Wuyi Star - Jin Jun Mei 10g x 2 Canned

The most famous black tea China has made in the last twenty years — and one of the youngest. Jin Jun Mei was created in 2005 at Tongmu Guan in the Wuyishan nature reserve, when local makers took the buds normally reserved for Lapsang Souchong and processed them without smoke. It changed what Chinese black tea could be.

Origin:

Wuyishan, Fujian. 武夷星 is one of Wuyishan's established producers, better known for rock tea, working the same protected mountain terrain.

What makes it: Single unopened buds, picked in early spring from small-leaf 菜茶 bushes, fully oxidised and dried, no smoke, no pine fire. The bud-only picking is the cost: tens of thousands of buds go into half a kilo, all by hand, in a window of a few weeks. The dry leaf is the giveaway, tight black twists shot through with gold down, which is where the 金 in the name comes from.

Taste;

Bright amber-orange, clear and oily in the cup. Longan and honey first, then sweet potato, a soft floral lift, and a cocoa-mineral note underneath from the Wuyi soil. No smoke at all. Full body, zero astringency, and a sweetness that keeps returning between sips.

Brewing;

Gongfu — 4 - 5g per 110ml gaiwan, 90–95°C. No rinse needed. Flash infusion, then 5s / 8s / 12s, extending. 8–10 infusions. Do not use full boiling water; these are buds and they scorch.

Grandpa — 2g per 250ml, 90°C, 2 minutes. Watch it — over-steeping is the only way to ruin this tea.

Specs: 10g · Wuyishan, Fujian · Unsmoked black tea (红茶) · Store sealed, cool, dark, away from strong odours. Drink fresh — this is not an ageing tea.