Yunnan Sourcing

A whimsical add-on item that has really paid off. This little 100g cake was quite a surprise – nice flavor, promising chaqi, and good potential for resteeps. The cake is fairly easy to pick apart; the leaf looks beautiful and whole; the tea soup seems clear although not the brightest gold I’ve seen. There is definitely smoke in both the scent of the wet leaves and the flavor of the sips but it is not too heavy and feels more like an underlying rather than dominant theme. The liquor tastes quite fresh and sweet with a bit of astringency but this is quite pleasant and a nice complement to the subtle fruity sweetness. I’ve been through five infusions today and will likely try more tomorrow. The tea is a bit reminiscent of the White Whale and a bargain at $5. I went back to pick up two more to hold onto for two years before I pick off leaves again.

I got this from an amazingly generous Steepsterite, who just wanted to expand my puerh horizons! You know who you are and thank you SO much!!!! <3

It was so much fun to have a WHOLE tangerine to bust open! I have to say, this is much better than the 2009 stuffed tangerine puerh I had a sample of from Teavivre. The shu just seems to be higher quality! The tangerine flavor itself is very subtle (I don’t think I got any bits of peel in my gaiwan this time though.) The shu is rich and creamy and earthy without any ‘off’ flavors. I was sad when the leaves finally gave up, which always speaks well of any tea :)

Creamy texture and caramel, spice, and fruit notes. Slight mineral quality, excellent cinnamon/floral aroma.

This is the best Wuyi I’ve had, though that being said I haven’t had very many.

L&C TTB

Sweet
light
hay

lovely mouthfeel

gets really sweet when it cools off

I really enjoyed this tea. I bet it would have lasted many more infusions, but I’m trying to get through as many teas as I can before I have to send the box along.

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/whitetea/2887-silver-needles-white-tea-of-feng-qing-spring-2014.html

L&CTTB

somewhat sweet. reminds me of darjeeling or wine. kind of peppery. interesting.

http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=441&controller=product

L & C TTB

This is the spring 2014 version

Kinda sorta nutty, roasty flavored, but still nice and green.

Tasty.

But it doesn’t pair well with chocolate and peanut butter.

Also, don’t oversteep or this gets really bitter and nasty.

http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=459&controller=product

L & C TTB

I had this tea today at work. I don’t remember much except I liked it. I think it was a little malty, a little chocolately. It was good.

Sorry.

Today has not been a good day at work.

http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=460&controller=product

Just a quick cup a work.

The dry leaves smell sweet, bitter(chocolate, but not really at the same time) and refreshing piney. When wet it has a more apparent bitterness combined with a robust malty and sweet brow sugar-molasses scent and the refreshing pine.

The liquor can be from a range of a deep yellow to copper-amber and finally a reddish copper in stronger steeps. And the taste matches the scent of both the dry and wet leaves with plenty of sugary sweetness followed by plenty of malt, cocoa-like bitterness and pine-woody notes. I prefer the Spring offerings, but that doesn’t make this autumn ones less pleasant or desired.

Great tummy warming and throat refreshing tea for this chilly weather.

If you have a few minutes, check my blog
http://thetinmycup.blogspot.com/

Dry – Sweet, malty, chocolate, cream, faint pine-wood.
Wet – Warm sugar, molasses, maple, woody-pine notes, chocolate, spices, hints of cream.
Liquor – Bronze

The first steep is sweet, thick malty, woody with pine notes and hints of chocolate. As it goes down, it maintain its thickness and malty notes with subtle chocolate notes and lasting wood-pine notes.

The following steeps feel more sweet and thicker with very apparent malt notes, wood-pine notes and seems to become almost savory in the middle with a broth like quality. As it goes down, it feels thick again with sweetness, chocolate notes and a roasted note that gives deeper notes of wood and malt.

The final steeps are weaker, but still pleasant with a sweet but cleaner front, apparent malt and wood in the middle with almost no broth-like middle, it is mostly wood-pine like with the chocolate notes now switched to a very subtle roasted cocoa nibs like taste, more bitter to bittersweet side of chocolate notes.

Very pleasant Yunnan Black. I prefer Spring offerings so far. By comparison I’d say that Autumn offerings have a more malty and wood profile and ‘deeper’ perhaps roasted notes, while spring has a lighter yet more complex profile.

This tea holds a special place in my heart, it was the first pu erh cake I ever bought, going back a couple of years. I was looking for an organic ripe, and this was practically the only one i could find. I drank the entire contents over a period of months, western style at the time. I noticed YS had a couple cakes in stock last week, seemingly from nowhere, as I was making my last order during the recent sale. I was curious how I’d like it now that I am an experienced ripe pu drinker.

The tea is pretty good now that i try it again. Not great, but good. It is pretty smooth, though there is still some bitterness and harshness. But it lasts through many infusions. Kind of a clean lighter taste, with hints of coffee. If you insist on an organic tea, though it’s not clear what that really means in China, this is a pretty good one.

Lewis and Clarke TTB

malty, but not overwhelmingly so

almost sweet

Rich.

As it cools, it gets sweeter. Almost kind of sweet potato.

I like it. I got multiple infusions from it, WEstern style. The third, I oversteeped on accident because I forgot to set my timer, but it didn’t get bitter or bad. It was nice.

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/2934-wild-arbor-feng-qing-black-tea-pure-assamica-spring-2014.html

Lewis and Clarke TTB

I oversteeped my first infusion of this. Oops. Work is distracting and crazy busy as of late. But I could tell this tea has a lot of potential.

I resteeped the leaves for a couple more infusions, short and sweet this time, not getting distracted. Much better. Mild, fruity, almost floral.

http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=447&controller=product

actually, this tea is a bit more spicy than I first thought :P

another lovely tea! nice grassy/honey/spicy taste b:) not as spicy as some of the other ones

thank you to Scott Wilson and Yunnan sourcing for this tea :)

a lovely tea :) nice and sweet with a grassy/honey taste with heavy spicy notes

thank you to Scott Wilson and Yunnan sourcing for this lovely tea

I’ve got about two, maybe three steepings left of this tea. A very unique black that is well worth adding to your cart on your next Yunnan Sourcing purchase. The tea is astringent, and the dry leaves remind me of Jin Jun Mei, but the flavour is closer to Golden Monkey than it is to Jin Jun Mei. There’s more of a sweet potato flavour to it than a nutty or chocolatey one. Works well as a post lunch/dinner tea.

I don’t remember drinking so much of this tea, but I’m well on my way to running out. This is another one of Yunnan Sourcing’s solid, interesting Chinese blacks. If you’ve only had Assam and Ceylons, go to Yunnan Sourcing, randomly pick a few black teas, and sit back and enjoy the ride. You can’t go very very wrong with their black tea selection, and the prices are more than decent – allowing for quite a bit of experimentation, without having your bank manager pick up the phone.
This tea seems very delicate and innocuous when dry, but through the magic power of hot water turns into quite a beasty. On the more powerful scale of Chinese teas (weaker than Assam, so don’t run away if you’re scared of strong teas), it is malty, fruity, with spice and seduction in the recesses. A tea to sip before an adventurous evening in an exotic part of town, or to have with a new foreign delicacy. Just be very, very careful not to overgrew it. It does bite.

I used a little too much leaf and let it brew for a bit too long, so it came out quite aggressive. Regardless, there is a sweet maltiness to this tea even under unfavourable circumstances, so I look forward to brewing it again, properly next time.
I am very, very tired, and on the way to work today a siren blared while I was on a bus. The driver stopped the bus and we all alighted to find shelter nearby. Instead of running off in a “each man to himself” attitude, everyone kept their cool and helped each other find shelter. A nice twist to a very unpleasant experience.

Tea #2 from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB
While I guess I should’ve resteeped the Mao Feng I just had, I have too many teas I want to try today (so I just set the leaves to the side, now I see the benefit of having multiple brewing baskets).
I only used a tsp in about 8oz since it seems a special tea and I’d hate to ‘waste’ it if I didn’t like it.
Wow. This has a super malty/bready/honey sort of smell to it. Maybe a bit of cream mixed in. It’s mouthwatering. And I haven’t even taken a sip. Lol.
The first sip is very bready (almost reminds me of eating pita chips weirdly enough), but I don’t think I steeped it enough, or else I used too much water since it was slightly watery tasting to me. I probly pulled a major fau pas and just dropped to steeping basket back in for another 30 or so seconds and that seemed to help. Definitely got rid of the watery taste.
Wonderfully malty and a nice fullness to the sip.
I think I’d like to have this in my cupboard if Yunnan Sourcing wasn’t so daunting to order from. But maybe I’ll bite the bullet and finally place an order.

i’m all out…. all i can say is… yummy yummy yummy in my tummy, and i can’t wait to get some more!

Ru Yao teapot gongfucha.

Dry leaf smells slightly musty and sweet
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAxKP0Zp48m/

Wet leaf smells of campfire smoke, honey and spices
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAxKZMgJ488/

Light steep: I taste medium campfire smoke. I also taste very light honey and spices.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAxKTM6J48t/

Medium steep: I taste mild honey and spices. I taste Light minerals. I also taste medium campfire smoke.

Heavy steep: I taste strong campfire smoke. I taste medium spices, light honey and mild bitterness

All in all a great tea. Great for beginners (western style and gongfucha. )

all out of this tea now :( but i will get more for Christmas! yay!:D

what a wonderful sheng! what a lovely sheng!