1 Tasting Note
Not Recommended
This tea while good overall is, unfortunately, not really Jin Jun Mei. Or is at least, of exceptionally poor quality for a Jin Jun Mei.
In both appearance (over-abundance of gold buds, excessive dust, and slightly too large) aroma, and taste this falls short of a genuine high-quality Jin Jun Mei. The difference is very great. This is unsurprising, given the very low cost of this tea (actual Jin Jun Mei would be at least 4 times as expensive). Still, Teasenz is generally an honest company and it is disappointing to see this product marketed as such.
Flavors: Cocoa, Fruity, Honey, Potato
Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C
0 min, 15 sec
9 g
7 OZ / 220 ML
Hi Yboc, we respect your opinion, but we would like to clarify that an authentic Jin Jun Mei should consist mainly out of gold buds, so we think the comment ‘over-abundance of gold buds’ is actually a good thing, though it doesn’t make up for the taste you don’t like. The ‘excessive dust’ is actually the ‘hairs’ on the small young leaves, which become dusty when roasted. The review is from a while ago, if you’re interested to try our new harvest then free free to email us, and we can send you a free sample.
I appreciate your reply. I am aware of the commonly claimed notion, that JJM ought be mostly gold-coloured. Numerous experts, however, agree that this is generally false and often an indication of mass-market, lower-quality tea (e.g., see: https://youtu.be/ueniI3aHNmE, https://youtu.be/9D8-ETra0sM, https://www.wuyiorigin.com/collections/wuyi-black, https://www.zhentea.ca/jin-jun-mei/, https://onemansteajourney.home.blog/2020/05/12/comparing-two-kinds-of-jin-jun-mei/, etc.; N.B. I do not endorse Mei Leaf and also dislike many of their practices, but their comments on this topic is, I believe, accurate and increasingly widely-accepted).
I am also well aware that an abundance of tea hairs is often a good thing, though I maintain not in this instance. I really think you ought reconsider your JJM evaluation and selection. Notwithstanding, I do appreciate your offer, and would be happy to try your current sample. I will email you my mailing address.
Hi Yboc, I appreciate your feedback! I think as sellers of tea we are always somewhat biased, as in we are providing the information of the teas that we sell ourselves. I do not mean this in a bad way as Zhen tea, Wuyi Origin, and Mei Leaf are all excellent and very knowledgeable vendors.
It is true that ‘traditional’ Jin Jun Mei in the past is more black with less golden buds. But more golden buds can be seen as a process in ‘luxury’. Just like traditional matcha is less vibrant green, as the ceremonial matcha quality today. This doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste better for the individual, simply due to individual preference.
We do disagree with this statement:
‘Numerous experts, however, agree that this is generally false and often an indication of mass-market, lower-quality tea’
Just as we can’t say a less golden jin jun mei must be bad, we also can’t say, just because it has many golden leaves, it must be bad. Whether you like the taste better or not, more golden buds does mean a higher grade, higher difficulty to harvest, and a sourcing higher price (ceteris paribus). When we get the Jin Jun Mei price list every Spring, the prices are sorted by grade as in the amount of golden buds. It’s then up to us to taste all the grades, and pick the one that we like the most.
Of course, quality of the raw material is not everything, and a less golden Jin Jun Mei could taste better and processed very well.