Floral Mei Zhan Jin Jun Mei · 2026 First Flush Black Tea

There are black teas that warm you. And then there are black teas that stop you mid-sip.

This is the second kind.

Mei Zhan Jin Jun Mei opens with orchid -- high, clean, unmistakable. Then comes the honey. Then a sweetness that lingers long after the cup is empty. The liquor is amber-gold, bright enough to hold light. And it keeps giving, steep after steep.

What's in the cup

Jin Jun Mei is one of China's most celebrated black tea styles -- single bud, first flush, labor-intensive by design. This version uses Mei Zhan (梅占) cultivar as its base, a variety known for its naturally floral character and pronounced fragrance. The result is a Jin Jun Mei with more lift than most: the honey sweetness is still there, but the orchid note arrives first and stays longer.

The leaves are harvested at the very start of spring -- heads of the season only -- and processed entirely by hand. Golden tips throughout. Tight, uniform rolls. The kind of dry leaf that tells you, before you even brew it, that something good is coming.

Tasting notes

— Fragrance: fresh florals and honey -- bright, clean, and natural

— Liquor: amber-gold, clear and luminous

— Sip: sweet, smooth, no astringency

— Finish: honey, long and immediate

— Resteepable: full-bodied across multiple rounds

Why Mei Zhan

Most Jin Jun Mei is made from small-leaf Wuyi cultivars. Mei Zhan is different -- a larger-leaf variety with a naturally stronger fragrance profile, traditionally used in oolongs for its floral intensity. When processed as a black tea, that floral character comes through differently: brighter, cleaner, more lifted than the standard Jin Jun Mei profile.

This is still unmistakably a Jin Jun Mei. It just has more to say.

Harvest & details

— Harvest: 2026 spring, first flush

— Origin: China

— Cultivar: Mei Zhan (梅占)

— Style: Jin Jun Mei (金骏眉), single bud, hand-processed

— Grade: Golden tips throughout

How to brew

Water temperature: 195–205°F (90–95°C)

Leaf ratio: 3–4g per 300ml

First steep: 30–45 seconds. Each round after, add 15–20 seconds.

Works well both gongfu-style in a small pot and Western-style in a mug -- the tea is forgiving and returns well either way.