Yunnan Sourcing

Thank you Sil (and Terri?) for this sample! (162)

It smells so dark and rich, and I probably shouldn’t be drinking it at 11, but I’ve got more Supernatural episodes I’d like to watch.

It’s very rich with a lot of cocoa notes and maybe some oak? It’s not as sweet as I had expected, but ti’s still very nice. It makes me think of Laoshan Black, although I couldn’t quite say what the difference is.

Wish I had read SANSNIPPLE’s note before trying this tea. It is indeed a bit unruly with its tackiness and pungency. But I put mine away in the cupboard as well and it did mellow some in the drying.

Brewing was another mess all together. Used my yixing pot, chaulk one up for naivete. Water at 200F and rinsed 5 grams of tea. I was able to get a nice chunk of tea from this small brick so I was not surprised when I rinsed and the color was a nice light brick. Then came the first steep which was as soon as the water filled the pot I poured. Mud, mud, mud. Smelled like mud, looked like mud, tasted like mud. If I only read the review first. But no, I drank the first steep anyway, yuck. Then it dawned on me to check the review, wait for it, ohhhh I should have rinsed it a few times, duh. Did three more rinses and the soup is still a dark brick colour, but no longer tastes of mud, and it does have a faint sweetness added to the traditional pu ehr flavors. I can now discern the flavors of the chrysanthemum versus the tea and I’m feeling a bit better about this unruly brick of pu erh.

Finished this one off today. This is my favorite of all the Yunnan Sourcing teas Terri has sent, all of them have been enjoyable, but this could be a purchase some day.

This is another good one from YS courtesy of Terri Harplady and the BBB. This tastes of roasted nuts and is incredibly smooth. I’m using my gaiwan and accidentally forgot it during the 20 second steep and it went for about 2 minutes. Not at all bitter. Just extra roasty and nutty. I don’t taste anything sweet or chocolatey, just a nice roasted tea. I like it!

sipdown! Today is a work from home and drink tea sort of day given all the issues in toronto. I’ve got soup being made in the slow cooker for this afternoon and now i can settle in and drink up some delicious tea. Not focusing on sipdowns today but i’ll try and get at least a couple so that i’m closer to my goal for the end of 2013. As mentioned before this is a tasty juicy cup =- though i DID like the other one from the BBB Box slightly better :)

another delight from the BBB Box shared by terri. Working from home this morning so i’ve got time to enjoy my teas and drink a number of them :) While i quite enjoy this one, i think i like the other one from this morning just a little better. this one has a fruity sort of taste to it that i like, but will grow tired of eventually as it reminds me of apricots or peaches..

terri…i really hope this is the one you sent to us for the bbb Box the other day. i usually count on tastybrew’s notes to let me know i’ve found the right one but there’s none to be found under this one haha

this is another one that escapes me today but still lands on the side of YUMMY! More to come in future tasting notes but yes… YUM!

mmm backlog from the other day. thank you again for the share on this one Dexter. It was lovely having it again. I really hope 2015 brings about the same sort of deliciousness

dexter you spoil me. I pulled this one out today as well for a double dose of awesomeness in my day. I’ll be sad when this one is all gone but that’s NOT TODAY! mwahahaha

dexter is awesome and portioned out a little of this one from her stash for me to have again. I have the 2014 version but it’s got nothing on the 2013 version. Sadly i missed my chance to pick up more of the 2013 version :(

Alongside this one, i’m also drinking a tea of the same name from dexter’s tea pusher. Both have that deliciously chocolatey taste…i think i like dexter’s tea pusher just slightly but both are different enough that i could drink both all day….every day lol. so good. i just hope 2015 version from YS will be more like 2013. :(

thank you so much dexter!

mmmmm…this has grown on me every time i have it. There’s enough for another little cup but i’m passing that on to Cavocorax since i think she might enjoy this one and it’s always fun to share! :)

thanks for sending this in the BBB Box terri!

sometimes i wish the images in my head could just be there. I had a long day. started work at 7:15am….finished at 9:45. No dinner ‘cause i’m too exausted to eat and only a morning snack. But i came home…finished things up..watched some videos of golden retriever puppies…read some tea tasting notes and now…now i’m going to curl up in the bed and watch a short episode of bad tv before i head to bed.

However, i had this tea in the morning and it was amaaazing for today. so ha! more importantly as i do a touchdown victory dance in the end zone of my warped mind…i received my teavivre order today and I’M STILL UNDER 150! BOOOYAAAA!!!! short lived victories are still victories.. ohbyeah! oh yeah woot woot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riQTu_939MY

This is another delicious offering from terri via the BBB Box! I haven’t had the pleasure of trying a lot of Yunnan sourcing teas so i’m always up for new ones. Admittedly i figured i’d better try this before the next round gets here. I always try to finish up the last round’s before the next gets here, but it’s hard with 3 ppl involved that are all eager to share teas!

this one is both chocolately but also minorly..fruity? I will need to have this gaiwan style in the near future because i am really digging this one.

YUM!!!! Got this from Terri Harplady in the BBBB and it is absolutely delicious! Made it in the gaiwan and enjoyed about 5 steeps before it started to lose the robust flavor. This is seriously good. Thanks Terri!

Edited 13 January 2014: Okay, I recently followed Rushx9’s instructions and tried this tea again with water at 185F (at least, according to my thermometer) and did a really quick rinse, then about a 9 to 10 second steep. The tea was much better this time and it did have a nice, if very faint floral aroma and aftertaste of clover honey. VERY faint. The second and third steepings were actually better with a slightly stronger aroma and flavor that was quite pleasant, if still weak, but the tea started to pick up a bitterness on the 4th steeping (admittedly, I probably let it steep slightly too long). I’ll use up the rest of this bag of tea and not buy it again, as I prefer teas that allow me to close my eyes and lose myself in the aroma and flavor (I’ve been known to sit with my cup of tea and just breathe the steam to enjoy the scents of the tea long before I take the first sip).

Tried water at 165F, 180F and 190F on three separate occasions. Each time, I rinsed the tea for 10 seconds & poured out the first infusion, then added water again and steeped for 30 seconds. No matter what I did, this tea smelled of oil paints (linseed oil, perhaps?) and tasted like it smelled. Subsequent infusions weren’t much better, though I finally got a bit of honey-like flavor with a bit of light, sweet fruitiness when I used 195F water on about the third infusion.

This tea was so horrid that it must be something I’m doing wrong or my taste buds were completely out of whack the three days I tried it. Any suggestions for brewing this tea would be greatly appreciated!

Lovely, deep red/orange broth with a sensual, dark aroma of malt, fruit and raw cacao. Taste is also dark and sensual with a thick, dark, malty taste like a good stout beer but without any bitterness at all, as well as a light fruit and raw cacao flavor. The second infusion was not quite as thick but still very round and lush, the malty goodness was still there, as well as the taste of fruit and raw cacao nibs. The third steeping was left for close to two minutes and I was rewarded with an aroma and taste that was just as thick and lush as the first infusion but brighter and with even more raw cacao taste and aroma added to the fruit, though the malt overtones were much less foreward but still there. The fourth infusion was much lighter, even after steeping for three and a half minutes, but still just as delicious. A fifth infusion was weak, even after five minutes, so I let it steep until cold and it made a very nice cold tea.

This was actually the first ‘real’ tea (non-flavored) I’ve ever bought and I bought it via Amazon.com. I loved it so much that I went to Yunnan Sourcing’s site and bought more immediately.

I’m gonna go ahead and say it… Raisinetes! Or maybe more like chocolate covered apricots or golden raisins… Good dry Sherry… Silky texture, slightly viscous mouthfeel, long sweet finish. This gets my current “favorite black tea” award! Brewed 2g in a small gaiwan. Quick 4 second rinse then combined the next 5 infusions in a mug. Inf. times: 25s,35s,50s,70s,100s

Broke open another orange today — to me this is the pinnacle of natural flavoring in pure tea leaf. Gong Ting fermented in an orange rind and it is delicious. You break off as much orange peel as you want to add flavor to your puerh. This is a highly enjoyable find!

Not available from Yunnan Sourcing at the moment; sourced from Grandness Tea on AliExpress.

Over the past week I have been sipping on two lovely “dark teas” (both are new to me) – this one and a 2012 Supreme Purple Bud Raw Puer Mini Cake (8g).

This is a highly enjoyable find! Gong Ting fermented in an orange rind and it is delicious. The first 2-3 steeps are a bit strong with a pleasant astringency but the later steepings are more mellow – very enjoyable cups from the first to the last. If you break up a bit of the rind with the tea leaves, you can adjust the flavor to match your individual preferences. I find the orange flavor to be quite subtle and the leaf itself is of a good quality. Each orange package weighs 22-24 grams so it’s good for four different sessions (each session with many resteeps).

Not sure if I have the 2012 or 2013 since it came as an unlabeled freebie. Was really kinda nasty when it first arrived (from the overpoweringly pungent chrysanthemums, not the puerh), but after airing out for a few months it’s starting to settle down and get drinkable, and after aggressive rinsing it’s actually surprisingly nice. Sweet, and kind of a medicinal and spicy sort of flavor. After cursing this tiny brick (and it is tiny, that 100g is so densely compressed) for completely stinking up my entire YS order on it’s long journey here, I’m now actually enjoying its existence and looking forward to its future, so long as it promises to stay far far away from my other tea (and from my yixing).

I had planned to get out in the garden early this morning, but slept until after 8, laid in bed meditating for awhile, made myself some egg drop soup with mustard greens, caramelized shallots, & a side of bacon. Now I’m sipping this tea. Usually I go with 1 T x 3 & 5 minutes, but since this is the very last cup I went a little heavier (basically what was left in the bag), x 1/2/& 5 minute steeps. My final notes on this tea (until I allow myself to place a huge order from YS, which, according to Ms. Theresa “is NOT going to be today”, is that I like it. Honey, Malt, Cedar, & Buttermilk are the things I’m tasting today in my cup, and enjoying every last sip.
Some part of me is really wanting to just lay up today, sip tea, & accomplish nothing, LOL. But I hear my garden calling my name…there are berries to pick, more squash plants to put in the ground, things to harvest…guess I’d better get on it then.