Wu Yi Shan Jin Jun Mei

Wu Yi Shan Jin Jun Mei is a special grade ‘Golden Beautiful Eyebrow’ tea from Wuyi Shan in China. Tippy golden leaves produce a dark amber liquor with a malty aroma. The bright and clean flavours are malty, mineral and floral with notes of rose, cocoa and caramel.

Brewing guide: 2.5g in 250ml water at 90°C for 2-3 minutes

£4.30£15.00

(10-50g)

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Origin:Tongmu, Wuyi Shan, Fujian, China
Elevation:800m
Cultivar:Native Wuyi Caicha (菜茶)
Harvest time:April 2023
Sourcing:Specialist Chinese Wholesaler

Description

Wu Yi Shan Jin Jun Mei (武夷山金骏眉) is a beautiful top ‘gold’ grade black tea from Wuyi Shan in Fujian Province of China. Known in English as ‘Golden Beautiful Eyebrow’, this particular version is made exclusively from buds, which is reflected in the gold appearance of the dry leaves. These tippy leaves produce a wonderfully complex and satisfying liquor. Grown around the core Jin Jun Mei growing area around Tongmu Village, this tea is from April 2023 harvest.

You may be interested in trying our early spring Jin Jun Mei that is crafted by the Chen family.

Jin Jun Mei Golden Beautiful Eyebrow is a very recently developed tea – it was introduced to the market just over 10 years ago. It has quickly gained huge popularity, especially in China. Jin Jun Mei is grown in an area that is known for producing famous Chinese teas, such as Da Hong Pao, Rou Gui and Lapsang Souchong (LS). Jin Jun Mei is also sometimes classed as a type of LS tea, especially within China. Jin Jun Mei can come both in smoked and unsmoked versions – this can be contrasted with the smoked LS aka Li Shan Xiao Zhong and the unsmoked Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong. While smoking does impart a wonderful dimension to the tea that is loved by some, it can also be used to mask problems and imperfections in a tea. This particular Jin Jun Mei is unsmoked so you get to enjoy the full sweet, fruity and malty character without the smoky flavour.

Wuyi Shan, or Wuyi Rock teas are grown on rocky mountainsides where the soil is high in mineral content and the growth of the tea trees is much slower. This terroir results in a distinctive ‘rock’ taste that is particularly evident in oolongs from this area and is prized amongst tea lovers. This characteristic profile is stony and mineral in taste but with a long lasting sweet aftertaste. This characteristic also translates well to black teas. It results in rather complex teas that have a stony, mineral edge to them that provides a fine balance to the malty characters. If you find Dian Hong teas to be too malty, this Jin Jun Mei is an excellent alternative.

The leaves of this Wu Yi Shan Jin Jun Mei are very small, tippy and golden. This tea has a deep amber liquor with a floral and malty aroma. It produces a deep and thick mouth-coating liquor that has a satisfying lingering taste. The flavours are bright and clean, with deep malty notes that are nicely balanced by the lighter mineral and stony ones, courtesy of the terroir. The character is sweet and floral and has notes of rose, cocoa and caramel.

We suggest brewing at 90°C for 3-4 minutes according to your taste. It can be brewed around 3 times depending on your taste preferences.

Wu Yi Shan Jin Jun Mei black tea was first featured in our March 2018 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.