Wild-Picked Yunnan Jin Jun Mei

Full length review over at Sororitea Sisters tomorrow morning :) YUMMY! Sip Down

It’s been four months since I reviewed this tea.

I was wondering what I would think after going so long without even tasting it at all.
I’ll admit that I was hoarding the half ounce portion in my stash for some unknown reason. (Am I the only one that has the fear of a tea disappearing forever?) I must have more faith that there are further tea adventures ahead of me and bid this and other hoarded tea’s farewell.

Oh what a beautiful liquor this Jin Jun Mei has! Bright red-orange, golden and clear. Something like looking at a radiant amber topaz in the sunlight.

The flavor is not what I think of as a heavy Winter, stuck in the dark library… malty Black Tea. This one is a Spring morning and the World is waking up from months of frost malt type of tea. It’s flavor is alive and vibrant.

I make a caramelized Italian golden squash dish (Mario Batali’s recipe)using long slices of pumpkin (or squash), butter, brown sugar and a little balsamic vinegar and basil at the end. The squash turns into the most delicious sweet and savory, buttery dish. Oh my!

When I drink this tea, I think of this dish! The yammy, buttery and roasted flavor melting in my mouth are what I taste in this Verdant tea.
You can see why I hoarded it. Why wouldn’t I steal away as much as I could for a treat? But it’s gone.
I will have to look with anticipation for that next tea around the corner and now, after four months of drinking stunning tea’s…I know those tea gems exist. I have confidence.

This was a great cup of tea!

My learning continues, it’s just slow.

Backlogging:

At first I thought I had picked the worst day to review this tea. When I woke up I felt fine, made a cup, enjoyed it, steeped again, fell asleep. I will bring this back up later in the review but for now – on to the tea!

This tea in dry and steeped from smelled the same. Malt was the very first flavor I could smell. A wonderful slightly chocolatey sweet malt. If you have ever had Carnation Instant Milk in Malt flavor that is what it reminded me of! The leaf was stunning to look at and had this powdered substance all over it – when I first opened the bag it sort of poofed up as I was smelling it and I almost got a big snort of tea powder. The tea itself is not powder of course but rather they are delightful twisted brown and golden leaves.

The first sip made me smile really big. I am sure I looked like the Cheshire cat! This was bliss in a cup! A soothing melody of earthy sensations!

In case no one has noticed I am fine with metaphors!

The day before I had this horrible day of tea samplings, almost everything had this watered down “where’s Waldo” seeking for the flavor experience! Today – to begin my day with THIS tea was a gift! So refreshing to have a tea that is so full of flavor, complex, and unfolding like a story book that makes you want to keep turning from page to page, chapter to chapter! That is how I felt with each steep! This is a tea I could gulp down far too quickly, I had to keep reminding myself to sit back, relax, breathe, be peaceful, and enjoy! I was just so excited with this cup!

There were deep tones such as woods, spices, malt, and chocolate, but yet this tea had such amazing juiciness as well, with a slight peach undertone. The aroma is roasty and toasty and went perfectly this morning with my scone, clotted cream, and cherry brandy preserves! Later in the first cup I noticed almost a sweet potato flavor although it was subtle.

When the cup was empty I immediately went for steep two! At this point I noticed something strange. My teacup was heavily stained. Not only did it have this light stain all over the inside of the cup but also a spotted leopard like pattern of darker stains within it! I have never seen this before so I decided to soak my cup in some water with lemon juice and baking soda. Grabbing another cup I thought I had better brush my teeth with the same mixture when I was done with my multiple steeps of this tea.

On the second steep I increased the steep time by 30 seconds. I am not even sure this was necessary as this cup was darker and richer than the first! I was throughly enjoying this cup of tea lazing on the sofa when I realized that I did not get nearly as much sleep as I had needed the night before. I had only awoken as early as I did because my mailman made my dogs go crazy as he brought a package to my door! I am however pleased that I was woken up because this tea was in that package! I decided to allow myself to drift, leaving my tea on the table. About an hour later I awoke again, to cold tea. The smell of the now cold tea was robust and chocolaty so I decided what the heck and took a gulp. So good! The chocolate notes did come out more when cooled! This was an enjoyable steep similar to the first with more chocolate notes.

Steep three offered a choco-nutty aroma – milk chocolate. Yum! The malty notes were laying nicely in the background and the honey notes were more noticeable to me now, or maybe the grain notes were evolving into a more honey flavor. This steep was amazing as I realized there were sparkling dancing bubble like notes bouncing around on my tongue! Love it! There was a very light peppery flavor present but it did not remind me so much of peppercorn as it did that dusty loose pepper you can get in the tin can in any regular grocery store. Still it offers a lovely, light, non-confrontational pepper zing.

I also found that this tea is very refreshing for a tea with so many deep, earth, flavor notes! It is thirst quenching and I will definitely be taking this tea with me when I go out and about. I will even ice this tea and take it on the go when doing sporting activities! I find it unusual for me to think this of a tea with so many “heavy” type notes!

I sat my delightful brewer aside to reconnect with my lovely Jin Jun Mei later in the day but so far three of three steeps have been wonderful and I know for sure I will get at least three more! Not one of these steeps had any astringency, bitterness, or any flavor that was anything other than perfection! This is one of my favorite teas of all time, of all types, straight, or with additives, “flavored” or not, thus far on my tea journey!

Enjoying a cup as soon as I woke up today! What an amazing way tot start the day.
It tastes like I’ve sweetened it with honey (I haven’t), and each sip transforms from a caramel note, to something more grainy, to something dry and crunchy but always sweet!

I’m sadly out of my favourite Canadian Grains bread by Dempsters – but it toasts up to a great sweet crunch with all of the whole grains – that would pair very well with this tea.

Grocery shopping today! But until then, I’ve been watching this 24/7 Live Corgi Puppy Cam. It’s taken over my life!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/live-247-corgi-puppy-cam

backlogging!

mmmmm this is a delicious tea! It won’t become a regular in my cupboard, but i may treat myself to the occasional sample from time to time. :) Really nice tea that I had the pleasure of running through a number of steepings on the weekend.

Smells like honey, and a bit of sweet potato. This really tastes a lot like the sweet potatoes I had at Thanksgiving last week – they were pureed with butter and spices and probably some brown sugar. So good! The tea also has an astringent bite on the very front, that quickly smooths out into a honeyed sweetness.

I’m drinking this one at work, western style, but I feel better and better about the decision to rechisten my one little yixing pot for yunnan black teas, as time goes on. They have such variety, and nuance, and have really become my standby tea over the last couple of years. Of course, I’m almost out of a them at the moment, but that’s just an excuse to buy more :D

2 level tsp leaf, 8 oz water, 4 steeps

I’m sitting in my car, polishing of the last of this mornings first cup before I unload my electric harp & sound sys. This morning I’m playing at an event called the Healthy Planet Expo. There will be vendors for everything from wheat grass juicers to grass fed beef. There will be experts on solar panels, holistic health, org gardening, etc. I think I’m the only person who actually gets paid to be here. Luckily, they like my mix of jazz, blues, originals, classic rock, & the occasional classical piece. (Did someone ask for Canon in D?)

I do a similar event in the same location, & that was is a psychic fair.
Anyway, I accidentally overstepped this a bit, so it’s a little more peppery than usual & slightly bitter, but the maltiness is still there, & I just took the last sip.
Time to unload & play roadie.

They’ve been promising us snow on & off in St. Louis for awhile. It usually blows north of us, sometimes south. We get rain, we get sleet, freezing rain, slush, occasionally we’ll get some Thunder Snow (I love that). Anyway, it’s finally snowing, but it’s 33 F, so even though they’re saying 4 – 8 inches, by the time it hits the ground it’s slush. Anyway, I loaded up my electric harp & sound system last night, & I’m getting ready to head out to play a gig.

I haven’t drank Jin Jun Mei for awhile, but today seemed like the perfect day for it! I made some Cinnamony sweet potato hashbrowns, a couple poached eggs, a couple slices of bacon. JJM was the perfect savory compliment, malty, peppery goodness. I drank the first steep while cooking, 2nd steep while eating, & I’m taking the 3rd steep with me in my sippy cup, to savor while driving.

I stayed up late writing (after saying I wouldn’t!), but still got in my 7.5 hours of needed sleep, & my yoga & journaling. It did set me back on my timeline for this morning however (yes, even right brainers can have a timeline, however loose it may seem). So I have to leave the house shortly to visit the salt room & get my lungs in order, but wanted/needed to at least get in one cup before I go. I also brewed a 2 cup insulated thing of Bolder breakfast, which should be just about right to drink when I exit the salt spa to run errands.

I love this tea, of course, I love so many teas and most of them have a dark, rich profile, such as this one. Malty & toast-like, buttery, but not sweet. It’s a savory brew, perfect for the morning for me.

Everyone have a great day!

“sipdown”, little terri said with tears in her eyes.
We have loved this tea, with its Malty peppery savory sweetness.

;_; Even Ms Theresa is sad. She said that if she had known it wasn’t coming back she would have let us order even MOAR of it (although we did order alot). This was a tea worthy of being hoarded, & hoard it we did. So rich, so mouth-filling, so satisfying. I can’t believe it’s not coming back…sob…

On a lighter note, I love the new layout on the Verdant website? I don’t want to send anyone into a fit of tea ordering, but if you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. Under each tea type, they have folders now: What’s In Stock, what’s Out of Stock (meaning they will be getting more), and what’s Archived (meaning it’s not coming back).

Sadly, this awesome tea is in that final category. I will savor every last drop…sigh…

This was my first tea of the day. It’s been awhile since I drank it, my stock is low & I’ve been in hoarding mode, but I’m really trying to rotate through all these amazing black teas that I currently have, & I keep reminding myself that there will be more, “so drink up & enjoy, me hearties!”
I love the savoriness of this tea: Malt with a touch of honey & black pepper! It’s such a great way to start my day, like a reminder that I can be direct, strong, & assertive, but still warm & nurturing.

Little Terri is grumpy. It started yesterday, & I feel that perhaps we are fighting a viral invasion, but fight it we will! We’re drinking elderberry, & various other medicinals, eating cultured veggies & drinking kombucha (probiotics, you know), & keeping a low profile today. Tuesday is my day off from students, although I have a ton of desk work to do, but that requires very little energy. I spent last evening returning calls & emails, booked 2 gigs, & updated my website (www.harpsinger.net). Today I’ll eventually do more of the same.

This is a very flavorful & grounding tea. I originally planned to brew gongfu style, but didn’t feel like messing with it, so I steeped four 8-oz cups back to back, using 2 heaping tsps of tea. 1 minute, 1.5 min, 2 min, & finally 3. I’ve been sitting here, drinking them in series.
The profile of this tea is malty, savory, with a nice thick feeling, & always reminds me of powdered unsweetened chocolate, but here I’m not so much talking about the flavor as the body & texture.
There is also that clean & smooth ‘linen’ feeling.
I like the description of buttery toast that many have used.
Each successive steeping becomes a little more peppery.
The 3rd steep offers a hint of orange peel.
The 4th reminds me of allspice…

I forgot to mention that I brewed a cup of this to sip on while running errands to the PO and such. I’m also resteeping it, so right now I have 3 cups in front of me: This, a small cup of the Fuhai (steeping number whatever), and apricot upside down cake. I think I have a serious problem with obsession/compulsion disorder.

Little terri is a grumpus today, we are having allergies, which goes way beyond irritated sinuses to an overall sense of irritability. She’s clutching this cup of tea, like most kids clutch a favorite blankie, harrumphing at me, & saying, “Mine! Leave me alone!”.

As this yummy, malty, bold & savory brew draws closer & closer to sipdown stage (I think I have 2 cups-worth left), all we can do it savor every sip, resteeping the leaves as many times as possible.
We’re on the 2nd steeping now…

Damn, this IS GOOD!!!
Savory, peppery, malty awesomeness!
I’m on the 2nd steeping now. After the awkward moment of realizing I’d accidentally dumped this leaf in with the watermelon xylo leaf (F^@K!) & all the time it took to separate them, I OT’d a little, so the first cup was pretty strong. The main feature of that cup was the pepperiness & roasted barley, & the resulting jolt of caffeine has me feeling more energetic than I have in days! :)

For the resteep I dropped the strainer into a larger mug, & although it’s still quite bold, I do tend to like my teas that way, so we’re good. Now I’m getting more of the buttery toast flavors, with that smooth linen feel & a nice mouth watering tingle.

Now to select something for my bubble bath…hmmm…

I got up unusually early (for me, anyway) at 5:00am, so that my 2 sons (Drew age 23 and Leif age 20) could be at the polls when they opened. Last year the line snaked all the way down the block. We arrived at 5:40, and the line was about 20 people, so I’m glad we got there when we did. Within a few minutes the length of the line had tripled, at least. After we voted, we went out to breakfast, then Leif went to school (college) & Drew & I came home & made tea. He’s having Chocolate ‘O’ by the Tea Spot. I brewed 2 cups, which I’ll take to the bubble bath.

Cup # 1 is this wonderful, savory, malty Jin Jun Mei. I’ve reviewed it before, & it is tasty!

I’m not usually awake this early. I worked at my desk last night until 1:00am, answering emails & cleaning out my email boxes, a task that was long overdue (& still not complete). Then I did a few pages of Cryptograms to try to shut my brain down from thinking. Somehow it didn’t work, & I tossed & turned all night, having conversations in my head, to do lists, & other BS. I finally gave up & got out of bed at 5:45, a rising time that is unheard of in my life! I was hungry, & irritable from brain activity. So I got up & made breakfast: Fried apples with cinnamon & fried pork with cabbage. Both of my sons also got up & breakfast was served in shallow bowls, it a yin/yang sort of presentation. It was good.

Now I’m having tea. I love the way this tea foams on top every time I brew it. I’ve reviewed it before, & it’s definitely on my top 10 list of teas right now. I find myself rotating through several different black teas, & today it is this one. Richly Malty, deeply satisfying with a dark chocolate undertone & a peppery quality, this is a savoring tea, perfect for the morning. I feel like I’m getting away with something!

I didn’t like this last time, that has definitely changed! It just shows how your tastes develop.

Another day of intense study, another black tea, and another delightful piece of music. It’s really crunch time for me, so I’ll keep this brief. Today, I’m pairing this malty black tea with more philosophy (but I don’t agree with the author today, so it’s a bit frustrating…), and I’m listening to Das Rheingold as performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Georg Solti. Not the best recording, but I bought this when I was a little less picky, so if you know of a really good recording. please leave a comment.

Anyway, back to the tea, it’s very malty. Not as much as the Golden Buds that I was drinking yesterday, but it’s still the dominant flavor. The tea is a bit too strong yet to be classified as creamy, but I’d say that it will probably be next steep. Finally, the sweet aftertaste provides a nice smooth finish to complete the experience. It’s worthy to note that the tea is sweeter and a bit weaker than last time I brewed it, but not by a terribly significant margin.

As the forth scene of Das Rheingold draws to a close, so does my second cup of this tea. It must say that this was a singularly unique experience for drinking tea, but that might be due in part to the nasty weather I just had to deal with. Anyway, the malt flavor of the tea has begun to retreat a bit, and a wheat flavor has become evident. Also, the wonderful buttery mouth-feel has started to show itself, which combines with the wheat to give a sensation similar to taking a bite of buttered wheat bread, and letting it sit on the tongue. If you’ve ever done this, you’ll realize that it starts to taste sweeter the longer it sits there, kind of like how this tea has a sweet finish. Of course, you should take what I say with a grain of salt, as campus food leaves me longing for something a bit more flavorful…

As the the second act of Die Walküreplays (with an interlude of Byzantine music, see the comment from Bonnie for more info), the third cup of tea finally reached the right temperature to drink. The big developments of this cup was the malt flavor going dormant, and the beginnings of the peppercorn flavors beginning to show up in the aftertaste, lingering on the hard palate of my mouth. Unfortunately, I think this tea is past it’s prime, and I’ll probably only get one more cup out of these leaves.

Ah, the forth infusion of this tea was delightful in it’s subtleties. Most of the flavors of the tea are in decline, but the peppercorn flavor provides a delightful sensation as it dances across the surfaces of the mouth, and once again lingering on the hard palate. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else left for the flavor, so this is definitely the final cup. Surprisingly, one of the things that has stuck around until the (figuratively) bitter end was the buttery mouthfeel. Usually this little sensation would have been long gone from the tea, but that just goes to show how good this tea really is.

I’m backlogging this as I woke up this morning, and found out that 8 hours of work I did yesterday all went down the drain due to a freak accident involving how SAS saves files. Needless to say, the past 6 hours have been full of frantic programming, colorful cursing, and tons of tea. I think I got five steeps out of these leaves, but don’t quote me on that. Anyway, check out my first note about this tea for more detailed information.

Sorry that it’s been so long, but I’ve been super busy lately. My internship has gotten a bit frantic, since it’s drawing towards it’s conclusion and I want to get as much done as possible. To top it off, a small presentation that I’m doing tomorrow just got a lot more serious (The CEO and other senior executives decided to attend :-\ Lots of stress…)

Anyway, The comforting warmth of this tea is helping me relax,and I’m glad that I decided to take a bit of a break. It actually turned out a bit sweeter than usual today, and the combination of taking time to slow down and make the tea and the comforting flavor is doing wonders for my stress. I don;t know why the malty taste is so comforting, probably has do deal with something from my childhood, but I;m just glad it’s working.

Good afternoon everyone! I just got back from a week and a half in London and Ireland, and the seven-hour flight gave me a major craving for caffeine. Honestly, I had only four good cups of tea, and two of those were iced tea at Hard Rock Cafes (I went to both the original London location and the Dublin location on the trip). Anyway, this tea was exactly what I needed: Sweet, yet still very flavorful. The boldness of the malt flavor was a welcome break from the monotony of the cheap hotel bagged teas.

It was still raining today. And it was cold. REALLY COLD. And it was windy, so my umbrella was pretty much worthless. I desperately needed something bold and warn to help recover from my brief trip through the elements, and this tea fit the bill.

I was generous with the amount of leaves I used (As much a one can be when using a tea ball), and I let it sit for a good five minutes for the first infusion. the result is a deep red, bordering on black, and with a taste that was a nice creamy, yet strong, malt. Anyway, I’m sitting here writing, this, and it’s already starting to warm me up, so it looks like this was the right decision.

Ah, such a great tea to wake up with. The first infusion is extremely dark, with the flavor completely dominated by malt. This is probably because I steeped it a bit longer than usual, and I was a bit generous with the amount of leaves that I used today. Regardless, it was a great way to wake up, and I know that this tea develops pleasantly, and eagerly await the more complex flavors of the later steeps.

The second infusion has developed nicely. The flavor is more subdued, and the honey flavors are starting to emerge, thus sweetening the tea. The malt is still the dominant flavor, but the undertones of honey help bring out the best of the malt, smoothing its rough edges. And this is why this tea is going on my “always have in stock” list.

The third infusion was much sweeter than the previous two, and seems to have started to develop the pepper flavor earlier than expected. It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. Other than that, the flavors are pretty thoroughly muddled right now, but the next infusion should clear this up a bit.

The forth infusion is one of the best cups of black tea I’ve ever had. the perfect balance of malt and honey, with delightful accents of pepper to round of the flavor. I have to say, this tea developed really well this time, and it definitely topped its previous performance.

More to come later

I’ve finally used the very last of this tea. It’s been almost a year, shich is rather remarkable, and this tea still tates just as good as it did when I bought it. The bottom of my canister was cleaned out into my cast-iron teapot, and I let it steep for a bit mroe than 15 seconds. The result is a very malty tea with a bit of a linen sensation that David commented on in one of his blog posts, highlighting the tea’s Yunnan pedigree. Another nice quality of this tea is that it is very warming, which is another reason that I decided to drink it today (It’s 40 and raining here in Virginia). Also, this tea is moderately sweet, adn the aftertaste is a bit hard to explain, but it lingers wonderfully on the roof of my mouth for two minutes.

Second steep, 10 seconds. The big change is the texture, which really dominates the flavor profile now. It’s really ver interesting to feel it this clearly. The tea is also a bit sweeter, but not quite at the same level as Golden Fleece. Regardless, this tea is still a wonderful example of a Yunnan black, and if I remember corectly it will contiunue to be a very interesting tea for several more infuions.