Red tea · Fujian
Jin Jun Mei
jīnjùnméi · 金骏眉
“Golden noble eyebrow” — a modern all-bud red tea from Tongmu, the cradle of black tea high in the Wuyi mountains. Tiny golden-tipped buds, unsmoked, brewing a luxurious cup of honey, cocoa and ripe fruit.
- Region
- Tongmu, Wuyi, Fujian — 1,000–1,800 m
- Harvest
- Early spring — buds only
- Oxidation
- Fully oxidised (80–90%)
- Cultivar
- Wuyi xiaozhong bushes
In the cup
Honey, cocoa and ripe stone fruit over a smooth, full body — rich and sweet, with a velvety finish and no bitterness.
What it gives
A warming, full red — fully oxidised and gentle on the stomach, with the comforting body of a fine black tea.
Jin Jun Mei — golden noble eyebrow — is a young tea with a deep pedigree. It was created in 2005 in Tongmu, the village high in the Wuyi mountains of Fujian that is the birthplace of all black tea, the home of Lapsang Souchong. Where the old village tea was smoked, Jin Jun Mei is made from buds alone, picked by the thousand and processed unsmoked, to show the leaf at its sweetest and finest.
The name reads off the cup. Jīn, gold, for the downy golden tips that pack the dry tea; jùn, noble, for its standing; méi, eyebrow, for the slender curved shape of the rolled buds. It rose fast to become one of the most prized — and most imitated — red teas in China.
In the cup
Brew it gently, around 90 °C and short, gongfu style; an all-bud tea gives its best quickly and should not be stewed. A quick rinse wakes the leaf, then each short steep pours a clear amber-red liquor heavy with honey, cocoa and ripe stone fruit, the body smooth and the finish velvet. It is a luxurious, forgiving tea — and a benchmark for how fine a Chinese red can be.
How to brew
Jin Jun Mei
Water
90 °C
Leaf
5 g per 100 ml
Steep
Rinse, then 10–20 s gongfu
Vessel
Gaiwan or small pot
More from this class
