10g Jin Jun Mei 金駿眉

Jin Jun Mei (金駿眉, Jīn Jùn Méi, "Golden Steed Eyebrow") is a famous and celebrated tea from the Wuyi Mountains which is made solely from the buds of the tea plant. When Deng Xiao Ping (the chairman of the Central Advisory Committee from 1982-1987) was touring Fujian, his daughter took a trip to the Wuyi Mountains and tasted Zhèng Shān Xiǎo Zhǒng and asked if the tea could be made into a finer grade. Jīn Jùn Méi represents a finer Wuyi red tea and unlike Zhèng Shān Xiǎo Zhǒng, it is not smoked. This syrupy yī děng 一等 (“first grade”) is the second highest grade of this tea, the highest being tè jí 特級 (“special grade”). Its Qi is leveling and bright and very calming with a full bodied, cacophonous, bright cacao and nutty taste and an aroma of tart cherry, fresh apricot, hints of citrus. Highly reminiscent of the healing Chaga and Reishi mushrooms; this all alongside a buttery and mineral astringency which rounds out its potent mouthfeel.