2010 Yunnan Sourcing "Big Snow Mountain" Raw Pu-erh

This is really good. I’ve been flash steeping and it’s mild and sweet with just the tiniest bit of bitter when I steep too long.

Thanks for sharing, Dexter. :) You should try this one. It’s an herbal-honey sweetness, IMO. Not as sweet as a moonlight, but closer to that than a bitter young raw.

Yongde’s Big Snow Mountain area produced some of my favorite teas. Needless to say, this one had big shoes to fill.

I do like this tea for its regional characteristics and aging potential. It’s not as impact-full or fruity as Finepuer’s 2009 version (when will they ever restock I do not know…), but it shares some qualities that I think are unique to the Yongde Big Snow Mountain area, such as a varied sweetness that coats the tongue for a long time. I picked up notes of chocolate and vanilla bean. The tea soup is a bright orange and a bit on the opaque side. It has that sharpness I like, which should round out in the next year or so.

The highly potent cha qi, indicative of the tea’s unique origin, is immediately felt and is making me feel flushed in the face. This is unusual for me, as cha qi normally moves downward towards my solar-plexus and then down to my core. This one affects me much like a 3rd glass of wine.

The aftertaste is long and powerful, as well. Although, I’m not a fan of the pronounced grainy feeling (not numbing) left on my tongue, I am left with an overall pleasant experience. Certainly, this is a wonderful candidate for aging, but not bad to drink now either.

Very light taste with little astringency and almost no bitterness. Cha qi is definitely present after one cup (3rd infusion). Dry-ish mouth feel and a lingering in the throat of grass. Not the most exciting tea, but it has character.

This is my kind of sheng. Nice bold punchy flavor. Nice balance between sweet and bitter. Faint hint of floral. I like a little astringency sometimes. Good stuff.

I’m starting to think that I need to start using two numbers to rate pu-erh tea. The first would be the flavor rating that I use for all other teas, and the second would be the psycho-active rating, or cha qi.

This tea is a great example. I don’t really like the taste, which is still pretty bitter at the 6th steep. However, halfway through this 6th cup (first cup this morning) I have this relaxing “buzz” going on that is probably what people talk about as “tea drunk”. I’m not going to provide a rating on steepster (or seriously propose a two-point system) but my internal rating system for pu-erh become based upon a combination of flavor with qi, but it would be better to use two numbers. This is not the only tea that I enjoyed for qi but didn’t care for in flavor. Of course, a few special teas have both.

So, on to this tea: It starts with a grassy flavor, which is my preference in a green-style tea, but with a little more veggie than I like to see. Very soon into a sip, a very powerful bitterness starts to build and it dominates the taste to the point where very little else is noticeable. I steeped at 185, which I would think would produce less bitterness than at boiling, or my ususal black tea temperature of 200. I’ll try at 175 degrees next time just to see if that makes a difference.

This is a lovely sample from my TeaFF, MzPriss! Thanks, honeybelle!

Method: 8 g, 6 oz, 200 degrees, rinse-10-15, sheng yixing, Goldie

Aroma: sweet and fruity

Flavor: Well the first two steeps are kicking my ass a bit. This is an interesting mix of very pleasant flavors with a sharp bitterness. It has a nice astringent finish. Some sips taste quite mild, and some are like a kick in the shin.

Steeps 3 and 4 are calmer. I have a little sheng glow going and the apricot notes are coming through nicely. I’m starting to feel a little tea woozy. Yay!

This one is definitely a keeper and I think it will age nicely and the initial bitterness will soften up.

I am fond of the teas from Big Snow Mountain (Da Xue Shan in Lincang) and have picked up a few different cakes over the past six months. My interest actually developed through the Mengku side of the mountain but this particular cake is made using Yong De leaf – dark almost black leaf with just a few brown buds mixed in. Very light and clear tea soup with an enticing aroma – a light flowery aroma. The mouth-feel is strong and fills and stimulates the mouth long after it has been drunk. The taste is very welcoming – smooth, a little green tea like, only the lightest touch of bitterness, just on the edge of sweetness, a nice lingering aftertaste. Bottom line: the tea offers a very nice fragrance with a smooth sip and solid Qi. This one is a keeper for sure and I’ve just ordered a cake since YS has a 15% off sale today.

Another sample from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing. The soup is a light gold in color with a nice floral smell. The taste has everything I like about a young Sheng: kuwei, astringency and an earthy/grassy taste with a hint of smoke. Unlike the 2012 Yunnan Sourcing “Impression” Raw Pu-erh tea cake that I sampled, this Sheng is very bold and I really like that. After two steepings I really wished that the astringency would back off a bit and the kuwei would step up a bit more. By steeping four I got what I asked for and the smoke flavor had also become more pronounced. If steepings one thru three had tasted like steepings four plus, this tea would have rated higher. An excellent Sheng that is at the top of my order list!!!!!!