Yunnan Golden Tips
Yunnan Golden Tips is the all-bud, or bud-heavy, premium expression of dianhong, made from the golden downy buds of Yunnan's large-leaf assamica. It is the sweetest, most honeyed, least astringent end of Yunnan black: golden needles, a luminous amber cup, malt, honey, and a cocoa finish.
Predominantly or entirely golden-downy buds, uniform and bright; more gold means a higher grade. The cup is honeyed and smooth with a signature cocoa note and almost no bitterness. Standard dianhong blends more leaf and shows more body and malt, so if you paid a bud premium and the cup is rough or thin, the grade or freshness is off.
Produced in the same western Yunnan prefectures as dianhong (Lincang, Fengqing, Baoshan) from the same assamica material, but graded for bud content. It is sold under several names, including Golden Needle (Jin Zhen) and Golden Snail (Jin Luo) by shaping. Higher-altitude and older-tree material adds depth, and this is the discerning, export-oriented end of the dianhong category.
Gongfu: 5 g per 100 ml, 90°C (not boiling), 10-15 seconds ascending, 6-8 infusions. Western: 3 g per 200 ml, 90°C, 2.5-3 minutes. Always plain.
Solid golden-bud grades run €20-50 (about $22-54) per 100 g. Traceable high-altitude or old-tree all-bud lots reach €50-90 (about $54-97) per 100 g.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Dianhong (Yunnan)
The parent style; golden tips is its bud-graded premium, sweeter and gentler than the standard blend.
Golden Monkey (Jin Hou)
A close tippy-black cousin, often Fujian, with a similar honey-and-cocoa profile.
Jin Jun Mei
The Wuyi all-bud luxury black this is frequently sold as a cheaper stand-in for.
Keemun
The aromatic small-leaf Chinese black, a stylistic opposite to this large-leaf, honeyed Yunnan grade.
The golden color is downy fine hair (trichomes) on the unopened bud, not added or processed. Similar bud material, on the puerh side of Yunnan, goes into the highest gongting shou and fine sheng grades.