Yunnan Sourcing

A nice Yunnan white that is indeed a bit more grassy and green tea like as you would normally expect. It doesn’t stand out all that much, but it does have a very nice thick buttery texture and a balanced taste profile.

Dry leaves smell of nuts and hay, while wet leaf aroma is more sweet and floral, akin to tree sap and honey. Taste-wise, the tea reminds me of apples, green wood, pine, cream, asparagus, and grass. Aftertaste is then sweet and floral again. It is somewhat biting in the throat and at the same time mouth-drying without being astringent.

After having quite a lot of sessions with the 2016 Autumn Da Qing Gu Shu (which I have a cake of), I decided to sample the spring version from the following year. As such, I will inevitably be comparing the two. Overall, I think I prefer the autumn version by a little bit, but both are quite good.

The dry leaf smell here is floral and creamy, similar to the autumn harvest but unsurprisingly weaker. From the wet leaves, I get an aroma of forest floor, tobacco, and bog. It is also slightly nutty and grassy at times.

I found the taste of this tea to be very well integrated in the sense that nothing really sticks out, but at the same time it is not flat. It is vegetal and more bitter than the autumn one. There are flavours of rapini, hops, pasta, bread crust, spinach, and spices, among others. The aftertaste is then sweet in the mouth and sour in the throat, just like the autumn version. I noticed a thyme flower note, as well as a black pepper spiciness that emerges after a while.

The mouthfeel is less smooth then in the autumn tea I think. It is also more watery, but still somewhat oily in mid infusions. It gets more drying and throat-constrictive in the second half of the session. The cha qi subtle and enveloping, nothing very strong, but quite nice. I also found the tea to be quite heavy on the stomach unfortunately.

My yearly listening of a couple of Deathspell Omega albums back to back around Christmas time was today accompanied by an equally punishing tea – this white label Bu Lang. We don’t know the exact village where it’s from, but I found it to be unique and memorable. My initial impression was that this is probably the best sheng I’ve ever had, but it does get less interesting quite fast. However, it seems to last forever, I got 17 infusions, but a fair few were overdone and it still had steam when I (or rather my stomach) gave up.

Already the dry leaf scent is unlike any other tea I encountered, which is also probably I find it hard to describe. It is fresh, cooling, woody, and sweet, with a light fruitiness and notes of pine and forest floor. This unusual and elusive character is maybe even stronger in the wet leaf aroma, which is metallic, peaty and sort of ‘masculine’. Later on throughout the session I picked up also a wine-like aroma. In the empty cup, on the other hand, I could smell something close to an acacia scent.

Probably the most striking aspect of the first few infusions is the mouthfeel, so let me start by describing that. Already the rinse is oily, numbing, and throat-cooling. The subsequent steeps are then full-bodied, very thick, tongue-numbing, foamy, soft, and creamy.

The taste is bitter and vegetal with notes of honey, butter tart, flowers (such as sunflower), vanilla, and plum. The bitterness gives way to sweetness super fast and transforms into what is probably the strongest huigan I’ve ever experienced. The aftertaste is very sweet and crisp with umami notes as well as a kind of lemon-like flavour.

The cha qi is enveloping and strong. After three steeps I zoned out and I could ‘hear’ the music with my whole body – especially the feet.

However, after infusion 5 or so, the texture was no longer as intriguing and several infusion (that I brewed longer than I should have I guess) were very bitter tasting and somewhat acrid. There is no doubt that this tea can benefit a lot from further aging. I wasn’t as attentive to the tea in its late stages, but one note that stuck out to me in steep #13 is that of coffee, a slightly strange one to appear at this stage.

In any case, I would like to have a good Bu Lang sheng in my collection (which I don’t at the moment). If this tea remained as interesting as it was in the first three infusions, I would undoubtedly try to get it. As it stands, I will try to sample other teas from the region and decide later whether to get this one to age or not.

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5M78jWUuJ4

This was my most recent sipdown. I actually finished what I had of this tea earlier in the afternoon. This was also a type of Dancong oolong I had never previously encountered. Apparently, it is named after the fruit of a tree, Myrica rubra, that is common in Guangdong Province and is also known as yamamomo (mountain peach), Chinese bayberry, Japanese bayberry, yumberry, red bayberry, waxberry, and Chinese strawberry. I have never tried or even seen one of these fruits, so I have no clue if the scent or flavor of this tea bares any resemblance to those of the fruit. What I do know is that this struck me as being a great tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 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, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves presented aromas of cream, butter, custard, orange blossom, orchid, and sugarcane. After the rinse, I detected baked bread and vanilla aromas as well as stronger scents of custard and sugarcane. The first infusion introduced a steamed milk scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, butter, custard, orange blossom, sugarcane, orchid, and tangerine that were chased by hints of pomegranate, sour cherry, grass, violet, and white pepper. The subsequent infusions revealed aromas of grass, coriander, nutmeg, red grapefruit, and white pepper as well as subtler scents of lemon curd and tangerine. Stronger and more immediate sour cherry, grass, white pepper, and violet notes appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging impressions of steamed milk and notes of minerals, daylily, daylily shoots, coriander, and nutmeg. I also picked up on subtler impressions of lemon curd, red grapefruit, and honey. As the tea faded, the liqour emphasized mineral, grass, steamed milk, cream, custard, sugarcane, daylily shoot, and lemon curd notes that were balanced by hints of tangerine, butter, baked bread, sour cherry, violet, and honey and late arriving hay and basil touches.

This was both one of the most interesting and satisfying Dancong oolongs I have tried this year. I do not recall ever trying another tea quite like it. I frequently feel like I write the same things over and over again when I review Dancong oolongs, but this tea was decidedly different as it presented me with a wealth of new and fresh aromas and flavors. This tea’s natural cream, steamed milk, custard, and butter notes, as well as some of its more floral and vegetal components, reminded me of many of the Taiwanese and Southeast Asian Jin Xuan oolongs I have tried, while the stone fruit, citrus, and herb notes reminded me a bit of Ya Shi Dancong. Overall, this was a fascinating and pleasing tea, one I would wholeheartedly recommend to fans of Dancong oolongs.

I’m slowly coming to the end of my long list of 2017 Dancong oolongs. I’ve enjoyed most of them, though I have encountered a few serious misses along the way. This was another strong offering. It was a little more biting and astringent than Yunnan Sourcing’s Wu Dong Ba Xian that I always seem to like from year to year, but it was still a very enjoyable tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 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, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cream, custard, nectarine, orchid, peach, and orange blossom. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of rose, tangerine, and sugarcane. The first infusion introduced aromas of baked bread, grass, white grape, and roasted almond. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, roasted almond, orchid, wood, baked bread, and orange blossom that were chased by hints of tangerine, white grape, sour cherry, grass, sugarcane, peach, and honey. The subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of violet, honey, vanilla, wood, strawberry, apple, and coriander. Notes of nectarine and custard came out in the mouth along with stronger and more immediate impressions of sour cherry, tangerine, grass, and peach. Impressions of minerals, violet, apricot, pear, vanilla, orange zest, and nutmeg also appeared alongside hints of rose, strawberry, apple, and coriander. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, grass, wood, sour cherry, cream, roasted almond, orchid, violet, pear, and orange zest that were underscored by hints of custard, sugarcane, baked bread, coriander, apricot, honey, white grape, and rose.

This was a quality Dancong oolong with a bit of an edge. As my gongfu session progressed, I noticed that the liquor became livelier and more biting while a noticeable astringency built. It is not unusual for that to happen with Dancong oolongs, but I found it to be particularly noticeable with this one. Fortunately, it was only a little distracting and did not detract much from the wonderful aromas and flavors this tea had to offer. Fans of Dancong oolong teas who are looking to get into Ba Xian probably should not start with this tea or another one like it, but for Dancong drinkers who are a little more familiar with teas of this type, a tea like this one would be a good option for expanding their horizons.

Thick molasses soup. Creamy, sweet, and mossy.

I thoroughly enjoy this tea, but I’ve held on to the last bit for a while. About three sessions away from finishing the cake. 2020 is a year of drinking stuff down! I’ve enough tea to satisfy my needs for at least a year or two, but like this, it’s a partial cake away from being finished. My goal is to drink, review, drink; repeat.

I had this tea in the morning, it was pretty good, but not exceptional. It is a very green Dan Cong. Its profile reminds me of Yunnan green teas, but here we have more floral and flowery qualities, a more creamy taste, and a softer texture. It also steeps for quite a long time.

Dry leaf aroma is predominately flowery and perfumy with additional notes such as cookies and peach tart among others. After the rinse, I can further smell custard and the overall feeling is that of fresh mountain breeze on a meadow with blossoming flowers.

The taste is creamy, vegetal and fragrant. It has a nice bitterness a light fruity sweetness. Aftertaste is more floral and there is a good huigan too. Mouthfeel is great to be honest – numbing, velvety, and soft.

This 2012 Impression is a favorite in my household (well, by me, at least). What I like about it the most is that, although it is seven years old, this tea still knows how to bite.

Right off the bat, I gave it a 5 second rinse, and the flavor wasn’t strong, but it was there. Apricots with a hint of lilac. After the first initial rinse, the remainder of the time results in a mix of a lot of notes, which some are briefly marked in my notebook.

Second Steep, 30 seconds: I had noted that it was too long for the leaf. Bitter, astringent, and sour note at the back of the mouth/throat.
Third Steep, 15 seconds: Leather, still astringent, with a lingering apricot in the back of the mouth/throat.
Fourth steep, 20 seconds: Leathery, floral, and slightly astringent, with a lingering sweetness. Progressed while sipping. Initial intake of the liquid-leathery, with the following astringency. Mid-sip (passing the tongue) floral notes, still astringent. Lingering sweetness.

That’s all I got in before jumping into other things. The point of the notes above is to illustrate why I thoroughly enjoy this session. It is complex and develops in such a way that I’ve not had with many teas. As the session progresses onward, the tea did eventually soften up, all of those leathery/floral notes eventually going away; although, the sweetness doesn’t remain, exactly, it’s not bitter. I like that the leaf brews like a semi-young puerh, but there is definitely a note of some age happening in the leaf. This is one of those teas that get pulled out from time to time, just to check on the progress of the aging. I’ve only tried this Impression cake, but I’ve also heard good things about the 2018 blend, too. Perhaps I’ll snag one down the road. It’s hard to tell. ;)

Excellent. Like drinking jasmine.

After ten day long vacation in Puerto Rico I am back to snowy Canada. More importantly, I can have some tea again!

Golden Bud is a tea I grabbed a sample of after some good reception it received. After two sessions, my verdict would be that the tea is not quite for me. The main characteristics are a woody aroma, taste of cocoa nibs, and a super clear liquor that’s quite active in the mouth.

Apart from the woody notes I can also detect aromas of leather, sugarcane, bay leaf, rattan, black currant and blackberry. It ranks among the more interesting ripe pu-erh teas as far as the aroma goes. Personally, I found the complexity to be lacking in the taste and aftertaste though. There is not much beyond a bittersweet, cocoa flavour and a buttery, popcorn-like finish.

The body is medium to full and the mouthfeel is bubbly and buttery. The texture is nice, but doesn’t quite elevate the tea towards my favourites in the category.

Nice clean storage, $80ish a beeng, sweet caramelly, mild, floral citric, actually reminded of the orange blossom incense I burned in my teenage hippie phase. Got a dozen steeps. Nice big flushes with fat stems. Really good material for the price. This would be a good semi aged tea for beginners as there are no funky or overpowering flavors and the price is very good. I didn’t get much in the way of qi other than a bit of mild relaxation but I’m getting over the flu and for the last week I’ve been able to drink tons of Lao Mane and old tree Yibang without being able to tell much difference in my nonexistent energy. At this price this is the best tasting semi aged tea I’ve tried.

This tea is among the more expensive ripes that YS has produced and one can tell it’s not your standard shou. In fact, it is one of the most unique teas in the category, but in ways that are not always immediately obvious. Despite having a complex flavour profile, I found the experience being mostly anchored by the mouthfeel and cha qi. Unlike a lot of other ripe pu’er, this is not a tea to drink on empty stomach – it is more of a powerhouse than a comforting tea in terms of its energy.

As for the smell, I can detect notes of beef and yorkshire pudding before the rinse and wet earth, coconut shell, caramel, fermented citrus fruits afterwards. There is a very pungent empty cup aroma, which hints that the aftertaste is going to be strong too.

The liquor has a lot of different tastes going on, ranging from honey, cookies, cocoa and roasted nuts, to grilled aubergine, red apple, chamomile, and oak wood. The finish is very sweet and yields to a long-lasting floral sweetness. On top of that, the aftertaste displays an interesting vegetal sourness and a grapefruit bitterness. It is somewhat reminiscent of wood, molasses, and medium roast coffee.

The texture of the liquor is buttery and smooth with a full bodied, bubbly character. After swallowing I get a sandpaper-like mouthfeel which is not drying.

The cha qi is subtle, yet very strong and warming. I find it to be quite disorienting without being defocusing.

As I wrote earlier – a unique tea. It is hard to speculate how it will age, but it’s delicious already.

I made a mistake by thinking this tea had more age.
After rinsing I did first two infusions with boiling water for 20 seconds, then reduced to 90° but it was still too hot. I liked the aroma and taste but I’ll have to give it a proper treatment (80°) next time.

This Dan Cong is reminiscent of Taiwanese high mountain oolongs a bit. The flavours seem more interesting than aromas here though. I can also see the similarity to Wu Dong Chou Shi Dan Cong (made from the same varietal), but this one has lighter body and is less complex for sure. Compared to similarly priced teas, it does last quite a bit.

In the dry leaf aroma there are notes of milk and fruits. After the rinse the bouquet changes to a more green and floral one with hints of bay leaves and some vegetables. The taste is crisp, tangy and sweet with notes of cream, fruits and grass. On the other hand, the aftertaste has a more floral and umami character with flavours like yellow bell pepper and plantains.