Yunnan Sourcing

Today this was so supremely cocoa-y I almost passed out from happy. The leaves are gorgeous, the tea is so delicious… Happy place. No more tea today so I can make sure to end on a great note. :)

Did this in the little glass teapot again, leaving leaves in water, small cups at about 30 sec, 3 min, 10 min, 15 min.

Lovely leaves yield a malty, thick and sweet liquid. This is super.

This one I did all in one long go as I had to deal with the window salesman. He arrived just as I was pouring the hot water over the leaves. I didn’t keep close track but I think it was probably around 3 minutes. Buying new windows is a painful-to-the-pocketbook process. :( Good thing I’m well stocked on tea so I don’t have to worry about spending my tea money on windows! :)

Bottom line: another on the list to order!

Another from the Big Box o’ Yunnan Sourcing courtesy of boychik! :)

Long, golden leaves steep up to a leathery, fruity, savory yet somewhat sweetish brew that smells like smoke but doesn’t really taste much of it.

30 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min all pretty much the same. Lighter flavors, sweeter, lighter color. 2 min, 3 min yields darker liquid with some bitterness and dryness. I think the sweet spot for me would be between 1 and 2 minutes. Enough time to get some depth but not so much that it turns more bitter than I like. Always possible I used too much leaf, as well.

Overall, while this was fine, I prefer Mandala’s Golden Strand.

yum! terri sent me more of this and i have to say 2013 was just a good year for tea harvest…at least in my little corner of “black” tea world lol. I don’t love the 2014 harvests as much so here’s hoping that 2013 will be a good year. still enjoying this one a lot! thanks terri!

SIPDOWN! i feel like i get to celebrate when it’s not a sample sipdown because man i have soooo many of those lol. Last day to try and hit my goal, which i won’t but at least my fake cupboard will be pretty close :) I have stuck myself on buying hiatus after today until i get back on track from all our house puchases (paint, couch, chair) and until my cupboard goal is met. Soooo if i’m going to splurge, today is the day hahaha.

This was from Terri, and there’s not much else to say about it that hasn’t been said already. Really like this one – the honey, malty notes in it are neat and it’s a good cup of smooth tea. :)

Terri sent this one my way in the BBB Box and i figured i’d pull it out today in an effort to work through some of my teas and not just samples :) I quite like this one – it’s not “anxi fo shu” but it is a really nice light, sweet and slightly malty tea. It’s not a thick tea though, feeling a little thin. I’d like it to be just a little more OOMPH-Y, but on the whole i quite like this one :) thanks terri!

I entered this as a new entry since I didn’t find this with a 2014 tag on it… I hope I didn’t just miss it.

Boychik sent this my way and it is another one that I really have to order. Not as pretty as the Bi Luo Chun, but every bit as tasty. I honestly don’t recall a lot of nuances to this – I pretty much gulped it down at work over the last 2 days. It was soooo good. Everything you’d expect a Yunnan to be. So far I’m very impressed with YS’s teas.

Soooo glad I caved in a recent sale and bought the YS teas on my wishlist. This is just an amazing tea. I notice this time that if I slurp and aerate the tea, I get a very light hint of smoke and dust. But if I just drink it like a heathen like I normally do, there’s no smoke, only cocoa and malt and yum.

This. Was. Amazing.

I finished the generous share from boychik today at work in 2 steepings (large cup sizes). I steeped for 45 seconds, tasted a bit, 1 1/2 minutes and slurped a bit more and then left it in for about 4 minutes. Sweet, deep, malty, cocoa, toasty… man. Second steep I just left in for about 4 minutes before tasting. It was obviously a second steep but still good.

I think I’m in lurve. This must be ordered. Must be. I have now had 3 Bi Luo Chun blacks and I loved them all. I am sensing a pattern.

Another from the endless Yunnan Sourcing box from boychik! :)

This one was a little too smoky for me to be a tea I’d order and keep on hand. However, the smoke was mild enough that I did drink it all. I couldn’t pick out any flavors other than a nice tea with a moderate woodsmoke. Glad to have had the opportunity to try it!

This is truly a wild purple pu-erh. It was hard for me to evaluate because it is so young and strong at this juncture. It is strong, smoky, untamed. It will integrate over time I believe (the 2012 version tasted side by side) while still a bit wild is much more integrated. Be prepared for a wild ride.