Yunnan Sourcing

This is a great fresh green tea. I am working on my fourth steeping today, and with a one minute 30 second steep the soup is a nice green. This tea is a bit dry, but not as dry as others I have.

Awesome good white tea, the color is very pale and the flavor is bold, It does have a slight nuttiness to it and the description say “fresh and fruity” i’m not getting the fruity but instead maybe a very faint floral taste, not a specific floral taste like jasmine or any other flower that I know of just kinda generic floral type taste sensation even more so in the aftertaste, it lingers on my tongue and the back of my mouth. As far as the freshness I’m not sure that I qualify to make statement about the freshness of a tea but it taste fresh to me and the delicious lingering after taste does leave my mouth feeling “fresh”, the intake of breath following a sip of this tea is very nice too almost like i can taste it in the air and in my lungs lol just part of the aftertaste i guess.
The leafe is very beautiful, one on the prettiest teas that i’ve seen, rather large tips or needles “whatever” leaves! that are very fuzzy like a lambs ear.
I’ve never really been big on white teas but here lately I’ve been buying teas that Look pretty to me in hope that their taste would compare to their beauty and so far those have been really good and a few of them are other white teas so now maybe i’ll get into white teas a little more or at least discover some that I do enjoy like this one.

I’ve had this tea for a while, but never got around to writing a review. It was purchased along with four other black teas from YS, many months ago. This one was always enjoyable prepared either western or eastern style. Not an amazing resteeper, but pretty flavourful.
This was my first “purple” tea experience. And overall it was a pleasant experience, but it definitely impressed my husband a lot more.

Here are some quick notes about my short steep session today:

First steep- Light, fruity (melon, grapes), refreshing. Acidic-sweetness at the back of my mouth.

Second steep- Fuzzy-fruit flavour all over my mouth, not a deep or heavy black tea body. Pretty light and delicate.

Third steep- The flavours have mellowed a bit, but much of the original notes are still present. For me, this is a nice cup to end on.

Steep parameters- 100ml teapot, 5g, 3 steeps (rinse, 30s, 40s, 1m)

Thanks to tperez I’ve been enjoying this most of the day. I’m appreciating Dian Hongs more and more especially fine soft ones like this. It has notes of honey, cinnamon, mushroom and butter but very little pepper. Unfortunately I’m not really getting the aforementioned whiskey but that’s okay. This leaves a nice cooling, powdery sensation on the tongue, a mild camphor-like zhang experience which I suppose in a way is similar to whiskey, but much less fiery. Re-infused many times.

A nice, slightly different Yunnan black! It has a deeper, charcoal/cocoa flavor than other Dian Hongs that reminds me a bit of Fuijan blacks and the Sumatra Black Pearl from Mountain Tea Co. Instead of the sugarcane/rum type taste of some Yunnan’s I’ve had, this reminds me more of Israeli date honey or a malty Belgian ale. Its also very infusable, first black I’ve had to last an entire kettle of water.

More in depth review to come, I’ve got a headache and feeling a bit woozy today for some reason :(

Extra Notes – I’ve been trying to log this one for a while. Steepster wouldn’t let me add it for some reason and the picture (using the website’s) doesn’t seem to load either, I had to change the name in order to get it here in the site is ‘2009 Feng Qing…’

About the Tea
I won’t make extensive notes about this one. I’ll just say this is my extremely cheap to-go Puerh. Scott described it as having stronger chocolate notes, but the sample Amy Oh sent me from Mandala is way more chocolaty than this one. However, this tea is amazing, especially for the price. It has some roasty note to it that gives it the (chocolate hint). But to me, this tastes a lot like dates/raisins. Its fruitier and aromatic, like a dried fruit. I have it in a ceramic pot that with lid designed to let it ‘breath’ the scent is more concentrated there but in a good way.

This tea does NOT compare to more expensive Ripes but deserves a really high rating because for the price you are getting something nicer that you’d expect. I drink it at work at every chance.

Dry Leaf – Creamy, sweet, earthy.
Wet Leaf – Thick, creamy, bitter-chocolate, dates/raisins.
Liquor – Dark Bronze to coffee bronze (looks black).

Gong Fu in 4oz Yixing Gaiwan / 6-7g * 8 seconds wash

1st 20secs – Creamy, slightly sweet, earthy, bitter-chocolate and slightly leathery up front. As it washes down it is thick, earthy and creamy with stronger bitter-chocolate and leather notes. The aftertaste is creamy, sweet and refreshing.

2nd 8secs – (cake piece opened) Creamy, bitter-chocolate, earthy (slight leathery notes) and light sweetness. As it washes down it is thick, earthy with stronger leather notes and bitter-chocolate notes. The aftertaste is, earthy creamy and sweet.

3rd 7secs – Thick, earthy/leathery, bitter-chocolate and smooth up front. As it washes down the bitter-chocolate notes become more apparent as do the leathery ones. The aftertaste is thick, slightly earthy with bitter-chocolate notes and sweetness.

4th 7secs – Thick, earthy/leathery, bitter-chocolate notes, creamy and slightly sweet up front. As it washes down the bitterness is more apparent and last through the aftertaste. The aftertaste is is thick, leathery and sweet.

INTERMISSION All the steeps from the second to the seventh are incredibly strong and dark even though the times were kept under 11 seconds. The liquor resembled dark coffee until this point. Later steeps where a dark brown hue.

8th 20secs – Creamy, slightly leathery, chocolate notes and sweet up front. Washing down it is a bit ‘cleaner’ by comparison, the bitter-notes are bit ‘fruitier’ but still slightly resemble chocolate and have a slight leathery hint. The aftertaste starts slightly earthy and thick and turns sweet.

Final Notes
This is not my favorite brick. I like ‘cleaner’ tasting ripes, this still have some earthy that I usually find in some slightly younger ripes. If you love THICK, almost smoky tasting ripes this is for you. After the cake opens up the liquor resembles coffee and it has a strong mouth feel. What I did like about it is the aftertaste. Even though the steep is mostly bitter-sweet the aftertaste slowly becomes sweeter but once it turns sweet it is really apparent.

Not a Tasting note
I was drinking the last of my sample piece and comparing to other ripes I’ve had. This one deserves a better score. I already miss it. A really complex and juicy ripe.

The scent is nice, sweet and complex. The liquor is a beautiful Bright Burgundy color. The whole thing is a pleasure to steep and then drink. If only I could afford several cakes!

Received a sample of this with my last YS order.

The leaves are a dark olive brown with plenty of furry white buds. I wasn’t too impressed with the first two steepings, as they were mostly tobacco-ey and bitter. After that, however, the flavor became quite mellow and sweet. The flavors that come to mind here a ginger, almond, and wheat flour. This tea is fairly similar to my 2012 Wuliang Mountain cake, but gives a stronger ‘qi’ feeling which shines on the crown of the head. Very infusible, made about twelve times.

My initial impression was “meh”, but the later steepings were delightful; this is a nice tea.

Thank you Yunnan Sourcing for this free sample!

Leaf Quality:
The smokey leaves were tightly compacted and were a bit dark, showing some degree of oxidation. The rinsed leaves were smokey, slightly earthy and reminiscent of tree bark and moss. The brewed leaves smelled very smokey and mossy as well.

Brewed Tea:
The first steeping proved to be rather strong given the short steep time. I halved it for the second brewing. Nice smokey notes as well as sweet moss and tree bark were prevalent. The light amber liquor had quite some character to it.
Second Steeping
Though the brew time was halved, I still noticed a little astringency or bitterness at the end of each sip. This wasn’t a negative quality, as I actually enjoyed the way that it blended with the other flavors. Each sip was slightly sweet, but this quality was easily overlooked by the smokiness and mossy notes.
Third Steeping
With this cup, I noticed floral notes. However, the smokiness remained the dominant flavor. Sweet, floral, and smoky were an interesting combination to drink. The bitterness was lighter than the first two brews.
Fourth Steeping
In this brew, I noticed a flavor like that of a fungus or mushrooms. This complimented the mossy and woody notes from the earlier brews. The smokiness was still present, and the floral notes grew stronger with the sweetness. This was my favorite steeping.

I really appreciate a nice Sheng pu-erh every once in a while. Again, Thank you for the free sample.

This tea definitely needs to be given some time to mellow out, but I think it will be nice given a year or so of aging.

Dry cake: The dry leaves have a nice milk chocolaty color with a good number of golden buds mixed in. The cake compression seems ideal (to this newb anyway), its pretty tight, but still loose enough to break apart without too much damage to the leaves.

1st infusion: I gave it a wash and brewed the first infusion; yuck! Tastes like a cup of fermentation. It really wasn’t worth drinking, so I transferred it to a cup to pour over my teapot.

2nd-5th: These were much more drinkable. There is still a some fermentation taste, but it was much less and joined by flavors of chocolate, celery, and oak.

5th-8th: This is where this cake shines. It still has a bit of compost flavor, but the “tea flavors” really come through with notes of date, pecan, cocoa powder, and red wine.

9th-10th: These were weaker, but otherwise like 5-8, and this is where I cut it off.

This isn’t the greatest right now, but I think it will be a nice tea.

This is the second raw pu’erh that I’ve tried, and a very young one. In my limited knowledge, it seems like a good candidate for aging (which is good for me since I bought a whole cake).

First off I’ll have to say that this cake smells AMAZING! The smell is strong and sweet with figgy and toasted qualities that fill the box where I’m keeping the teas that I brought home with me (at my parents house home on winter break). If they made “raw pu’erh” air fresheners, I’d buy a dozen! :P

The tea brewed a light gold/green color like a lightly roasted oolong, and the leaves opened up to be fairly large, most around two inches, but some larger or smaller. The wet leaves look tender and green like a good dragonwell.

The tea is pungent and sweet, with a predominately apricot flavor, a slight bitterness, and a natural sweetness. In the earlier infusions I found notes of orchid, green olive, and oatmeal.
The bitterness faded in the later infusions leaving sweet and mellow tastes of almond and cream with more a more tropical mango flavor that lingered across the front and back of the tongue.

This is the first tea I’ve tried that had more stamina than I did. I left off at around twelve infusions, though the flavors were still coming through strong. I’m definitely feeling the cha qi on this one. I feel aware and content, and feel the need to lay back and enjoy the day’s beautiful weather. :)

I saw this cake on the Yunnan Sourcing website a few weeks ago, and it was very intriguing to me. This is my first review in a while.

Leaf Quality:
The tea cake is comprised completely of golden buds, and was very fragrant. The leaves were tightly compressed and looked very beautiful- I almost didn’t want to break up the cake. The brewed leaves smelled very malty, and also like a red wine.

Brewed Tea:
The brewed tea smelled very floral. It tasted malty, floral, sweet, and had no astringency. The color was a reddish brown, and the initial scent reminded me of White Peony.
Second Steeping
The second steeping was rather floral as well. The sweetness had gone down a bit, but the malty character was still present. This black tea was very mellow, and had a chocolaty finish.

This was a very good tea. I do not recommend it as a breakfast tea, but more of an “anytime” tea. This would be very good to enjoy in the afternoons. I’ve never had a black tea bing cha before, so this was quite an interesting experience.

I had a Puerh heavy day yesterday including a really late session. Even got to ‘meet’ very nice people (Garret from Mandala Tea) and others. Today I started with some puerh but felt like having some Oolong.

I’ve already made tasting notes on this one so I just want to add something. I usually make this tea making 2-3(maybe 4) steeps. Then I use the remaining leaves to cold brew them over night. I love the taste of a roasty Oolong when cold, it is somehow refreshing and slightly filling at the same time.

To me this one was more than a let down. It isn’t a ‘meh’ is more of a ‘AGGGHHHHHhhhh’ experience in my opinion. I’ve had great experiences with Yunnan Sourcing’s mini tuos… this is not one of them.

If I were to describe the taste of an not yet ‘aged’ ripe would normally be ‘like clean earth’. This one however (in my opinion, try and judge yourself), taste like unclean earthy. Like when you are eating mushrooms that were not properly cleaned… that ‘extra’ and unwanted earthy taste.

Final Notes
I’m REALLY glad I didn’t buy this one, my friend Roberto gave me around 5 to try more than a few months ago and I haven’t and probably won’t get myself through them. As always try things yourself, also remember that Puerh ages and the earthiness MAY… just MAY, get pleasant, I wont risk it.

Wow, I realized I haven’t posted a tasting note (at least not a long one) in quite a while now! I’ve had quite a few new teas and written notes (on paper) about a few of them, but between a general funk that I’ve been in and the impending horror of finals week, I haven’t put anything online.

I made this tea in a gawian for the first time today (for some reason I’d never considered making blacks or greens gong fu until recently) and it’s really nice.

This won’t be a full note, but an “update” I guess with some more things I’ve noticed with this tea:

-One, is that it brews GREAT in a gaiwan! It brought out smoother flavors and lasted more than eight (I lost count) infusions

-Another thing I noticed is that its very creamy for a black tea, definitely no cream needed for this one

-Finally, I noticed some nice melon and milk chocolate flavors in addition to the spice and whiskey flavors I noted last time

Well, now I’ll head back to hitting the books… Wish me luck!

Quick Notes I bought a sample from Yunnan Sourcing of this tea, so even though the infusions are ‘traditional’, they are slightly shorter because most of the sample came loose so there was no need to wait for the cake to open.

Dry Leaf Smooth earthy sweet, slightly fruity.
Wet Leaf Sweeter, mellow, slightly fruitier, some complex scent.
Liquor Red/Burgundy and clean.

1st 20secs The pitcher smells incredibly sweet and fruity. The liquor is sweet, fruity almost ‘juicy’ with some tanguiness that opens for a roasty/chocolate finish when it washes down. The aftertaste is somewhat like fruity tasting chocolate.

2nd 20secs The pitcher smells sweet and fruity with tangy notes. The liquor is sweet, fruity, juicy and tangy that becomes heavy as it washes down. This heavy taste has hints of chocolate with fruity/tangy notes. The aftertaste is fruity with chocolate and camphor.

3rd 20secs The pitcher smells sweet, fruity and creamy. The liquor is sweet, creamy, fruity and tangy tha becomes heavier roasty/chocolate tasting as it washes down. The aftertaste is smooth roasty and fruity/juicy/tangy notes with refreshing camphor.

4th 30secs The pitcher smells sweet, fruity and creamy. The liquor is creamy, sweet, fruity and chocolate/roasty with some tangy notes. As it washes down it is cleaner before the sweet, juicy and camphor aftertaste sets in.

5th 40secs The pitcher smells sweet, fruity, creamy and slightly tangy. The liquor is creamy, fruity/juicy and slightly sweet. The roasty/chocolate notes are faded and the juiciness is more apparent. The aftertaste is fruity with some chocolate notes and refreshing camphor.

Final Notes
I made two more steeps with this tea. The 6th 1 min was juicy and sweet an refreshing and slightly faded. The 7th 1:30 mins was faded and weak, I used it to ‘clean’ my pot.

Overall, I liked this tea. It is sweet mellow and has some slight complexity to it. The description in Y.S. refers to ‘Persimmons’. I didn’t use this because I feel it depends on your experience with the fruit. But I agree that it has ‘traits’ rather than the taste. It is fruity/juicy sweet with some tangy notes that are almost acidic in a good way. All that can resemble a Persimmon but I don’t think it tastes like it, rather reminisent of it.

Tight, tippy, tobacco, and T. The four T’s. Jakub, fellow puer enthusiast and blogger, sent this 2006 Haiwan Pasha puer.

The tips are welded together…

http://www.twodogteablog.com/2012/11/23/2006-haiwan-pasha/

This tea is fresh and fruity in favor. Great Buy! It is one of the best white tea I have ever tasted for the past 10 years.

excellent tea. Strong, masculine character.
when brewed with care, distinct, complex aroma reminiscent of savory herbs with a touch of wet tobacco and a wonderful nutty aspect.
Can be smokey in the first infusions. less so after sitting broken up in a jar for a few weeks and brewed in yixing pot.
Long lasting, pleasant flavor lingers in the mouth. Fresh, expansive mouthfeel.

This the oldest sheng I have tried so far. It is also one of my favorites, due its strong, savory-herbs flavor and aroma. $16 for 100g of a 10 year old sheng with strong flavor seems like a decent value. I will be reordering this one.

No notes yet.

I spent the day today thinking about Beowulf’s funeral and this tea has helped me. In case you are wondering, the topic for tomorrow’s seminars is Beowulf and we shall be reading the last couple of dozen lines of the poem. It will be hardcore grammar for a large chunk of the seminars but there needs to be time to talk about the text too. It should be exciting, because there is a lot that can be said about just this tiny chunk of the poem. Anyway, this rather lively tea helped keep me focused on the preparation. I hope my students appreciate my effort!

I bought a sample of it from Yunnan Sourcing a while back and finally got around to opening it today. I’m glad I did. The dry leaves are predominantly dark green, the cake split easily into its component parts and I had a grassy smelling pile of largish leaves very soon after opening the packet. I put my usual 8g in a 170ml Yixing pot (green ben shan clay) and brewed away. Several steepings later I was still stuck for how to describe this tea. That seems to be the way of things for me lately. Is this the onset of senility some thirty years or so too early? The tea is sweet and grassy with quite a bite to it. It bounces around in my mouth, never letting me get complacent about it. Just when I think it has mellowed, it jumps up again and gives me a kick. I am really enjoying it and am particularly pleased that YS sells such large samples.

I’m glad I kept this one around to try again. I’m not saying it became a favorite but I can respect it better. The Tea definitely has that ‘Taiwan’ essence.

The best part about this tea is smelling the ‘tea caramel’, that drying liquid that thickens in the pitcher, it resembles honey and warm sugar with fruitiness, truly pleasant. The first steep is true of its scent, very sweet, mellow and fruity .The following ones resemble Oolong, slightly sweet, floral-bitterness and slight astringency. I think if you are looking for a different view on a green tea this is one to try. But it is a love OR hate situation so go for the samples at first. ;)

Overall the flavor is a bit mild, yet the first 2 infusions often have decent flavor strength.

Brewing about 3 grams of this one in a competition tasting set right now.
Wet leaves after the wash have a wonderful damp forest smell.
Yummy semi-aged flavor with sour fruit notes.
Floral elements in the aroma. Fresh mouth feel.
Only slightly smoky on first infusions.
Note that the leaves were aged in mao cha form for 5 years before pressing. This is apparently a great way to speed up the aging process.

Overall seems like a good value currently at $4.50 for 100 grams.
Its nice to be able to buy a a whole cake at only 100 grams.