Jin Guazi
金瓜子

金瓜子 (Gold melon seed). This tea is named after the leaves at harvest time. When the sprouts are starting to open, the outer two leaves reveal the center bud. At this stage the leaves are like the shell of a sunflower seed.

This production started with 50kg of wet leaves picked from older trees of my cousin's garden in Masu above Tongmu. The result is a unique tea produced from this early harvest of small pointed leaves. The dry leaves have a slight nutty fragrance while the soup is fairly thick for a black tea. When brewed quite strong the thickness further develops, some astringency emerges. The strong brew can be felt in the throat.