Every Day Jin Jun Mei / Organic Jin Jun Mei

Day 22 of the Kiani advent calendar. Hoping I can finish this by the end of the week.

I had to steep this gong fu because all my Western-style steepers were in the wash and I didn’t have the energy to hand-wash them. The dry leaf smells like prunes and very jammy, with maybe a hint of chocolate. Steeped up, it tastes of prune and jam. It’s tannic, astringent, and dry on the palate. This isn’t a flavor profile I typically reach for, but it’s interesting and it works well on a cool, overcast day. By steep 3, it’s still a bit dry but the astringency starts wearing off while a woody note comes peeking out. Didn’t count exactly how many steeps I got, probably around five?

Not quite sure what to rate it, but Gong Fu seems to work best. I get more dimension in the malt notes as it cools down and with each flash steep. Sometimes I get chocolate, sometimes I get rye, bread, yeast, and so on. Rich, dense, yet balanced and easy going. I easily see adding cream and sugar to it, but I it’s really more of a work recovery tea.

Adventaggedon Day 3: Tea 1/7

Gongfu!

Cheers to more advent related gongfu sessions – and a Jin Jun Mei no less! This was fucking incredible. We’re early into advent season still but I’m calling it. I think this is gonna be one of those stand out teas and highlights of the month.

The dry leaf is intoxicating smelling. It’s so dense and chocolate smelling – like a very high end truffle, almost? The steeped taste is a really direct flavour translation as well. Lots of packed in flavours of molten dark chocolate, cocoa powder, raisin, oak wood, charred peanuts, caraway bread, and just a hint of black cherry. Really though it’s that heavy grounding fudge-y cocoa note that keeps pulling me back in. Total chocolate-y black tea flavour bomb in a cup!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rLD_O-magc&ab_channel=JaxAndersonVEVO

Kiani Tea Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 3

I’m sure this is the same as one of the Jin Jun Mei varieties on Kiani’s website, I really wish they would stop having different names in the advent…

Anyway, this is a scrumptious tea! So thick and satisfying, and has a lovely yeasted bread flavor to it. Very sweet as well, with rich dark unsweetened cocoa notes making up the base. Also present are dark, syrupy raisins and a hint of golden honey. Just a touch of caraway gently reminds me that this is a Fujian tea. The bread notes transform slightly to unbaked dough or yeasty wheat beer in the aftertaste. And throughout the sip is a crystal clear sweetness that also lingers at the very end. Perhaps the lightest whisper of honeysuckle nectar as well?

TL,DR: NOM!