YOYO Tea Store

Had this yesterday as the first tea in *Dinosara*’s and my marathon knitting and tea drinking session. Thanks to MissB for the sample of this one!
The rinse had a vague cinnamon flavor that I’m concerned was a contamination from some of the more strongly flavored teas in the box. The first gongfu steep of this was 30 seconds and smelled of vanilla in the aroma cup, possessed a slightly chestnutty flavor and reminded me of my overripe, too-starchy peas. A slight astringency made us keep the next steep at 30 seconds. The seconds steep was more chestnut flavored, and was still astringent, but a tolerable kind; it reminded me of the bitterness of walnut skins. The third steep, still at 30 seconds, had no intense flavors, but the astringency made my mouth feel wet and sweet after the sip was over. The fourth steep at 40 seconds was greener in character, with maybe a collards flavor, but a decently sweet aftertaste.
This was a fun tea to check off of my “To try- Green” list!

Going to be better about logging all the teas that Equusfell brings to our gongfu sessions; last time I didn’t log any of the teas we drank.

This was the first tea we had. I really like Teavivre’s Nonpareil Huang Shan Mao Feng, so I was interested to try this one. I definitely got the chestnutty notes from this one, but less strongly, and it was a tad bit astringent at first. I think I might prefer this tea in a western-style steep more than the gongfu; all of the steeps seemed kind of flat and boring, but I bet they would be good layered on top of each other.

MissB sent this one my way and i figured given the heat of the day this afternoon, it was a good choice. It was a nice change to the day, with a refreshing vegetal brew that was almost floral, but not enough to make it undrinkable for me. Overall a nice green tea….if there is a such a thing ;)

Received this from MissB (Thank you!!), and it’s absolutely perfect for today.
The leaf is all rock sugar/vegetal yumminess, and the tea, once steeped, carries on from where the dry leaf left off. Really lovely, with apple and cucumber notes, while continuing with the spinach and curly endive base, yet finishing sweet.
This one is really nice.

Bought this on AliExpress, via YOYO Tea Company. The tin however says, “Pin Wei Ren Sheng” which when I Google it, says is a tea house in Chongqing, China. So I’ve listed it where I purchased it, but… well… This is so tricky, adding teas to the database. Any suggestions welcome.

As for the flavor: this is a beautiful tea, and it reminds me of a few others I’ve grabbed from AliExpress. Peach/apricot notes with something very floral in the background, much more so than any of the similarly-labelled teas I’ve had. I may have steeped it a bit too long as well, as it’s ever-so-slightly bitter and has an odd aftertaste, almost earthy metallic.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/150g-Top-Grade-biluochun-Spring-2013-green-Tea-Chinese-health-Care-Weight-loss-Bi-Luo-Chun/1412979198.html