Purple Needle Black Tea of Jing Mai Mountain (Autumn 2015)

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Cocoa, Honey, Malt, Sweet
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 2 oz / 60 ml

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2 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I find it hard to believe that I have never reviewed this tea. I’ve enjoyed this tea in a variety of ways: 5G + tiny yixing X 10/20/30/40/50/60sec/1.5min/2/3/4/5 min That parameter starts out...” Read full tasting note
  • “I haven’t had many Yunnan Blacks, but this is my favorite so far. I liked it better than the Golden Monkey I got from YS. I used 3g in a 60mL gaiwan with boiled water. This was not complex but...” Read full tasting note
    78

From Yunnan Sourcing

Purple leaf “Zi Cha” was harvested in Late September from the Jing Mai mountainous area in Lancang county of Simao. The fresh purple leaves were then processed into a flat needle style tea. The processed tea leaves are black with tiny golden shoots on some.

The brewed tea is citrus fruity sweet and very vibrant in the mouth. The smell is floral and grapefruit. The tea soup is a deep red-orange with hints of purple and vert clear.

A unique tea from “Zi Cha” purple tea leaves which is quite different from “Wild Purple / Ye Sheng” varietal black tea.

For more information on Purple tea read below:

Purple Varietal of Camellia Yunnan pu-erh tea grows in the superior environment of low latitude, high altitude South Asian tropics and achieves many qualities of superior tea. Among pu-erh tea, purplish red bud tea is particularly valued. During the hot, humid summer and fall seasons a portion of tea tree buds are purplish red colored. The source of the color is anthocyanin, which changes color along with cell sap acidity. High levels of acidity lead to red color, while medium acidity is more purple, and high alkalinity tends toward indigo. Anthocanin is a phenol material, and along with catechin is an important component in the medicinal effect of tea. Purplish red tea results from an inheritied reaction to unfavorable hot and humid summer environmental conditions, providing the tea tree with a mechanism for fighting scorching ultraviolet rays. Pu-erh tea growing areas tend to be between 1000 and 2000m elevation. According to surveys, higher altitude tea growing areas receive as much as 8 times the ultraviolet light of lower altitude growing areas. During the dry spring tea season, the atmosphere tends to be quite dusty which serves to reflect, scatter, and absorb most ultraviolet light. Entering into the rainy season, atmospheric dust is frequently washed away by rain. These clean, clear atmospheric conditions allow virtually all UV light reach the surface. In order to resist damage from this shortwave radiation, tea leaves produce anthocyanin, which can reflect away a portion of the UV light hitting the leaves. Although a southern Yunnan tea field during the high of the summer is a sea of green, most eye-catching are the specks of purplish-red scattered throughout. Purple bud tea trees occupy approximately 1-2% of all tea trees, and occur with varying intensities of purple. Purplish red bud tea has throughout history been regarded as a standard for quality tea. Lu Yu in the “Cha Jing” evaluating the color of tea leaves, came to the early conclusion: “bright cliffs and gloomy forests, purple is the highest and green the second”. Purple tea features prominent fragrance and rich flavor. A small number of tea trees growing on the rocky slopes of Fujian’s Zhengyi mountain, because of their red color, are given the famous name Da Hong Pao. It is believed this tea has the special ability to treat headaches. Another historically famous purple tea is Zhejiang province’s Guzhu Zisun. Purple Bud Tea, grown in high mountain ancient tea fields, is hand-picked by growers who select only young tender buds from the purple tea trees. It is solely and painstakingly processed to produce a very small quantity of heavenly tea. This tea possesses special triple lowering power (lowers blood pressure, blood sugar, and lipid levels) and a fragrant, rich flavor. It has extremely high value as a drink, a health product, a fine gift, as well as a tea to be stored and aged. Purple bud tea anthocyanin can be bitter, so it is recommended that those who do not enjoy bitter flavors reduce the strength of their brew so as to enjoy the fine tea flavor.

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2 Tasting Notes

3294 tasting notes

I find it hard to believe that I have never reviewed this tea.
I’ve enjoyed this tea in a variety of ways:
5G + tiny yixing X 10/20/30/40/50/60sec/1.5min/2/3/4/5 min
That parameter starts out herbaceous, with a sweet after taste of sugarcane and grapes, and a eucalyptus quality that rises into the sinuses as an after aroma. Steep by steep the sweetness abates and is replaced by a grapefruit taste, including the bitterness of the inner peel. In spite of the growing bitterness, this is another one of those teas with a great cosmic energy too it.

4G + 10oz mug X 3/5 min
Interestingly, this has been my preferred method with this tea. Somehow it was sweeter and I didn’t get as much of a grapefruit peel effect.

Overall, not my favorite of the purple teas, and I know this is a lame review, but that’s because I want to get back out into the garden, where I belong :)

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78
485 tasting notes

I haven’t had many Yunnan Blacks, but this is my favorite so far. I liked it better than the Golden Monkey I got from YS. I used 3g in a 60mL gaiwan with boiled water.

This was not complex but was pretty tasty. Malty, kind of chocolately notes for the most part. Maybe honey as well. I didn’t get any of the fruity or smoky flavors I got from Golden Monkey – which is nice, because I didn’t find the smoke in that particularly enjoyable. I was prepared for a good bit more bitterness just based on what I have heard about purple tea, but this one had basically none – in fact the taste was pretty delicate. This tea did not last for a great number of steeps, maybe 6 good ones and a few subpar ones. Good tea for the low price, especially combined with the sale that was going on when I bought it.

Flavors: Cocoa, Honey, Malt, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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