a snail? Or is that another one?
*Looks it up on Wikipedia" Apparently it means ‘Green Snail Spring’
Ding, ding, ding!
http://www.greenteaguru.com/green-snail-spring-green-tea.htm
D’oh! Refresh fail!
Bwhahaha, to slow! :P