Yunnan Sourcing

YES. This is what I was looking for today.

Malt, leather, cocoa with light floral notes, honey, smooth tobacco, subtle sweetness.

Dries out the mouth just a tad, but that’s okay.

Sweet malt, sweet potato, a tinge of sweet chocolate and a noticeable sharp astringency that is mildly drying for the mouth and throat.

I thought maybe the astringency was in my head or something, so I took a brewed leaf out from the pot, gave it a little bite and dang, there’s that sharp astringency.

Searched up whether aging a black tea would reduce the astringency and apparently, it does. Perhaps it being a 2025 Spring harvest has something to do with it. The smallest size of this to purchase was 50g, so I’ll be storing this away and it shall be a while before I reach for it again.

When I opened the pouch, i was hit with a sweet roasted scent. I brewed western style, and the brewed tea gave me notes of grilled stone fruit followed by a sweet berry aftertaste that lingered for a while. Very enjoyable.

Sip Down

Aroma: Buttery, floral, & fruity.

Tasting Notes: Mildly bitter, roast-y, floral, & nutty.

Autumn 2024: Very nice lighter black tea. Pretty sure it would be a mistake to add any milk or sugar to this one. Seems to have a little bit of everything. Leans slightly more towards the “sweet potato” flavor you get from some Yunnan black teas. But you also get hints of milk chocolate. And a touch of grapes. Some maple syrup. I notice that there are some vegetal qualities, perhaps most like artichoke, which are in the mix – A bit unusual for a black tea, I think. A strange combination of flavors, perhaps, but it makes for an interesting tea with some complexity. I’m glad I tried this, and it is definitely a tea I would revisit in the future. I found a 3-minute first steep at 200° seems to serve this tea well, and I’ve been brewing a second time at 195° for 5 minutes with some good results.

Expected more for the price… not very complex, the main feature is tanins and bitterness. Not a bad tea, but no interesting.

Extraordinary Cha Qi and I would say affordable back in summer 2024.

There is some leather and woodn but not much, I consider ir very plain and uninteresting considering the price in yunnansourcing

This tea was pretty good, and I eventually found it to outshine the 2023 Autumn Jiu Tai Po I purchased around the same time and really loved. Just a solid tea with enough depth/complexity to keep you interested from day to day. I don’t find this tea offensive in any way, and whatever bad qualities noted by other reviewers seem to have aged their way out. It does have a touch of bitterness, but a friendly kind not unlike a good IPA-style beer. A piney kind of bitterness. Overall, the sweeter and fruitier notes of this tea seem more prominent. It has some of the “cotton candy” qualities which I love in some raw puerhs and some apricot/grape notes. Maybe some slight citrus hints. I’ve already brewed through the whole cake and now I’m missing it. Probably won’t buy again, though, as so much more raw puerh I haven’t explored yet.

I scored the 2023 Jiu Tai Po higher than this, but at the time I was blown away by the “cotton candy” aroma/flavor I had discovered in that one. In retrospect now I would rate it a little lower.

I’ve owned this tea for a while now, and enjoy it. I have to say it has aged well.

I prefer this tea gong fu style with boiling water, starting with a brief rinse and then resting the leaves for a bit to let them open open up. I like to drink the rinse for this one.

In today’s session, after I did the rinse, the early steeps tasted sweet and citrusy. Later steeps had notes of citrus and honey.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2025 Tea #3 – April 22 – Earth Day: drink an earthy tasting tea

Of course if it’s an earthy tea I need, I’m thinking PUERH.  This one is from Michelle, quite a while ago!  Thanks very much.  I really love this one.  Such a dark, rich flavor to it.  Biscuity, bready, but also something that reminds me of marshmallow?  The treat, not the root, which is something that quite amuses me about an occasional puerh, so I love finding that.   Not even very unraveled yet.  Two more steeps are planned for tomorrow, but I wanted to get this note in! 
Steep #1 // 22 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

It’s ….ok, I guess. Somewhat subtle, which is actually it’s saving grace. A little different, with a taste of hay and cucumber and mild honeydew. Very light color on the liquor. The flavor combination of hay and honeydew is palatable at best, but I don’t want a lot of it, and as the hay flavor emerged by the third steep, I was wishing it was actually more subtle. Unfortunate.. The scent from the gaiwan is strong and sour/woodsy, in a non-the-most-pleasant way.

I did 5g in a 100ml gaiwan, at near boiling (I believe the vast majority of teas (but not all) generally need to be able to stand up to near boiling water). Started at 10 seconds, then did 4 steeps adding 5 seconds between steeps at first, then 10 seconds. But I’m not reaching for it, and probably won’t drink it for a long time.

I acquired this shou 3 years ago, and have had it in 63% RH storage since then. This now 9 yr old ripe Pu-erh (2019 pressing of 2016 material) brewed up to make a very nice, thick & sweet broth that was deep brown and opaque in appearance. I steeped (western style) 5g leaf in 8oz boiling water (after a 10s discarded rinse) for 30 sec the first time, then re-steeped the leaves three more times for 15s each. I’m sure the leaf would have continued for another 4+ steepings, but a quart of tea was my limit. Each infusion tasted the same, with a strong mushroomy flavor and petrichor aroma, with accents of chestnut and tobacco. Without sourness, fishiness, or bitterness, it was very pleasant and a great value. Creamier than, and almost as flavorful as, the tangerine gong ting I previously reviewed at http://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/93201. Still available, I’ll rate this as an 85.

I have the Spring 2024 batch, and it is delicious! I like to brew this western-style. In the first cup, I get a strong note of cherry, with some honey and chocolate notes. On the second and third cups, the chocolate and honey notes move to the forefront, along with a tropical fruit blend note.

I have almost finished this cake, it is so good! To me this tastes very “medicinal herbs” with that strong bitterness and almost a smoked sausages quality to it. Also a slight touch of an incense thing going on that makes it intriguing and intoxicating. The cha qi is potent with this one!

I absolutely loved this tea. It was the first cake of pu’erh I ever finished. Beautiful medium compression so the leaves I broke off were always intact…lovely leather/woody/floral flavor with straight honey smell in the cup. Very mellow qi – great for chilling on a Sunday afternoon. I am on the hunt for a similar tea to this one. Yiwu has become my favorite terroir in Yunnan <3

I get notes of chocolate and honey. I like this tea a lot.

I have had this cake for a few years, but I only opened it today for the first time. Until now I would always go for the 2018 vintage. At some point, I should also do a side-by-side comparison.

The tea is really well-balanced and flavourful, and has a supple and smooth texture. At this price, one could hardly ask for more. The taste is quite sweet, but with many undertones – malt, wood, bitter, floral, citrus zest. The aftertaste has strong honey and apricot notes. A pleasant experience overall.

One that I have had in storage for a while and drank before but have not reviewed yet. Drinking the last of what I have this morning. Dark like cacao, mildly smoky, it reminds me of a summer campfire. Pleasant mouthfeel that is not super thick but not too “watery” thin. Will probably need to buy this again in the future if possible.

This has been a wonderful experience to have the past couple mornings. Starts off well, almost like a red tea, but then becomes thicker and more woody the more I drink it. In the end, it leaves me satisfied like I ate a hearty meal. Would actually be a good daily drinker.

This was a fine tea to enjoy for my morning, but nothing to crow about. I recommend it because it is a good quality tea, but not a super favorite by any means. Gets nice and dark in color, average mouthfeel, but not very aromatic at all and does not have a super distinct or bold flavor.

Rested this one for several months after opening to see if the smoke would relinquish its iron grip on the base material:

3-stage filtered L.A. water just off the boil into my white/brown “turned” Jingdezhen gaiwan, then into a Pyrex measuring cup, then a small porcelain cup.

Woven/slightly compressed material, long leaves and plenty of stems.

Sandy brown liquor. Wood fire, cassava, and forest floor in the nose.

Potently smokey but no longer aggressively so if you keep the infusions brief (15 – 20 seconds at first, ramping up slowly). Clay, loam, and nutty flavors dance around the edges. Rich and warming body. Smooth with little astringency (despite the smoke), and no musty notes.

A rustic yet satisfying smoked tea, perhaps lacking the nuance/character of the better aged examples of Liu Bao (though I have limited experience to compare to).

Sipdown

Aroma: Woody & earthy

Texture: Oily & thick

Tasting Notes: Woody, bitter, & grains (rice, wheat, & dried oats)

Additional Notes: 18 infusions!