First installment of my taste tour through Yunnan. I picked some samples from Yunnan Sourcing that hit different areas throughout Yunnan just to note any characteristics that teas from one region had in common. I stuck with all YS productions and kept everything around the same price range, just to maintain a little consistency. Ages were 3-5 years old or so.
So, here we go:
Region 1/4: Western Xishuangbanna – Menghai county. Location 1/3: Ba Da mountain
Fairly interesting experience. Has a lot of herbal and green flavors, with some fragrant smokiness and a vague fruitiness to it (straight up Juicy Fruit gum flavor.) The thing I like most about it is that once the main puer flavors peter out, it sort of transforms into a green tea, with some vegetal and corn flavors, even a little roastiness. That went on for about two or three steeps.
YS suggests some pine needle flavors, and that is absolutely true. It is very pleasant and refreshing.
No bitterness and very little astringency. Not super long-lasting, but nice enough while it lasted. I really enjoyed the unique flavors it presented.
*
Dry leaf: EARTHY, SMOKY, SWEET (hay, pine needles, dill, parsley, mesquite smoke, some sandalwood, light sugar and honeysuckle notes). In preheated vessel – stronger smoke notes with syrupy sweetness.
Smell: SMOKY, HERBAL, SWEET (campfire, pungent green herb, zucchini, saccharine sweet)
Taste: WOODY, HERBAL, VEGETAL, SWEET, EARTHY (green woodiness, fresh dill and parsley, pine needle, sweet floral, zucchini, roasted corn, char. Aftertaste of saccharine sweetness, sweet minerality, hints of citrus.
