Bailin Jin Hao
The bud-grade version of Bailin Gongfu from Fuding in northern Fujian, made from the same Da Bai cultivar used for Silver Needle white tea. Processing the same downy buds as a black tea rather than a white one produces an unusually sweet, soft result.
Character
Soft and honey-sweet, and a useful direct demonstration that processing rather than cultivar decides what category a tea belongs to.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Fruity, Nutty
- Aroma
- Honeyed, Caramelised
- Mouthfeel
- Medium, Silky, Smooth
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- honey, apricot, warm bread
- Aftertaste
- Very sweet with a faint bready finish.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Fuding
- Cultivar
- Fuding Da Bai
- Oxidation
- Fully oxidised
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Strip rolling → Oxidation → Drying
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1–1.5 g/100 ml · 88–93 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
4–5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 5 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Tanyang Jin Hao
Two Fujian bud blacks a few counties apart. Tanyang is drier and more cocoa-like where Bailin is bready and soft.
- Golden Needle
Two bud-only Chinese blacks, both honey-sweet with almost no astringency. Yunnan is thicker, Fujian is brighter.
- Bailin Gongfu
Bud grade and leaf grade of the same Fuding black tea. The bud version is sweeter and softer and several times the price.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Bai Mudan
Shares 6 descriptors with Bailin Jin Hao: sweet, fruity, medium, silky, smooth and honeyed.
- Bai Mudan Wang
Shares 6 descriptors with Bailin Jin Hao: sweet, fruity, medium, silky, smooth and honeyed.
- Oriental Beauty
Shares 6 descriptors with Bailin Jin Hao: fruity, sweet, silky, smooth, medium and honeyed.
- Shou Mei
Shares 6 descriptors with Bailin Jin Hao: fruity, sweet, medium, smooth, honeyed and caramelised.
- Xing Ren Xiang Dan Cong
Shares 6 descriptors with Bailin Jin Hao: nutty, sweet, fruity, medium, smooth and caramelised.