Yunnan Sourcing

green silken snail shells
hiding sly double agents
(or are they triple?)

Nothing new to add to my previous notes. Just a reaffirmation of the excellence of this Early Spring Bi Luo Chun from Yunnan Sourcing. I realize that most people buy pu-erh from them, but I became overwhelmed by the choices, given my state of near ignorance of the genre.

I do aver that these beautiful snail shells are a worthy green tea from a company best known for pu-erh!

The “Spring Snail Shell” dried tea from Yunnan Sourcing is some of the most beautiful I’ve seen. The shape really is snail-shell-like, and the colors range from white to dark green with stunning silken yellow shimmers interspersed. Each piece looks like a tiny sculpture!

With infusion, these tiny snail shells bloom into full leaf sets. This tea is picked as two leaves and a bud. The volume must have quadrupled by the second infusion, with the leaves now large and a striking yellowish green hue. Even if the tea weren’t so tasty, it would be worth infusing just to witness the metamorphosis!

But the tea is tasty, so I have two reasons. I just read the fascinating chapter on Bi Lo Chun in The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea, where I learned that this tea is quite rare, as it is produced only on a small island, Dongting on the Tai Hu (Tai Lake). It’s a very special tea in that it is harvested only once in early spring, before the Qing Ming festival.

One caveat offered by Michael Harney is that this tea goes stale easily. I guess that means that I’d better make this my first green of the day (GOD) more often!

To me the flavor is more subtle and less vegetal than Mao Feng or just about any other China green. The texture is smooth and silken. I have no idea how to describe the scent. Does it smell like roasted endive? What a great comparison (by Michael Harney), but perhaps not that helpful, since for many people it’s bound to be a clear case of obscurum per obscurius!

I like this! Thanks to Stephanie for the sample. I am trying to get through some samples today since another TTB is due to come tomorrow.

I under leafed the first cup. The big wiry ones are hard to measure, so I eyeballed it (despite having a scale right there). It was pretty light. So for the resteep I added the rest and it’s all yummy yammy goodness.

I’m in a better mood now, just like that. I would like to credit this tea, at least in part, for my mood elevation. I have known for awhile that Raw puerh teas seem to improve my outlook & clarify my thinking, & so there you have it!

Just for the record, I didn’t give this tea the usual gongfu treatment. Instead I put a TB in my Traveler Zita cup, added hot water, & carried it with me last night, getting refills wherever I could. Admittedly, the first cup or 2 was rather potent, but it revved me up nicely for the gig! So just now I gave to leaves a hot rinse to refresh them, & I’m drinking from them again. A little tart & tangy at first, but by now I’m drinking a light plum drink with a sweet taste & a very smooth body. I’m looking forward to a gongfu session, which I’m sure will yield a much better review as well.

I am fond of the teas from Big Snow Mountain (Da Xue Shan in Lincang) and have picked up a few different cakes over the past six months. My interest actually developed through the Mengku side of the mountain but this particular cake is made using Yong De leaf – dark almost black leaf with just a few brown buds mixed in. Very light and clear tea soup with an enticing aroma – a light flowery aroma. The mouth-feel is strong and fills and stimulates the mouth long after it has been drunk. The taste is very welcoming – smooth, a little green tea like, only the lightest touch of bitterness, just on the edge of sweetness, a nice lingering aftertaste. Bottom line: the tea offers a very nice fragrance with a smooth sip and solid Qi. This one is a keeper for sure and I’ve just ordered a cake since YS has a 15% off sale today.

Sipdown! (106)

This tea is so delicous. :3 I used water within the recommended range this time around. I’m definitely getting a fruity note that I don’t remember from before, it’s kind of like a golden raisin (sweet and syrupy, but not as intense as a regular raisin). Very lovely. I will definitely be adding this to my list of teas I must repurchase! And I would like to try this with the 1/2/4 method or as a gong fu session. Thanks so much to Nicole for introducing me to this tea and to Yunnan Sourcing in general! :D

This sample came from the lovely and generous Nicole (I’m actually over halfway through the box I think, huzzah!). The leaves are like beautiful Goldilocks curls! They’re large and ringlet-y with just a little bit of dark among the gold. Gorgeous! The dry scent is very mild, but lovely. It’s all sweet hay and honey. There’s a tad bit of malt but it’s very light. So excited for this one! I steeped (excitedly) for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

So the brewed aroma is much more powerful! There’s a lot of malt and breadiness. I kind of hovered over this one like a little bee while waiting for it to cool enough. So I noticed that when it was freshly brewed and still steaming, there was a lovely honey scent and a tart fruitiness reminiscent of dried cherries. As it cooled further, it transformed into a darker molasses and raisin aroma. Loved them both!

At first sip, I noticed an unusual autumn leaf flavor. It was definitely a lighter version of this taste than I have previously experienced, and it was quite lovely. Sort of a nice mellow roasty note! Then this gave way to lovely creamy and smooth malt, which made me picture biting into a nice fluffy, soft loaf of bread. Mmm! There was definitely also a touch of honey that just accented the bread flavor perfectly. I wouldn’t have complained if there had been more honey, but it’s amazing as-is. Would absolutely buy and drink this! :D

Just as an afterthought, I noticed after I had already brewed this that the recommended temperature is about 185-195 degrees. But I didn’t experience any negative effects from brewing it at a higher temperature. So my question is, is there any reason for me to lower the temperature? Will the flavor be drastically different? Thanks guys. :)

This was the generous sample I received with my Yunnan Sourcing order.

I think this would appeal to those looking for a nice, robust malty tea.

The tea itself has nice resilient ( they hold up to multiple steeps) leaves, that are a long deep black brown with around 25% gold tips. They have a fresh, floral, hay like tone when dry.

This tea would make a good every day tea for those who prefer a malty tart tea!

SIPDOWN! (113)

This tea has the cutest little teeny leaves… They’re not broken, they’re just overall super tiny and thin. It’s like they’re miniature! Cute. Unfortunately, this came out a little bitter for me, I think because I overleafed so I wouldn’t have half a cup’s worth left over. So that’s my bad! I’m drinking it anyway, because I do love the flavor underneath that bitterness. This tea is all about dark toasted rye bread with a touch of honey and raisin. So so good, thanks Nicole! Definitely a contender for my order!