Junshan Yinzhen — one of the most prestigious teas.
The tea to enjoy the water structure
Junshan Yinzhen is the tea that represent Hunan province of China. So far this tea was presented as a tribute tea to the Russian president and many other VIP from overseas. Although it is a super expensive tea, it does not give very strong flavor like oolong tea. This is the tea that is for you to enjoy the water structure made thanks to the rich minerals exist in tea. The authentic Junshan Yinzhen gives very full-bodied and long-lasting taste. The after taste is very strong that you feel the lingering sweetness on your throat for a long time. The flavor reminds me of the fresh bamboo shoot or fresh chestnut. The moderate extent of its flavor rather enhances the taste of this tea. The feeling of drinking this tea is like tasting the morning dew in highland. Since the flavor of this tea is not too strong, the base quality of the tea leave is very important. If the tea contains less mineral and it does not perform, it ends up as a tasteless tea with no characteristic. The authentic Junshan Yinzhen gives a feeling like the sweetness is spreading over the mouth and floating along the throat. This is also the tea used to be loved by the emperor of China. He had an opportunity to have any kinds of cuisine as he desired. I guess he loved Junshan Yinzhen because of the beauty of simplicity.
The Junshan Yinzhen that I am purchasing every year is meeting the following criteria and this is ultimately the top grade of yellow tea produced in Junshan Island.
- Tea is produced in the Junshan Island
- Tea is produced from the tea tree planted from the seed
- Tea is hand-plucked in the middle of March as the first batch of tea in spring
- Tea is processed into the Yellow tea
Majority of Junshan Yinzhen comes from the area outside the Junshan Island
Junshan Yinzhen is the tea that is produced at the tea garden situated in the Junshan Island in Dong Ting Lake (洞庭湖君山岛). This island is owned by a single company. However, there are so many Junshan Yinzhen overwhelmingly available in everywhere if you visit Hunan province. You may see this tea in town, airport, tea house and many other tea shops located in Hunan. As a matter of fact, there are so many tea gardens located outside the island. In fact the majority of the tea sold as Junshan Yinzhen is not the yellow tea. Many Junshan Yinzhen available in the market is processed as a green tea.
The Dong Ting Lake is very vast. It is just like the sea.
The temple built inside the Island
The difference of tea produced in the Island and outside the Island.
There are 4 major differences between the Junshan Yinzhen produced in the island and outside the island.
The soil from the Junshan Island is rich in calcium
The soil in the island is very rich in the mineral, especially calcium. The calcium enhances the body of tea and its taste lasts for a long time with lingering sweetness down the throat.
The tea tree in the island is grown from the seed
The tea tree planted in the island is grown from the seed. The way how the root grows is completely different between the tea grown from the seed and the tea propagated by cutting. If the tea is grown from the seed, it produces the roots that is very long and grows very deep in the soil, while the tea propagated by cutting produces the roots that is very shallow and it spreads towards horizontal direction.
The age of tea tree in the island is very old
In the Junshan Island, the tea trees are very old. The most important characteristic of Junshan Yinzhen is its richness in taste. For this character, it is important that tea grows very slow and concentrate the minerals inside the leaves. The old tea tree does grow very slowly and it makes tea rich in both minerals and polyphenols. 
The ecological environment of tea garden in Junshan Island
Traditionally the tea garden situated in the Junshan Island is less taken care. The tea trees are left in nature and it is surrounded by the many weeds. This practice makes tea always "hungry" for nitrogen and thus the tea grows slowly since it lacks nitrogen supply as no fertilizer is applied. On the contrary, most of the tea garden located outside the island is managed with the modern agricultural practice. Due to the fast growing speed of tea, the manufacturers achieve the higher production quantity, yet the taste of tea becomes very light and thin. 
The very limited yellow tea
The Junshan Yinzhen = "Yellow Tea" as you know. However, the majority of so-called Junshan Yinzhen available in the market is not the yellow tea, but it is made as green tea. It is because of the production process of yellow tea are extremely complicated and not many people know how to process this tea. To make matters worse, the green Junshan Yinzhen often get oxidized and change its colour to yellowish due to the poor handling technique during storage in China. Sometimes it is hard for the people to tell whether it is a yellow tea or a green tea. The authentic yellow tea is only limited as the high-end tea.
