Yunnan Sourcing

Finished a sample of this tea from my own dry storage. Quite different compared to the one that was more humid-stored from mrmopar. Depth and punch are similar but my own is notably greener, more like yerba mate — slight smoke and moderate alkaline savoriness with a strong herbaceous hay-tobacco note, but topped off with a heap of pollen, a chunk of beeswax, and later, a spoonful of apricot jam.

Two nights in a row of 2013 Chen Sheng Hao Na Ka sheng — from mrmopar 5 years ago? Hope you’re well tea friend.

Plastic baggie California storage ain’t no thing to this tea. Champ leaf. Roasted barley nose. Starts moderately date-sweet, then quickly moves astringent with the second cup. That softens with the next 8 or so steeps as cactus bitters prickle my tastebuds. Bittersweet throat. Ends gently sweet with the long steeps. The sheng that end sweet make it feel like a complete experience. Only issue is it’s a bit thin some pours.

This had been humid-stored before it landed in my cupboard. Wet, decaying wood and some rain-filled ashtray notes. Sounds notsogood, but if you know what you’re getting into, it might be a welcome flavor. This tea, both evenings, has paired well with laying down in bed :)

Jin Jun mei sampler. Spoilers: None of them are high quality jin jun mei, professional sommeliers might not consider any of these real jin jun mei. All the brews came out red or orange instead of golden. The set is $44/200g, it’s on me to think it’s possible to get the real stuff at this price point. The teas taste fine, but these are fancy lapsangs at best.

sold for $44

https://yunnansourcing.us/products/introduction-to-jin-jun-mei-black-tea-sampler

Loose black tea leaves. Sugary smell from dry leaves, yam scent from wet leaves, this one does taste good when you flash steep it and ONLY when you flash steep it. Honey, malt, light fruit.

Problem: The tea isn’t made out of buds, and real Jin Jun Mei is an all buds tea. Most leaves are broken, majority at 0.5 – 0.75 inches, longest at 1 inch.

The tea is reminiscent of a Jin Jun Mei and tastes pretty good if you steeped it the right way, but it’s still not a Jin Jun Mei, like how a good salmon roe is not a caviar. For that reason points are deducted, but this is the better tea from Yunnan Sourcing’s Jin Jun Mei sampler.

sold for $7.50 / 50g

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/classic-robust-jin-jun-mei-black-tea-of-fujian?variant=32460494110823

Yunnan Sourcing included a generous sample of about 16.3 grams of this tea with my recent order. Dry leaves don’t seem nearly as green as what is pictured, and what I have here is more a mixture of green and brown. It is now roughly 10 months after harvest, so maybe the leaves have oxidized more in the packaging? I don’t know. There are quite a few white tips evident in the dry leaf. At first I thought a lot of twigs were included in the mix, but I think this is mostly due to the “large leaf” nature of the Yunnan tea – the stems are larger and more prominent as well, maybe? There are some rather large twigs.

Brews to a nice clear amber color, with the wet leaves giving me a smell reminiscent of Darjeeling black tea. The flavor is kind of similar to a second flush Darjeeling, too, with muscatel notes, but also with a pleasant oakiness. Much lighter in body than a typical black tea, of course. It is pretty nice, and a good value for the price.

I prefer the much greener bai mu dan I purchased a while back from English Tea Store – It had more delicate but delicious flavors including hints of mint, pine, apricot, green grape, etc – But was also a bit more expensive.

On the other hand, I would prefer this to the “pai mu tan” I purchased from Harney and Sons not too long ago – That one was kind of blah.

Seems to me to be down the road a ways and somewhere between a bai mu dan and a shou mei. That is pretty much alright with me, as I like a good shou mei. Never purchased a proper one, but maybe this is more akin to a gong mei?

Another winner from Yunnan Sourcing. I am drinking the Spring 2023 version of this tea, and find it to be quite nice. It is reminiscent to me of the Spring Pouchong I tried from English Tea Store, but also has its own unique characteristics. Dry leaves are beautifully formed and very much as pictured.

I think the ideal brewing temp might be around 185°, but works very well with the insta-hot water dispenser at my office, which I suppose is around 195°. I notice honeydew melon, (lilac?) florals, and a touch of creamy lemon curd in the flavor. Also pleasant hints of grassiness. I brew western style, first steep 2 min, second steep 3 min, and third steep 4-5 minutes seems to work well with this tea. I notice the flavors seem to pop more on the second steep, so might try adjusting my first steep to get similar results. Awesome tea!

Jin Jun Mei. Dry leaves smelled like toffee, wet leaves smell like burnt yam, I flash steeped this and the burnt scent still can be picked up from the tea. This might be the maltiest tea I ever had, light in sweetness and fruitiness. However it completely lacks the floral quality a jin jun mei should have, I feel like I’m drinking Horlick without sugar. Doesn’t taste bad, but this does not taste like a high quality jin jun mei.

sold for $8.25/ 50g

https://yunnansourcing.com/products/premium-grade-aa-jin-jun-mei-fujian-black-tea-of-wu-yi-shan-1?variant=43188282589383

Just beautiful – Glad I chose to go with Yunnan Sourcing for my latest tea order! This is everything I want in a black tea – Strong, assertive taste without bitterness, orchid florals, nice peachy notes (like a good dark formosa oolong), honey-like sweetness, and some nice chocolate-y notes (without going too far in that direction). And all that without breaking the bank. The dry tea leaves are beautifully formed, clearly reflecting the one leaf/one bud picking. And I can’t believe they offer a higher “imperial” version of this one – That is definitely going on my list next time I make an order. This tea is magical.

A decent buttery tea that’s on the savoury side with very little bitterness and astringency.

Dry leaves smell of sawdust and earth, wet ones more like popcorn, fern fiddleheads and milk. Early steeps are a bit sweet and fruity, later ones become a bit more savoury. There are notes of popcorn, green pepper, butter, and banana to be found.

Grandpa Style!

It’s still very chilly and gross outside, so I needed a comfort tea today but wanted to switch things up from the shou I’ve been really gravitating towards as of late. This slick sun dried Feng Qing hongcha with snow chrysanthemum has always been a favourite of mine, and today the super syrupy and intensely soothing medicinal flavours of the chrysanthemum perfectly hit the spot and really warmed me up from the inside out. It’s amazing how this tea flips back and forth so fluidly between being almost saccharine in its citrusy florals to having such biting bitterness. I love both sides of the coin though, and honestly this tea has only continued to get richer and more pleasing with age!!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2IxuiJuDoO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgrMZ0jjLCE

Thickly textured and refreshing, but the flavor is milder than I prefer – brewing it strong just makes it bitter. I’d like to see some age on this.

After sitting on this for almost 5 years, I chipped off 6.5g and brewed 6.5g in a gaiwan, drinking from the fairness pitcher. The first two steeps have immediate returning sweetness, vegetal, earthy, spicy, and umami flavors. pleasant astringency, with very little bitter flavor. Almost smoky on the nose, but quickly turning to the expected raw aroma. Further steeps bring out more of the described grain flavor, which meshes well with this still, fairly green sheng. I will revisit this tea in another 4 or 5 years. Overall, a good purchase, and I’ll happily drink this over the next couple decades.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – March 2024 Tea #2 – A floral tea

I realized as I was unwrapping the tuocha to finish this today that there is “flower” in the name, so I’m counting it for this prompt!  The flavor isn’t much, isn’t spectacular, so I’m glad I’m clearing it from the cupboard. 
2024 sipdowns: 24

Album: Will Johnson – No Ordinary Crown
Song:  Along the Runner (No Ordinary Crown) -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwByxoDfsks&list=OLAK5uy_nwHzFgnwPcCNu4vVxRilt5eLqmJB3CWNM&index=1

Thanks for letting me try this one, Meowster!  Hilarious tea mishaps today.  I brewed this one like a raw on the first steep!  (Better that than to steep a raw like a ripe, I guess.)  I don’t know why I thought this was a raw.  The leaves even looked dark and ripe when I threw the tuocha in the infuser.   By the third steep, it’s so smooth that I would definitely know by now if it was a harsh, overbrewed raw puerh.  No negative qualities here, but I also wish it had a stronger flavor.  I don’t know if the gingko just seamlessly blends in with the puerh flavors, but it really did almost seem like just a ripe puerh to me with no additional ingredients.  Four pretty consistent steeps (except for that first one that was brewed like sheng.)

A belated pull from Arby’s homemade advent! I was craving a straight black tea but didn’t want anything too malty or strong… this really fits the bill! Not sure what year my sample is from, but it’s pleasant: Light and just a little bit tart, with no big flavor notes except something faintly floral. There’s a tiiiny smidge of soapiness toward the end.

Now back to rereading Jane Eyre. :)

Really nice! This tea has an awesome wild vibe to it. The leaves are huge and burly and and slightly greenish. The tea has all the up-front strength and boldness that I hope for in a hongcha, yet also has nice layers of lingering vegetal and flowery ‘greener’ stuff going on. It’s nicely thick as well.

Oof. I like this. I have been trying to be less precious with my samples, and so grabbed this on a whim and brewed it western style last night. First sip took me aback, so I gong fu’d it today to see what was up.

There is a numbing camphor belt that develops around the center of my mouth — tongue/cheeks/roof, all get to play in the halo. Nut skins, florals, dried fruit, spices, toast… it’s smooth and complex and the qi is so lovely (ie. not making me want to crawl out of my skin, a feeling I’ve been having more often than I’d like lately).

I do not need a cake, for reals and truly, but I’d spring for one of these if I did.

Edited to add: I’m drinking this western again tonight and having the same sensory experience that I’m just now remembering I had last night: “This tastes like makeup smells… in a good way.” I guess that’s baby powder and whatever eau du essences… just popping in to bookend: “I like this.”

[End sample, persued by bear.]

After aging for 7 years, admittedly in a container with a Tibetan flame brick, this tea has mellowed considerably. The bitterness has faded a lot, while the vegetal, cooked vegetable, hay, and grassy notes stepped forward. Overall, this is not my favorite raw puer, but I feel that it aged a bit faster in the mini-tuo form. It has some returning sweetness, and is not a bad daily drinker. I brewed this western style, thinking it still intensely bitter, but next brew will be in a small teapot.