Jun Chiyabari

A surprising tea. In a good way.

Got this tea from a friend and was not expecting anything when trying it. A lot of things going on in terms of flavor, flowery and light, yet powerful. Reminded me a bit of Oriental Beauty for some reason.

A nice change to my usual rotation of Taiwanese teas.
And so much cheaper than its cousins in India! Yet so similar.

I don’t know much about this tea. Got it in a bag of samples direct from the grower/producer. But mighty good. Darjeeling-like, with a clean, fruity edge.

The leaves for this fine tea look like Darjeeling teas. Loose and colorful, they’re choppy looking large leaf particles. The aroma from these dry leaves is light and airy. It reminds me of jumping in piles of raked leaves in Autumn as a kid.

When brewed the leaves produce a light orange liquor with a lightly honeyes aroma sweeter than that of the dry leaves.

The brew tastes just as the tea smells. Like leaves in Autumn. The texture is easy but with some astringent bite and a long drying tail.

This oolong is reminiscent of both Taiwanese oolongs and Himalayan Tips teas. It’s light, aromatic and pleasant like a Himalayan tea, but smooth with lightly changing flavors over multiple steepings.

I noted apricot and stone fruit flavors and aromas and notes of woody or fired flavors and aromas as well.

The dried leaves are pleasant to smell and remind me of Himalayan Tips while their tightly curled (but not balled) leaves are white, brown and black.

I really enjoyed this tea and would recommend it to everyone.

My notes say that this is an autumnal flush. The dry leaves smell absolutely delicious to me—slightly sweet, slightly nutty. The brewed tea is likewise slightly sweet and slightly nutty, but it’s also refined and delicate with a medium body, light floral-like note, and a clean finish. Like just about all of Jun Chiyabari’s teas, the wet leaves are beautiful.

Along with Jun Chiyabari’s Himalayan Tips, this is one of the only black teas my green-tea-only friend enjoys.