Jun Shan Yin Zhen 君山銀針
No 1 Spring 2015 / Packet (4 grams)
$199.00
Sale price
$199.00
Regular price
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Jun Shan Yin Zhen 君山銀針
$199.00
Sale price
$199.00
Regular price
This tea belongs to the Yellow Tea tradition.
Tea Drunk ReserveThe best vintage of each tea.
- TypeYellow Tea
- TerroirJun Shan · Hu Nan
- CultivarIndigenous Heirloom
Jun Shan Yin Zhen is China's rarest tea and considered a Chinese Famous Tea. While the knock-off versions are plenty, there's only one tea maker on the tiny Jun Shan Island, and the tea estate is state-owned until 2017. It's a highly delicate tea with a lingering crisp sweetness. It is truly a rare, unique experience to taste this tea from its true origin.
The Three Pillars · 君山銀針
Place · terroir
Jun Shan Dao (Jun Shan Island), Yue Yang, Hu Nan province, China (~60m elevation)
Plant · cultivar
Indigenous Heirloom
Craft · type
Yellow Tea
In the cup
This vintage
No 1 Spring 2015
Corn, hay, tender mouthfeel with lingering crisp sweetness
This incredible tea has notes of corn and hay. It has a tender mouthfeel with a lingering crisp of sweetness. If we had to choose one note that stands out to us here, it would be corn.
The making
Jun Shan Yin Zhen is a Huang Ya Cha (yellow bud tea), a traditional yellow-tea classification based on bud-only picking. Only unopened buds are harvested in early spring, usually beginning in the first half of March. Its making applies high heat for kill-green, then semi-dries the leaves by baking, seals them for 48 hours of yellowing, bakes them again, gives them another roughly 24 hours of yellowing, and finishes with charcoal drying. Infrared technology is used during kill-green for precise control. Tea Drunk carries four cultivars: Heirloom, Yin Zhen No. 1, Bi Xiang Zao, and Fu Yun. Yin Zhen No. 1 is the rarest; only 8.5 kg were produced in 2015.
How to brew
History & significance
Never privatized from dynasty time to the republic era, this bona fide modern tribute tea usually goes directly to the government and is reserved to treat visiting diplomats. Jun Shan Yin Zhen means Silver Needle tea from Jun Shan. Mr. Guo is the only man in the world who knows how to make this ancient yellow tea, and he receives a special government stipend for his dedication in carrying the craft (with over 30 people helping).