Yunnan Sourcing

Recently I purchased six black teas from Yunnan Sourcing. The shipping rate is reasonable but not cheap, so for me it’s worth it to buy a lot of teas (550g total is a lot to me) in one order. On the plus side, my husband mostly drinks black tea at work and this will keep us both well supplied for a while.

Overall I had a nice and mellow six steeps. Nothing really unique caught my attention, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a pleasant cup of Yunnan black tea to drink, and also fun to pry apart. Not disappointed.

100ml gaiwan, 2 tsp(?), 6 short steeps

I threw the last of this sample in a thermos flask today, because I wanted tea on the way to and at university. So, grandpa style brew. It’s a two hour journey down to the university and the traffic can be horrendous, so I always like to have a drink with me in case I stop on the way. Anyway, it stood up to the abuse very well did this tea. It was rich, earthy, mellow and lasted well with top-ups from the boiler in the staff kitchen. Having tested it to destruction and enjoyed the result, I have decided to increase my rating of this tea. I may well invest in more of it now. But first I must test my other teas to destruction too. Which pu shall I abuse next week? ;)

I began this yesterday, thinking that I would like a sheng to drink through the afternoon. The dry leaf smells nothing like any of the other shengs I have written about. If anything this tea brick reminds me more of a shu than a sheng. It is earthy and not camphorous (is that a word?). The leaves are dark and look inviting.

Brewing the tea confirms that the taste is more shu than the sheng I am used to. That could simply be that I have not tried many aged shengs. As advertised the mouthfeel is full. There is a pepperiness to the taste that is pleasing alongside the earthiness, and a slightly metallic tang. This is not the stableyard that I refer to so often with shengs. Instead it is more like a freshly turned garden awaiting planting after the rain. A lingering sweet earthiness remains after the tea is drunk and my mouth feels warm. I am not blown away by this tea but it is certainly not bad either. I have enjoyed every cup so far and am on to the 10th steeping without having to increase the steeping time beyond 20 seconds yet. Perhaps it is just that I am not used to this type of storage. Time to buy more teas that have been stored similarly perhaps?

I rate everything at 88 for good luck:

I got trapped smelling the dry leaves of this puer tea for a full minute. The smell was quite deep and fragrant, a mix of tobacco and apricots. The fresh tobacco smell is common in raw puer tea, but to have a smell of apricots was a treat. The leaves appeared quite small… read more at http://www.twodogteablog.com/2012/08/12/wu-liang-shan-puer-tea-ys-201/

Leaves are more red then before. Still pretty good tea.

Really good tea.

Special Thanks to John R for this one!

The process of this amazes me!

“A delicious high quality pu-erh leaf has been stuffed into the rind of a whole tangerine! The leaves were stuffed in wet, and then allowed to dry in the sun for about a week. The smell and taste of citrus is VERY present in this tea. If you want extra citrus taste, break some of the dried tangerine rind and brew with the tea together.”

I really like this!

I took the “top” and some pu-erh along with a small chunk that was in with the loose inside the tangerine. I’m going to send the brunt of the base and rest of the pu-erh over to my Sororitea Sister LiberTeas to see what see thinks.

I REALLY like this! I could see how purist of pu-erh might not because this IS very orangy…it doesn’t have that stereotypical pu-erh aroma or taste. BUT…I wouldn’t call myself a pu-erh purist and many of you know I like to try different things :)

I really like this because it IS different and because of the process AND the tangerine flavor is really true and juicy!

I’m so blessed I was able to try this one! Thanks again John R

I bought this sample with my last order to Yunnan as part of my effort to maximise the amount of tea for the postal charge. It’s all done by weight so I spend ages sitting there with the shopping cart trying not to tip over into the next charging bracket. Hours of fun!

Anyway, I started on this sample yesterday, brewing it in my ben shan pot, and it is still going strong after a dozen or more steepings. The sample was basically a chunk of a cake and is quite compact. It has that slightly smoky, floral hay smell that I like. The brewed tea is a light orange colour. It has a fairly strong flavour with a pleasing astringency to it and an enduring aftertaste that leads my wife to say to me “You’ve got pu breath!” I can taste it as I breathe in and out. It’s a bit like honey with some floral notes; sweet, enduring and really jolly good. A beeng or two of this will be going on my wish list.

Loved this one. I ordered because I see ‘sweet’ and it basically calls for me in my dreams. It is a sweet Oolong and less floral than TGY but not lacking of it. As far as the ‘thicker’ feeling in the description, it wasn’t as obvious to me at first. It felt like one of those characteristics that you can notice after comparing to others rather than an apparent characteristic.

I like the sweetness of the liquid and the green of the leaves as they steep. Vivid green with barely darker greens. They have a bit of nutty smell and the after taste is similar to that of eating mango. If you like the sweeter TGY but sometimes can’t handle the floral this is the tea for you.

I had a Puerh heavy day yesterday including a really late session. Even got to ‘meet’ very nice people (Garret from Mandala Tea) and others. Today I started with some puerh but felt like having some Oolong.

I’ve already made tasting notes on this one so I just want to add something. I usually make this tea making 2-3(maybe 4) steeps. Then I use the remaining leaves to cold brew them over night. I love the taste of a roasty Oolong when cold, it is somehow refreshing and slightly filling at the same time.

I bought this tea thinking of getting more chocolate notes out of an Oolong. This is a good tea that I greatly appreciate. It has the buttery sweet nuttiness of the TGY with a heavier maltier base. The chocolate is lighter than Da Hong Pao and its missing some of that smoky maltiness that identifies it.

It takes several infusions with out problem and good if you want something with chocolate roasted hints with out being over powering.

Thank you Roughage for this tea Sample!

This morning I’m challanged with a raw Puerh that’s been produced for almost 50 years by the Xiaguan Tea Factory primarily for use as in Churned Yak Butter Tea.
Roughage or David Duckler (can’t remember which one) said that Yak butter is bitter which is probably why salt and sometimes hemp seeds are added to the brew. Yum…Yum…what a way to start the day!
I’m a bit short on Yak butter!

Here’s the recipe for ‘regular’ Butter Chai if you want to try it!
This recipe courtesy of Roughage!

Butter Chai
5 cups water
1 tablespoon black tea leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk

Boil water in pan and then lower the flame. Add a heaping tablespoon of tea leaves to the water and bring the water to a boil again for several minutes.

Pour tea, salt, butter and milk into a big container that can be covered and shaken. Or use a blender. (The blending makes the flavor savory and exciting)

Serve the tea right away since po cha is best when it’s very hot.

(I’m going to try this recipe during the Olympics for my granddaughters as one of the international tastes of tea we’ll be doing).

Regular Brewing:
I went to the Yunnan Sourcing website to see how to brew this Pu-erh and there were no instructions. I’m winging this…without much experience with raw Pu-erh’s. Oh boy.

I decided to do 2 rinses.
This was big and chunky Pu-erh that looked like the muddy clods on a farmers boots after they’ve dried… with bits of grassy looking stuff packed in.

The steep was about 30 seconds (I went a couple minutes the first time and that was a mistake…oh my).
The liquor was a gorgeous gold and very pretty. It smelled smoky and mildly earthy.

The flavor was also smoky and peppery with a bit of astringency under the tongue and a little salty.

I decided to try the butter, tea, milk…salt…
WOW it was sooooo good!
WOW! WOW!

This was how the tea was meant to be…butter tea!

Thank you Roughage….! It tasted like buttered toasted bread or garlic bread without adding garlic. How could that be?

I’m glad I kept this one around to try again. I’m not saying it became a favorite but I can respect it better. The Tea definitely has that ‘Taiwan’ essence.

The best part about this tea is smelling the ‘tea caramel’, that drying liquid that thickens in the pitcher, it resembles honey and warm sugar with fruitiness, truly pleasant. The first steep is true of its scent, very sweet, mellow and fruity .The following ones resemble Oolong, slightly sweet, floral-bitterness and slight astringency. I think if you are looking for a different view on a green tea this is one to try. But it is a love OR hate situation so go for the samples at first. ;)

I tried this tea three times already gong fu style with different temperatures (some classify it as green, others as oolong). To me this is a green tea with a high mountain oolong look.

Just as the description says, the leaves have an unique aroma (for a green) that resembles plum blossom but a bit sweeter almost like a ripe honeydew melon.

1st Steep – Partially vegetal (like parsley), slight sweetness with floral tones that remind you of a plum blossom oolong but with a melon sweetness of a sweeter green. It leave a vegetal/floral after taste after a ‘clean’ smooth feeling. The leaves were still tightly twisted.

2nd Steep – Vegetal Sweetness and some nuttiness that fades into the melon like sweetness (This was my favorite steep) and a clean feeling that is taken by an apparent melon sweetness with that floral plum blossom aftertaste. There’s a hint of astringency at this point and the leaves are more loose but not fully opened.

3rd Steep – Plummy and floral with vegetal sweetness with nuttiness and the after taste is floral not as refreshing as previous steeps but still clean on the tongue. The leaves are fully open and looks like a green tea.

4th Steep – Smoother more balanced steep with plum blossom floral a hint of sweetness and not as vegetal. Nutty with some astringency reapearing.

You can take more steeps out of this one, I feel its a good tea but not ‘MY’ tea. I’ll continue to drink it and try to understand it better. To me it sounds better than it tastes. I made several tastings with different temperatures this one is at 170-180F, the notes for 195f were fairly similar but the astringency kept accumulating from the first steep on (that’s why I see it as a green rather than Oolong).

My second cup of Pu Erh of the night. This one chosen at random again from my lovely Pu Erh goody box. I am not sure what lotus tastes like per say but one can imagine it’s light and floral. Lotus flowers are beautiful to look at so the idea of drinking one (well part of one) is fun.

Again usual amber coloured ripe Pu Erh colour with the traditional ripe Pu Erh smell.

This cup of tea was steeped after my meal which is supposed to aid with weight loss which is a plus for me if it works.

After my first sips while I found the Pu Erh a nice strength I had trouble detecting the lotus. After a while you can taste something slightly sweet and sharp in the background which must be the lotus. If anything it makes the Pu Erh slightly fresher tasting but does not really aid much else when it comes to flavour. A shame that this tea did not have a more notable flavour but I suppose it’s perfect for Pu Erh drinkers who play their tea safely when it comes to trying new things.

It is also possible that there may not be that much lotus in this brew as I started a fresh cake. I have noticed that a lot of the time the flavour enhancer (fruit, leaves, flowers etc) are mostly towards the middle of the cake. Perhaps next time I brew this I shall dig into the middle and see if there are any changes to taste.

Still the perfect drink to finish my book to.

As I cannot drink alcohol on this diet I plan on having a Pu Erh tea night, tasting some samples I received from a tea seller in Yunnan, China.

This one was chosen at random from my box of over 50 flavours. Honeysuckle smells sweet and floral so I imagine the taste will be similar which I must admit sounds a delightful combination. Pu erh’s earthy lightness with a sweet floralness, the idea has left me grinning. (See who needs a glass of wine when you can have this?).

Colour is your standard ripe Pu Erh. See through browny red (almost like treacle or golden syrup).
Smell wise you note the strong Pu Erh smell that is earthy and almost medicinal. I cannot detect anything else purely by smell.

Yum, Yum, Yum! As imagined this is earthy but with sweetness and still very light. The floralness actually reminds me of Darjeeling (fresh, floral, light) but a darker version which is where the Pu Erh kicks in. Sometimes ripe Pu Erh can be a little tangy or bitter but the honeysuckle takes it away and levels the tea out nicely. There we go a few sips in and I feel that Pu Erh buzz that I always get.

This tea suits my Friday night on the sofa and it comforts my crappy day at work :)

I found some of this in a corner of my house, so I thought I should revisit
Dry – Smells like vine tomatoes mix with a dry wood and dried plums notes, but with more ‘malt’ than I recalled (maybe it changed with time?).
Wet – It has a lot more pungency resembling the tomato vine, acidic notes, plums and some other tart and acidic fruits, malt and a starchy sweetness. (Once again not as pungent as I remembered it).
Liquor – Red copper to a reddish brown hue. Fairly aromatic with sweet notes and a malty/syrupy note. The back has some tart notes.

The taste of the broth is very sweet and malty, but it holds an extra complexity that gradually opens as it moves in my tongue and washes down. First it feels heavy with malty notes but it is immediately followed by some tart fruit notes and acidic hints. This is then followed by an apparent tomato vine notes (tastes like the tomato vines smells lol), but then mellows into more unique fruity notes and ‘green’ character.

The notes linger for a bit and then you can feel a camphor freshness in your tongue that resemble high grade Yunnan golds with a pine-y spectrum of freshness. There’s a very faint fruity note that lingers on for a while if you allow it to develop between sips. Something about this reminded me of Chrysanthemum tea as a child.

I wish I could do a time continue defying tasting session to taste the ‘new’ tea taste and this ‘aged’ taste side by side’ :P

WOW, this IS different. On the description they mention flowers and orange; to me it was a 2 hour session of ‘what the hell is is!? I’ve smelled you before!’ then it came to me, a mix of Sun Dried tomatoes and Plums, weird I know but incredible. The tea itself does have a bit of resemblance to orange blood orange peel but that sun dried tomato stays with me.
A good tea, a great difference from your normal black tea, glad I decided to give it a try.

I should have ordered a LOT more of this tea. It was the first bag I opened when the package arrived and I told myself “I’ll try this one first and later…” I almost went through the bag before I moved on. The leaves smell like sugar and hints of chocolate, when steeped it inverts into chocolate scent with hints of chocolate, Tea continues to riddle me. The taste is very malty with glorious chocolate taste and hints of sugar.

This tea is the one that made me glad I got a portable brewer. Takes several steeps and its very forgiving, EVEN COLD BREWED is amazing!!!! (Gong fu style or western it rocks).

I bought the 2012 varietal as well. I like this tea but it took some adjusting from my part, it is pleasantly sweet and just a hint of malty. You can taste hints of peppercorn but there’s something else to it that I cant point out, it doesn’t bother me flavor wise, its just one of those times when you taste something you can’t name or describe… yet. I will come back to this one for sure.

EDIT
I had retried this one a while ago, but got lazy and never updated the notes. I really liked this one although I maintain that I feel like this one ‘Pure Bud’ vs the Imperial Mojiang has more peppery notes, in the best way possible. It feels refreshing at the end of each cup even when the broth itself starts sweet, thick, chocolatey with pine notes. It has a very satisfying body, that has a broth-like savory character with some roasted notes and very apparent maple/molasses notes of sweetness. Spring offerings are more complex in taste and offer subtle nuances while Autumn are less complex but with heavier molasses and wood notes.

I’m going through what’s left of this tea. I can enjoy it but I don’t love it. I shames me a little bit because I love white teas and I feel like this is a good quality, I just love picking the buds with my hand and they feel like velvet buds, true to their name they have a shiny silver coat that briefly intensifies when water is added. After the water starts steeping them they get a vivid green color like a healthy vibrant green pine needle.

I’ve been cold steeping this tea lately and I love it this way. It is very hard to get to the point where it might be too strong in flavor, its very refreshing and has hints of nuttiness and sweetness. This is my ‘energy drink’ when at the gym. I won’t buy again anytime soon but it was enjoyable to try. If anyone wants to try it PM me and I’ll try to send you some.

I just recently received this tea and its a different twist to what I’m used to in a white tea but in a good way. This tea has an extremely refreshing profile reminiscent of the Wild silver needle Yabao. It also has a notable nuttiness with hints of sweetness and a faint ‘green’ taste to it.

It it a good tea and you can tell how fresh it is by simply touching it. I will continue to come back to it to better enjoy because I think I was too surprised at its freshness like pine needles. (I love steepster, but a rating display really need to be added to this tasting note menu. I I had to retry several times to give a ‘proper’ rating).

Nice tasting affordable pu-erh, These have taste of earthiness at first and sweetness follows, pleasant aroma that smells slightly sweet when dry and earthy but not dirty after steeped, many infusions with short steeps.

I love ripe Puerh and I love citrus fruits. I tried EVERYTHING, I’ve steeped longer time, I’ve steeped smaller times, used a lot of leaf, small amounts of leaves… EVEN talked to it. I cant make myself like it. I tried it 4-5 different times 4-6 steeps each time. I will try another ‘Pomelo’ or citrus fruit because I want to make sure it’s not a quality issue.

I have two more completely new oranges… I will be making donations.