Jinjunmei Tea (Golden Eyebrows Tea), Chinese Black Tea

If Arthur Conan Doyle had wanted to pen a mystery set in China, he would have sent Sherlock Holmes to find some Jin Jun Mei tea. And Holmes likely would have failed. For Jin Jun Mei is an extremely rare tea. However, due to a collaboration between Yezi Tea and tea farmer Wu Qiong, we are able to bring you the finest Jin Jun Mei from the Tan Yang Mountains of China.

Jin Jun Mei grows at 4,500 feet above sea level, at which altitude there is very little agricultural land available to grow tea. This in large part explains why there is so little Jin Jun Mei to go around. But we can be thankful for the little Jin Jun Mei that is available every year. This loose-leaf tea, like no other, engages your senses at multiples levels: with its complex taste, whose body and rhythm evolve for as many as fifteen brews; its fragrance, which evokes a world of faraway orchids; and the tea leaves themselves, which are shaped like eyebrows perched neatly over dove-shaped eyes.

Use: 4-5 grams or 3 tsp. of tea
Water amount: 1 gram of tea / 50-60ml of water or 1 tsp. of tea / 3 oz. of water
Time of day: Daytime after meals
Temperature: 95-100 °C or 203-212 °F
Brew: 4-5 times
First brew: 1:30 minutes:seconds
Subsequent brews: Add 10 seconds
Recommended tea set: Lu Yao porcelain or glass tea set

Tea brewing is an art - and you are the artist! Just as a jazz musician adds individual touches to make a composition unique, you can add your own individual flourishes to make your tea stand out. The guidelines provided above are derived from two time-tested principles: 1) The more oxidized a tea, the higher the temperature you will need, and 2) Smaller tea pots allow for more control over the brewing process and are especially recommended for lighter teas. That said, we encourage you to experiment with the amount of tea you use, water temperature, tea utensils, and infusion times to conjure up your own "Aha!" moment.