Yin Jun Mei

yín jùn méi

银骏眉

"Silver steed eyebrow" — the sibling of Jin Jun Mei from the same Tongmu reserve. Made of one bud and a leaf rather than pure buds, it gives the same honey-fruit sweetness at a gentler grade.

Region: Tongmu, Wuyi nature reserve, Fujian — 1000–1800 m
Harvest: Early spring — one bud and one leaf
Oxidation: Fully oxidised
Cultivar: Tongmu small-leaf bushes

In the cup

Honey and ripe fruit over a soft malt, with a smooth sweetness and a clean, mellow finish.

What it gives

A warming, gentle red — soft and naturally sweet, low in astringency, easy to drink black.

Yin Jun Mei — silver steed eyebrow — comes from the same place and the same lineage as the famous Jin Jun Mei: Tongmu, the high mountain village in the Wuyi nature reserve in Fujian that also gave the world the original smoked red, Lapsang Souchong. The Jun Mei teas were created here in the 2000s as a new, all-bud red, and they became some of China’s most sought-after.

Where the golden Jin Jun Mei is made from pure buds, Yin Jun Mei is the silver grade, made from one bud and one leaf. It carries the same honey-fruit character at a step down in grade and price, with a little more body from the leaf.

In the cup

Brew hot, around 90–95 °C, with a quick rinse and short steeps. The liquor is bright gold to amber, sweet and smooth — honey and ripe fruit over a soft malt, finishing clean and mellow. It needs nothing added, and gives several gentle, sweet rounds.

How to brew