Yunnan Sourcing

additional notes:  I stand by my original note for this one, nine years ago.  Though these tuochas are from a different source than my original sample: this time from Meowster.  Thanks very much!  It’s just not a very good representation of sticky rice and puerh is quite bland.  But maybe the “rice scent herb” that they add to the tuochas don’t age as well as puerh is supposed to.  However, I was really craving a ripe puerh to go with my cantaloupe this morning.  It’s such a great combination.  I think of Butiki’s Dark Side of the Melon blend for this inspiration, but that was a black tea and espresso flavoring with melon.  I don’t know how there has not been a cantaloupe/ ripe puerh blend yet!  Though I think I do remember Roswell mentioning one?  If not, maybe I’m remembering Roswell’s awesome fruit/tea pairings. :D

Offtopic about music if you are interested:  So I listen to hundreds of albums each year, at least once (on youtube — sorry musicians that aren’t getting my money…), because of my FOMO on any great gem of an album that I might otherwise never find.  Then at the end of the year, I make my favorites list of albums, before I read all those end-of-the-year best of lists, which tend to end up being basically the same list over and over.  Really, I just read those to make sure I didn’t miss any albums that I might be interested in.  2023 was especially harsh for me, as MOST of my favorite albums never even hit ONE year end list.   However, I think at this point, my FOMO has now almost become a FOMO for other people missing some really great albums, just because they aren’t listed on any of these lists.  A sadness that these musicians are somehow going unnoticed, underappreciated.  So in order for me to feel a little bit better about this, maybe get a few of them out there into the ether, I will occasionally post a favorite song from a 2023 album I really wish had gotten more recognition and attention!  But I usually recommend the entire album.  I will start with my favorite album of 2023 that actually had me crying a bit when I first heard it, that I might have missed it… and this album was not listed on a single Best Of list for 2023.  So now I’m grateful I caught it!  Again, the entire album is stellar (and the album cover is perfect to go along with a tea from Meowster!):

Album: Mapache – Swinging Stars
Song:  Amazing – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHDEn6lhaac

Thank you Boychik for including a couple of these with the Yunnan Sourcing tea. I LOVE sticky rice pu-erh. I’ve tried a couple. This one doesn’t seem overly like sticky rice like my favorite one did… really only hints in the scent and flavor. The cup gets very dark very fast, but the flavor doesn’t seem as deep as it should be. It’s very sweet but mild flavored.. it doesn’t seem like there are a ton of elements to it but none of the more unlikeable pu-erh flavor notes either. The second steep is deeper but still not very much like rice. Not terrible, but I believe I was spoiled with that first sticky rice pu-erh I tried!
Steep #1 // couple min after boiling // rinse // 2 min steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 4 min

7g
The aroma of the dry leaf (tuo) is herbal, hay, has complexity and promises an interesting drink. It is highly compressed.
The aroma of the wet leaf is slightly medicinal, fruity, stewed mushroom, sweet peat (Laphroaig/Talisker/Ardbeg aroma), floral with a pollen-like sweetness, dark cherries, strawberries, warm lemon. There is smoke, but it’s not overpowering; it’s smoked fish (kipper) smoke.

5s – Fruit on the front of the tongue, smoky on the swallow, medicinal. It has a mushroom direction: perhaps time has changed it’s sharpness into this fungus flavour profile.
10s – It has the Menghai flavour profile of concentrated herbyness. It has Lapsang Souchong smokiness and slight bitterness. It is complex.
15s – Concentrated herbyness with a mushroom direction. You first get the concentrated herbyness, and then you get the mushroom-ness. Floral sweetness sits on top of the concentrated green base. The only other tea I’ve known to have this is 2002 CNNP Little Yellow Mark Private Order by White2Tea. It does tingle on the edge of the tongue.
20s – The wet leaf now has a pungent aroma. It is becoming astringent

Giving this a 100 to balance out the poor review by the person that doesn’t like shou. This is a nice shou with a really great price point. Nice and dark and smooth. I would rate this in the lower to mid 80s I think. I enjoyed it and I’m happy it was sent to me as a mistake instead of a raw mini cake I ordered. A happy accident I will call it!

Gonna hold off on scoring this tea until I know it better. So far so good though. Really hit the spot with a big hit of energy coming from it. Has a nice tannic/bitter bite coming from it. This is balanced by a light sweetness and a little smoke. Really good. Gonna analyze this later. Today I just enjoyed it.

Another sample gift from new bud into pu erhs. Used a thin walled gaiwan quick rinse and rest. Aromas of gas, new leather cloth, tobacco, fresh timber. Flavors of pie crust, pine nut, sesame seaweed crackers, butane, sawdust. Who knows what else? But I love it. Thick sticky mouth-feel, astringent far more than sweet but its not unpleasant, actually very pleasing. Loads of energy and stamina. Brewed about 30 steeps lost count as I drank it all day long. At the end I just put it in a pot on the stove and gently brought it to a simmer for 10 minutes to make sure nothing was left in the leaf….sick. the leaves were all uniform, thick and unbroken. This tea rocks.

Clearly I’m missing something here. I ordered Yunnan Sourcing’s Wild Tree Purple Varietal Black Tea of Dehong Spring 2014 because of the rave reviews here and elsewhere and, well, I just don’t see it. [Note: it’s hard to tell from the listing – it’s possible that the deliciousness was last year’s version and the 2014 that I have is different.] Last night, I gave it the full gaiwan multi-steep treatment and was generally underwhelmed. I found it just a tad smoky and just a tad sweet, but generally ordinary. “OK,” thought I, “Perhaps it needs a full Western steep.” So that’s what I tried this morning, a couple of heaping teaspoons in an 8 oz cup and a full 3½ minute steep. Nope, it’s still not doing anything for me. Terri and other reputable tasters love this stuff, so maybe I’ll just put it aside for a while and try again. In the meantime, I have a lot of it, so if anyone else wants to give it a shot – to confirm or debunk my impressions – just drop me a line and I’ll send some right over.

I’m not actually drinking this tea currently as I only have one serving left and I am HOARDING IT! On that note I would like to ask if anyone has tried any teas that are NOT sold out that taste similar to this one :)

Thanks!

MMMMM! These nuggets are delicious!

Super creamy with lots of dark dried fruit flavors. Raisin, date and prune. YUM!

SO good.

I think this is my favorite of the three golden black teas I have from YS. I love how it has both potato and cocoa notes and can be steeped and steeped forever, gong fu-style. I’ve been enjoying such a session this morning. I think I overleafed it though, so one of the steeps turned out astringent. Recently, I’ve been thinking I’m not putting enough leaf in for gong fu sessions and so have been upping my leaf from 5g to 6 or 7g. The sweet spot for this one seems to be 5g. Noted!

Pic of the session:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97273956@N03/16185152492/

Okay, funny thing about this tea is it tastes different gong fu’d versus western! I guess when I had this western style, I got a lot of cocoa notes. I had this one mixed up with the jinggu (sp?) one and forgot this was the cocoa-y one. Anyhoo, gong fu’d, I get a lot of potato and some fruity notes! Delicious! Pretty cool…it’s like two teas in one! Btw, I love brewing really quality black teas this way now. I need more gaiwans!

Mmm, this is so good! I get a lot of cocoa notes from this one. It’s like I drank all three of the golden teas I ordered in order from lightest to darkest, potato to cocoa. Pretty funny, actually. They are all awesome. The tea leaves are absolutely beautiful. As I was warned by MzPriss, I think this may be a new addiction. Uh oh! ;)

This is an excellent and tasty ripe puerh. It has a moderate amount of fermentation flavor left. It is not overly earthy. It has a very nice sweetness. It is hard for me to discern the exact notes of flavor because I seem to be coming down with something and while my taste bud seem unaffected, I am having trouble concentrating on the flavors I find. Suffice to say it is nice and sweet. I added sugar which has made the tea even sweeter.

I would also say that the leaves look and smell very tasty too.

I brewed this twice in an 18oz teapot with 6.1gt leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 30 sec and 30 sec. The second steeping I put in a thermos to bring to work with me.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had this tea. When I pulled the bad out of the tea tin, I noticed I had written a note to keep brewing time shorter than two minutes. That’s my standard time for most greens. I had remembered this being quite strong.

So I pulled it out this morning and brewed it up keeping it to one minute brew time. From my last review I said this wasn’t the best bi luo chun I’ve ever had but I enjoyed it. Yes, I have to say the same but this is still a great cup! Nutty, sweet & vegetal. Probably even better than when I had it the first time because I kept the brew time short and it’s not too strong. I enjoyed it so much I’ve brewed a second cup this afternoon. I have so many teas, I rarely go for the same type of tea twice in one day.

I love Bi Luo Chun but am surprised to find this is a very different Bi Luo Chun! This tea is not delicate! I brewed at 185 , 1 tsp , 2 min, 8 oz. That’s pretty much my standard for most greens but this one seemed quite strong at 2 min. It brews a golden colour. It’s strong , nutty & vegetal . I occasionally pick up pine sap notes.

It definitely does have good Cha qi. This tea has really given me good energy this morning. Because this is a strong green it kind of reminds me somewhat of some of the young shengs. A very strange Bi Luo Chun! I enjoy this tea but can’t say I love it like my Bi Luo Chun from Royal Tea Bay or Teavivre. It certainly is different. I plan on brewing this with a shorter steep time next time.

Goodbye jinggu golden strand. You had your moments of heavenly creaminess, but they were too few to warrant another order. ;P

Happy Christmas Eve all! It’s the first day of 6 days off work in a row! Woot! I’ve got tea and warm kitties and I’m looking forward to relaxing and visiting with family. Might go see the movie Wild later too!

I thought I would gong fu this tea today. I’m really enjoying steeping good quality black teas that way now. This one has a really odd color in the first steep. Kinda grey-brown, but the flavor is sweet and yammy. It doesn’t have the longevity of the other golden black teas I got from YS, but it’s not bad. Just don’t expect a long session with this one.

My second tea to try from YS. This one is darker, more malty than the golden needle. It’s incredibly smooth. I think I need to gong fu brew this one in order to discern the notes, but it’s delicious overall. I’m a happy camper!

I had a really long gong fu session with this today, and you know what? I think I like it better brewed western! It was nice and potato-tasting throughout the session, and it lasted like forever, but I think the flavor is better when brewed western style. Anyway, it’s yummy. :)

I got my first EVER Yunnan Sourcing order in the mail yesterday! Woo! I’m swimming in golden black teas! I didn’t have time to sit down and enjoy a cup, but I wanted one so bad, so I made some and threw it in my timolino for our drive to lunch. This tea was very yummy. It’s similar to the yunnan Dian hong golden tips from TeaVivre, (which I also restocked on Black Friday!), but seemed sweeter. I think there’s a sugar sweetness, and maybe some fruitiness, in this I don’t get in golden tips. It has that wonderful sweet potato malt flavor, but is light and airy. Yum! I definitely want to gong fu brew this one next time!

After I finished my mad rush of Thanksgiving preparations, I had a little time to sit down with some tea before my guests arrived and I chose this. Fruity, fruity fruity. A little bit of bitterness, especially if you go a little long on the steeps but really nice. I very much got a lot of the apricot others have mentioned. A cake of this on my wishlist and I will scoop one up soon.

Having this one tonight with my brother, A very tasty tea :)

Brewed in porcelain gaiwan starting at 30seconds, addiitional 10 seconds for first 4 steeps then upped by 30secs for another 3 steeps.
Wow! Delicious I’m not sure exactly what to say I think Complex would be a fitting word to use to describe this one, there are many great flavor notes in this one.

The aroma of the wet leaf is fruity sweet on the start and more floral sweet at the end, nice bold aroma all the way to the last cup.
The flavors ranged from sweet fruity and floral to almost malty with hints of cocao, slight notes of pine, pepper, grape/raisin, honey and sweet potato.
I also get a slight astringent around the 3rd and 4th steep but not in a bad way.

At times this one was reminiscent of a golden dian hong and at times it reminded me of a Kemun, a wonderful bold delicous black tea.
I’m so glad YS started doing a monthly tea box,I love ot already!