Description

Fujian Province – treasure box of famous Chinese tea classics

Fujian province, in the southeast of China, enjoys a worldwide reputation as the origin of many famous Chinese teas. For example, Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea from the province’s south is highly popular because of its pronounced honey-sweetness. Then, there’s the famous Rock or ‘Yancha’ Oolong Teas from Wuyishan in the upper north of Fujian. From the same place come renowned Wuyi black teas such as Lapsang Souchong or Jin Jun Mei. And Fuding County on the most north-eastern tip of the province is virtually synonymous with the cradle of white tea. That is, the two best-known white teas, Pai Mu Tan (White Peony) and Fuding Silver Needle come from there. Well, and last, but not least, there’s Jin Mao Hue Golden Monkey Black Tea…

Jin Mao Hue Golden Monkey Black Tea

‘Jin Mao Hue’ or ‘Golden Monkey’ is a black tea from Fu’an County. The district locates halfway between Fuding and the city of Ningde in the northeast of Fujian province.

Taste and appearance

The dry leaves of Jin Mao Hue Golden Monkey consists of mainly dark leaves/buds, interspersed with golden colored tips. They owe their characteristic, slightly curled shape to the typical black tea rolling process.  In the fresh fruity cup, the tea shows a light, transparent orange that is midway between amber and red.

The tea convinces with full-bodied taste and a complex, ever changing mouthfeel. The bold, caramel-sweet roast character pairs with a fresh and fruity note reminiscent of ripe peaches and a faint touch of orchid. The resulting aromatic combination is not only instantly pleasing, but survives on the palate even long after sipping.

Naming

The name Jin Mao Hue (chin.: 金毛猴) means as much as ‘Golden Monkey’. It reflects the visual appearance of the processed tea leaves, being reminiscent of a local monkey species’ golden hair.

Picking and processing

The tea comes from conventional cultivation and is picked with a 1+1 picking standard. That is, one young bud each together with its youngest attached leaf, is plucked by traditional handpicking.

The ensuing processing is along the general lines of black tea processing. This means, the freshly picked tea leaves initially rest to wither for an extended period of withering. After losing about 30% of moisture in this first processing step, they undergo a mechanical rolling process. This serves to break up the leaf surfaces, thereby triggering the oxidation process – a reaction of the leaf juices and enzymes with oxygen. Once the tea leaves have reached the desired degree of oxidation, the status is fixated through roasting at appropriate heat level. After this, a final drying run ends the processing cycle.

Preparation

As with all Chinese black teas, there are basically two approaches to preparing our Jin Mao Hue Golden Monkey. The former, “western” approach consists in the extensive yield of the tea in a single infusion of 3-5 minutes. The Chinese “Gong-Fu” method, on the other hand, distributes the yield of the taste and active substances of black tea over several (2-3) infusions of shorter steeping times. The first infusion can take 2-3 minutes, a second infusion 4 minutes and a third infusion 5 minutes. While the western preparation with approx. 2g/100ml water tends to use moderate doses, higher doses of up to 4g/100ml are typical for the Gong-Fu approach. For an optimal yield of flavors and active ingredients, we recommend using water as soft as possible at a temperature of 90°C or above in both cases.