Yunnan Sourcing

This is probably the most tippy looking shou I’ve had so far. This was another sample from YS and is quite likely to translate into an order, provided I can figure out the local customs situation. (I got stuck with a $57 customs charge on my last $100 tea order from the US – not a YS order).

I used 10g in a 130ml gaiwan. Did a flash rinse and even that came out quite dark. Steeped it for 10 seconds the first 3 times before adding on 10 seconds on each steep. This lasted over 10 steeps in total with the last one being 2 minutes.

This morning, I thought I’d try something different This tea is all buds that are green with a purple unfurled leaf bud. The dry smell is that of dried rose buds. The warm, wet buds release a very powerful rose scent that carries over to the tea liquor. Camellia sinensis is the tea plant we all know and love, but camellia japonica can also be used to make tea. We have several camellia japonica shrubs on our property, and I attempted to make a tea from the purple spring leaves this year. It produced a similar product to this, though not as rose-heavy, and the camellia japonica has a distinct spice note similar to cinnamon.

This sweet ya bao is heady with aroma. It’s almost too much for me in the way that some powerful scents can cause one to have a headache, but this is a unique experience that I think is worth trying, and would be especially fun to serve during a social tasting event. Yunnan Sourcing describes a watermelon note, and it is definitely present. Rose and watermelon. I think I just drank my grandmother’s perfume.

I have to up my rating on this one. I’ve finally cracked it. 3g of tea for 300ml of water just off boiling for 4 minutes gives an excellent brew. The maltiness comes through nice and strong as does the distinct character of the tea (which I attribute to it being wild arbor) without the astringency. Gives a second decent steep at 5 minutes.

This is a good reminder of why its definitely a good idea to play around with steeping parameters.

Brewed this western style this morning, 3g in 300ml for 5 minutes. Much more balanced than it was gongfu. You get a nice mix of the maltiness and the strong body, which didn’t happen gongfu. This is good without being a standout brewed this way and might be something I drink on mornings when I prefer a stronger cup. Might also be a good choice for someone that likes adding a splash of milk (thinking of my dad here).

So I want to start off by just saying that I am very particular about my dian hong teas. Ordered this based off the same reddit recommendation that pointed me at the Imperial Mojiang, which I love.

This however is a mixed affair. It is a decent tea but not quite what I look for in a dian hong. I had this gong fu style today to evaluate it, will try it western style later too. Overall it was a decent tea, the first two steeps were a bit malty, light, and had a tiny bit of the peppery and caramel notes that I love so much in the mojiang. On the third steep the tea leaves really opened up and the tea was now nice and strong, however that is pretty much all that was there. All the delicate notes were gone as was the maltiness and it was a bit astringent and bitter too. Left me with a rather dry mouth. It may do better steeped western style so will try that next.

I’ve had this tea for a few weeks and have been enjoying it but failed to leave a review until now. Of course it’s just as good as last years tea. This is one tea that remains a staple in my tea cupboard. It’s not fussy when brewing. It’s got an in-between caffeine punch for a green tea. Some might think it has quite a bit for a green tea since it’s pretty robust but it still doesn’t have as much punch as a sencha or gyokuro.

Best of all – the taste. Oh the taste of this tea! Buttery, slightly sweet, nutty, spinach, & a good umami. All the things I love in a green tea. It’s a top notch tea I can even brew at work. What the heck, why bother figuring out a rating for this tea? I love it so it’s 100.

Also want to add that this tea is such a good price at Yunnan Sourcing.

- had some expectations with this cross-genre Tea which seems more like an insiders tip.
My first try was a bit unsure since I have no idea how to properly brew it. The first steeps felt a bit more savory, mineral maybe a litle bit dry and bitter in tendency but it also developes later in a way more fruity, sweetpotato, also flowery/orchid hints directions. It keeps some dry fruitiness for a long time but there are many interacting other notes you can’t realy tell. I definitely like how it dances on the border between nice DanCongs and complexer RedTeas. Probably it realy depends on your ways of brewing whether it becomes more fruity or savoury or what else is possible within this great find.

I grabbed a sample of this amongst a few other ripes with my last YS order to evaluate towards a future purchase. Used 8g in a 120ml gaiwan. Did a 20 second rinse and then steeped for 15 seconds. The first steep was quite light, and the second still a bit on the lighter side but getting darker. A little earthy, slight hints of cocoa with the associated bitterness, no fermentation flavour. The leaves had really opened up by the 3rd steep and 15 seconds this was a tad too long. Very rich dark mahogny color, a bit of bitterness. Reduced the steeping time to ten seconds for the next infusion, lighter with a sweet after taste. The 4, 5 and 6 infusions were what I enjoyed most, earthy but smoothy and sweet.

This tea was still going strong at 8 infusions but I’m a bit tired and feel like a change. May continue with this in the morning. I have often have this problem with solo sessions and probably need to get a smaller gaiwan or pot.

Will try this western style later as well. I am finding that I like my shou thick and dark and apart from the really exceptional ones with more distinct notes that I like to gong fu, western style hits the spot more often especially when I’m at my desk working.

This sure is a beautiful tea. The silver and dark green leaves and the airy texture look great in a glass jar. Dry leaves smell mostly vegetal with a bit of honey. I did gonfu in an open gaiwan. Short infusions. Liquor was pale, as expected. Light and delicate vegetal and some sweetness. Smooth. After three infusions in my small gaiwan, I poured some simple syrup and a squirt of lemon in a tumbler and brewed up three more quick infusions and poured it over the ice. Delicious. I could drink this green tea every day as a sweetened green tea, but not as much as a hot tea. Just my personal preference. The tea is an excellent green tea. I know, I’m a heathen.

Staying true to its reputation, this tea delivers a dark bittersweet flavour and a very aromatic cup. Roasted carob and unsweetened cocoa, dark wood, roasty like a pan-fired black. This tea is thick, malty in the mouthfeel, and is very enjoyable hot or iced (it also takes milk well).

Overall, I recommend gong-fuing this (or at least using your fanciest pot), because it has a lot to offer. You can’t go wrong with an unflavoured tea that tastes like chocolate.

Trying this as a coldbrew because I’m feeling chocolate today.

1.5 tsp, 500 mL cold water 12 minutes
Resteeped with 500mL cold water, 25 minutes
It could go a few more times with progressively longer steep times.

Lots of flavourful tannins, roasted/toasted buckwheat, cocoa, rich, very dark chocolate. Texture wise it is quite thick, malty. They weren’t kidding when they said Loashans tasted like cocoa. My brew actually smells like hot chocolate. It is also flavourful enough that it would take milk well (although certainly not necessary).

I put off trying this one for a long time. I had to immediately transfer it to a holding vessel upon receiving it due to its sealed pouch getting punctured in transit. Luckily, the damage was at the top of the pouch, it was fairly minimal, and I noticed it almost immediately. I was fortunate enough to lose none of the tea, and after finally opening this up and working my way through it, realized that it came through all of this unscathed. Prior to trying this particular tea, I was not familiar with Jin Mudan at all. This one, however, made me want to try a few more.

Jin Mudan is not a classic Wuyi cultivar. As a matter of fact, it is fairly young, having only been in existence for about 40-50 years. According to the information provided by Yunnan Sourcing, it was originally produced as a hybrid of Tieguanyin and Huang Jin Gui, though it differs somewhat from other cultivars descended directly from these two. It is noted primarily for its broad, thick leaves and unique floral and fruity qualities.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 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, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I caught aromas of char, dark wood, dark chocolate, elderberry, blackberry, and flowers from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I began to detect scents of violet, dried blueberry, raisin, roasted almond, cream, elderflower, and prune. The first infusion produced a similar bouquet, though I did note the emergence of vanilla bean, coffee, cannabis, and damp grass. With such complexity on the nose, I knew I was going to like this tea even at this point. In the mouth, I detected mild, soothing notes of cream, dried blueberry, raisin, elderberry, roasted almond, elderflower, violet, char, dark wood, dark chocolate, blackberry, and prune balanced by touches of damp grass, vanilla bean, coffee, and cannabis. Subsequent infusions brought out ginger, fig, black raspberry, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, hibiscus, minerals, tea flower, rock sugar, and a touch of actual peony to compliment the increasingly prevalent notes of cannabis, coffee, cream, vanilla bean, damp grass, dark wood, dark chocolate, and dark fruits. I also began to catch something of a cooling, herbal quality reminiscent of menthol. The final infusions were surprisingly smooth for a Wuyi oolong. I detected mostly savory notes of cream, butter, and vanilla bean balanced by subtle mineral, menthol, raisin, prune, dark wood, rock sugar, damp grass, dark chocolate, and vague, indistinct floral notes.

This was a surprisingly great Wuyi oolong. I found tons of complexity and depth, which oolongs of this sort do not always deliver consistently. All of the aroma and flavor components also worked well together, which again, does not always happen. I also have to note that this tea packed a tremendous punch. The energy it provided was invigorating, cleansing, and thoroughly restorative. I finished this session over an hour prior to starting this review and I can still feel the tea’s cooling, herbal, menthol-like presence in my mouth and throat. This one is definitely a keeper, and I will probably be getting more in the very near future. Its roast should allow it to age like a champ. Definitely make a point of trying this if Wuyi oolongs are your thing.

A few quick comments. There are no green scents left that I can detect in the dry leaves. The wet leaves if breathed deeply yield some subtle char/smoke, but it doesn’t come through in the liquor. There is a good amount of sweetness in the amber liquor, not much bitterness, and a good deal of chalky astringency in the finish.

We live in a cottage in the middle of a pine forest, and the stone on our house has accents that mimic the color of the pine bark, the paint was inspired by lichen and green pine needles. This tea deserves a permanent place in my home for its looks, alone. The needle shaped leaves with their beaver pelt brown color look so similar to the loblolly pine needles on the forest floor surrounding our home.

This is an interesting and complex black tea. There are the typical notes you expect in most black teas like the dark chocolate, the maltiness, honey, and sweet potato, but there is more to this. It is highly perfumed. There are some spice notes that remind me of chai, but not as bright or as strong. It does not have any citrus ginger notes that I can detect, but more of the nutmeg, cardamom spices in chai.

Mouth feel is thick and very creamy. No bitterness or astringent qualities when brewing this with short sessions of 15-30 seconds in a small gaiwan. I don’t really care for cream in my tea, but I decided to try it, since it reminded me of chai. It certainly holds its own with the cream and powers through it. If you are a fan of chai, you may really like this tea with a bit of cream and honey or simple syrup. I prefer it straight up. It’s a keeper.

My first alleged Bing Dao tea from Mr Wilson. I must always thank him for keeping these leaves in good form while in their sample pack. Leaf breakage DOES impact taste.

The first few steeps provide clear indicators of the tea’s alleged origins. It’s thick in the mouth and clear pale gold in the cup. It has good depth, penetrating cooling, sweet hay, bittersweet, sharp florals, sencha, white pine resin, green apple, chardonnay grape skins, pine wood, and a strong mouthfeel.

Serious huigan. Lingering sharp floral and white grape skin notes leave a slight drying in the mouth followed by a salivating effect. Mid steeps get thicker and the bitterness of wild herbs comes to the fore with more intense huigan. After the 9th steep or so, the tea becomes a lot more floral buttery. The sweet grassy aromas become wild flower fragrance and is very present in the empty cup. This is my kind of tea. I think I found a Nan Po Zhai replacement, as it shares many similarities.

The sample is bit dried out, but not overly so and I know my tupperware bin storage will remedy that within a couple of weeks or so.

My second time with this tea. This time I cold brewed it in a 1 qt mason jar overnight (roughly 8 hours). No fancy infuser needed. Just add 8 grams of leaves to about a 3/4 full mason jar. It’s a beautiful presentation. Unlike in hot water, the leaves retain their flat-pressed shape in the cold water for hours, and a gentle swirl of the jar creates a beautiful display. Even overnight, the leaves are still stretched out and not wilted into a pile at the bottom of the jar.

The liquor is very pale green with no cloudiness. It is in the 90’s, today, so I sweetened this and added lemon for a cool refreshing drink. I will try it again without the lemon to get a true idea of the flavor profile, but with the lemon it has a definite peachy, apricot flavor with almost no vegetal note. The cold brewing seems to push the vegetal notes present in hot brewing toward the apricot, dried fruit flavor.

Yunnan Sourcing lists this as a medium-high grade. The quality of the leaves was excellent, beautifully flat-pressed and long with most leaves arriving unbroken from China. I should add a test tube to my tea ware. Tall and small is how I would have preferred to prepare this. I brewed this in uncovered glass. The leaves quickly become flaccid as they absorb the water. I kept infusion times short initially, but did try a lower temperature infusion for a minute as an experiment. I prefer the shorter infusions.

The dry leaves have a wonderful smell. It is a fresh, green smell, but it is not a bright green smell like fresh cut grass. There is a dried fruit richness to the dry leaves aroma like sticky and sweet oxidized dehydrated apple slices. Upon wetting the leaves, the aroma was still green, but now leaned more toward seaweed. After a few seconds, a breathed deeply from the glass and was taken aback by a sulfurous aroma like that of a salt flat marsh at low tide. Thankfully, that dissipated quickly, and was not at all present in the taste.

The liquor was very pale. Flavor was delicate and light, sweet, a bit floral, lightly vegetal, but not to the point of being brothy. Using the short infusion times, I experienced no bitterness or astringency. I could not find the dried apple in the tasting that was present in the raw leaf smell, and that would make for a wonderful green tea.I will try this again with double the strength. Perhaps I just need more leaf to water to bring out the dried apple in the liquor.

I started my day with monkey picked tie guan yin. As I was raking out the tea leaves from my small 70 ml clay pot from Crimson Lotus, I lost my grip, and the clay pot fell into our porcelain farmer style sink. It shattered into many tiny pieces on one side. Bummer.
So, I’m finishing the day with Anxi Mao Xie oolong. I really don’t know why this tea isn’t more highly rated. In a lot of ways, I like this more than tie guan yin. It’s a fabulous tea for introducing to new tea drinkers, especially American tea drinkers. It is very sweet. It actually tastes like it has been sweetened. It’s very delicate and mild. It’s very slightly vegetal, but leans more green and isn’t spinachy or asparagus flavored. It also lingers sweet in the mouth. I would just add that I consider it a great bargain at its current price.

Today, I decided to stay with my favorite tea, the oolongs. This morning, I had the Spring 2017 release of Anxi Hairy Crab Mao Xie Fujian tea from Yunnan Sourcing. This is a very delicate oolong. The freshest green notes of green tea have been tempered, but it is on the opposite end of the spectrum from a dark roasted oolong. Floral, vegetal, delicate, sweet. Liquor is palest yellow. Indeed hairs are floating on the top of my cup. I brewed this gong fu style in clay. I could use short or longer steeps, and it didn’t change the outcome to a large degree. After about the fifth infusion, it became slightly more vegetal. No bitterness. A lingering sweetness and wet mouth. No astringency. Similar to tie guan yin, but more delicate — tie guan yin light.

Received a nice little sample of this from a teafriend when I visited him. This YGB seemed to be a little bit more oxidized than some of the others I’ve tried. It was mostly malty and honey sweet, with a little bit of fruity sharpness on a few steeps – like raisins or dates. Soft mouthfeel. Towards the end of the session, it started to get a little bit woody – like a really dry woodiness. Yue Guang Bai is good, but I don’t think I like it enough to really buy large quantities of it or anything.

This tea is very vegetal with a slight buttery undertone. It’s mildly sweet with just a touch of astringency. Nothing really stands out with this tea but nothing is bad about it either. It is quite pleasant but not one of those teas you need to set aside time for to savour every sip.

Also wanted to add that this tea is lower in caffeine than some other greens.

thick robust malty, dark chocolate, smoke, sweet potato
medium astringency, but is outweighed by the sweet malty flavours

Drank Jun 29. Spring 2017 release. Will review later.