TeaChat

A friend recently gave me this little packet and somebody on another tea forum taught me a bit about it:
http://i.imgur.com/2sHYf.jpg

金骏眉
中國武夷山桐木关

I really loved it! It had all the nice aromas of my Wuyi yan chas but it was a red tea.

Question 1: Is there any particular way to make it? I put the whole packet(9g) in my 180ml gaiwan and poured near boiling water on it for like a minute.

Question 2: What other teas are similar? It seems Jinjunmei red tea is similar to Dahongpao in that everyone calls their tea by these names and sells them at high prices without necessarily being of high quality. Red teas from Anhui or Yunnan were recommended. Does anyone know this particular brand?

Re: Question 1.

I would do it "gongfu style" less water, shorter steeps, and many steeps. Thats my favorite way to make Chinese Red Teas.


Re: Question 2.

We may need a bit more information as to what you liked from the tea. If you want a less "colorful" or buddy tea, Yixing red is a good choice that is now becoming slightly easier to find. I wish I could be of more help but while I like red tea, I have not even come close to exploring quite a bit of them.

I don't know about your specific jinjunmei. I do know that there are a lot of fakes around. Personally, I feel there are some Chinese reds which have similar flavor profiles but are a lot cheaper. I have not personally noticed much similarity in the aromas to yancha of the one or two jinjunmei I've tried.

Jin Jun Mei...its very good tea. Its not popular - dont know why.

If you wanna brew gong fu, try 4-5g/100ml and something like 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 25 sec...I dont know how good sort you have but I can brew this tea 7/8 times.

Maybe u dont know but Jin Jun Mei is a fancy type of Lapsang Souchong.

http://www.fivestartea.pl/en_US/p/2011- ... ng-Cha/120

Not popular because it's mostly a gimmick, and was insanely expensive before people went onto the next gimmick.

Good tea, but good examples of this tea is very, very, expensive, and usually not worth it.

Thanks guys! I will try and make it using shorter infusions. After some readings it seems jinjunmei in general became super popular and thus insanely expensive. Tea makers saw a business opportunity and started calling their tea jinjunmei so they can sell at higher prices. It seems many people give it as a gift but not so many people can comment about the particular quality of flavors of their tea!

I like this particular brand. It has such a rich smell! I will ask my friend for more.

What is the normal price of Jin Jun Mei on the market?

When I was I Shenzhen, I bought it at around 120 dollars per 100 grams is that too expensive for Jin Jun Mei. It was told by the seller that There is two types of Jun Mei tea. Which are Jin Jun Mei (Gold eyebrow) and Yin Jun Mei. He said that the former one is far more expensive than the later.
Did I buy the tea that two overpriced.

For me it taste like dry longan mix with black tea, and it is very nice to brew it cold.

My 2 cents.

I am a complete tea newbie. I used not to drink tea, which I associated to overly bitter stuff sold in small bags. But last May I tasted two teas I found so good, that I have started a journey in tea. One of those teas was a Darjeeling, the other one was a Jin Jun Mei (JJM).

The reason I feel I can chime in even though I am a newbie, is that I used the JJM I found so good, as a starting point to test teas. I first tried to find teas similar to it, then branched out everytime I found another good tea (and I have found some that I like better ). So far I have tested more than 100 teas, including several ones called JJM, and I have kept records of all tasting sessions.

After this introduction, here is my opinion.

Yin Jun Mei: it is indeed less expensive than JJM. It is a very good tea but completely different from its semi-namesake.
I believe it is made from the same cultivar, but it is lightly smoked. So if you like lightly smoked lapsang souchong, you will like Yin Jun Mei.

JJM: I am pretty sure the one that got me hooked on tea was NOT authentic JJM. It was pricey as teas go, but certainly not at the price level I am told authentic JJM goes for. I have not been able to find a so-called JJM as good as the first one. "Never as good as the first one", LOL. So for the time being, I am sticking to my source for this one and I have stopped testing other JJM.

Similar teas: JJM is a pure bud tea. You may like to try other pure bud teas. I did not find a pure bud tea tasting exactly like JJM, but many have a "something", a "Je-ne-sais-quoi", a commonality with JJM.

This is actually how I found a red tea that I prefer to JJM. It is Chuan Hong Jin Ya. It tastes different, more floral, and I just love it. Even if, my favorite teas are now oolongs. But thank you JJM, you got me started on tea.

brunogm wrote:My 2 cents.

I am a complete tea newbie. I used not to drink tea, which I associated to overly bitter stuff sold in small bags. But last May I tasted two teas I found so good, that I have started a journey in tea. One of those teas was a Darjeeling, the other one was a Jin Jun Mei (JJM).

The reason I feel I can chime in even though I am a newbie, is that I used the JJM I found so good, as a starting point to test teas. I first tried to find teas similar to it, then branched out everytime I found another good tea (and I have found some that I like better ). So far I have tested more than 100 teas, including several ones called JJM, and I have kept records of all tasting sessions.

After this introduction, here is my opinion.

Yin Jun Mei: it is indeed less expensive than JJM. It is a very good tea but completely different from its semi-namesake.
I believe it is made from the same cultivar, but it is lightly smoked. So if you like lightly smoked lapsang souchong, you will like Yin Jun Mei.

JJM: I am pretty sure the one that got me hooked on tea was NOT authentic JJM. It was pricey as teas go, but certainly not at the price level I am told authentic JJM goes for. I have not been able to find a so-called JJM as good as the first one. "Never as good as the first one", LOL. So for the time being, I am sticking to my source for this one and I have stopped testing other JJM.

Similar teas: JJM is a pure bud tea. You may like to try other pure bud teas. I did not find a pure bud tea tasting exactly like JJM, but many have a "something", a "Je-ne-sais-quoi", a commonality with JJM.

This is actually how I found a red tea that I prefer to JJM. It is Chuan Hong Jin Ya. It tastes different, more floral, and I just love it. Even if, my favorite teas are now oolongs. But thank you JJM, you got me started on tea.

At Yunnansourcing.com they sell a pure bud Simao black(red) tea that is excellent and very inexpensive. Yunnan reds are on the sweet side and contrast nicely with Darjeelings for those who are fans of black/red teas.

Having a 2012 Wuyi Jin Jun Mai tasting to start the New Year of the Snake.
Even this is a gift from an official, the taste does not match up to the original production

I think the closest tea is Sichuan gongfu red in overall profile. It will definitely not have Wuyi mineral terroir, but this is often sold as fake JJM due to the similarities. Yunnan red IMO not even close, if it is made from da ye varietal. Even pure gold bud versions will have very different taste to JJM. Maybe you can experiment with basic Tongmu red (no pine smoke), bai Lin gongfu, Sichuan gongfu, and yixing red, let us know what characterics you like best!

shah82 wrote:Not popular because it's mostly a gimmick, and was insanely expensive before people went onto the next gimmick.

Good tea, but good examples of this tea is very, very, expensive, and usually not worth it.

Good examples of many other teas are very expensive not only JJM

brunogm wrote: Yin Jun Mei: it is indeed less expensive than JJM. It is a very good tea but completely different from its semi-namesake.
I believe it is made from the same cultivar, but it is lightly smoked. So if you like lightly smoked lapsang souchong, you will like Yin Jun Mei.

JJM: I am pretty sure the one that got me hooked on tea was NOT authentic JJM. It was pricey as teas go, but certainly not at the price level I am told authentic JJM goes for. I have not been able to find a so-called JJM as good as the first one. "Never as good as the first one", LOL. So for the time being, I am sticking to my source for this one and I have stopped testing other JJM.

Similar teas: JJM is a pure bud tea. You may like to try other pure bud teas. I did not find a pure bud tea tasting exactly like JJM, but many have a "something", a "Je-ne-sais-quoi", a commonality with JJM.

Hi Everyone,

I realize I'm joining the party a bit late but I just need to clarify does this mean that Jin Jun Mei is not smoked? and that only Yin Jun Mei is smoked?

I got gifted a small container of what was label "Jin Jun Mei" but it was smoky... pardon the newbie question.

78

1. JJM should be prepared in lower temp to other black teas.

2. That's funny. Real JJM comes from Tong Mu village (the village where used to produce Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong)..the quantity available is not many and they only select early spring leaves..that's why they are expensive.

According to Baike, they select leaves from 1,200~1,600 altitude of China national reserve..like the way they classify in Taiwan...


You are right that they extend the value of name to many available products aside the origin. Feeling from the skin, I don't think you could get a real JJM for less than 100usd/100g (wholesale value)..

chrl42 wrote:1. JJM should be prepared in lower temp to other black teas.

2. That's funny. Real JJM comes from Tong Mu village (the village where used to produce Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong)..the quantity available is not many and they only select early spring leaves..that's why they are expensive.

According to Baike, they select leaves from 1,200~1,600 altitude of China national reserve..like the way they classify in Taiwan...


You are right that they extend the value of name to many available products aside the origin. Feeling from the skin, I don't think you could get a real JJM for less than 100usd/100g (wholesale value)..

Well the gifter "claimed" that it cost him 500 USD for this small tin... or so he claims

Is JJM also smoked? -- being that it is a lapsang souchong.

78