JK Tea Shop

A subtle, elegant black. Refined flavor. My favorite thing about this tea is the flash of orchid-like aroma that arises, seemingly out of nowhere, a few seconds after taking a sip.

Even when brewed strong, it does not get too black or weight the palate down with heavy taste.

Excellent price for the quality.

These things are strong. You only need 2 pieces per mug. You can probably make 2 infusions with this. It does taste a lot like ginseng.

I generally don’t add sugar to my teas, but on occasion, I like to add honey or rock sugar to this.

wonderfully roasty, full of flavor, impossible to oversteep or understeep , tastes different each time. Has become one of my favorite am teas.

glass pot, 6 grams, approx 150 ml mineral water
90+ degrees 3-5+ sec infusions.
very distinct ginger flower aroma. flavor and aroma are one and the same.
sweet. no dryness or astringency. vaporous quality. highly aromatic and pleasant.

One of my favorites teas by far.

This tea is pretty amazing. I have been brewing it and tasting it since last night and it has been smooth and delicate the whole time. The flavor has been lasting and it hasn’t been getting bitter or astringent.

My two Gaiwan sets arrived today, and to celebrate I brewed this sample that I got from JK Tea Shop.
The dry leaves are very long, twisted and dark. The brew is lightly golden with a gentle sweet and flower scent. The tea is silky, slightly oily, and coats the tongue and the roof of the mouth with its pleasantness. I steeped it four times, and the second and third steep were the best – the first being rather rough. There’s no astringency or bitterness to this tea, but rather a mild sweetness that is not overwhelming or cloying, but merely a welcome background to the perfumed/orchidy flavour of this tea that lasts long after the tea is gone.
A very good tea to relax with on a friday afternoon, watching the sun set and listening to my cat snoring gently to herself.

I have been brewing this over two days for possibly up to 10 infusions and it’s still great. Even after these many steepings, it doesn’t have any bitterness or rough edges. I haven’t, however, given it the attention it deserves. Yesterday I started brewing it after eating very spicy food, and today I was eating a lemon lavender cookie with it…But, I’m going to be optimistic and give it a high rating.

This tea is quite sensitive to steep time and water temperature. My first infusion (3 seconds) I enjoyed very much, but on the second infusion I let the leaves steep for 30 seconds, and suddenly the broth was very bitter and all of the delicate sweetness and floral notes had been overpowered. Is it bad, then, that I am still impressed by this tea if for nothing more than the price was right?

I can’t call this remarkable, but this is certainly a very good black. Just that my favourites are better.

Hadn’t had this tea in a while, and actually thought that I’d lost the pouch that I had. To my surprise it toppled out of my tea cupboard at work, so of course I brewed up a batch for my colleagues and myself. No sugar or sweetener needed, and even after all this time, this tea is still a winner.

A nice golden monkey, with rich sweet flavors of sweet potatoes and chocolate.

This tea has become a smash hit in the office, since I brought it there a few days back. Sweet, fruity tea with little to no astringency, and a light body. Couldn’t stand up to milk. A great tea for the price.

Also – I hadn’t noticed, but I’ve been over a year at steepster! Thank you all for being so wonderful. I am so glad that I found this site :)

Tried this tea gongfu style for the first time. The wet leaves didn’t smell nice at all, but the tea itself was pretty delicious. The amber liquor was was delicate, slightly astringent, with a smooth body and and a very lightly fruity flavour.

I bought this as a possible replacement for my golden monkey Ceylon from Fortnum and Mason. This is my first order from JK tea house and it arrived very very very well packed. I doubt that a nuclear bomb could have damaged it :)
The leaves are long, thin and tightly twisted. Their raw smell is slightly sweet. The tea itself (brewed western style w/ boiling water for 2-3 minutes) is very smooth, slightly sweet with no bitter notes and only a slight astringency that rounds it off nicely. A very good tea for the price, even if it is no replacement for my Golden Monkey Tail Ceylon

Only one thing to say here: If you can afford it – buy a higher grade from the same seller. Imperial/Nonpareil are THAT much better than this one.

Wow. This tea is like drinking a liquid nectar where tea’s astringency is an undertone, not sweetness. Definitely deserves its grade.

Probably a bit too subtle for me…

Looks like a cross between Da Wu Ye and sweeter Dancongs but neither sweetness not floral bitterness are very bright. The liquid is also a very slight yellow color.

Certainly not something I’d want to have on my shelf in any meaningful quantities. Dancongs are a big hit or a big miss for me it seems. Either I love then, or I couldn’t care.

Even more fragrant than Imperial Grade of Mi Lan. Its fragrance is more flowery than sweet though.

The tea itself is of color of liquid honey and is a rather pleasantly sweet. I imagine it can be steeped for longer time than Imperial as it has no bitterness at all.

Strangely enough – I like lower grade better :) This is of course a great tea, but Imperial grade’s taste is rather unique and quite a lot more interesting.

I can’t set steeping time lower than 15 sec so I mark it here :
this tea requires VERY short steeping time of probably 1-3 seconds for an infusion

Ahhhhh…. The aroma of the dry leaves of this tea is truly heavenly. Thick, overpowering scent of honey that won’t even let you brew it for a minute or so because you just can’t stop enjoying it :)

I am always amazed at how unflavored, unblended dancong tea can smell so good and this one is truly a pinnacle of this quality. Even last year’s Huang Zhi Xiang from the same company pales in comparison.

The taste is really heavy and bitter with sweet hints so very short steepings of a few seconds are advisable (bitterness isn’t overpowering then). I’d say this tea is much like wine – it’s bitterness is mature and isn’t offputting at all if you just remember to pour it out almost immediately. The advice stands even for later infusions – i am currently at 5th and 2 seconds still produce very strong flavor.

(This tea was generously provided to be by JK Tea Shop due to postal issues that were out of companies hands. Big thank you to the whole JK Tea Shop Team!)

Dry Leaf: I get a nice smooth roasted or toasted grain like aroma or even a caramel type of aroma.
Wet Leaf: I get a heavy roasted like charcoal type of aroma but there is a slight fruit type of aroma the opens up some sweetness. But, the roasted charcoal aroma is the main player in the aroma.
Liquor: Golden yellow brown type of color.
Taste: I get a smooth roasted flavor like peanut and oats with a charcoal flavor over it. There is a fruit type of flavor that adds the sweetness to this tea and I even get a light kiss of floral in this tea. The broth of this tea has a nice thickness feel in the mouth.
Vessel: 100 ml gaiwan (3 oz) and used 5 grams of leaf.
Overall Opinion: I give this a 89 my way of scoring. This was a enjoyable tea and maybe one to try for the people who are lighter Tie Guan Yin tea drinkers and want to transition over to roasted.

(This tea was generously provided to me by JK Tea Shop due to terrible postal issues that was out of their hands. Big thank you to the whole JK Tea Shop Team.)

Dry Leaf: I get a mellow roasted aroma along with a sweetness that I almost want to associate it to some kind of fruit. This tea has a fresh aroma to it also.
Wet Leaf: I get a fresh orchid like aroma with almost like a fruit aroma that show some sweetness to this tea.
Liquor: I got a yellowish green type of color.
Taste: This tea is smooth with a roasted orchid like flavor with some sweetness again I want to say some kind of fruit. There is some astringency I pick up with this tea. I also notice the way this tea feels in your mouth for me it sits more on front of your mouth and gives that more dry feeling in your mouth.
Vessel/Leaf: I used a 100 ml ( 3 oz.) gaiwan and used 5 grams of tea.
Overall Opinion: I give this tea a solid 88 from the way I score. This is a very serviceable tea. One thing I would like to add about this tea shop is they offer the same tea with different grades which allows you the tea connoisseur to expand your palate with being able to compare taste, texture, the body of the tea and it’s smoothness and how the tea builds it sweetness in your mouth. One tip to everyone grade does matter as a whole in the overall experience you have.

Even though I have a lot from Verdant to try, I just couldn’t resist tasting YGB’s honey undertone once again. As a result, I unpacked smaller of the two bags with it I received recently :)

UPD : This tea really starts to shine on its second steeping and after it has cooled quite a bit. Have in mind.