China Fujian Wuyi 'Jin Jun Mei' Black Tea

It seems like every time I get started on getting my backlogged reviews posted, something happens that puts me further behind. This week it has been a combination of work craziness and a neck injury. The latter is nothing too serious, but my mobility is somewhat limited at the moment and will continue to be for at least the next two or three days. I’ve been able to keep up my drinking schedule, however, and have made more progress on the sample mountain, finishing a sample pouch of this tea around three or four days ago. Though Jin Jun Mei is normally not one of my things, I greatly enjoyed this one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected aromas of honey, smoke, sweet potato, and sorghum molasses coming from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I noted emerging aromas of malt and roasted walnut. The first infusion brought out a creamy scent as well as a quality that was almost floral. In the mouth, I noted flavors of smoke, cream, malt, sweet potato, sorghum molasses, roasted walnut, and roasted chestnut. Oddly, I detected no honey in the mouth, but I did get a fairly pronounced note of brown sugar on the swallow. Subsequent infusions displayed even stronger honey, sorghum molasses, and sweet potato aromas as well as something of an increased nuttiness. There were some touches of brown sugar on the nose too. New flavors of candied ginger, minerals, orange peel, and caramel revealed themselves alongside stronger notes of brown sugar and subtle, belatedly emerging impressions of honey. The final infusions offered mineral, cream, and caramel notes balanced by touches of candied ginger, brown sugar, and orange peel.

A pleasant and relatively durable Wuyi black tea, this was not quite what I was expecting. I figured that this tea would be incredibly honeyed and sweet, but this was smoother and more balanced with a nice, crisp, sharp texture in the mouth. I’m still not entirely sold on Jin Jun Mei, but this tea made me appreciate teas of this style more. For fans of traditional Wuyi black teas, this would most certainly be a tea worth trying.

Gongfu’d this jjm the other day, and while I had no idea what to expect, I got a great combination of flavors to enjoy.

Very fine-looking leaves with a strong aroma that is a blend of cocoa and tobacco. This tea was malty and dark chocolate with a hint of dried fruit, and had a very strong, concentrated flavor until I accidentally oversteeped it. After that, it got weak pretty quickly.

Refined dark malt immediately hits the palate and transitions to notes of cocoa, smoked meat, and leather. There is no sweetness here, only savory qualities. This would normally put me off, but the flavors blend well together, and the finish is very smooth.

Same type of notes, but with a vanilla note added to the mix. And it is so, so good.
Steeping: 190 F.
5
15
10
15
30
45-a bit too weak, then upped another 30-45 seconds.
I could brew this even more, so I’ll though they are probably going to be the same type of sweet potato light taste that you normally get with these teas. Either way, I’ll increase the temperature to 200 and maybe boiling which usually gets stronger flavors quickly.

I really should have enjoyed this one on it’s own the first time I drank it. The other gallons of black teas that I drank that day made me a little bit sick of black tea, but since I have this one on its own, I really, really like it. In fact, I craved it. This has the same qualities that makes me enjoy any Dian Hong with a sweet potato starchiness and a strong powdery cocoa texture. But the smokiness and cherry tobacco like qualities give it a personality. The leather quality is still as strong as ever being on the border of brown sugared maple wood bacon. It actually reminds me of an book’s leather binding, making this the kind of tea I’d read with at an old library. I’d be careful not spill this tea, of course. Black teas stain easily, and books get stained easily.

I wish I had more of this tea to enjoy again and again. I also wish that I could try Leatherbound by August Uncommon Tea, but you know, budgeting. This one is probably a way better bang for your buck anyway.