2016 Gao Jia Shan "Ben Se Ju" Tian Jian Tea of Hunan

Name: 2016 Gao Jia Shan "Ben Se Ju" Tian Jian Tea of Hunan
Brand: Gao Jia Shan
Price: 72.0 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

by Gao Jia Shan

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$9.50 - $72.00

$9.50

$9.50 - $72.00

$9.50

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This is from the Gao Jia Mountain area of Hunan. This is wild tea picked in April then processed over a period of two months undergoing multiple low temperature roastings. The result is a Tian Jian tea that resembles a Wu Yi oolong in many respects. The taste is incredibly thick and complex. There is no smokiness or peaty tastes like many other Tian Jian.

The leaves are full and range from medium to large (compared to other Tian Jian). It's not a graded tea, it's a very natural oolong style picking where the maturity of the leaves and buds are individually decided upon by the picker (yes... hand-picked).

You can purchase this tea in a 500 gram basket or in lesser quantities. Ideally if you plan to age this tea (and I do recommend aging some if you have the resources) it would be good to age in the basket.

Vintage: Spring 2016 harvest

Area: Gao Jia Mountain in Hunan Province

500 grams of tea per basket

Overall rating: 3.75 / 5 from 4 reviews.

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Review topics: ["taste","tian jian","smokiness","tea","leaves"].

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Reviews

Favorite Tian Jian!

"This is hands down my favorite Tian Jian. I think some other reviewers were expecting this Tian Jian to be smoky and unctuous. However, it's more like an oolong with subtle mineral notes, no smokiness and lots of sweet honey and fruit taste! The leaves are beautiful and full. This is the cadillac of Tian Jian as far as I am concerned!"

— Jessie D. (5/5)

Not my style

"I picked up 50g of this tea to sample when I was exploring Tian Jian for the first time a few years ago. It seems to be less oxidized and/or less fermented and "greener' in style than other Tian Jian. After several attempts to get to know this tea using different brewing parameters, I found the flavor to be disappointing and not very memorable, but maybe it just needs to be aged a bit to deepen the flavor. I'll try again in a few years. The texture of the liquid tea seems to be what it has going for it as it is quite thick and lubricating. But this tea did not wow me in the least. I prefer the dark molasses style of Tian Jian like the "Gao Jia Shan Wild Tian Jian in a Bamboo Basket"."

— Ryan P. (2/5)

Tastes like a smoking pipe

"The description says: «The taste is incredibly thick and complex. There is no smokiness or peaty tastes like many other Tian Jian.» This is my first experience with wet piled tea from Hunan. Compared to ripe puerh from Yunnan I would definitly not describe the taste as «incredibly thick» allthough it might be «complex». I also strongly disagree with the assumption that «there is no smokieness». My first thought as I tasted the tea was «smoke from a pipe». Apart from this the tea was nice but not as interesting as the other Hunanese tea that I bought: https://yunnansourcing.com/products/2015-gao-jia-shan-cha-duo-tang-wild-harvested-hunan-fu-brick-tea"

— Svein F. (3/5)