Jin Jun Mei is easy to describe badly. It is often presented simply as “Golden Eyebrow”: a rare, sweet and expensive black tea from the Wuyi Mountains. None of that is entirely wrong, but it leaves out the most useful fact for a buyer. The name appears on teas from very different places, made from different tea plants and sold at wildly different prices.

In the strict Chinese definition, Jin Jun Mei 金骏眉 / 金駿眉 (Jīn Jùn Méi) is a bud-only black tea, or hong cha 红茶—one of the six traditional Chinese tea categories—from the protected mountain area around Tongmu village in Wuyishan, northern Fujian. It was created in 2005 from the local Zhengshan Xiaozhong black-tea tradition. In ordinary trade, however, “Jin Jun Mei” is also used much more loosely for golden-bud black teas from elsewhere in China.

The strict definition and the tea-market definition

The Chinese industry standard GH/T 1118-2015 defines Jin Jun Mei narrowly. Its raw material is single buds from high-mountain tea plants within the 565 km² Wuyishan National Nature Reserve centred on Tongmu village, Xingcun town. The standard lists four main processing stages: withering, rolling, “fermentation” and drying. In black-tea production, the Chinese term fajiao 发酵 refers principally to enzymatic oxidation rather than microbial fermentation.

The same standard also says something that is frequently missed in European product descriptions: Jin Jun Mei has no official product grades. Terms such as “first grade,” “superfine” or “imperial” may be a seller’s own categories, but they are not grades established by this standard.

At the same time, a 2013 Chinese court decision found that “Jin Jun Mei” had become the customary generic name of a type of black tea and could not be registered by one company as its exclusive trademark. The case is listed among the Supreme People’s Court’s notable intellectual-property cases. This legal history does not turn every tea bearing the name into authentic Tongmu tea. It explains why the words on a packet are not, by themselves, a guarantee of origin.

Question Strict GH/T 1118-2015 definition Common market usage
Origin Protected Wuyishan area centred on Tongmu village Fujian, other Chinese provinces or unspecified
Leaf material Single tea buds Usually bud-rich, but sometimes buds mixed with small leaves
Grades No grades Seller-created terms such as “premium” or “imperial”
What the name proves A defined style and origin when the standard is genuinely followed Very little without traceable origin and batch information
Dry golden-brown buds of a black tea sold as Jin Jun Mei
Golden tips are attractive, but colour alone cannot prove that a tea came from Tongmu.

A modern tea from an old black-tea region

Jin Jun Mei is not an ancient named tea. It first appeared in Tongmu in 2005. Chinese accounts agree on the broad outline: visiting tea drinkers from Beijing suggested making a high-end black tea entirely from buds; Jiang Yuanxun and the team at the Zhengshan tea company developed the new style; and experienced tea maker Liang Junde 梁骏德 is widely credited with making the first experimental batch.

Claims that one person alone “invented” Jin Jun Mei flatten a more complicated story. The first batch came from a company team, outside suggestions and the existing knowledge of Tongmu tea makers. Liang later established his own business, while competing accounts of the invention and the name became part of the tea’s commercial history. A detailed Fujian Daily account of the early years records both the collaboration and the later dispute.

What was genuinely new was the combination: single buds made into an unsmoked, fragrant black tea in a place better known internationally for Zhengshan Xiaozhong, often sold abroad as Lapsang Souchong. Jin Jun Mei helped create a domestic luxury market for Chinese black tea and was copied remarkably quickly.

What does “Jin Jun Mei” mean?

“Golden Eyebrow” is the usual English rendering, but it is an abbreviation rather than a complete literal translation. The three characters carry several layers of wordplay:

  • 金 (jīn) means gold and also suggests something precious or high in value.
  • 骏 (jùn) means a fine or spirited horse. Accounts of the naming also connect it with the similar-sounding 峻, “lofty” or “steep,” and with the hope that the new tea would advance like a galloping horse.
  • 眉 (méi) means eyebrow and is used in tea names for fine, slender buds whose shape recalls an eyebrow.

Some versions of the story additionally link 骏 to the given name of Liang Junde. That explanation is disputed, so it is better presented as one account of the name rather than settled fact.

Is Jin Jun Mei a kind of Lapsang Souchong?

Jin Jun Mei grew out of the Zhengshan Xiaozhong 正山小种 tradition of Tongmu, but the names are not interchangeable. “Lapsang Souchong” is used in Europe especially for strongly pine-smoked tea. Jin Jun Mei is not defined by smoke, and smoking does not appear among the processing stages in the Jin Jun Mei industry standard.

Feature Jin Jun Mei Zhengshan Xiaozhong / Lapsang Souchong
Material Single buds under the strict definition Traditionally includes more developed shoots and leaves
Smoke Not part of the defined style May be smoked or unsmoked; export Lapsang is often strongly smoked
History Created in 2005 Belongs to the much older Tongmu black-tea tradition

How Jin Jun Mei is made

The standard process is concise: withering, rolling, oxidation and drying. Tender buds lose some moisture during withering, then rolling damages their cells and brings enzymes into contact with other leaf compounds. During the stage tea makers call “fermentation,” oxygen-driven reactions change the colour, aroma and taste. Drying stops most of that activity and makes the tea stable enough to store.

A final bake may be part of a producer’s drying practice, but “refined roasting” is not a separate defining feature of Jin Jun Mei. Nor should the tea require added flavouring. Its floral, fruity, honeyed and warm aromas are expected to come from the leaf material and processing.

What authentic Jin Jun Mei should look and taste like

Tasting notes are useful observations, not chemical identity cards. Cocoa, malt, dried longan, apricot or baked bread may appear in a particular cup, but none of them can authenticate a tea. The Chinese industry standard gives a more disciplined benchmark:

  • Dry leaf: tight, slender and substantial buds, fairly even and clean, with glossy gold, yellow and black colours interwoven.
  • Aroma: a persistent combination of floral, fruit, honey and sweet-potato-like notes.
  • Taste: lively, sweet and refreshing rather than flat or coarse.
  • Liquor: clear, bright golden yellow, with a visible golden ring at the edge of the cup.
  • Infused buds: single, plump, even and lively buds with a bronze colour.

This is noticeably different from the common internet claim that the best Jin Jun Mei must be covered in gold. The standard describes a mixture of gold, yellow and black; Liang Junde has also described the leaf as predominantly black with golden hairs showing through. An almost uniformly golden tea may still be pleasant, but gold colour is not evidence of Tongmu origin or superior grade.

“No bitterness” is also too absolute. A well-made example should be smooth and should not turn coarse immediately, but dose, water, temperature and time all affect astringency and bitterness. A genuine tea can still be brewed badly.

Clear golden-orange infusion of Jin Jun Mei in a white tasting cup
A clear, bright liquor matters more than an artificially dark or intensely red cup.

How to brew Jin Jun Mei

Do not be afraid of hot water. A 2023 study in Acta Tea Sinica tested Jin Jun Mei at a tea-to-water ratio of 1:22 and found that short infusions with water at 95 °C or above produced a richer, more pleasant aroma and a fresher taste than low-temperature, long infusions. Water quality mattered too: low-mineral water with total dissolved solids at or below 40 mg/L performed best in that experiment. The paper is available through its DOI record.

Gongfu method

  • Use 4 g of tea in a 90–100 ml porcelain gaiwan.
  • Use soft water at 95–100 °C.
  • Start with an infusion of about 10 seconds and taste it.
  • Keep the first infusions under 30 seconds; lengthen them gradually as the leaves lose strength.
  • If the cup is thin, add time. If it is rough or drying, shorten the next infusion before lowering the temperature.

Brewing in a mug or pot

  • Use about 2–2.5 g per 250 ml of water.
  • Start at 90–95 °C and steep for about 2 minutes.
  • Taste before automatically extending the brew to 3 or 4 minutes.
  • Use filtered or low-mineral water if hard tap water makes the tea dull or rough.

For a more general introduction to ratios, water and steeping, see our guide to brewing loose-leaf tea.

Does Jin Jun Mei contain caffeine?

Yes. Jin Jun Mei is made from Camellia sinensis and is not a low-caffeine herbal infusion. Do not assume that a delicate flavour or pale golden liquor means little caffeine. The amount in a cup varies with the tea itself and with leaf quantity, temperature, infusion time and repeated brewing. Without a laboratory analysis of a specific batch and preparation method, a fixed “milligrams per cup” figure would be false precision.

How to assess a tea sold as Jin Jun Mei

Appearance can expose obvious problems, but it cannot prove geographical origin. A trustworthy seller should be able to tell you more than “Fujian” or “Wuyi style.”

  • Ask for the precise origin. Tongmu village, Wuyishan and Fujian are not interchangeable descriptions.
  • Ask what was picked. Under the strict definition, the material is single buds, not a general mixture of golden tips and leaves.
  • Ignore invented grades. “Imperial,” “competition grade” and similar labels need an explanation from the seller because the 2015 industry standard establishes no grades.
  • Inspect the wet material. Intact, plump and fairly even buds are more informative than a heavily edited photograph of dry golden tips.
  • Look for traceability. Producer, village or production area, harvest year and batch information are more useful than a story about ancient or wild tea trees.
  • Treat price as a clue, not proof. Genuine Tongmu bud tea is labour-intensive and limited, so an implausibly cheap offer deserves scepticism. A high price can still be attached to an ordinary tea.
Infused buds of Jin Jun Mei in a white porcelain gaiwan
The infused material helps reveal whether the tea is genuinely bud-only; it still cannot prove where those buds were grown.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a well-made bud black tea from outside Tongmu. The problem begins when a broad market name is used to imply a provenance the seller cannot document. For that reason, the most honest product description may sometimes be “Jin Jun Mei style” followed by the tea’s actual province, cultivar and picking standard.

Sources and further reading