Tippy Yunnan

I found this tea to be malty and slightly sweet, with an almost caramel sort of flavor. It’s bold, but not bitter or overpowering. I did not detect any smoky flavors like many other reviewers seemed to.

I used this tea to cold steep some iced tea and I was quite pleased with the results. The boldness is still there but the sweetness increases. A honey flavor develops after cold steeping overnight. It’s quite pleasant.

Usually when reviewing Harney & Sons teas I add the qualifier like “it’s good for the price,” or “it’s a nice value,” but I don’t need to do that here. I think it stands on its own just fine.

I love this tea. I’ll write more later.

A strong, smooth black tea that has tastes all over the place, but they arent overwhelming. Definitely sense the honey in there, although not just the sweet part of honey if this makes sense. It’s almost bitter but doesn’t quite meet that point and is easy to down. The tea is balanced, bold, not in any way artificial, soothing yet stimulating. Not my favorite from Harney but worth a sip.

A bit of smoke, a bit of metallic ting on the tongue and a bit of malt. Strength is nice but the flavor profile is just okay.

My last new Yunnan to try from H&S. I was a little intimidated to try this one, and I’m blaming boychik! ;) I believe she used the word “gross”… Eep. The dry leaves are kind of short and slightly curved, and they’re mostly black with some scattered golden tips. The smell is similar to the Yunnan Golden Tips I tried yesterday morning – very malty with scents of honey and stonefruits. This one also has a sort of musty hay note to it. I did a 3 minute steep because it seemed to be what most people suggested after trying this one.

Well, this Yunnan is definitely very different from the other couple that I’ve tried so far. It almost seems like a completely different type of tea – the only note that really ties them together is malt. While others I’ve tried have been bready, this tea is very earthy and has a fair amount of smoke taste to it. There’s a light honey flavor that I augmented with a small amount of sugar. The sweetness also helped to cut the earth and smoke flavors slightly. I also get an aftertaste that definitely reminds me of leather, but in a mild way. Boychik had warned me that this made her mouth very fuzzy, and I definitely do get a dry mouthfeel from it (that’s what astringency means, right?), but I didn’t have to brush my teeth after. :P

Overall, I realize this is a lower grade tea than the others but I feel it has a similar level of complexity but with largely different flavors. I quite enjoyed it. :)

i ordered few samples with my recent order. i love Yunnan teas. i decided to brew gongfu style
205F 100ml gaiwan 1 TBS
rinse 5/5/7/7/10 seconds etc
wet leaves smell of chestnuts and earth
my first 5 sec produced very potent brew. it is earthy and strong. has some tobacco notes.
2nd steep was a little better. some faint leather notes, tobacco, not much sweetness.
3rd steep i took some leaves out. its incredibly strong and i dont like the taste. i also feel something in my tea even though it went thru very fine mesh strainer i use for puerh.
I think i should stop. its not working today
Maybe i should brew it western style lower temp less leaves and 1 min top

Smoky, period.

Pours dark carmel in color, and smells of earth and spice (pepper). Tastes like one would expect, malty earth with a small pepper kick. No smoke and a weak (almost non existent) chocolate finish. Underwelming.

really nice yunnan, smooth , with a bit of pepper, just enough to give it some spark.

Burning midnight oil tonight, so something with a bit more strength to it is desired.