Jin Kongque (Golden Peacock)

Black Tea 2023

A handmade black tea that has a rich, sweet flavor without bitterness and a roasted yam aroma. An excellent everyday tea with full, sweet Yunnan black tea flavor, from a region where peacocks are a symbol of good fortune. Handpicked with one bud and two leaves for a balance of both fullness and richness.

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Tea Origin
Fengqing County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, China

Tea Bush
Yunnan Dayezhong (Yunnan Large Leaf Tea Tree)

Tea Maker
Han Fengqin

Harvest Time
Late March

Plucking Standard
One bud, two leaves

A very large tea tree on a hillside in Fengqing County, with several people gathered down below.
The largest and possibly oldest tea tree, located in Fengqing County in Yunnan.

Our Jin Kongque (Golden Peacock) comes from Fengqing County in Yunnan Province. This handmade black tea has a rich, sweet flavor and a roasted yam aroma, without even a hint of bitterness. This tea is made from the large leaf Assamica variety tea plant, widely known for producing thick and coating black tea with a tannic intensity. The maker of this tea, however, deliberately worked to downplay this natural astringency by plucking the leaves in the early spring.

It is less expensive than our Golden Buds, but is still an excellent example of a unique and complex high-end black tea. The name Golden Peacock comes from the Dai (Thai) people, who frequently grow and pick tea in their mountain gardens and cherish the peacock as their lucky animal. There are many minority groups like the Dai living in this region, each with their own unique culture. However, they all share a great respect for tea.

Fengqing County is also home to a famously old tea tree called Xiang Zhu Qing Cha Zu which still stands today. It is the largest and thickest tea tree ever discovered. Estimated to be 3200 years old, the tree exists under national protection because of its botanical significance. The diameter of the trunk is 1.84 meters thick, or 6.04 feet!

History of black tea in Yunnan

JIn Kong Que Golden Peacock black tea oxidizing in bamboo baskets.
During oxidiation of Jin Kong Que (Golden Peacock), the tea is covered with a wet cloth, while the tea is kept in a bamboo basket.

Yunnan Province began producing black tea in 1939. The Chinese wanted to move the business of exporting tea out of the east coast of China (then occupied by the Japanese Army) to the border of Burma in Yunnan. Two accomplished tea masters, Feng Shaoqiu and Fan Hejun, went to Yunnan to research the area for tea cultivation. They found that Fengqing County in southwest Yunnan was an ideal place to start producing good quality tea. The soil in this area is red in color and nutrient rich, and already had a good number of tea plants growing. They set up a factory and began to produce large quantities of tea. The Dian Hong company remains a large center of tea production and research in Yunnan today.

No chemical fertilizer, pesticide, or herbicide was used in the production of this tea. Click here to read more about our promise to fair trade and the environment.

Jin Kongque (Golden Peacock) brewing guidelines

5 grams (1.5 Tb) tea

12 oz 100°C (212ºF) water

3 min. first infusion

At least 4 infusions: 3, 3, 5, 8 minutes