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Did a Jin Jun Mei tasteoff today, though I discovered afterwards that I had left out Verdant’s JJM. Ah, well. It’s a start.

Did 2 grams of tea to 50 ml of water at just below boiling. I did not use filtered water since I think that whether or not I keep tea on hand should depend largely on whether or not I like it with tap water. Steeped each for 15 seconds, tasted, let tea continue steeping another 60 seconds while tasting and tasted again. These notes are based on an overall impression, not separated out by 1st and 2nd steeps.

1. What-Cha China Fujian Wuyi ‘Jin Jun Mei’:
scent of dry leaf – meat and smoke
taste of liquor – smokiest of the 4 teas, savory meat, very drying to the mouth
leaf appearance – medium leaf size, some gold leaves, mostly black

2. YSG International (AliExpress) 2014 Top Wuyi Black Tea Jin Jun Mei:
scent of dry leaf – savory smoke and wet leather
taste of liquor – light ash and smoke, a little bit of sweet, more of sour, leaves mouth dry
leaf appearance – medium leaf size, some gold leaves, mainly black, not nearly as gold as the product picture on the site.

3. Shanshuijian (AliExpress) Jinjunmei Paulownia:
scent of dry leaf – hardest smoke & ash scent of the 4 teas, charred wood
taste of liquor – smoke, ash, bitterness, drying in mouth
leaf appearance – largest leaves, no golden leaves, all pretty uniform black
*note that this tasting varies from my earlier note on this because that was with filtered water at work. This should be a work tea since at home I am not very fond of it.

4. MinRiver Tea Jin Jun Mei:
scent of dry leaf – not much smoke and wet cat
taste of liquor – sour, sweet, fruity like date or fig
leaf appearance – smallest leaves, lightest liquor color

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