Junshan Yinzhen, the limited yellow tea made in the Island | HOJO Online Speciality Tea Shop

We have just released Junshan Yinzhen 2013. I would convey that this is the most prestigious yellow tea in China and it is a very memorable tea for me as well. The origin of Junshan Yinzhen is from the Junshan Island; the very first place I’ve visited in China for the first time when I started my tea business.

Junshan Yinzhen must be made in Junshan Island

Junshan Yinzhen is a yellow tea produced from the Junshan Island located in the middle of Dong Ting Lake of Hunan Province. In fact, there are many manufacturers who produce yellow tea outside the Island and sell them as Junshan Yinzhen. The price for those teas is much lower and many of them are indeed green tea though it is named and sold as yellow tea. If we acquire authentic Junshan Yinzhen, it is essential to maintain the production of tea that is only from the Junshan Island. There are two reasons why this Junshan Yinzhen produced is exceptional.

1. There are traditional mixed cultivar remains in the Junshan Island.
2. The soil carries specific minerals that makes the body of tea very rich

The tea garden located in Junshan Island

The advantage of Junshan Yinzhen produced from the Junshan Island

Besides the availability of the old tea tree in Junshan Island, they strictly practice only organic or semi-natural farming evoking the tea planted on this island to grow slowly and in the process, produces stronger after taste as the flavour and minerals are concentrated. Comparatively, the tea produced within the island and outside the island has a significant difference in terms of the body intensity. Therefore, the authentic Junshan Yinzhen produces strong body and creates a very rounded tea characteristic that is rich in taste.

The top quality is always pre-booked by the government officers

Unfortunately, all the tea gardens available in the Junshan Island are monopolized by a single company. Literally, there is only one company throughout China who could produce genuine Junshan Yinzhen effecting the sales volume as well as the selling price by being exclusively controlled. Recently, to obtain the genuine quality of Junshan Yinzhen that was harvested earliest in the season from the mixed cultivar (old tea tree) and processed into yellow tea, is getting progressively tough. Since most of the top qualities are pre-booked by the government officers and big bosses of the corporations, the Junshan Yinzhen is highly demanded by the gift markets. It would be challenging to identify the quality of Junshan Yinzhen if the actual definition is not clarified and acknowledged. Due to this, you may receive a green tea that is of second- or third-plucked product or even tea that is produced somewhere outside the island.

Extremely limited supply

The flavour of Junshan Yinzhen is very delicate and gentle. For instance, it reminds me of very fresh bamboo shoots accompanied by a slight floral scent; although is really tough to describe the flavour of this tea, yet it is very pleasant. Since it is not a tea that produces strong flavour, the body and the after taste plays a major role. Due to the very limited availability, I only managed to purchase only less than a kilogram of the tea. However, if you are interested in this tea, please do consider as early as possible before the stock runs out.