Welcome to the Week of Jin Xuan

What is Jin Xuan?
Essentially, Jin Xuan is a varietal of tea crossbred from the TRES #8 and Ying Zhi Hong Jing varietals. Also known as Golden Lily or Milk Oolong, this tea is known for its sweet, creamy, and milky taste. It originates from Taiwan and is usually found in unroasted oolong form, but can also be black or green tea.

So, what is the Week of Jin Xuan?
Since Jin Xuan is one of my favorite teas, I've accumulated quite a bit of it. I recently bought every type of Jin Xuan I could find on What-Cha, and I decided that I want to try to review and taste all of them. I've also added in some teas from Tea Ave and Vital Tea Leaf to make this project a full seven days. The plan is to taste two different types each day, and compare them to each other. This is also just a way for me to end summer with something

When does it start and end?
Start: hopefully tomorrow- 8/18/15 (it depends on how long the filming at UC Berkeley will take; if it will be a day long affair, I'll start on the 19th)
End: most likely 8/25/15 - the first day of school

How will you be tasting the tea?
As I said before, I'll be tasting 2 different teas each day. I'll be brewing gong-fu style using boiling (or close to it) water for about 30 seconds on the first brew. With each brew, the time will increase by 15-30 seconds. The tastings will alternate between each tea; for example, I will brew tea 1, taste, and then brew tea 2, taste, and repeat until both teas run out of flavor. I'll be using about a teaspoon of leaf per tasting, since I don't have a scale for exact measurements. I'll give an update if I ever find out. Overall, I plan to keep everything the same for science. Note that I will not use cupping for this since I'll be drinking with other people, and I want to enjoy the tea as I taste.

What are the teas?
Here's a list of the teas:
From What-Cha: 1. Thailand Jin Xuan Pearl Black, 2. Taiwan Ali Shan Jin Xuan Oolong, 3. Thailand Jin Xuan Oolong, 4. Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong, 5. Vietnam Jin Xuan Oolong, 6. Fujian Anxi Jin Xuan Milk Oolong, 7. Guangdong Jin Xuan Mao Feng Black, 8. Thailand Winter Frost Jin Xuan Oolong, 9. Vietnam Ta Jin Xuan Green, 10. Thailand Sticky Rice Khao Hom Oolong
From Vital Tea Leaf*: 11. Milk Oolong
From Tea Ave*: 12. Magnolia Oolong**, 13. Rose Oolong, 14. Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong
*The amount of tea I have might be lacking compared to the teas from What-Cha
**There is a chance this tea may not be reviewed due to my laziness regarding labeling my tea


What's the schedule?
I'll upload 1 post- containing both reviews for that day's teas- randomly that day. As for what teas when, I'll be tasting unscented teas with unscented, scented with scented, oolongs with oolongs- you get the deal. Some days will be a mix since I have an uneven number of each type of tea, but oh well; they're all Jin Xuans. I've made the schedule for each day with a random number generator.

Day 1. Guangdong Jin Xuan Mao Feng Black & Thailand Jin Xuan Pearl Black
Day 2. Vietnam Ta Jin Xuan Green & Milk Oolong (Vital Tea Leaf)
Day 3. Magnolia Oolong & Thailand Sticky Rice Khao Hom Oolong
Day 4. Rose Oolong & Thailand Jin Xuan Oolong
Day 5. Fujian Anxi Jin Xuan Milk Oolong & Taiwan Jin Xuan Milk Oolong
Day 6. Vietnam Jin Xuan Oolong & Taiwan Ali Shan Jin Xuan Oolong
Day 7. Thailand Winter Frost Jin Xuan Oolong & Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong (Tea Ave)

And there it is! I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am.