Yunnan Sourcing

At the time of drinking, this tea is 16 years old. Just got a sample of this guy in. I find this tea very surprising. Upon first sipping, my mind is tricked into thinking I am drinking a younger tea. There is some bitterness that fades after the first 3-4 steeps, and a healthy serving of astringency. If I had to pick a wonderful exhibit of semi-aged Kunming storage done right. While many young pungent flavors still last in this tea on the nose, and through character, the tea transforms after swallowing to form a rounded and deeper flavor – immediately dispelling the expectations a young sheng would leave behind. Notes of honey and stone-fruit dominate the character of this tea. I definitely have no mastery over identifying regions, but I think this particular blend adds a nice character and complexity to the tea. While it is certainly a dry tea, and will force you into dryness, the flavors it leaves behind are more than worth the upfront aggression. For me the tea had a calming and relaxing qi, I felt focused and…actually got some things accomplished! Thanks tea! Overall, I’d call this a holistic success, but the more I experiment with dry stored teas pushing out past 15 years, the more I find myself falling into their sweet siren calls. So do take this with a grain of salt.

13 years in to this tea now. Smokiness that had been mentioned in reviews a few years back did not present itself to me in this tea. I also did not find this tea at all astringent. The sample I received was mostly form the binghole (I can’t even write that with a straight face). The wet leaf smelled reminiscent of pine forest. Smelling the lid of the gaiwan, I picked up pine and slight lemon/citrus. This tea was very fragrant and smooth. Bitterness quickly left after a few steeps. I would best describe the tea as mellow, and rich, with decent sweetness left over after swallowing. I found the tea to be quite nutty from the 4th steep on, reminding me of pine nuts. Might be worth trying again for those who had it a few years back. It could be that somehow this tea is right up my alley. I do very much enjoy Kunming storage, and being a desert dweller myself, dryer storage never phases me. Overall, I would say that this tea is a success, and I would eagerly await the flavor it may present in another five to ten years.

Full bodied tea with little bitterness and nice astringency. It has a very enticing strong floral/forest cooling smell. The taste is a mix of vegetal, floral and herbal notes. In particular, I notice sage, pine wood, thyme, honey and celery. The cha qi is strong and warming.

This was the last bit of my sample and I think I might get the whole cake next time I order from YS.

This tea is so floral that I can’t believe there isn’t Jasmine flowers mixed in with it. Sweet, thick, malty, and floral – the perfect tea to start Spring with.

While I don’t get much “honey” flavor from it, it’s definitely thick and sweet like a honey nectar – mixed in with strong mineral overtones along with some hay and brown sugar notes thrown in. The after taste lasts forever, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it reminded me of, but then it just hit me… it reminds me of the sweet tobacco I used to chew in highschool. I’ve had this tea for a few months, and I revisit it every few weeks – it seems to get better and better every time I do.

I got a sample of this tea from a friend. I tasted it with a cupping method using 5g of tea leaves for 1dl boiling water and steeping for at least 5min, leaving the leaves in the liquid to continue steeping throughout the tasting.

Dry leaves: Compressed, easy to separate. Colour varies from dark brown/blackish to reddish golden in a ration of about 60:40 against the golden tips. The material seems to be small, no big leaves. The dry leaves smell a little fishy and earthy with a hint of sourness. The smell is smooth, not stinging or unpleasant.

Warm leaves: The smell turned more earthy with warm leaves in the cup, with a hint of honey. Surpisingly I couldn‘t discern the fishy smell anymore and it seemed even milder than with the dry leaves.

Wet leaves: he earthy smell was stable compared to the warm leaves with a hint of tobacco and wet clothes. It was very mild. New in the wet leaves was a smell of wet ashes and charcoal.

Liquid: the colour of the liquid was clear and dark brown with a reddish hue. It didn‘t become much darker after 5 min of steeping. The smell on my tasting porcelain spoon was light and of wet earth, only a little sweetness and the wet ashes smell continued, on the front of the nose was the sour smell of tobacco. When the spoon cools down a fishy smell reappears accompanied by wet wood and rotten leaves. The taste was a little bitter on the sides and cheeks as well as earthy and a little sour taste of leather and tobacco. It reminded me of old dusty wood getting soaked or decomposing tree trunks. There was a soft mouthfeel and it was smooth with an oily consistency. There was just a little stinging sensation to my cheeks. Something that I didn‘t like was that I had the feeling of the tea sticking to the back of my palate like mucous.

spent tea leaves: homogenic dark brown colour, not as much difference as in the beginning with the dry leaves. The leaves were very soft and mushy such that they decay when zou touch them. The leaves were very small, in the sample I had, none of the leaves were intact and there were some thin woody stems inside. The sour leather smell was sticking to the spent leaves and a smell of wet cardboard boxes. The spent leaves did‘t have much of a taste, they were easy to chew releasing a little more bitterness but nothing much besides that. The spent leaves also had the wet ashes and charcoal taste that stuck to my throat.

If you like shou pu‘er this tea definitely has a nice mouthfeel, the taste of shou is also good and I can recommend it. It has a taste of earth and a sourness reminiscient of tobacco, with a taste of wet piled leaves. What I did not like about this tea was the sticky sensation to my throat and palate.

Lovely light color. Subtle smell which intrigues i.e. it smells like there could be something rich and tasty afoot. The taste is very clean and pleasant. This is a tea I can easily drink all day without becoming tired of it. I originally gave it a 73 because it is subtle, but now that I find myself appreciating it for long periods of time it is being revised to 80.

1st infusion. Sweet palate, very fruity (apricot, peach)

2nd infusion, tea more frank, drier and tonic, but keeps its voluptuousness, the fruits are less sugar but always present in all subtleties, we note a slight nascent astringency.

3rd infusion, We drought this drought, but we left on the fruit yellow (stewed), slight bitterness and agreeable by its presence which equalizes the tea, then notes of malted honey.

4th infusion, the liquor pulling more on honey and more astringency but still keeping are surprising pleasant softness.

Too bad to have had only one ball of this tea ….

Gong fu cha 25/15 at 95 ° C then 45/60 at 90 ° c

Flavor: Apricot, peach, honey, malt, chocolate, astringent +, bitterness + -

I find it a little odd that this is the first of this type of tea that I have gotten around to reviewing here. It’s not like I have anything against hei cha. As a matter of fact, I tend to enjoy Hunan Fu brick tea. This particular tea was produced by the Yi Qing Yuan Tea Factory, a producer whose work I greatly admire. As teas of this type go, I found this to be very solid, pleasant, and drinkable, though it did not establish itself as a personal favorite.

After a more extended rinse than planned (15-20 seconds) due to me spacing out and momentarily losing track of time, I steeped the full 10 gram sample (actually not quite 10g according to my scale) in 5 ounces of 208 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry chunk of tea brick emitted aromas of earth, raisin, prune, roasted vegetables, and fig. After the rinse, I found aromas of black cherry, autumn leaf pile, old books, and moss. The first infusion then brought out aromas of forest floor and wood. In the mouth, I initially noted mildly earthy and vaguely fruity flavors, though I was soon able to pick out more definite notes of raisin, prune, black cherry, fig, moss, old paper, and wood. The following infusions brought out notes of cedar, leather, tree bark, dried tobacco, minerals, caramel, malt, wheat toast, wintergreen, raspberry, mushroom, sour plum, cinnamon, nutmeg, candied almond, candied chestnut, and cream. I also began to note cooked spinach and kale rather than anything resembling any sort of roasted vegetable. There were also more definite earthy tones in the mouth and hints of a camphor-like herbal presence. The later infusions mostly offered mineral, mushroom, cream, earth, cooked kale, and caramel notes with occasional hints of old paper, dried tobacco, wintergreen, camphor, raisin, and raspberry. Oddly, I began to pick up some hints of bitter orange just before ending the session.

An interesting, likable tea, but also not something I would be likely to reach for with regularity, I could see this tea being appealing to those who prefer a lot of very mellow, subtle flavors in their brews. Personally, I was hoping for something a little rougher and pricklier, something that offered more clearly defined peaks and valleys over the course of a session, but this was still pleasant enough for what it was. I’m certainly glad I took the opportunity to try it and would not caution others to avoid it, but I think there are other Hunan hei cha out there that would provide a more satisfying and memorable drinking experience.

(Gongfu) Certainly not my first jasmine pearl, but this wakes up a lot faster than the others I’ve had. The scent of the dry pearls is extremely sweet like sugar, and really enticing. The first few steeps are strongly floral without tasting like bad perfume like cheap jasmine pearls. The middle steeps were…oddly banana tasting, I can’t say I have experienced that before in a jasmine pearl and gave the experience more depth than other pearls I’ve gongfu’d. This tea only gets knocked down because there was more astringency than I like in my jasmine teas which I prefer to not have a bite to them.

I think this one may even be getting better with age. Chocolate, malt, sweet potato, and smooth, smooth, smooth.

Also, this is the Autumn 2016 version, but I didn’t want to make another category.

With the completion of this review, the backlog will contain fewer than five reviews for the first time in what feels like a long time. I totally did not manage to get everything posted by today, but at least I should have a pretty good shot at being caught up within the next two or three days. This is the primary tea I have been working on for the past three days. Since I should finish the remainder of it by tomorrow morning, I am at a point where I can confidently offer a review. This is Yunnan Sourcing’s basic, introductory Yunnan Bi Luo Chun green tea, and not surprisingly, it ended up being a very tasty, satisfying tea. Honestly, 50g for $5.00 is kind of a steal.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea in 4 ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea pellets emitted aromas of corn husk, hay, grass, and smoke. After the rinse, I found a stronger corn husk scent and an emerging scent of straw. The first infusion then introduced hints of malt and squash blossom on the nose. In the mouth, the liquor offered notes of corn husk, grilled sweet corn, grass, hay, malt, straw, and smoke. There were hints of pungent squash blossom flavor on the swallow. The following infusions brought out new impressions of umami, minerals, chestnut, butter, zucchini, summer squash, sugarcane, lettuce, and seaweed. The last infusions mostly offered vague notes of minerals, malt, lettuce, and grilled sweeted corn with some underlying butter and grass impressions.

A rock solid and ridiculously affordable Yunnan Bi Luo Chun green tea, I could not find a whole lot to complain about with regard to this one. Aside from a little bit of pronounced astringency that was occasionally unwelcome and the fact that this tea started to soften and fade a little sooner than I would have liked, there just was not a whole lot to fault here. Yunnan Sourcing offers some better, higher quality Bi Luo Chun green teas, but I would still not recommend that anyone skip this one.

This was my most recent green tea sipdown. I spent the better part of a week finishing a 50g pouch of this tea alongside several samples of other teas. Truthfully, I was and still am a little unsure of how to rate it. On the one hand, I greatly enjoyed it and found it to be a very satisfying tea, but at the same time, the leaf quality appeared to be utter crap and there were a few rough edges to it that irked me more and more the longer I spent with it. Overall, though, I would still have no issue recommending this tea to anyone looking for a more powerful green tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves (more like ragged leaf material) in 4 ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of roasted chestnut, hay, and grass. After the rinse, I found an emerging smokiness on the nose as well as a stronger roasted chestnut aroma and some soupy umami character. There were real no changes on the nose with the first infusion. In the mouth, I noted flavors of grass, hay, and roasted chestnut to go with something of a pronounced umami note. Following infusions saw the tea liquor become drier and more astringent as a hint of smokiness started to come out in the mouth. New impressions of butter, malt, straw, lettuce, asparagus, bamboo, sour apricot, seaweed, spinach, lemon, wood, and minerals also appeared. The later infusions primarily offered lingering notes of minerals, lettuce, malt, and spinach alongside hints of roasted chestnut and bamboo.

In some respects, this tea reminded me of both the Bao Hong and the Wu Liang Mountain Mao Feng I recently tried. In terms of both smell and taste, I found that it fell rather neatly between those two teas. Had this tea not been so dry and puckering through the majority of the review session, I would have had no issue rating it a 90 or higher because it was that good in terms of smell and taste. Unfortunately, that little bit of persistent roughness in the mouth and the somewhat lacking appearance of the leaf motivated me to subtract a few extra points. To be fair, however, this was still a very good, very satisfying Yunnan green tea. I could see those who like their green teas a little brawnier being thoroughly into this one.

The risky buy of the month. It is the cheapest 100g-brick of puerh on Yunnansourcing.us and for a reason.

First, the good stuff: it smells good. The wet leaf has a complex, multi-faceted aroma that is very enjoyable. No fishy smell, no pure decay.

Now, the bad part: it needs at least 5 more years to develop because the acidic tatse of the fermentation is there, ready to pounce and overpower everything else. Which is a shame, because there ARE a number of more subtle, interesting flavors. Unfortunately, the only way to bring them all on the scene together is to do super-short steeps of 5-10 secs, and avoid the boiling water. So, you end up “savoring” a weak puerh for a 2-3 steeps – after that regardless of your efforts the sourness pushes everything else in far corners of the palate.

Oh, and I forgot to add that the brisk is tightly packed and produces a lot of dust – and whatever is not dust consists of small broken leaf pieces and lots of stems. That is, even five years from now it will still be a low-grade puerh of a questionable quality.

The take-away: avoid this brick, there are much better shengs for just a little bit more money.

This is a wonderful green tea. It has everything you’re looking for – sweet, floral, vegetal, fruity, savory, nutty… It also responds well to different brewing parameters to pull out the flavors you’re looking for. Really a classic tea at an unbeatable price.

Most notable for me was this tea’s marine notes and fruitiness. It has some saltiness and nori-like umami that added a great dimension to the tea. Also has a really powerful fruity taste both in-mouth and in the aftertaste. It’s like a mix between sencha, green oolong, and Chinese green tea.

Also really good for grandpa style – it stays rich and flavorful for quite a while and does not overbrew to anything harsh or unpleasant.
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Dry leaf – toasted nuttiness, sweet like vanilla/maple confectionery, chocolate, soft sweet herbal, fresh mint and cilantro. In preheated vessel – honey butter, cream, cinnamon, yeast roll notes arrive.

Smell – honey butter, hint of cinnamon, edamame, vanilla/maple, mint

Taste – nori, edamame, marine air, cinnamon, honey butter, yeast roll, hints of chocolate, honeydew melon, mint, coconut, notes of pineapple in aftertaste

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgedQXdBZn0/?taken-by=apefuzz

Distinct yellow tea notes in dry and wet leaf. First steep is blazing yellow and has that unfinished raw greenness of yellow tea in the first steep. Distinct astringency and freshness present this as a quite nice yellow tea, but a long ways from being puer. Lacking bitterness, but has a bit of returning sweetness. This tea really feels like improperly processed leaf, with too much kill-green or too much drying. Clean, delicious yellow tea.

Dry leaf aromas of black tea and light flowers. Wet leaf more muted, sunshine and damp softwood. Moderately thick, focused heavily on grainy wheat flavors, paired with muted astringency and absent balancing bitterness. Distantly, some light returning sweetness. Most disappointing is that this tea emptied out by the third steep at 10s! Clean and fragrant, but hollow and tepid.

Rather soft with a noticeable moist note, but its origin dates back several years. The most prominent aspect of this tea is an astringent-leathery-acid fungal note, which is very long-lasting and increases as the infusions progress. Unusual but not bad, but the tea has a relatively light body.

Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2004-cha-ma-gu-dao