Tag: Teakan

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Teakan’s Jin Jun Mei

Jin Jun Mei by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 66g

Jin Jun Mei is part of Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Jin Jun Mei makes up 15g of the 66g kit.

First Impressions

It’s taken me a bit longer than expected to work my way through Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit – but here we are! This is the fourth tea, Jin Jun Mei. This is a black tea from Tong Mu Guan, Fujian, China. It comes in a kraft paper pouch that’s sealed and resealable, with the very similar black and white label on the side that has information on both the front and the back side. The packaging is minimalistic and sufficient, providing the information that you need when it comes to steeping this tea. This particular tea was harvested in spring 2020, which also intrigues me a bit because getting to try out fairly young teas is always a treat, especially when it comes to single origin teas.

The leaves themselves are beautiful – there’s lots of downy softness to these tea leaves, and bright golden yellow tips that outshine their darker counterparts in this little mound of tea leaves. The aroma is sweet and lightly smokey – it reminds me of the remnants of a campfire the next morning. Jin Jun Mei is enticing, feels to me like it would even bit a bit bold in flavour after being steeped.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Jin Jun Mei in 90°C (194°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes for the western steeping style; if opting to steep Jin Jun Mei in the gongfu method, Teakan recommends the same water temperature but only steeping for 3 to 5 seconds. Because my gaiwan is still living in storage, I opted to do the western style and did an initial steep at 3 minutes.

First Taste

Jin Jun Mei steeps to this beautiful, impossibly bright golden yellow. It almost reminds me of how bright saffron can be, that’s just how intense this yellow is. The aroma is slightly smoky, just like the dry leaf, with a hint of sweetness. The tea itself has a strong mouthfeel, with a thickness to the tea that makes it really coat the inside of your mouth. The flavour is malty, smoky, with just the hint of apricots lingering in the background, which really just adds a touch of sweetness to it. There’s an almost bitter aftertaste that only stays for a short while before it goes away on its own. There’s a touch of astringency, but it doesn’t make my mouth feel dry.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Jin Jun Mei a total of five times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. Jin Jun Mei gets a bit more malty and less astringent as the steeps go on, but I do find that the sweetness doesn’t change too much. There’s still that slight bitter aftertaste, but it’s not enough to put me off from finishing the cup (or pot). It’s a nice candidate for resteeping, as far as black teas go.

My Overall Impression

I liked Teakan’s Jin Jun Mei. I thought this tea did lovely when it came to steeping and resteeping, and it has a great flavour. I probably would have ranked it a bit higher if it weren’t for the astringency and bitter notes that I found – they weren’t enough to put me off from drinking it, but it also stands out to me that those flavour notes are there. I think starting at 3 minutes perhaps was a bit too harsh on the tea leaves, and I would definitely not recommend steeping beyond the recommended length of time, for fear of the tea getting more bitter. I do love the colour though, it’s such a shocking sunshine yellow colour and really just puts a smile on my face.

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Teakan’s Moonlight White

Moonlight White by Teakan
White Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 66g

Moonlight White is part of Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Moonlight White makes up 10g of the 66g kit.

First Impressions

A good white tea is occasionally hard to come by. There’s just something lovely about a minimally processed tea – something as close to being freshly plucked off of the plant as you can get… And then there’s Teakan with their Moonlight White as part of their 3rd Exploration Kit. Moonlight White was harvested in spring 2020, so it’s pretty new to the world. It is from Simao, Yunnan, China. It comes in the very familiar kraft paper pouch that is sealed and resealable with the minimalistic labeling design that Teakan uses – white with plain black lettering. Just something about it that I love. While this pouch only contains 10g of tea (it is part of a sampler, after all), 10g can go along way when it comes to a straight tea. Plus,  I feel like the leaves just take up so much space and it definitely feels like more than 10g of tea.

The leaves are wildly diverse in colour – ranging from pale cream to dark brown. There’s lots of feathery bits visible in the leaves, it’s quite amazing how detailed the leaves are after going through the drying process to become tea. There’s minimal to no twist in the leaves and they honestly look like someone plucked them and just dropped them onto a tray to dry. But look! They just take up so much space, so you really get quite an airy tea for 10g. The aroma of Moonlight White is honey sweet and floral – it reminds me of spring and taking walks in the forest after a rain – it just has a freshness about it.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Moonlight White in 90°C (194°F) water for 2-3 minutes if steeping western style and 25-30 seconds if steeping gongfu style. For my own personal preference, I opted to steep Moonlight White in the western style for an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

As you can see, Moonlight White steeps quite a pale yellow in the initial steep. The aroma of the steeped tea is very similar to the dry leaf – sweet and floral. The floral is really light, but doesn’t taste as being like a floral perfume which is a huge plus. I enjoy the gentle sweetness in each sip and it has a great mouthfeel to it, just a lightly thickened texture to it. A pleasant and smooth cup of tea to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Moonlight White a total of seven times (eight steeps total with the same leaves). The tea itself got darker and more golden yellow as I did more resteeps, and the flavour skewed more towards floral while I think the level of sweetness remained fairly similar to the initial steep. There was also more fruity notes as I continued steeping, but it remains floral-forward. It reminds of the fruity flavours of lychee if I needed to give it a label.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Moonlight White. This is such a pleasant white tea and I feel like it was just so giving – so good to resteep, a great flavour with a natural sweetness, and just makes for a nice cup of tea. I would highly recommend resteeping this if you have the time for it because it’s well worth it. Beautiful leaves with a beautiful flavour. This is the type of tea that just makes me really appreciate the tea plant in its purest form.

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Teakan’s Qi Lan

Qi Lan by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 66g

Qi Lan is part of Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Qi Lan makes up 10g of the 66g kit.

First Impressions

Oolong is the type of tea that sort of intrigues me the most. There’s such a wide variety, and they typically resteep really, really well. To the point where it almost doesn’t matter what the price is set at because a good quality oolong means that you can get at least 7-8 steeps out of the same leaves at the bare minimum. Qi Lan is a spring harvested tea from 2020 and came to me via Teakan from Wuyishan, Fujian, China. The leaves came in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with a familiar minimalism label on the front and the back of the pouch.

The leaves themselves are dark – ranging from a green and grey, with slight twists along the leaves. They’re pretty big, and not bunched up too much. There’s a nice aroma to it – it has floral aroma to it that reminds me a bit of jasmine, with an earthy aroma in the background that reminds me of that fresh, after rain smell. It’s a pretty tea to look at.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Qi Lan in 98°C (208°F) water for 2-3 minutes for western steeping and 10-15 seconds for the gongfu steeping method. I opted to do the western style steeping and followed the steeping instructions with slightly cooled down boiled water (100°C/212°F).

First Taste

Qi Lan steeps to a beautiful golden yellow – just look at it! Pure sunshine in a cup. It has a lovely floral aroma to it, and that earthiness that I found earlier has changed a bit – it’s less noticeable. Taste wise, I do taste floral notes, some earthiness that reminds me of raw mushrooms and moss, with a slight mineral-water aftertaste at the tail end of each sip. It’s quite tasty, and it has a very pleasant mouthfeel to it.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Qi Lan a total of nine times (ten steeps total with the same leaves). The tea became less mineral and earthy in flavour and became more buttery and floral. The colour stays a pretty golden yellow and just has a nice flavour to it throughout all the steeps.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Qi Lan. From the lovely low twisted leaves to the flavour from the first cup, this oolong delivers on taste. I think it performs beautifully and love that it steeps so well repeatedly – a good ten steeps with the same leaves is nothing to sneeze at. This is definitely a tea for a long tea steeping session throughout the day, and one to share with friends over a good laugh (when appropriate to do so).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.