Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine

2009 Lushan Jinxuan

Posted on 4 May 2009

Tea with milk??
I have just received this package of samples from Stéphane Erler of Tea Masters (thank you!). The opportunity to taste some new teas is always exciting; this one even more so, as the package includes some rare old puer and oolong (more one these soon), and my first taste of this new season’s tea.

This 2009 Lushan Jinxuan is an interesting variation on Taiwan’s classic high altitude rolled green oolong. The variation lies in the varietal: jinxuan. Most of the renowned gaoshan (high-mountain) oolongs are made from the traditional qingxin tea cultivar. However, due to the latter’s low yield and disease resistance, a number of new cultivars have been developed over the recent decades. These are so rarely featured in a tea’s name or descriptor that tea drinkers remain mostly unfamiliar with them, and jinxuan, sijichun or cuiyu can only dream of enjoying the recognisability of syrah, merlot or tempranillo.

Jinxuan (a.k.a. as Taiwan No. 12) is one such variety of tea tree, and apart from good productivity it is known for its creamy or milk-like aroma. This is as much a blessing as a curse, as many unscrupulous producers of lower-end oolong simply boost this subtle natural aroma with artificial flavouring. The result, sold as ‘Milk Oolong’, can be so utterly repulsive I have pretty much lost any confidence in jinxuan altogether. I thank Stéphane all the more, therefore, for having sent this very enjoyable sample.

Brewed: competition style (2g / 100ml / 5 minutes)
Leaf: These tea pellets look just like any gaoshan but are really rather large: I reached the required 2g with just 12 leaves (see photo at the bottom of post). These leaves are also quite thin, resulting in a fair bit of bruising and other damage. Colour is a consistent dark green. A pleasant leafy smell to the wet leaves, like walking in a garden after a spring or early summer rain.
Tasting notes:
Infusion colour is rather light. A fine scent, vegetal, leafy, mildly sweet perhaps, with the ‘milky’ association really kept more allusive than upfront (what a relief after the low-end, artificially-flavoured examples). A comfortable mouthfeel for this classic-styled tea that in fact reminded me of continental Chinese teas such as Tiekuanyin or Maoxie. Limited sweetness, this hints at boiled vegetables on the reasonably long finish which is enlivened by some dryness. I don’t get any milk notes here.
Another session in gaiwan (4g / 120ml) showed a slightly more pronounced dairy aroma reminiscent of clotted cream perhaps. There is also a distinctive florality that is different from the lily & orchid register of qingxin: this is less exotic, leafier, perhaps tulip-like. With short gongfu-style brewings (30s, 40s etc.) the register and intensity are quite pale, though, and Stéphane is right in his description that this should ideally be infused for longer times.

All in all this an enjoyable tea with a very subtle, unobtrusive ‘milky’ aroma. But it also shows why the jinxuan variety doesn’t have the pedigree of qingxin: this tea just lacks the structure, depth and finesse of the latter.

2g of leaf after 5 minutes of infusion.

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