Jun Mee Golden Tip

Fun with a gaiwan day 2!

I bought a sample of this tea a LONG time ago (I know because the date is printed on the label) only because it was crazy expensive and I was curious what a really expensive tea tasted like. At that point I didn’t really know the differences between pretty much any black teas. Or else I probably wouldn’t bought anything listed as a keemun. But I didn’t know any better and spent $8 on a sample. I justified it by comparing it to the glass of wine my husband always orders at dinner.

Anyway, I thought this was another prime candidate for the gaiwain. And I was right. The first few steeps were definitely giving the normal smoky keemun flavor, but around 3 or 4 it got super chocolaty. Now it’s like drinking a cup of roasty dark chocolate tea. Reminds me a bit of Laoshan Black, but with a honey sweetness added to it. I’m really enjoying this. This gaiwan has really opened my eyes to all the flavors in teas that I never really tasted before. Very cool.

As I get older, I find that one of my big challenges is to hold on to the ability to get excited by the little events and experiences in life that are the links in the chain of happiness. Having young children helps because you get to see the first flush of the world through their eyes. But I often find that my reaction to events is more muted than it was when, for example, I first read the short stories of Andre Dubus or first heard Bob Dylan wafting up to my attic bedroom from my parents’ turntable.

My discovery of tea has been the catalyst for some of my present-day stimulating moments and none more transfixing than drinking this Jun Mee from Upton. It’s listed as a Keemun and has the same general flavor profile (chocolate, red wine), but it’s more nuanced and delicate than most Keemuns I’ve tried. And because the Keemun qualities are not as pronounced, other amazing flavors come into play, notably an amalgam of spice that reminds me of cardamom, coriander pods, nutmeg, and cinammon.

Yes, this tea is expensive, but if you really love black teas from China as I do, you’ll want to try this. Even at $45 for 50 grams, you’re only looking at a few bucks per cup.