Jin Jun Mei?

Oxidized tea
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Brent D
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Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:21 am

Last night I was looking for tea documentaries on you tube. I came across a video of a couple raving about this tea. Im not really a black tea drinker, and Id never heard of it.
Whats the score with this stuff? Its hard to find any real info online. All the vendors im finding are selling it at very inexpensive prices, but what little info ive found states it should be a pricey tea.
Ethan Kurland
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Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:01 am

I do drink a lot of black tea but mostly from Taiwan the last couple of years. Nonetheless, I've tasted jin jun mei a few times in the last year, mostly courtesy of John B. and none were great but all okay. Others may have a lot more to offer than my conclusion so far, which is that I have found no reason to seek jin jun mei.
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tealifehk
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Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:44 am

Good jinjunmei is perhaps the best black tea you can get. There's a lot of crap on the market, unfortunately, and lots of 'jinjunmei' that isn't even from Fujian!

I was given a box of JJM recently. Very nice stuff, but far from the best you can get. Really good JJM probably never makes it near the Western market.

The JJM I received was a gift to my uncle from a factory in Fujian. My uncle regularly gets gifted Wuyicha and hongcha from Fujian and hands me these big, fancy boxes full of tea that he has no interest in! :lol:



I got malt and molasses notes, along with an intriguing character I couldn't put my finger on; it was both familiar and very different at the same time. Really an interesting tea, and the company that sells it specializes in JJM specifically!
wildisthewind
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Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:51 am

Jin Jun Mei is a relatively new style, coming from the same region of Wuyishan as Zhengshan Xiaozhong (Lapsang Souchong). It uses the same bushes as ZSXZ (usually "caicha", a nonspecific category of local varietals that I believe has evolved a fair amount of heterogeneity over time, though I've seen both made with Meizhan as well.) The primary differences I'm aware of is that JJM uses young buds rather than mature leaves, and is not smoked. I'm sure there are particulars to the processing as well, as the finished tea is twisted in an "eyebrow" shape, and typically has a fair amount of golden tip.

The flavors I've encountered are yam, mesquite, honey, and in one instance cocoa. I'd recommend trying one of the options from Cindy Chen (www.wuyiorigin.com). All 3 are good, but the pricier "Tongmu" one is worth trying, as it's made with leaves from the traditional growing area.
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Psyck
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Sun Dec 17, 2017 10:25 am

wildisthewind wrote:
Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:51 am
<...>
The flavors I've encountered are yam, mesquite, honey, and in one instance cocoa. I'd recommend trying one of the options from Cindy Chen (www.wuyiorigin.com). All 3 are good, but the pricier "Tongmu" one is worth trying, as it's made with leaves from the traditional growing area.
Thanks, that is useful. I drink a lot of blacks but the only JJM I had ever tried was just so-so. I had seen other oolong stuff from wuyi origin recommended earlier, so I'll add JJM to the list for when I finally get around to ordering from them.
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debunix
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Sun Dec 17, 2017 11:00 am

I was given a very fancy gift box of Jin Jun Mei, and it has been a revelation. A few grams of loose leaf are each individually packaged, so I've been drinking this one sparingly. Gorgeously sweet, fruity, delicate and bold stuff.

It came from a visitor from Shanghai, so I have no idea where to get more like it when it runs out. He had a sufficiently prestigious post that I wonder if he had 'official' access to the very best stuff.
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OldWaysTea
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Wed Dec 20, 2017 3:35 pm

If anyone is interested, here are some photos I was sent last year by a relative in Wuyishan on Jin Jun Mei Production.

Obviously the photos are not really raw and are more aimed at marketing, but you can see a couple of the important and factual details of the production process. Particularly, the leaves are set in a thin layer on a large tray table and are twist with a smaller version of the same machine used for the other teas.

Image
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mukti
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Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:13 pm

I reviewed a bunch of Jin Jun Mei on Reddit after trying a bunch of different kinds over this past year. Of the kinds I tried, Wuyi Origin and Old Ways Tea's Jin Jun Mei were my favorite price/taste-wise. One ended up being the worst tea I've tried...

I'm guessing the video you were talking about was the MeiLeaf video. While I thought their tea was great, it was... really expensive. I think taste-wise, I wouldn't say it was any better than the one I got from Wuyi Origin.

I'm no expert on tea, but I'd definitely recommend trying Wuyi Origin or Old Ways Tea's Jin Jun Mei!
Estelle Q
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Thu May 05, 2022 4:43 am

Jin jun mei has a compound aroma of fruit, flower, and honey, sweet in water with a pleasing fragrance. It comes from Tongmu Guan, Wuyi Mountain National Nature Reserve. The buds are from only 1200-1500 meters above sea level. 3,400 to 4,500 buds need to make one ounce of Jin Jun Mei. It looks symmetry and tight, gold alternating with black and black in the majority. Here are some pictures sharing with all tea lovers.
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