Junshan Yin Zhen (君山銀針, Jūn Shān Yín Zhēn, "Goddess Mountain Silver Needle") - This exceptionally rare tea is in many ways the archetypal yellow tea. It can only be produced from tea grown on Junshan, a tiny island (less than a square kilometer) in Dongting Lake between Hunan and Hubei provinces. Only a very small amount is produced every year.
Yellow tea is the rarest of the six types of tea and Junshan Yinzhen is the most famous and rarest of them. Produced exclusively from the early-spring leaf buds, it is nicknamed "The Dancing Tea" because of the way the the delicate buds orient themselves vertically when steeped in a glass and float up and down.
This is the "archetypal yellow tea" in the sense that the qualities that distinguish yellow tea from green tea - being 'dry' as opposed to 'sweet', having a crisp, refreshing quality, and a distinct cacao/chocolate note - are typified by this exceptional tea.
Yellow tea is a great choice for novice tea drinkers because it lacks the astringency of green tea, and has a bright character that is immediately enjoyable. As far as the flavor and fragrance goes, it is quite subtle and almost "plain." The quality of this tea is in its Qi and the Hui Gan, aka "returning sweetness," a distinctive mouth-coating aftertaste found in high quality teas.
This tea defies conventional tasting notes. Some have described a caramel apple note, or a "sunshine" quality, as well as "lemonade without the lemon." Everyone agrees that it has a uniquely refreshing quality and clear, cleansing Qi.
