Basic Introduction to Junlian Black Tea
Junlian Black Tea is a specialty product of Junlian County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province. The tea is tightly twisted and elegant in appearance, with prominent golden tips. It has a rich aroma with natural floral and fruity notes that are distinct. The taste is fresh and mellow, with a long-lasting aftertaste, and it exhibits a strong regional style.
Sichuan is one of the birthplaces of tea trees. Junlian County, located on the southern rim of the Sichuan Basin, has mountainous yellow clay and purple sandy soil for its tea gardens. Generally at high altitudes, it is not significantly affected by summer droughts, making it ideal for black tea production.
The local Junlian variety “Early White Tip” is most suitable for making black tea. The black tea produced in Junlian is known as “Sichuan Black Tea” in trade. Besides the superior natural conditions, the excellent tea tree variety “Early White Tip” is also an important material foundation for the formation of its outstanding quality.
Junlian Black Tea has Health benefits such as warming the stomach, refreshing the mind, relieving fatigue, stopping diarrhea, antibacterial effects, enhancing immunity, aiding digestion, stimulating appetite, strengthening the heart muscle, lowering blood sugar and blood pressure, preventing tooth decay, and protecting against food poisoning.
Product Characteristics
1. Sensory Features:
The tea leaves are tightly twisted with many sharp tips and abundant golden tips; the aroma is fresh, sweet, and carries a caramel note; the taste is full-bodied and sweet; the liquor is bright red and rich; the infused leaves are tender with many buds, uniformly red, and bright.
2. Physicochemical Indicators:
Water-soluble extractives ≥35.0%, crude fiber ≤16.0%.
Historical and Folklore
The cultivation history of Junlian Black Tea dates back a long time. According to “The General History of Chinese Tea,” “the history of tea production in Junlian can be traced back over 2,000 years to the Qin and Han dynasties, and it was already one of the key tea-producing areas in Sichuan during the Tang Dynasty.” Another record from “The Gazetteer of Junlian County” states: “In the 30th year of Daoguang (1850), tax collection for tea began.”
From the first year of the Republic of China (1912) to the 25th year, the highest annual production reached 350 tons, ranking first among counties in southern Sichuan for both color and flavor, and was sold in Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and other provinces.
In 1937, the total value of tea in the county reached 97.9 million yuan (in legal tender), becoming one of the largest sources of income for rural economies. Junlian Black Tea had top-quality standards, enjoying a reputation domestically since the 1950s and was praised internationally as “rivaling Qimen black tea.”
In 1955, the Shanghai Tea Company evaluated Junlian Black Tea as “elegant in appearance, tightly twisted leaves with prominent golden tips, dark lustrous color, bright red liquor, uniformly red infused leaves, high aroma, and rich taste.”
In 1956, the state invested 200,000 yuan to build an electrically powered primary processing factory for black tea in Junlian. In the spring of 1957, Soviet tea experts stationed in China specifically came to Junlian to observe the production process of black tea and were quite satisfied with its quality.
In September 1959, tea workers from Junlian prepared 1.5 kilograms of Bai Lu Ya tea as a tribute for Chairman Mao to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Central Committee Office replied with gratitude.
By 1959, the scale of tea planting in the county reached 11,000 mu, more than eight times the amount at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and a total of 2,000 tons of black tea were exported, selling well in the Soviet Union, Poland, West Germany, the UK, and other countries.
In 1974, Junlian County was listed as one of the top 100 tea base counties at the national tea conference.
In recent years, in response to new changes in the international and domestic black tea markets, the county party committee and government have taken timely measures to focus on restoring and developing the black tea industry. While maintaining its original color, aroma, and taste, Junlian Black Tea continues to innovate in production methods, ensuring the tea remains tightly twisted and elegant, with a fresh and mellow taste and a long-lasting aftertaste.
From 2009 to 2013, Junlian Black Tea won gold medals at the International Tea Expo five consecutive times. Since 2012, Junlian Black Tea has consecutively won gold medals at the first through third China (Sichuan) International Tea Expos.
In 2013, the total area of tea gardens in the county reached 176,900 mu (including 90,000 mu of black tea). The total tea production was 5,413 tons (including 2,017 tons of black tea), with a total output value of 200 million yuan (including 97 million yuan from black tea). Among the 18 towns in the county, there were five with tea garden areas over 10,000 mu, four with annual tea production over 100 tons, and nine with over 200 tons. There were 68 primary and refined tea processing enterprises, including two provincial-level leading enterprises, three municipal-level leading enterprises, two provincial-level model cooperatives (one applying for national-level model cooperative status), and three municipal-level model cooperatives, owning more than 1,250 sets of tea processing machinery.
The Zhejiang University Agricultural Brand Research Center assessed the regional brand value of Junlian Black Tea at 381 million yuan. The per capita income of tea farmers was 1,058 yuan, with tea contributing 13.5% to farmers' pure income. Junlian Black Tea has become one of the pillar industries for agricultural efficiency and farmers' income growth in the county.
Production Method
Production Characteristics
“Fresh, Appropriate, Fast, Cold,” meaning: the fresh leaves must be fresh, fermentation should be moderate, high temperature for preliminary firing, fast preliminary firing, quick cooling, cooling must penetrate the leaves thoroughly, and the spread-out leaves must cool down completely; the final firing time should be long, avoiding rapid drying, which would affect the aroma and taste of the tea and even result in a false dryness where the exterior is dry but the interior is still moist. The production of Junlian Black Tea pays great attention to fire control. The pot temperature for preliminary firing is generally high, and the final firing time is relatively long, accumulating heat, which is also considered high temperature. This has a close relationship with the formation of its “concentrated, strong, and fresh” quality.
Awards and Honors for Junlian Black Tea
In 1985, “Junlian Congou No. 1 Early White Tip” won the Gold Medal at the 24th World Food Fair (Lisbon).
In 1986, “Junlian Broken Tea No. 1 Early White Tip” won the Gold Medal at the 25th World Food Fair (Geneva).
In 1992, at the (Hong Kong) World Food Fair, Yizhi Essence Tea and Drunken Immortal Treasure Tea won the Gold Medal and Silver Medal respectively.
On November 21, 2010, Junlian Black Tea successfully registered as a Chinese National Geographic Mark Trademark.
On December 6, 2011, the former State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved geographical indication product protection for “Junlian Black Tea.”
In November 2014, “Junlian Black Tea” was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China as an agricultural product geographic indication.
In December 2014, “Junlian Black Tea” was recognized as a famous trademark of Sichuan Province by the Sichuan Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce.
On November 15,