Premium Grade AA Jin Jun Mei Fujian Black Tea of Wu Yi Shan

(Spring 2023)

Jin Jun Mei. Dry leaves smelled like toffee, wet leaves smell like burnt yam, I flash steeped this and the burnt scent still can be picked up from the tea. This might be the maltiest tea I ever had, light in sweetness and fruitiness. However it completely lacks the floral quality a jin jun mei should have, I feel like I’m drinking Horlick without sugar. Doesn’t taste bad, but this does not taste like a high quality jin jun mei.

sold for $8.25/ 50g

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/premium-grade-aa-jin-jun-mei-fujian-black-tea-of-wu-yi-shan-1?variant=43188282589383

καλημέρα. Good morning. In a few hours, I’ll be on a plane heading to Greece. But first, tea. Need something with good flavor and a slight punch but not too much. Woke up around five because the sun was peeking in our window and of course, my body was like, “The sky is awake, So I am awake.” _. This Jin Jun Mei has all the woody and earthy notes one could desire. Barely any astringency. A mix of oak and a bit of cedar. Wet forest floor with a bit of dryness on the tongue in the finish.

The aroma from the dry leaf reminded me of sweet pouch tobacco.

I’ve seen people describe the taste as malty but I didn’t pick up on that, mostly I got roasted nut and fruity notes.

I lost count of the steeps, if I let it sit too long a slight bitterness crept in but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Interesting tea. This was my first Jin Jun Mei and I’d like to try others.

It’s been a while since I actually had this tea; I’m a little behind on my notes. So, I just have some random observations collected from various scraps of paper that had notes on them – the end result of my tea sessions coinciding with my two-year old’s tea parties… Anyway, here’s what little sense I could make of them:

My experience changed a bit as I worked through my 50g pouch. My first impressions noted its sweet smokiness, mainly because I wasn’t expecting it. Just based on the color and my impression of Jin Jun Mei, I was expecting a whallop of malt sweetness. Instead, the main flavors where thick roasted nut notes and some sweet smokiness.

As I got to know the tea, though, I wasn’t noting the smokiness nearly at all – that got overshadowed by the prominent nut notes. Beyond this, I was really picking up sweet, fruity flavors, with a little pleasant funkiness (I called this “grape leaf”).

So, it was an engaging tea that made me want to explore it more. Overall, it definitely fits in the “roasted nut” flavor profile of black teas. However, there is some noticeable sweetness and fruitiness that keeps the flavor profile complex and balanced.

*

Dry leaf – mesquite smoke (barbecue), fragrant floral, pollen, molasses, hints of grape leaf and red currant. In preheated vessel – peanut, buttery toffee

Smell – mesquite wood smoke, roasted pecan, dark caramel, pungent floral?/wet wood?

Taste – heavily roasted pecan and hazelnut, grape leaf*, mesquite, brown sugar and malt sweetness; fruity and syrupy finish and aftertaste – grape leaf, mesquite smoke, red currant, molasses and malt.

*Grape leaf – fruity, leafy, musty flavor – some fruit sweetness counteracted by a leafy greenness and slight bitterness. Musty without being earthy.