Jin Jun Mei (honey aroma)

Very nice JJM from Wuyi Origin! Think I might like this better than their lapsang. More of a potent flavor.

The aroma is insanely strong of honey. Flavor is definitely not as strong, but still strong enough. Medium sweetness; no bitterness or astringency. Lasts 10+ infusions.

Harvest: April 4, 2024
Cultivar: Fuyun #6
Location: Fen Shui Guang

(2023 Harvest) Darker roast. Malty. Honey. Hay. Dried flowers.

Backlog:
I finished this one months ago, and procrastinated the other samples. I loved it in my tumbler. Honey developed more slowly, though everything else was straightforward. Malt, chocolate,caramel, rose, butter, yams, wheat, and some other things going on between starchy and floral. I really liked it, and I wonder if Alistair has the same source.

A very nice example of JJM.
Nose; Malt, honey, sweet potato, rich
Palate, similar to nose, slight orange peel, butter, sweet.

This is the 2017 spring harvest. On smelling the dry leaves, I noticed honey, sweet potato and some pastry or baked sweets. The aroma of the brewed tea was more honey, malt as a sturdy foundation and a sense of richness. The sipped tea is smooth, malty, sweet with Demerara or coconut sugar, with a background note of sweet potato. It’s complex but not too challenging. Just delicious. The brown, carmelized sugar character was what made this tea special to me and it is one I’ll want to keep on hand.

This is an incredibly complex tea! You can tell just by taking a whiff of the steam after pouring it into a cup.
The tea is quite thick, sweet like some sort of honey, somewhat chocolate-like, it has a somewhat hearty base, maybe malt? The tea can also be re-steeped soooo many times. I use 5g in a 120ml gaiwan, and you must quickly pour out the water after so it doesn’t over-brew the tea for the first 3-4 steeps. Every steeping is aromatic and flavorful, even at the 10th steeping (although I sometimes stop drinking this tea before the leaves are completely exhausted).
The leaves themselves are uniform buds like you would expect of a good Jin Jun Mei tea. Because of this, I think maybe its better to not use boiling water. Perhaps 90 degrees Celsius.

So if you like black teas, then I think you will really love this one!
All this being said, I am not a huge drinker or appreciator of black tea. I usually prefer drinking them very casually without paying much attention to them. And occasionally I brew good black tea western style. I pre-heat my gaiwan with boiling water, put about 1g of leaf in and then steep the tea in boiling water. I let it steep until its barely hot, basically just warm. Then the tea is very strong, and if the tea is good it will also be smooth. It has a lot of richness overall and a lot of sweetness will also come out where when brewing gongfu style it might not be noticed (perhaps some complexities are dulled because of this). Then the tea can sipped very slowly, just like how I would imagine people would sip on whisky (I don’t drink alcohol, but in my mind it seems analogous, also similar in color). Each sip will have a veeeery rich flavor. Only works with fine black teas or else it will go very bitter. Works fine with this Jin Jun Mei!