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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.

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.

Love the aroma of this tea! It is so nutty that it almost smells like peanut butter, but also with some hints of spice (coriander?) and a pleasant mild grassiness. The nuttiness is prominent in the taste as well, with some sweetness and a little bit of a grassy bite to make things more interesting. This might become an “everyday” tea for me!

Not very good – I guess it does kind of have a “toasty bean” aroma and flavor as described, but not very much depth or nuance to it. It does smell good in the bag, though. Pretty boring.

Yunnan Sourcing included a generous sample of about 16.3 grams of this tea with my recent order. Dry leaves don’t seem nearly as green as what is pictured, and what I have here is more a mixture of green and brown. It is now roughly 10 months after harvest, so maybe the leaves have oxidized more in the packaging? I don’t know. There are quite a few white tips evident in the dry leaf. At first I thought a lot of twigs were included in the mix, but I think this is mostly due to the “large leaf” nature of the Yunnan tea – the stems are larger and more prominent as well, maybe? There are some rather large twigs.

Brews to a nice clear amber color, with the wet leaves giving me a smell reminiscent of Darjeeling black tea. The flavor is kind of similar to a second flush Darjeeling, too, with muscatel notes, but also with a pleasant oakiness. Much lighter in body than a typical black tea, of course. It is pretty nice, and a good value for the price.

I prefer the much greener bai mu dan I purchased a while back from English Tea Store – It had more delicate but delicious flavors including hints of mint, pine, apricot, green grape, etc – But was also a bit more expensive.

On the other hand, I would prefer this to the “pai mu tan” I purchased from Harney and Sons not too long ago – That one was kind of blah.

Seems to me to be down the road a ways and somewhere between a bai mu dan and a shou mei. That is pretty much alright with me, as I like a good shou mei. Never purchased a proper one, but maybe this is more akin to a gong mei?

Another winner from Yunnan Sourcing. I am drinking the Spring 2023 version of this tea, and find it to be quite nice. It is reminiscent to me of the Spring Pouchong I tried from English Tea Store, but also has its own unique characteristics. Dry leaves are beautifully formed and very much as pictured.

I think the ideal brewing temp might be around 185°, but works very well with the insta-hot water dispenser at my office, which I suppose is around 195°. I notice honeydew melon, (lilac?) florals, and a touch of creamy lemon curd in the flavor. Also pleasant hints of grassiness. I brew western style, first steep 2 min, second steep 3 min, and third steep 4-5 minutes seems to work well with this tea. I notice the flavors seem to pop more on the second steep, so might try adjusting my first steep to get similar results. Awesome tea!

Just beautiful – Glad I chose to go with Yunnan Sourcing for my latest tea order! This is everything I want in a black tea – Strong, assertive taste without bitterness, orchid florals, nice peachy notes (like a good dark formosa oolong), honey-like sweetness, and some nice chocolate-y notes (without going too far in that direction). And all that without breaking the bank. The dry tea leaves are beautifully formed, clearly reflecting the one leaf/one bud picking. And I can’t believe they offer a higher “imperial” version of this one – That is definitely going on my list next time I make an order. This tea is magical.

I won’t give this tea a rating because not sure if my taste/smell came back fully from my bout with Covid. I bought this mainly out of curiousity, wondering what one of these “dragon pearl” teas would be like on its own without the addition of the jasmine scenting. Honestly, I was expecting not to be too thrilled by it, as I suspect that maybe an unspectacular tea selection is perhaps why these pearls are usually jasmine-scented in the first place.

I guess I am pleasantly surprised, then, to find this a somewhat interesting and enjoyable tea. There is some sweetness, but I seem to notice this tea taking a bend towards some savory qualities. I even get some hints of bacon. For the price, I think I will continue to choose other teas I enjoy more at a lower price point. But good to have the experience.

While the leaves are impressive in their neatness and clearly higher quality based on their beautiful fuzzy buds and intact leafsets, on the other hand I suspect this style of tea is overvalued because there is also a lot of stem included when compared to other premium green teas. The intact stems are needed to make sure the leaves are lengthy enough to be rolled into the tight pearls. You pay more for the rolling process and end up with a lesser amount of leaf.