Yunnan Sourcing

This tea definitely needs to be given some time to mellow out, but I think it will be nice given a year or so of aging.

Dry cake: The dry leaves have a nice milk chocolaty color with a good number of golden buds mixed in. The cake compression seems ideal (to this newb anyway), its pretty tight, but still loose enough to break apart without too much damage to the leaves.

1st infusion: I gave it a wash and brewed the first infusion; yuck! Tastes like a cup of fermentation. It really wasn’t worth drinking, so I transferred it to a cup to pour over my teapot.

2nd-5th: These were much more drinkable. There is still a some fermentation taste, but it was much less and joined by flavors of chocolate, celery, and oak.

5th-8th: This is where this cake shines. It still has a bit of compost flavor, but the “tea flavors” really come through with notes of date, pecan, cocoa powder, and red wine.

9th-10th: These were weaker, but otherwise like 5-8, and this is where I cut it off.

This isn’t the greatest right now, but I think it will be a nice tea.

I saw this cake on the Yunnan Sourcing website a few weeks ago, and it was very intriguing to me. This is my first review in a while.

Leaf Quality:
The tea cake is comprised completely of golden buds, and was very fragrant. The leaves were tightly compressed and looked very beautiful- I almost didn’t want to break up the cake. The brewed leaves smelled very malty, and also like a red wine.

Brewed Tea:
The brewed tea smelled very floral. It tasted malty, floral, sweet, and had no astringency. The color was a reddish brown, and the initial scent reminded me of White Peony.
Second Steeping
The second steeping was rather floral as well. The sweetness had gone down a bit, but the malty character was still present. This black tea was very mellow, and had a chocolaty finish.

This was a very good tea. I do not recommend it as a breakfast tea, but more of an “anytime” tea. This would be very good to enjoy in the afternoons. I’ve never had a black tea bing cha before, so this was quite an interesting experience.

I got a really cool new yixing in the mail today that I’ll be using for sheng :)

Currently pre-seasoning it with this tea. I gave it a boil for about 45 minutes, took it out and brushed it, and then made extra strong tea with it, which I poured into a pyrex bowl to “steep” the pot in.

I have a new roommate this summer, and I WAS trying to explain my tea obsession without coming off sounding too crazy, but that’s a hard act to keep up when you’re in the kitchen making teapot soup. I’m a fairly awkward person is it is, but so far my roommate seems like a pretty nice guy.

This is the second raw pu’erh that I’ve tried, and a very young one. In my limited knowledge, it seems like a good candidate for aging (which is good for me since I bought a whole cake).

First off I’ll have to say that this cake smells AMAZING! The smell is strong and sweet with figgy and toasted qualities that fill the box where I’m keeping the teas that I brought home with me (at my parents house home on winter break). If they made “raw pu’erh” air fresheners, I’d buy a dozen! :P

The tea brewed a light gold/green color like a lightly roasted oolong, and the leaves opened up to be fairly large, most around two inches, but some larger or smaller. The wet leaves look tender and green like a good dragonwell.

The tea is pungent and sweet, with a predominately apricot flavor, a slight bitterness, and a natural sweetness. In the earlier infusions I found notes of orchid, green olive, and oatmeal.
The bitterness faded in the later infusions leaving sweet and mellow tastes of almond and cream with more a more tropical mango flavor that lingered across the front and back of the tongue.

This is the first tea I’ve tried that had more stamina than I did. I left off at around twelve infusions, though the flavors were still coming through strong. I’m definitely feeling the cha qi on this one. I feel aware and content, and feel the need to lay back and enjoy the day’s beautiful weather. :)

To me this one was more than a let down. It isn’t a ‘meh’ is more of a ‘AGGGHHHHHhhhh’ experience in my opinion. I’ve had great experiences with Yunnan Sourcing’s mini tuos… this is not one of them.

If I were to describe the taste of an not yet ‘aged’ ripe would normally be ‘like clean earth’. This one however (in my opinion, try and judge yourself), taste like unclean earthy. Like when you are eating mushrooms that were not properly cleaned… that ‘extra’ and unwanted earthy taste.

Final Notes
I’m REALLY glad I didn’t buy this one, my friend Roberto gave me around 5 to try more than a few months ago and I haven’t and probably won’t get myself through them. As always try things yourself, also remember that Puerh ages and the earthiness MAY… just MAY, get pleasant, I wont risk it.

Tight, tippy, tobacco, and T. The four T’s. Jakub, fellow puer enthusiast and blogger, sent this 2006 Haiwan Pasha puer.

The tips are welded together…

http://www.twodogteablog.com/2012/11/23/2006-haiwan-pasha/

This tea is fresh and fruity in favor. Great Buy! It is one of the best white tea I have ever tasted for the past 10 years.

I spent the day today thinking about Beowulf’s funeral and this tea has helped me. In case you are wondering, the topic for tomorrow’s seminars is Beowulf and we shall be reading the last couple of dozen lines of the poem. It will be hardcore grammar for a large chunk of the seminars but there needs to be time to talk about the text too. It should be exciting, because there is a lot that can be said about just this tiny chunk of the poem. Anyway, this rather lively tea helped keep me focused on the preparation. I hope my students appreciate my effort!

I bought a sample of it from Yunnan Sourcing a while back and finally got around to opening it today. I’m glad I did. The dry leaves are predominantly dark green, the cake split easily into its component parts and I had a grassy smelling pile of largish leaves very soon after opening the packet. I put my usual 8g in a 170ml Yixing pot (green ben shan clay) and brewed away. Several steepings later I was still stuck for how to describe this tea. That seems to be the way of things for me lately. Is this the onset of senility some thirty years or so too early? The tea is sweet and grassy with quite a bite to it. It bounces around in my mouth, never letting me get complacent about it. Just when I think it has mellowed, it jumps up again and gives me a kick. I am really enjoying it and am particularly pleased that YS sells such large samples.

NOTE This is another sample thanks to my friend Roberto. This was at work, so I might add another note at another time.

Dry Leaf – Faint black tea sweetness, Oolong/Liu-An scent
Wet Leaf – Roasty sweetness, some black tea scent, hints of caramel/malt/chocolate like a roasted Oolong, slightly fruity.

I did a mega quick wash.

1st Steep – 15secs Clean and sweet, yet not so clean. There is an ‘aged’ characteristic that so far I can only compare to a Liu-An tea. It has a slightly herbaceous scent. There’s a lingering taste that is very pleasant, like a roasted/charcoal Oolong; maybe an extremely well aged ripe puerh.

2nd Steep – 30secs Again, a mixture of clean/yet very unique taste to it with sweetness. The ‘aged’ taste and ‘toasty’ taste is more tobacco/chocolate like (very pleasant not like someone smoking right next to you :P) almost like a charcoal roasted Oolong. The sweetness can also be compared to that of a charcoal oolong, which is very present but unique to the roasting process. The aftertaste is lingering and sweet, seems to outlast most black teas I’ve had (except a purple varietal).

3rd Steep – 45secs Not as ‘clean’, more roast/charcoal Oolong like with apparent sweetness as it washes down. The body is a lot lighter in this steep but still present. Yet this steep to me seems sweeter than previously. It has a very nice and lasting sweetness.

FINAL NOTES
A very different black tea, almost not a black tea at all. If you only like strong black teas, this one I’d stand clear from. BUT! if you like subtle and more complex teas then go for it. I’m glad I didn’t read the description of the tea on the page before trying it. Once I had tasted it and checked it out I found myself saying “ahhhh! that’s why it resembles an Oolong..” and “Now it makes sense why the aftertaste lingers so well”.

I don’t think it is an every day tea, but it is a very special experience that can be appreciated. The sweetness lingers!

This is an excerpt from my blog that also has a picture of this tea and a story with review at www.teaandincense.com

I received a gift box of Pu-erh from a kind and generous friend, I was so overwhelmed that the first person I told was a fellow Pu-erh lover Eric, who works at Happy Lucky’s. I shot him a quick note on Google+ and we arranged to bring my treasure by HL on Friday.

When Friday arrived, Eric was laughing at the amount of Pu-erh I had received! I told him to pick out anything for us to taste and his face lit up.

“I’ve never had a Tangerine Pu-erh,” he said. “Me either, I replied, and there’s three in the box, take your pick!”

I hopped up onto a bar stool to watch the opening of the plastic wrapped dry tangerine. (You couldn’t actually see with all the wrapping and the labels).

First, he opened the larger of the tangerines which had some mold on the fruit skin. We didn’t know what to do about this. Would we get sick if we drank the tea inside?

Eric went to the computer and shot a note out for our tea club members who might shed light on the safety of drinking the tea and then we made a decision to wrap it up and try another one of the tangerines just to be safe. (Later we found out that unless it was extensive and close to the Pu-erh it was probably OK).

We were determined!

The next tangerine is the one pictured. A Gold Horse grade 5 (that refers to the size of the leaves). http://flic.kr/p/dphcWo

Another quick note. And also, thanks to Scott from Yunnan Sourcing for the nice sample.

I love Maocha. The Sweetness that is hidden behind floral perfume notes and hints of smokiness. This was no exception, it is really good and pleasing, it still has some strong bitterness that I’m sure will mellow as it ages. BUT that doesn’t mean that this bitterness is unpleasant, in fact is its pretty pleasant and satisfying. Recommend if you like Maocha or just raw puerh with some personality.

Quick lazy review!

I’ve had this for a while but just been lazy. I bought it as a ‘let me drink it as it ages’ puerh. I really like it. I feel it is really good, especially for the price. Two 250g cake for that price is crazy.

The tea is has a full/heavy body and it is pretty smooth. It is pretty earth (not that aged) but not as a cheap/low quality puerh would be. If you are trying puerhs and are still learning how to choose this is one to pick up. If you like ripe puerhs then I consider this tea an inexpensive pleasure.

This is a really interesting tea, pretty much unlike anything I’ve had

Dry leaves: Feel super feel super fresh and soft. They have a pineapple top shape and white, velvety skin.

Brewing: The leaves expand just a little bit, but retain their shape. The tea is the lightest colored brew I’ve seen, almost like water.

Taste: Very light with no bitterness at all. Hints of honeysuckle, green peppercorn, and fresh-cut leaves over an underlying note of fresh hay. This tea reminds me slightly of rosewater, and has a unique combination of fresh, earthy, and floral flavors.

Reminds me of: Trimming a gardenia bush on an damp, overcast day

Wow, I realized I haven’t posted a tasting note (at least not a long one) in quite a while now! I’ve had quite a few new teas and written notes (on paper) about a few of them, but between a general funk that I’ve been in and the impending horror of finals week, I haven’t put anything online.

I made this tea in a gawian for the first time today (for some reason I’d never considered making blacks or greens gong fu until recently) and it’s really nice.

This won’t be a full note, but an “update” I guess with some more things I’ve noticed with this tea:

-One, is that it brews GREAT in a gaiwan! It brought out smoother flavors and lasted more than eight (I lost count) infusions

-Another thing I noticed is that its very creamy for a black tea, definitely no cream needed for this one

-Finally, I noticed some nice melon and milk chocolate flavors in addition to the spice and whiskey flavors I noted last time

Well, now I’ll head back to hitting the books… Wish me luck!

Received my Yunnan Sourcing order today!
The teas smell great, but sadly the lid of the gaiwan I ordered was cracked despite some really intense bubble-wraping :(

Dry Leaves: Really lovely shiny golden buds with some black mixed in. They have a velvety feel, and are very soft and fresh feeling compared to other blacks I’ve had.

Brewing: They produce a gold-brown colored tea with a honey-like aroma. The leaves are almost all whole, and unfold to look like small needles of milk chocolate or fine leather.

Tasting: The first thing in noticed when drinking this tea was the powerful throat sensation. Definitely the strongest I’ve experienced. A typical Yunnan gold flavor with hints of sugar cane, spice, and I wouldn’t have thought of it, but as the description mentions, whiskey :)

It held out well for two steeps in my 12oz pot, and made a slightly weaker but still quite nice third steeping.

Reminds me of: Fancy hotels? Not sure why, its just the image this tea brings up for me :)

This was another tiny cake sampler (around 3 cups worth) chosen at random.

Firstly it’s smooth and slightly sweet which covers some of the earthiness but it still remains fresh and subtle. So yummy.

Ordered this a while ago, never got to reviewing till now.

This cake, unlike some others I’ve tried, can easily be broken with bare hands so measuring the right quantity is not a problem. Actually it can be broken into separate leaves.

The liquid is clear and on the yellowy side and the leaves can be steeped quite a few times. I’ve got up to 6th and I probably could go on further.

The main characteristic of the taste is that it is very deep. More so than JKteashop’s 2005 Xiaguan " Wild Tree" Raw for example. While I enjoyed 2005 Xianguan it was a bit too sharp for me. The 2006 Yong De Min taste very much alike, but it is much softer and quite a bit deeper. Which is welcomed. The taste itself if kinda “prunish” but there is more to that, I just can’t place it.

Overall: a very nice tea that can be drunk on almost a daily basis without getting tired of the taste too much.

Everything I rate is an 88.

After the clean, the gaiwan smells like smoked meats. Savory and thick. It’s an oddly pleasant smell that stirs hunger and desire for scrambled eggs. The soup itself smells of pine…

http://www.twodogteablog.com/2012/08/26/wild-tree-purple-puerhdehong-2012-ys/

Forgot to write about this one!
Had a nice little tea tasting with a mutual friend of my future-MIL. She’s had tea before but has never really explored different types, loose tea, etc. So I was a little bit worried she wouldn’t like the taste. I was worried I wouldn’t like the taste because this is my first “loose” shou. There was no need though everybody liked it! I didn’t take notes or anything so I don’t remember exactly flavors that I picked up. I’ll have to try it again on my own so I can focus more on the taste. I was busy explaining tea things. :) It seems like this would be a good “everyday” type puer.

This one really exceeded my expectations. Based solely on the description and picture alone, I was thinking it would be nice but kinda average (for its type). But it has a refreshing liquor, slightly fruity flavour, and the nice malty and earthy notes I expect.

And another thing, I don’t think the picture does this tea justice. Looking inside the bag, these leaves are big, beautiful and colourful. I know the appearance of leaves isn’t related to flavour, but it was a delight just to look at the dry leaves.

Overall I can’t say this is one of my (all time) favourite black teas, but it certainly has a wonderful charm. I’m looking forward to getting to the bottom of my 100g purchase. From the teas I’ve tried so far (and yet to review) from YS, they do a good job of providing a lot of black teas with different characteristics.

100ml purion teapot, 3 tsp (it’s hard to scoop the leaves out, so 3 is probably right for me), 6 short steeps