Yunnan Sourcing

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Recent Tasting Notes

I continue to be very impressed & happy with the teas I get from Yunnan Sourcing, & this one is no exception. I sipped on it all morning, & although it reminds me of the Wild Purple of Dehong & Master Hans Wild picked Yunnan, that is more in the energy that the tea brings, than in the actual flavor.

The leaf material is beautiful, both dry & wet, & it features a light tanginess, but not as sweet & plum-like as the Wild Purple is. The most notable quality is a wonderful satisfying mouth & mind.

sherapop

I placed my first order with them yesterday. I should have got some of this!

Terri HarpLady

I’ve already started a list for my ‘next’ order. lol

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Origin: Spring 2014. From Feng Qing area of Lincang prefecture. This wild tree varietal grows in the mountainous areas, west Feng Qing township near the Da Si village at an altitude of 2000-2200 meters.
Dry leaf: Very beautiful, appear blackish brown with a purple tint. Look flattened and then twisted. Scents of malt, cocoa, dried fruit.
Method: 4 oz Gong Fu pot 190F 4 grams tea
20” rinse / 45” / 45”
Wet Leaf: More flattened ribbons of dark brown with a smoky cocoa scent.
Liquor: Deep Golden
Flavor: Bright, fresh, lighter flavor than expected. Not too thin or thick on the mouthfeel, just right. Citrus, cream, tiny hint of smoke. Cha qi,,, SHENGadelic !!!!
Absolutely delicious, beautiful, complex, fragrant, fantastic!!!
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7/24/14
Have had this lots of times now, gong fu style but today I tried it Western style in a new little Western teapot that is cup size with an infuser the same size as the pot so it really lets my leaves have room. This tea is always delicious and one of my top ten favorite teas. It is just as good Western style. The flavors are so balanced. You have a lovely citrus note up front, then a creamy note takes you to a smoky effect but very subtle smoke on the nose. This tea is really fantastic to me.
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7/30/14
Brewed this Western style again today. I am waiting for my Gong Fu tray from China to come to me in the mail and I should only brew this tea Gong Fu style. This tea is delicious Western style but it is so perfect to me that it deserves Gong Fu as all teas do really. As soon as I get my cool and large tray,,,I really don’t want to Western brew too much bc Gong Fu is the way!!!!!!!
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8/8/14
My favorite day, my favorite tea. Gong Fu style with my Yixing dedicated to this tea!!!!!!!!!!

Ye Sheng is the tea varietal. Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze var. assamica (J. Masters) Kitam." is a primeval varietal that pre-dates Camellia Sinensis var. Assamica and is a naturally occuring non hybridized varietal. (from Yunnan Sourcing)

ye (Ye4) = leaf (叶 or 葉), or whole-leaf grade of hong cha

hong (Hong) = (红 or 紅) 2 Red, usually in hong cha; or (烘) 1 Bake[d]

Flavors: Citrus, Cream, Smoke

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 45 sec 4 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
TheTeaFairy

Lol, Hurray for “Cha qi SHENGadelic” (also known as tea orgasm)

Terri HarpLady

I am totally loving this post, & TeaFairy’s resulting comment as well!

Terri HarpLady

Oh, just realized this is one of the Teas I got in my recent YS order! Yippee!

donkeyteaarrrraugh

Because this has “sheng” in it, does it mean it’s like a pu-er?

Lee

This is a fermented black tea. Sheng in Chinese means raw or alive. I am no expert,,,these are just things I have read. This could be material that they could use to press into cakes if they would want but it is loose,,mao cha (translates to unfinished tea).

Lee

Ye Sheng is the tea varietal. Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze var. assamica (J. Masters) Kitam." is a primeval varietal that pre-dates Camellia Sinensis var. Assamica and is a naturally occuring non hybridized varietal. (from Yunnan Sourcing)

donkeyteaarrrraugh

There’s so much to learn!! :)

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88

Another sample from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing. The soup is a light gold in color with a nice floral smell. The taste has everything I like about a young Sheng: kuwei, astringency and an earthy/grassy taste with a hint of smoke. Unlike the 2012 Yunnan Sourcing “Impression” Raw Pu-erh tea cake that I sampled, this Sheng is very bold and I really like that. After two steepings I really wished that the astringency would back off a bit and the kuwei would step up a bit more. By steeping four I got what I asked for and the smoke flavor had also become more pronounced. If steepings one thru three had tasted like steepings four plus, this tea would have rated higher. An excellent Sheng that is at the top of my order list!!!!!!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 147 ML

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Preliminary Review

Interesting note: when I bought this tea a few months ago it was priced at $4.00. Now it is $4.80.

150ml easy-pour gaiwan, boiling, using my standard times for pu-erh: rinse/30/60/90/120/360, Stevia added.

Yesterday I finally tackled the task of compartmentalizing all of my pu-erh; I decided to keep my sheng (raw) in a cardboard box that four Teavana teacups came in (the size of a small shoe box) and my shou (cooked) in a tall terra cotta wine brique with a cork top I found at a goodwill recently. Unfortunately, I found that this mini-cake almost fits in the brique. Then I thought, “Well, almost is not going to stop me from putting this cake in here!” Anyway, I had yet to try this tea, so I decided this was as good time as any to take some tea from the cake by trimming some off one ‘edge’ so it could fit, and then brew up the ‘trimmings’; in the process of trimming a little at a time while seeing if it would fit it turns out I had to take enough tea for about three steeping sessions; so I decided to brew up about 5-6 grams right away and then put the rest in a plastic bag (I plan to brew the trimmings sometime over the summer.)

I am sitting here writing this after the tea is all gone, as I wasn’t planning on writing this review. So, my observations here are general. Later this summer I plan to pay more attention to the flavor and aroma for a more thorough review.

This tea is different than any of the other cooked pu-erhs I’ve had: it was lighter in flavor, smoother, and even seemed to have a kind of fresh quality to it without any of the musty-ness that most of the other cooked pu-erh seems to have had. It wasn’t harsh, edgy or too fishy either, as I was expecting from reading about how young cooked pu-erh can taste. It had a beautiful reddish-brown color that was much lighter than the color of the cooked pu-erh I had just yesterday. This is my first mini-cake and I have to say, overall, I am impressed with the entire experience; it’s very different than brewing up a sample or a mini tou. I may try brewing this up in my Yixing next time.

Although I still don’t find cooked pu-erh to be something I would drink for pleasure, this is probably the best tasting one yet. As varied as I understand the selection of pu-erh teas to be, and as deeply rooted in Chinese culture as it is, I decided to invest my time and energy into exploring this class of tea hoping to unearth a least a few of it’s hidden treasures. For me this is a kind of long- term experiment, undertaken in large part because of how pu-erh seems to not only captivate tea enthusiasts worldwide but to hold their attention for a lifetime.

Flavors: Fishy

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 5 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML
TeaExplorer

I have been working on the 2009 version of this tea and have laid in some of the 2012 for aging. With the 2009 I use 8 grams in my 100mL gaiwan with short steeps (10-15 seconds) and get a rich, balanced full bodied cup. I put it in a similar category to the 2009 Mengku Rongshi Golden Buds Ripe, flavor-wise, but less expensive. After reading your review I’ve decided to pull out one of the 2012’s and give it a try this week.

SimpliciTEA

Glad to read you like the older version. I would be interested to read what you think of this one. I plan sometime soon to try doing steeps with a quality pu-erh for shorter times, as you mention.

mrmopar

Agreed this is a really good inexpensive cake. I have a few of these aging myself.

Terri HarpLady

thinking I might have to jump on the bandwagon…
As always, you guys are such a bad, or is it good?, influence on me, lol

mrmopar

Both Terri!

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92

Sad swap sample sip down! I think this was from Terri? Anyway, it was much appreciated :)

So malty and delicious! Apparently Jin Jun Mei is a style I really like…and alas now there is none left in my cupboard. Good stuff though! I will get more from somewhere someday :D

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92

Another delicious tea from my box from Terri HarpLady :D

This is a nice Jin Jun Mei for sure. I love the honey sweetness and bright sparkling clarity. But it also has enough malt for a well balanced and crave-able flavor.

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86

Ordered a sample of this a while back and now I am finally around to it. It has a very nice aroma to the dry leaf when opening the bag. I got 10 grams from it and broke out the Gaiwan.
I gave it a quick 5 second wash and took off with it. The first infusion was a little weak as i probably didn’t let it steep long enough. 5 seconds short. Tried again doing 10 second steeps and it brought out the punch of this one.
It has an almost fruity aroma to the infusion. It has a good bit of bitterness and a thick mouth feel. The bitter fades and leaves the mouth watering a bit with a semi-sweet tongue tingling after taste. Very stout cha qui in this one , it almost leaves the mouth buzzing in response. Good stout leaf in this one.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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86

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78

(239) This was my first cup of the day, and I had it courtesy of Sil! Thanks!

It was delicious, even though I ended up steeping it for 8 minutes while I had a diaper disaster to deal with. It was dark and malty and sweet. I would definitely like to try this again some time!

TheTeaFairy

Diaper disaster says it all, lol.

carol who

The diaper disaster was dark and malty and sweet. ;-P

TheTeaFairy

Haha! If I could, I would “like” your comment carol who!!!

TeaLady441

Ahahahahha. Whoops. English can be very unspecific.

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83

This tea is a sample from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing. The soup is a light gold in color with a nice floral smell. The taste has everything I like about a young Sheng: kuwei, astringency and an earthy/grassy taste with a hint of smoke. What I don’t like about this tea is the flavors are too muted for my liking, I really wish they were stronger. Having said that, is this an excellent tea, no. Is this a really good tea, yes it is. Would I buy it, yes I would. In my opinion only, this is an excellent tea for those who want to try a young Sheng but are afraid of the tastes overpowering them. Oh, Scott is only charging $15.50 for a tea that could easily go for twice that amount!!!!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML

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Preliminary Review

UPDATE: I did three more steepings, the last one at about 6 minutes to test it’s endurance, and it help up well with flavor. The last one I didn’t add sweetener and I was more easily able to identify the most prominent flavor: hay. It’s not a flavor I really enjoy, but it’s not a bad one either. The fifth had a bit of bitterness such that I could feel the dryness on the roof of my mouth, reminding me of the dryness I experienced recently from a few red wines I tried at Trader Joe’s.

150ml easy-pour gaiwan, boiling, rinse/30/60/90/120/360, Stevia added.

I have tried this pu-erh at least twice now, and I think so far it is my favorite cooked pu-erh. Admittedly it’s one of the few pu-erh’s I’ve tried that is not a mini toucha or a sample. There is nothing off putting about it, the liquor has a very dark red color, a strong aroma, and a bold, somewhat spicy, flavor.

Right now I have been using a little screw driver to break apart the tea, but soon I will have these tools from JK Teashop; I can’t wait to use the real thing!
http://www.jkteashop.com/simple-pu-er-cake-pick-needle-pick-solid-wood-with-yunnan-colorful-ropes-p-460.html
http://www.jkteashop.com/stainless-steel-pu-er-opener-with-cha-dao-curving-p-461.html

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 147 ML
sherapop

Wow: a pu-erh pick! Who knew?

SimpliciTEA

Amazingly, while looking on-line I found it difficult to find some kind of a hand held, single hole punch on Amazon or AceHardware; they seem to come in sets, and/or are expensive, and I’m not even certain they would do the job of separating the tea as well as (I hope) the pu-erh pick will do. So, as you say, Who knew!?

SimpliciTEA

I updated my tasting note, and fixed a duplication in the links. The second one was supposed to be a link to a pu-erh knife.

TeaExplorer

Good price on the knife! I got that same one off eBay for 3x more.

Terri HarpLady

I used a tiny screw driver for quite awhile before I finally broke down & got a puerh pick. Glad I did!

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86

I think the last rating of this tea was a few years ago by another person, so this is somewhat of an update, though of course we are different reviewers. This is now 5 years old. It is a nice gentle and interesting tea with good staying power. Somewhat fruity, especially in later steepings. It has probably mellowed out since it’s youth. It lacks a little on body and punch, but is a nice tea nonetheless.

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5/29/14

Origin: Yunnan Spring 2014

Dry Leaf: All buds that have turned to golden, tender, soft downy pretties!!! Scents of honey, malt, butter cookie.

Method: Western 190F 1.5 tsp 8oz H2O steep 3’ 22oz ceramic teapot

Wet Leaf: All milk chocolate brown colored buds, all the same size,,honey and cocoa scent.

Liquor: Wild dark honey color,,beautiful with scents of malt, cocoa, the wild honey, and butter cookie.

Flavor: Surprising citrus note up front with some pepper then honey and malt blend in to finish.

Very beautiful tea that I must do Gong Fu style but this morning just wanted a big mug of goodness and this tea is definitely good!!!!

5/31/14
Gong Fu session this morning,,,,190F, 1.5 tsp 3.38 oz pot
10” rinse
30” golden sunflower liquor,,malt scent with a hint of orange cream and honey
40” deeper golden color,, malt
1’ flavor fading, citrus notes leave and subtle malt is left
1’10” liquor a lighter golden, leaves saying farewell. Beautiful tea :)

Flavors: Citrus, Honey, Malt

Preparation
1 tsp 4 OZ / 118 ML
donkeyteaarrrraugh

excellent review. clear, concise and just about the tea. I always appreciate that, as that’s why I’m here on this site!

apt

how many YS blacks have you tried

Lee

Thanks *donkeytiara !!

Lee

*apt I guess I have tried 4 or 5 and they are all excellent ;)

apt

and which one was your favorite? meant to add that haha

Lee

So far of the ones I have tried, the Spring 2014 Fu Shou Mei Feng Qing Black Tea :)

apt

thanks!

Lee

ur welcome :)

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Free sample with the order – thank you Yunnan Sourcing
5g 100ml gaiwan 195F
Rinse/3/3/3/5/5/10/10 sec to be cont
With my later steeps I increased the temp to 200F
I’m pleasantly surprised that I didn’t detect any harsh bitterness or astringency . It’s smooth tea with nice sweet aftertaste lingering in my mouth. Some warmth inside of me. I don’t feel super energetic or sluggish. Very nice feeling overall. I may pick up this sheng in a future.

sherapop

I need to place an order there. I almost did today, but deus ex machina: the promo code did not work!

sherapop

I must say that I was impressed by the offerings—even at regular price… but now I’ll make myself wait until the next sale so that I can finish my personal challenge of reviewing every tea in my house! ;-)

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98

This is a fascinating tea – I’ve only ever had one other tea that has a remotely similar taste – sun-dried buds from wild Yunnan trees. While the buds (essentially processed like a white tea) were very light and floral, this tea is much richer and intense. Incredibly beautiful dark red/purple leaves. It is full flavored, has minimal bitterness, and tastes like no other black tea.

Flavors: Floral

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80

Got this as a sample on my Yunnan Sourcing order. I brought out 10 grams into the Gaiwan to brew. Gave it a quick rinse to open up. Aroma of slight floral on this one. Not in your face but a light aroma.
This one has no smokiness to it at all. No astringency and a very good mouthfeel to it. It has hints of a slight woodiness and honey with some flower to it. It is very smooth and easy to drink compared to some of the other Hai Lang Hao teas. It is not punchy or in your face but nice and easy to drink. It gives a nice feeling of relaxation after drinking and the sweetness continues after the cup is empty. Actually day 2 on this one and it has progressed very well. A nice evening sheng that is great to unwind with.

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 10 OZ / 295 ML
looseTman

Excellent description mrmopar!

TheTeaFairy

Every time I read one of your reviews, it makes me want to become a better pu’erh drinker :-)
I admit to it: I’m a mrmopar wannabe!

Ubacat

Sounds like a good one. The smokiness for me takes awhile to get used to so I prefer non-smokey shengs right now.

MzPriss

This has been on my list for a weeks now. I need to just go for it.

mrmopar

Thanks! I am just a simple man enjoying some tea.

Terri HarpLady

Nice review, as always!
So I have to ask…how big is the Gaiwan?
In my Sheng drinking, I have been mostly using 2 – 4 G to a 4oz gaiwan or yixing, which initially seemed very intense to me, but lately I’ve been starting to go a little heavier with some.

looseTman

And also a very modest one!

mrmopar

Terri 4 oz Gaiwan usually about 10 grams and I do 3 really quick steeps in a big 12 oz cup.

Terri HarpLady

Wow! I’m probably missing out on something by using so much less!
(bows to Master M in gratitude)

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Thank you so much boychik for all the tea samples!

I had to try this fresh tea first! Super smooth, sweet and vegetal, like a good fresh spring tea should be!! Very nice :)

boychik

Glad you like it. its unbeatable, taste like long jing but at fraction of the price.

Stephanie

Yeah, first flush dragonwell is way out of my price range! Good to know about the affordability of this :D

Cheri

Sounds nice.

TeaBrat

Oh, I almost bought this one the other day, as if I need more tea!

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92

I know I have already reviewed this tea, but man is it good. The flavor is an excellent earthiness that is just perfect. It is not overpowering nor is it too meek, like Goldilocks said, it is just right. Do I ever love this Menghai Shou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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92

Okay, if I am a Sheng Yiwu snob, this tea makes me a Shou Menghai snob. Another excellent Shou from Yunnan Sourcing!!!!!! This tea is a joy to drink. The soup is a very deep mahogany. The taste is mind blowing. There are so many layers of depth to this tea that I have no idea how to describe them. The consistency is incredible. I am on steeping seven and it tastes like it did on steeping one. “Jin Hai Lang” means “Gold Hai Lang” and in my opinion, this tea is truly golden!!!!!!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML
Stephanie

I’ve yet to experience any super complex shu puerhs although I do enjoy the good ones I’ve tried. I like the idea of layers of depth :)

SWApilot

Stephanie,
That is just what I call it. I know there are many undertones, my taste buds just can’t tell my brain how to describe them.

Craig

Stephanie

Puerhs are so hard to write about! It is hard to find proper words, for sure.

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88

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML

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88

Sheng Yiwu snob alert!!!! This Sheng is from Yunnan Sourcing and the tea comes from wild arbor trees between 200 and 300 years old. As for the tea, Yunnan Sourcing’s website says it much better than I can: “…the tea soup is a bright yellow-gold and clear, the aroma is penetrating and the tea is full in the mouth. The flavor is textured and thick with a strong and vegetal taste . This is one of the more smooth and aromatic of the Yi Wu area teas, but its still got a fair amount of bitterness and long-lasting huigan that stimulates the mouth and throat long afterwards.” The kuwei and huigan are perfectly balanced and there is just a slight hint of astringency that is the perfect compliment to the two. This an excellent Sheng!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML

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Dry leaf – all golden colored fuzzy large buds with malt scent.
Method – Western style at 190F for 3 minutes.
Wet Leaf – very large buds, all uniform, very nice, smell like caramelized sweet potato with brown sugar.
Liquor – deep amber jewel with caramel scent.
Flavor – lots of sweet potato. Caramelized sweet potato with a bit of malt in the aftertaste.

6/14/14
Brought these pure buds down to 175F Western Style today for 3 minutes. Liquor was a more golden yellow color with prominent malt scent.
The flavor was more refined and there was not a dominance of sweet potato. I think a lower temp for these pure buds treats them with respect. This has a lovely flavor and I think I could have even steeped it longer with such a low temp. This temp brings malt, sweetness, honey, and a subtle sweet potato note.
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6/30/14
Brewed Western style at 175F with 1 tsp per 8 oz water. Brewed two cups at a time in a classic oval teapot and steeped for 4 minutes this time.
The liquor is very golden colored and smells like sweet malt. The flavor is sweet malt as well. Next time I’m gonna try 185F. This one is very good but I want to find that sweet spot with brewing it this way.
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7/11/14
Brewed this one Gong Fu style today at 185F in a 5 oz ceramic pot.
-immediate rinse
-6"-4"-6"-8" Delicious!! I found the sweet spot,,it is 185F. Liquor is golden & clear.
Flavor is sweet, malt, and not as much sweet potato,,,which I like.
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7/30/14
Brewed a cup Western style today,,,,190F for 3 minutes. Delicious honey, malt, and sweet potatoes!! It’s best brewed Gong Fu at 185F but I was in a hurry today :)
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8/20/14
Western style at 185F for 3 minutes. Heaven!!!!!

Flavors: Honey, Malt, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
caile

Sounds yummy. And the leaves look so pretty in the picture!

Lee

You gotta like sweet potatoes to drink this one lol. I will go Gong Fu with it next time to see what I can taste :) Leaves are gorgeous!

Terri HarpLady

Yeah, this one is really nice!

Lee

I have some sweet potatoes in my fridge and now I want something else to eat bc I had sweet potato this morn lol

Terri HarpLady

I eat a sweet potato pretty much every day, sometimes more than one, LOl

Lee

Oh wow!!! Great for your skin! Yum yum

Terri HarpLady

I love them!

MzPriss

+1 for sweet taters!

Lee

I baked them anyway and will eat tonight lol :)

Terri HarpLady

I have one in the oven as we speak :)

Lee

AWesome!!

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91

Powerful nose smells like molasses with hints of cocoa. Powerful flavor is complex and earthy. Molasses is also a strong element of flavor. Excellent, long finish. The taste is somewhat unusual. I think I’m going to need to get used to it. Second steep is more normal. Still fairly strong, but less distinctive.

(Note: I have the Spring 2014 version)

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 g 6 OZ / 177 ML

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