Yunnan Sourcing

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Recent Tasting Notes

85

Spring 2023: Another wonderful green tea from YS! Dry leaf fragrance is awesome, smells almost like an apple pie. Complex flavor with apple sweetness, but also hints of herbs and cinammon, florals, cooked veggies, and a buttery texture. Only drawback is it seems to have a really drying effect on my mouth, so probably wouldn’t pick this to drink every day.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

Also: 2 minutes is on the long side for a first steep with this delicate tea. A two-minute steep brings out a bit of bite and some more grassy tones. If you only steep for 1 minute western-style (my preferred method), it will accentuate more of the lighter and sweeter floral/fruity notes.

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76

Nice aroma and good flavours, but ultimately this tea lack something special to stand out for me. It has a flleting taste with a good hoppy bitterness and nut much sweetness. However, one can find sour, woody, nutty, malty, bready, fruity, floral and even smoky qualities.

Flavors: Bitter, Bread, Floral, Hops, Lime, Malt, Nutty, Sour, Woody

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95

Spring 2023: Lovely winey black tea. Not unlike a good Keemun, with perhaps less orchid/rose florals and with more cinnamon notes. Very fruity with plum and dark grape notes, hints of chocolate, and buttery texture. Yes, this one is a joy to drink!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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80

Spring 2023: Wow, this one has an “Indian spice” scent to the dry leaf/brewed tea – maybe like a garam masala? Has sauteed onions flavor, some oakiness, and a few herbal/spicy notes that come through into the flavor. Also a bit of pleasant grassiness, not too rough. It is nice enough, but not sure if I would seek it out again.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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77

The dry leaves smell like tamarind and after steeping for 15 to 20 minutes, the notes transform from marshmallow without the overwhelming sweetness to a noticeable cinnamon. However, the flavor is still morbing as I am writing this. This tea is more on the savory side. Pleasant to drink!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Marshmallow, Tamarind

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 11 g 5 OZ / 148 ML

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88

No notes yet. Add one?

Flavors: Blueberry, Charcoal, Cinnamon, Honey, Mineral, Orchid, Roasty

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 g 14 OZ / 414 ML

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90

Spring 2023: Wow, this tea is really different! Has a fruity/strongly cannabis-like aroma to the leaves. The dry leaf smell is very strong and intoxicating when I stick my nose into the bag. The leaves are beautiful, larger-leaf white tea leaves, in varying shades of green. The brewed tea is lighter yellow in color with notes of lychee florals, mint, peach, cannabis, and green grape.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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95

Spring 2023: Love this. A very delicate green tea. Sweet and nutty with soft florals and notes of juniper. Nice complexity with some lingering aftertaste.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

I think maybe lavender would be the best description of the florals I find in this. Not too floral, but there as a nice background note.

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90

Spring 2023: A nice cup of flowers! Very floral oolong tea. Sweet. Another great find from Yunnan Sourcing. I think the processing of this tea is somewhat unusual for “duck shit” varietal Dan Cong oolong, but I am not very knowledgeable about this tea. IMO, not a bad idea to use this processing method.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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85

Spring 2023: The dry leaves don’t have much aroma but look very nice. The tea does smell like stewed fruit once brewed, but not a lot of fruit in the taste. This tea leans more vegetal/herbal. Strong notes of celery and herbs like parsley and oregano. Nuttiness in the background, with a good amount of sweetness which is kind of masked by the herbal notes. Maybe some lemongrass. I can agree with previous reviewer that there are flavors of grilled vegetables, green pepper, and a whisper of smoke.

This is a very interesting tea overall, as I haven’t had too many with this kind of flavor profile. I can see why maybe puerh drinkers would enjoy this, and I would venture to guess that the parsley/oregano herbal notes in this tea are the same kind of notes which translate into the “medicinal” notes commonly found in puerh teas. I think I see a similarity there.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

Definitely possesses some of the “green chestnut” qualities and I get some sauteed onions with hints of sweet caramelization, and some celery notes as well.

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75

Tasting my last sample portion today.

Warming, pleasant astringency with a drying sensation on the tongue. Wet tobacco and leaf.

Flavors: Astringent, Drying, Tobacco

Preparation
7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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95

Spring 2023: Incredible tea. Much smaller leaves than I was expecting, as I am accustomed to seeing the larger-leaf style Yunnan teas. This one might still be large by comparison to many other teas, but definitely on the finer side for Yunnan tea. Also much more golden than I was expecting – There is less black than shown in the vendor’s picture.

Smell is amazing, with a nice honey sweetness, chocolatey notes, and sweet potato fragrance. These notes translate very much into the taste, with milk chocolate, sweet potato, and honey at the forefront. You also get other typical Yunnan flavors which creep in at times, with occasional notes of hay, spice, grapes, and the faintest whispers of smoke.

The sweet potato seems most prominent in this one. I can taste the milk chocolate notes, but shared with a couple of family members who couldn’t agree on the chocolate but were definitely feeling the sweet potato.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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74

This sheng has medium body and a soft, creamy mouthfeel with very little astringency. It is quite vegetal with decent bitterness., sweetness and umami, as well as more sour fruity and floral notes.

The flavour reminds me of apples and leafy forests, while the aroma is more earthy with notes like celery. There is also a toni-like bitterness in the aftertaste.

Flavors: Apple, Bitter, Celery, Earthy, Floral, Forest Floor, Soft, Sour, Swamp, Sweet, Vegetal

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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90

Spring 2023 harvest: I also purchased what I believe is lower grade of this tea – I’m not sure, because the website doesn’t spell it out – but I believe the “Yunnan Green Spring Snail Bi Luo Chun Green Tea” is lower grade of this same tea? Anyways, these two teas are much more similar than different. I love the aroma of both teas, with a strong peanut butter-like scent unlike any other tea I have experienced. Very nutty green tea!

This higher grade seems to have more prominent vegetal notes, however, with asparagus being prominent in smell and taste, rather than the lighter “grassy” notes in the the lower grade of tea. Absolutely lovely tea! Another great one from Yunnan Sourcing!

I’m not sure whether I prefer the lower grade or the higher grade at the moment, so I am scoring both the same and will continue sipping on the two until I can decide. Probably will adjust my scores one way or another.

If only they would offer some great ginseng oolong teas, I think I could find everything I need at Yunnan Sourcing. I’m pretty certain that next time I order I will pick up a bit of puerh, because I also enjoy those teas once in a while, and it really seems to be their “main thing.” They have such a wonderful selection of almost every type of tea, though. I know I am gushing like some kind of paid shill for Yunnan Sourcing, but they really do have an awesome thing going on there, with loads of interesting teas available at reasonable prices. The only catch is the hassle and expense of shipping from China, but you can avoid that if you choose to purchase through the separate “US” website, at least if you are a US customer.

Another store I was mad-impressed with is Silk Road Teas (the San Franscisco-based company, not the Canadian one) – I think they have one of the best selections of Chinese teas, and I haven’t placed an order with them since the early days of my tea obsession. I really need to revisit them soon. Between Yunnan Sourcing and Silk Road Teas, I have my two favorites.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

I guess the website does spell it out after all – This is Yunkang #100 varietal versus the lower grade tea which is Yunkang #10, so these are different varietals. I gather they must be quite similar, though. I read that the Yunkang #100 has larger and fatter buds than #10, and perhaps that is the reason it was selected to make a pure bud tea?

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88

I really like this sheng. The aroma is complex and very pleasant, at first like a sweet orchard, then more like a nutty meadow. It has a full body and a thick oily mouthfeel that’s at the same time quite light and smooth.

The taste is sweet and extremely floral, but also fairly nutty and bitter like sage and walnuts.

Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Fruit Tree Flowers, Meadow, Nutty, Oily, Sage, Smooth, Sweet, Thick, Walnut

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 100 OZ / 2957 ML

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83

There is a glorious sweet spot to this tea. If steeped at just the right (mysterious) parameters, it smells and tastes a little like brioche, wheatgrass, and osmanthus (edit: originally mixed up my flowers here). It’s mildly sweet, verging on buttery, as well as slightly nutty and honey-infused. It’s thick feeling — even rich at times. It reminds me of the sweet-smelling grasses and vegetation in Hawaii (also, the sweetgrass in my own region). It’s such a joyful flavour/aroma profile.

I’m not sure if this is characteristic of this tea or because it’s oxidized overtime to the point that black tea characteristics are now present (it’s a 2021 harvest). I love it though! (OK, looking up the website’s description, sounds like this is just what this tea is like. Amazing).

In other steeps, I sometimes get a slightly bitter and sour vegetal-wood note (think asparagus and pine notes) in addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, That also is an enjoyable cup; the nippier quality of this profile mellows and diversifies out as it cools too. The general complexity and richness makes it a dynamic multi-steeper and a rewarding tea to commit to.

Steep Count: 4

Flavors: Asparagus, Bread, Buckwheat, Butter, Creamy, Drying, Earthy, Floral, Grain, Grassy, Honey, Nectar, Nutty, Osmanthus, Pine, Sugarcane, Sweet, Thick, Vegetal, Wheatgrass

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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75

Spring 2023: Some green chestnut, some apricot, some grassy florals (maybe dandelion?). Nothing really pops on this one, though. An enjoyable, but not great, tea. I suspect this would make a decent iced tea.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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86

[Spring 2023 harvest]

Really good black tea with a thick liquor and a complex taste.

The dry leaf aroma is cosy with strong notes of tomato vine, nuts, and malt. Wet leaves, on the other hand, smell more like chestnuts, cocoa, and acorn. The tea has a smooth, creamy mouthfeel and a woody and nutty taste. There are flavours of almond shells, roasted peanuts, and muscovado sugar. In the sweet and spicy aftertaste, there are further hints of peach and cinnamon.

Flavors: Almond, Brown Sugar, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Creamy, Malt, Nuts, Nutty, Peach, Peanut, Plant Stems, Roasted, Spicy, Sweet, Thick, Tomato, Woody

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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