Da Jin Zhen ( Golden Needles )

Da Jin Zhen black tea – comparing 2 different grades.
Left – grade 1 , Right – grade 2 , price difference 100CNY per kilo.
120ml gai wan, 4g tea leafs. Spring harvest Feng Qing – feng qi hao (No.9)

Left – grade 1 , Right – grade 2

1) Dry leafs releasing intensive woody scent when sit in hot gai wan. The scent can be experienced also with first infusion but it changes to honey one in your cup. The dark yellow-red tea liquor is quite rich in mentioned woody notes along with touch of honey and after sweet mouth / below tongue feel .
The noticeable “cha qi” will let you know that you are drinking the tea and not colored water.

2) Dry leafs releasing mild woody scent with touch of honey when it’s in hot gai wan, but not as intensive as the other one. The fruity sweet notes with very slight touch of raw potato sticking to the hot gai wan lid will let you know about medium-mild weathering and low temp. heat processing.
Cup gives out pleasant fruity notes which are also in present in taste. The light gold tea liquor is overall sweet but very mild and with increasing infusions or time of steeping the raw potato sensation will slightly increase.

Overall judgement : both teas are good, only depends on personal preference. Although the 2nd one has not really welcomed potato influence, still its in the tolerance. At least for us. As we can conclude from the amount of steepings and overall behavior / change of the teas taste, the price is on the right spot.

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