Huang Jin Gui黄金桂

Huang Jin Gui is a oolong from Anxi, Fujian. Brew it at 90°C with 5g of leaf per 100ml of water; expect up to 9 short infusions in a small gaiwan or teapot. No rinse needed.

Tasting notes

Cheap, cheerful, and the easiest Anxi oolong to love on first sip. Huang Jin Gui — Golden Osmanthus — comes from the early-sprouting Huang Dan cultivar, and it tastes like its name: osmanthus flower, tropical fruit, a juicy honey middle. The liquor pours genuinely golden-yellow, not the jade-green you get from modern Tie Guan Yin next door. It's missing the slight sour tension that gives TGY its bite, which is why purists call it simple — but for a weekday cup it's honestly more pleasant. No roast, no funk, just fragrance and smooth sweetness with a nutty tail. Brew cool: 90°C at most. The osmanthus aromatics are the whole point, and boiling water scorches them off within seconds. First steep needs the full 15 to crack the pellets open; after that run short and fast. Fades by infusion six or seven — this isn't a deep tea, and it doesn't pretend to be.

Flavor profile

Intensely fruity and juicy with a luscious honey backbone. The Huang Dan cultivar produces a distinctly golden-yellow liquor with strong osmanthus fragrance — more perfumed and fruit-forward than Tie Guan Yin. Lacks the slight sour-bitterness of TGY, instead offering smooth sweetness with a nutty aftertaste. At its best, a cooling quality and deep minerality emerge behind the dessert-like richness.

Terroir

Anxi highland gardens, red clay laterite soil

Cultivar: Huang Dan (early-sprouting cultivar)

Brewing

1. Steep 1: 15 seconds
2. Steep 2: 10 seconds
3. Steep 3: 10 seconds
4. Steep 4: 12 seconds
5. Steep 5: 15 seconds
6. Steep 6: 20 seconds
7. Steep 7: 25 seconds
8. Steep 8: 30 seconds
9. Steep 9: 40 seconds

Lightly oxidized with no roast — treat like a green-style oolong. Lower temperature preserves the volatile osmanthus aromatics. The first steep needs a bit longer to unroll the tightly balled leaves.

Aroma & taste

Processing

• withered
• semi-oxidized
• ball-rolled

Sources

• https://verdanttea.com/huang-jin-gui-golden-osmanthus-anxi-oolong-se-zhong
• https://yunnansourcing.com/products/premium-anxi-huang-jin-gui-oolong-tea-of-fujian
• https://verdanttea.com/buyers-guide-to-tieguanyin-and-anxi-oolong