Hei Jin (hēi jīn 黑金) — “black gold” Fujian red

In the cup

Chocolate, honey and butter over baked fruit and bread crust — full, velvety and oily, with a chestnut note and a long, warming sweet finish.

What it gives

A warming, energising red — full-bodied and naturally sweet, fine for a rich milk tea without any added sugar.

Hei Jin — black gold — is a modern artisan red from northern Fujian, the country of Fuding, Zhenghe and the Wuyi cliffs. The name does triple duty: it describes the leaf — near-black, studded with golden tips — flags the value of the tea, and nods to oil, that other “black gold”. Made almost entirely of spring buds, it is labour-intensive; the makers reckon some ten thousand buds for a hundred grams.

Its character comes from a deep heating with a light dusting of powdered sugar, a technique drawn from old Fujian “sweet tea” practice. The result is a unique, baked sweetness — chocolate, honey and butter over baked apple, prune and bread crust, with roasted chestnut and a faint coffee bitterness — full, velvety and oily, with a long, warming finish. It looks much like Jinjunmei, and novices sometimes confuse the two.

In the cup

Brew it gongfu, around 93 °C and short, or three minutes Western. Its body and natural sweetness make it a fine base for milk tea with no sugar at all. The astringency is minimal; the finish lingers chocolate-and-caramel in the throat.

How to brew