2015 Yunnan Sourcing Green Miracle Wild Arbor Ripe Puerh Tea

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Pu Erh Tea
Flavors
Bread, Coffee, Cookie, Creamy, Dark Bittersweet, Pastries, Toffee, Vanilla, Wet Earth, Almond, Chocolate, Flowers, Sweet, Cocoa, Metallic, Mineral, Salty, Wood, Bark, Caramel, Cherry Wood, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Oats, Petrichor, Spices, Wet Wood, Salt, Butterscotch, Thick, Licorice, Brown Sugar, Smooth, Toasted, Wet Moss, Wet wood, Astringent, Tangy, Dirt, Forest Floor, Bitter, Cherry, Honey
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by mrmopar
Average preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 oz / 113 ml

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23 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Thanks to a wonderful Steepster friend for sending us a sample of this very enjoyable young shou that we had for breakfast yesterday. YS descibes Green Miricle as: “Don’t let the tippy appearance...” Read full tasting note
  • “Much was said about that tea, for me the biggest impression was the coffie with milk/chocolate flavour , flower sweetnes and roasted almods aftertaste. Creamy and full in mouth – i havent found it...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “This is the second ripe pu’er I’ve drunk in my life. Why both my first and second review ever on this site have been on ripe pu’er I have no idea. While reading these tasting notes, please keep in...” Read full tasting note
  • “This is one sweet tea, and it’s full-bodied and complex. I found myself taking my time drinking it because of the building sweetness and thickness that stays in the mouth in the way that bitterness...” Read full tasting note
    88

From Yunnan Sourcing

Tea leaves from 50 to 70 years old tea trees were harvested in April 2014, then fermented through the summer. The tea was then aged in loose form for a few months before pressing this year.

Don’t let the tippy appearance lure you into thinking this tea is soft and sweet. It has some of that, but more as a returning taste. The upfront feeling and taste is bitter, thick and pungent. Spring tea processed into ripe pu-erh is rare and tea leaves harvested from tea trees with some age is also quite rare. Fermentation was done carefully to preserve the green/raw character in the tea leaves. Strong good clean taste and pure cha qi makes this an interesting ripe pu-erh to drink now and will certainly continue to age and develop with a complexity that is likely make it a stand out cake for years to come!

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

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23 Tasting Notes

139 tasting notes

Thanks to a wonderful Steepster friend for sending us a sample of this very enjoyable young shou that we had for breakfast yesterday.

YS descibes Green Miricle as:
“Don’t let the tippy appearance lure you into thinking this tea is soft and sweet. It has some of that, but more as a returning taste. The upfront feeling and taste is bitter, thick and pungent.”

Very briefly, I think this is quite an accurate description. The upfront feeling and taste is amazingly thick and pungent despite its young age! To my palate, the sense of bitter was not as apparent. I also didn’t notice any obvious astringency or fishiness despite its youth.

This is a suprising young shou that’s bold and invigorating enough for that all important morning cup of motivation. I’m very glad I ordered a cake during YS’s recent shou sale just based on the very positive Steepster comments.
Well done Scott!

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80
8 tasting notes

Much was said about that tea, for me the biggest impression was the coffie with milk/chocolate flavour , flower sweetnes and roasted almods aftertaste. Creamy and full in mouth – i havent found it too complex, but ill give it another try to check if something changed. Not too expensive makes it a very nice addition to the collection.

Flavors: Almond, Chocolate, Creamy, Flowers, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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123 tasting notes

This is the second ripe pu’er I’ve drunk in my life. Why both my first and second review ever on this site have been on ripe pu’er I have no idea. While reading these tasting notes, please keep in mind that these are the impressions of someone who is still getting familiar with the flavor profile of shu pu’er. I should also note that I’ve been sick for the past few days. Usually the flu doesn’t affect my sense of taste, but this time around there were a couple of days during which I could barely taste anything. I’ve mostly recovered now, but it’s possible my taste buds aren’t quite at 100% and that could have affected my impressions in some small way.

I’ve had this cake for a week or two now and for that time it has sat in my pumidor in a relative humidity of around 60%. This is only the second ripe pu’er cake I’ve seen in person, but I must say that the cake is quite beautiful. The compression is also not too tight at all and it was very easy to break off a couple of big chunks to put in my gaiwan. I believe I put something around 10.5g in a 150ml gaiwan. Again, I have very little experience with shu pu’er and am not an expert on tea in general, but to my eyes the material looks quite good quality for ripe material and it is fairly tippy seeming to consist of mainly buds and small leaves.

My nose is not working very well in my current state, but I’ve taken a quick whiff of the cake when I got it and the dry leaves do have a faint ripe pu’er smell to them but nothing overly strong. My mother has also had a chance to sniff the cake and she found it to be a very repulsive smell whilst I did not find it offensive personally. The wet leaves have a smell that is consistent with my prior experience with shu pu’er. I liken it in my mind to a dialed down version of a barn, but a version of that smell that I actually kind of like. The smell of the leaves weakens as the steeps go on until it becomes nonexistent.

I started my session by giving the leaves one 15–20s rinse during which I attempted to poke the leaves a little bit with the lid only to find I couldn’t quite reach the chunks resting at the bottom of the gaiwan. Due to the light compression, however, it was quite easy to pry the leaves loose by hand after the rinse. I was having a very casual session, so I didn’t pay close attention to how long I was steeping the leaves each time and how many infusions I did total, but I’d say I probably did around 10–12 steeps or perhaps even a couple more. The first several infusions were likely in the range of 15s each, while the last couple were several minutes each. The leaves could have probably gone for one more extra long infusion, but I’d say they were pretty much spent by that point.

Both the rinse and the first infusion were quite cloudy, with the liquor becoming clearer after that albeit quite dark at the same time. Even though I was using a perfectly decent amount of leaf and wasn’t even keeping the steeps as short as physically possible, the tea soup never – apart from one infusion (possibly no. 4 or 5) – really had any notable thickness in the mouth that I could speak of. It wasn’t totally water, but I found the body to be quite light. It should be noted I was using a strainer in case that has any notable effect.

As for the taste, I found this tea to be fairly dynamic, which kept it interesting enough to make you want to keep drinking it. There were never any major swings, however. The overall feel and character of the tea stayed quite similar while you got to experience some slightly different facets of it. The first couple infusions had a sweetness to them. They also evoked a reminiscence to first coffee, which then switched to something more akin to chocolate. Not dark chocolate, combined with the sweetness it evoked a mental image of something more along the lines of milk chocolate. In later steepings this developed more to a sense of cocoa powder or something of that description, although this was a note that was not consistently present in every steeping and sort of came and went.

The sweetness first developed into a more bittersweet flavor in the second steeping before dropping off after that. In the middle steepings there were some woody notes present, which were then replaced by a more mineral taste which culminated in an infusion which combined both a mineral sweetness front with a more salty mineral taste following it. Soon after this the flavors started to taper off quite quickly around the tenth infusion or so, the flavors becoming quite few in number and rather simplistic lacking notable depth. The second-to-last infusion, which I drank after it had had time to cool a bit too much, had an interesting metallic taste to it which I’ve never encountered in tea before. At no time did I encounter any bitterness of any kind, good or bad, and I find it hard to imagine it being easy to manage to make this ripe taste bitter. I will note, however, that I found this tea to have a slightly drying sensation in the mouth which makes you thirst for a sip of water.

The front on which I was somewhat let down by this shu was qi. Most of my experience with pu’er comes from drinking young raw gushu and for me taste is only part of the experience as a whole. I couldn’t detect this tea affecting me in any way, which was somewhat disappointing, I must say. It didn’t grip my throat, it didn’t make my tongue swell or tingle, it didn’t make me sweat, nor did it affect my mood or mind. I also didn’t find there to be any similarities that I could find to raw pu’er. As I recall from drinking “The New Black” by Misty Peak, which is so far the only other ripe I’ve drunk, that tea did start to reveal that it was a pu’er in the middle steeps and it also had some cha qi to speak of although not much. Perhaps this is characteristic of ripe pu’er (or aged raw pu’er, even, I wouldn’t know), but I would definitely prefer my pu’ers to have more going on for them than just taste.

Overall, I find it hard to say if I’d recommend this tea or not, or in fact if I like this tea or not. I don’t dislike it, but right now I’m still trying to familiarize myself with shu pu’er and figure out what I think of it in general. I certainly find it fun to explore these type of teas every now and then, but the quite dark flavor profile is something I find hard to see myself wanting to drink on a regular basis. My current understanding of shu pu’er is that most of them share a fairly similar flavor profile and there isn’t a terrible amount of variety within this category. Perhaps I’m misinformed, but if that is indeed the case, I don’t see there being a big likelihood of me falling in love with it.

I will most definitely have to session this tea again in the future and see how it changes depending on how you brew it. My current impressions of the tea are fairly neutral, leaning lightly towards positive with nothing negative to really point out besides the apparent lack of qi and maybe mediocre longevity (compared to sheng that I’ve drunk). For ripe at least, the tea seems fairly high quality, but again I have very limited experience with this type of tea. Someone who has tried out various ripe pu’ers already and has come to the conclusion ripe isn’t for them probably isn’t going to change their mind because of this tea. People who enjoy shu may like this one, but honestly I have no reference point for what is good ripe and what is not. Even after the recent annual price increase, this tea is still quite affordable (as is most shu pu’er), but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend buying a cake of this blind unless you are fairly confident the chances of this being a ripe pu’er you might not enjoy are fairly low. 250g can be a large amount of tea if you find that you can’t stand the sight of it.

For now I will say that this is an interesting tea.

Flavors: Chocolate, Cocoa, Coffee, Dark Bittersweet, Metallic, Mineral, Salty, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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88
25 tasting notes

This is one sweet tea, and it’s full-bodied and complex. I found myself taking my time drinking it because of the building sweetness and thickness that stays in the mouth in the way that bitterness builds in the mouth when drinking successive cups of sheng puerh. The lack of pile fermentation in this relatively new production is such that the tea might be described as semi-dry or something. It definitely reminded me of a nice, tippy, sweet, and chocolatey Yunnan gold bud black tea.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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67 tasting notes

Don’t often drink shu, added to basket during last sale. Glad I did.

6g chunk in 100mL teapot, gongfu, boiling water, 3x rinse.

Not much I can add others haven’t said, thumbs up for this tea. Its good, inexpensive, flavorful, aromatic, lots of longevity. I think grandpa brewing this will last you all day.

Not much in the way of chi, but my feet/legs got cold after drinking this. Will need to see if this is recurring in future sessions. This may have just replaced my previous favorite shu…which was Hojo’s 2012 Gong Ting shu.

Not sedating, road-safe for driving. A very good daily drinker shu, did I mention inexpensive?

Flavors: Bark, Caramel, Cherry Wood, Chocolate, Coffee, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Mineral, Oats, Petrichor, Spices, Sweet, Wet Wood

mrmopar

This is nice for the price on it for sure.

andresito

Wow it’s going for $46/cake? I got mine for $26/cake less than a year ago. I compare this situation to W2T’s Repave. The attractive thing about these teas was the quality /price ratio. Both are now too expensive for what they are, IMO. I’ll enjoy my cake but wouldn’t buy anymore at $46.

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85
109 tasting notes

Up today is Green Miracle by yunnan sourcing. This is a tea Ive heard alot about and really wanted to try, so when they had their sale I picked some up. I started by first slowly working around the cake loosening the cake. Then I used a knife to pry into the cake slightly to try to work a big piece or two off, this is quiet a tightly packed cake and it was a bit tricky to get it to come apart.

When I finally did get it apart, I got 2 big pieces and a few extra leaves. I popped about 5-6 grams into my gaiwan, I wanted to use a neutral vessel to taste this the first time. A quick rinse at about 205 for 10 seconds. I tasted the wash and there wasnt too much dust in it, so I decided to just do a single wash. The wash was a bit weak, but had a nice woody, chocolate aroma.

First infusion I got a fairly dark ripe liquor, and the flavors intensified and smoothed out a little. Definitely one wash was the way to go here, as the flavors popped in the first infusion and it would have wasted good tea, I steeped for about 10 seconds and then tasted. Chocolate, sweetness, earthiness, caramel, and just a very smooth tea greeted me with this. It had absolutely no overpowering ripe or dankness to it, it was just solid and smooth.

The second infusion was much like the first though very slightly darker, the flavor profile was almost exactly the same. The leaves opened up a little and and darkened the liquor. Maybe it got a little sweeter.

The third infusion got darker still almost to black and this is fairly normal for ripe puerh tea. And interestingly a little tiny bit of bitterness creeps in at this point, which actually works really nice, not too much just a touch. Almost like a bittersweet chocolate which is still one of the primary flavors im getting.

The fourth infusion is almost a copy of the third, flash infusing it at this point, im pouring the water in and right out again and its still incredibly dark, this tea is going to get at least 10 infusions. The flavor is exactly the same as well. Dark bittersweet, this is a good tea to have after a meal or with desert, maybe instead of a coffee.. I bet this would be great with coffeecake.

Highly recommended, and the price is incredibly reasonable!

Flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Earth, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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358 tasting notes

Seems GM has been all the rage lately and I was wondering what I was missing out on, but Steph was kind enough to send me a sample in our swap!

As I’ve stated, I don’t drink shou nearly as often as sheng, so my palate for shou is less developed (not that my palate for sheng is much further along). That being said, I do feel that this was one of the more distinct and defined-tasting ripe puerh teas that I’ve tried.

I used the entire 8g sample, gave it a wash and started with quick steeps, as usual. Nice dark brew with a shifting blend of earth and coffee flavors in the body, with an almost metallic mineral characteristic and a creamy mouthfeel. The aroma that it leaves behind in the cup is mineral and salty, and once I get over that little surprise, the qi comes in.

All throughout this session, with the above flavors, aromas and sensations vying for my attention, I felt myself very surprised overall. This was definitely a unique and engaging session!

Flavors: Coffee, Cream, Earth, Metallic, Mineral, Salt

Preparation
Boiling 8 g

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400 tasting notes

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep….

Seriously, insomnia is at full throttle tonight. GM is the best thing to keep one from going insane. Thick, creamy, earthy, mineral-y, smooth, & rich.

Mmmm mmmm mmmmm mmmm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-GMDMnep3E

Shae

Me too!! I hope you finally made it to sleep.

MadHatterTeaDrunk

I had around 3 A.M., but the early sunrise is calling for nice brisk walk before work today. Might as well take a stroll since the temperature will drop a significant amount over the weekend.

Evol Ving Ness

Video is unavailable in this country. :(

I feel ya with the sleep pain.

MadHatterTeaDrunk

Evol Ving Ness the video is “Asleep” by the Smiths.

Evol Ving Ness

Thank you. I will look it up.

Evol Ving Ness

Beautiful. Thank you.

MadHatterTeaDrunk

No problem! :)

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89
13 tasting notes

Liquorice, burnt caramel, alkaline. Wet pile smell, but not so much on the taste. I think the two quick rinses washed that away quite easily. Thick and clear. This one went to my head quite quickly, which I wasn’t really expecting. Tight compression on the cake.

Aftertaste really is like having eaten expensive, low sweetness, hard liquorice. Brewed leaf smell is like very strong bitter chocolate that has that sharp acidic taste… plus minerals.

Enjoyable definitely. Looking forward to next time.

Flavors: Licorice

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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92
526 tasting notes

It’s that time of year. I rarely drink Shu, but when it becomes freezing, raining, and snowy out; it’s time for dark ripe goodness. This is a solid tea for me. I’ve had it for awhile, and I enjoy sipping on a big pot full. The leaf is moderately condensed with a strong scent of damp wood, petrichor, sweet musk, and sharp earth. I warmed my zisha and placed a big chunk inside. The scent expands to toasted oats, wet moss, maple wood, and some slight brown sugar, I washed the leaves and prepared for brewing. The taste is odd but appealing. A strong flavor of petrichor and fresh forest air hits the tongue. This sensation is followed by a thick mouth feel of sweetness and a minor dry earth. This tea is not complex, but it is solid and pleasant. It continues with sweet warm earth and peat moss, and it progressively gains dry tones. The tea is crisp and clean; the way a ripe puerh should be.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCL_tOzTGTb/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

^ sorry for blurry, it’s clearer on Instagram…

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Earth, Mineral, Oats, Petrichor, Smooth, Sweet, Toasted, Wet Earth, Wet Moss, Wet wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

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