Yunnan Sourcing

Good morning steepster!
I hope everyone is enjoying this 3 day weekend. I’ve been knitting on a project that I’d like to complete for fall, Tony & I have been watching a mix of Cardinals baseball & Penny Dreadful, we’re enjoying good food, and of course tea :)
I’m even starting the morning with a sipdown! This is an interesting tea, fruity, tart even, with a lingering after aroma that feels oolong-like. It’s not a favorite, but enjoyable nonetheless.

A nice contrast to the bolder teas I’ve been drinking this morning, this cup is more on the sweet & fruity side of things.

This is a sweet cup, not particularly bold, but tasty nonetheless. It reminds me of some of the taiwanese blacks I’ve had, with it’s sweet aroma & juiciness, but flavor-wise, it has a lighter kind of taste, with a clarity to it. It’s more of an afternoon tea, with a smooth tanginess & a fruity aftertaste reminiscent of lychee that lingers on.

I thought perhaps that this high mountain red & whispering pines ailaoshan red were the same tea, so yesterday I made a cup of each (thanks to a sample from our dear TeaFairy) & attempted to drink them side by side. But I was also trying to fix breakfast in between painting sessions, operating on very little sleep, & honestly, l didn’t do a very good job of comparing the 2, although I know I enjoyed both cups. They do look very similar, both dry & steeped, although I think the whispering pine version might be a little thicker & sweeter, & I have enough of both to try again when things slow down a bit.

So for this tea: I’m still working out the steeping parameters I prefer. I tried it using 1 tsp + 8oz X 3min, & it was nice, but a little thin. So I tried the same parameters, using 1 Tb of tea, & that was much more satisfying. I’ve been outside a lot painting, & so allergies are muting my tastes a bit, but it’s a very pleasant cup with a sweet fruity taste. More of an afternoon tea, not particularly bold, or thick, & it has a kind of crystal clear quality to it .
What does that mean?
Heck, I don’t know…kind of like the water from a sweet spring, I guess.
little terri told me to say it.
Now her & Ms Theresa are laughing, like it’s some kind of private joke.

Today’s first GOD (green of the day) was Yunnan Sourcing Premium Mao Feng. The liquor was peachy green. I noticed that the infused leaves look a lot like yellow tea leaves—lighter greenish yellow in color. They smell more like Mao Feng, however, logically enough. The taste is classic Mao Feng—not over cooked but lightly steamed vegetables. Looking forward to the second infusion…

Today I was craving Mao Feng, so I decided to brew up a small tetsubin of this selection from Yunnan Sourcing. It is good! I’m finding that texture is as important as taste with many green teas… This one is smooth and silky.

My very first order from Yunnan Sourcing arrived, and among the enticing items was a big bag of Premium Mao Feng from 2012. The price was slashed—I presume because it is now two years old—but I am happy to report that the dried leaves are still extremely fragrant and beautiful, with tons of light and shadows produced by the impressive silver tips!

The liquor is pale peachy green and tastes smooth and satisfying—a fine example of this genre of tea and not old-tasting in the least!

(Blazing New Rating #74)

Another Shou Menghai snob alert. I had never heard of a Cha Tou which is “a kind of tea nugget that forms naturally from the pressures of compression and heat that occurs during the fermentation process”. My interest was peaked so I ordered a 250g brick. For $22, this tea is a steal!!! The soup is a beautiful mahogany color. The taste is not only a wonderful earthy flavor that is a joy to the taste buds, it stays with you long after you have drunk the tea. This is another very consistent tea. I am on steeping six and it really does taste like the first steeping. Shou, Menghai, delicious, I see a trend here.

Another lovely tea from Terri :D

Had another crazy busy weekend! Back at work now and very glad for strong teas to drink…

This one I did a real long steep on…OMG SO rich and dark and cocoa-licious. No astringency. It reminds me of Laoshan Black without the creamy/beany element. Very tasty! Hoping I can get a 2nd and maybe 3rd steep despite my long first steep :)

Thanks Terri!

This was the free sample Yunnan Sourcing put in. Quite a substantial sample! Thank you Yunnan Sourcing!

The leaves are long spindly and grey. A smell almost like Bi Lo chun but very muted. I brewed at 185F for 2 min. Very light, nutty with a fruity mouth feel and scent. A wonderful tea but there was only a slight bitter edge to it. For the second infusion, I only steeped 1 min but the second steep was a bit too weak. Some of the fruity scent was not too prominent in the second cup. Overall a great tea

This is quite a visually appealing tea appearing assilvery corkscrews of downy white tea that has occasional sneak previews of the spruce green blades thee leaves would of been if they had been allowed to fully open. The tea is beautiful to look at while brewing especially during the first few steeps while the tea is unwinding and the leaves appear to be dancing in the liquid while shimmering as though reflecting light.

The dry leaf smells of light roasted/ smoke insence note from processing, cucumber, something sweet and honey like, perhaps a white peach tone, and clover.

The first steep yielded a pale green tinged broth that had a strong floral scent of gardenia mixed with rose, and a light green scent llike sweet pea sprouts, a soft fruity plum like sweetness lay underneath.

It tasted of a green floral, over sweet plum with hint of roasted notes and a reference to sprouted sweet greens.aftertaste is a lingering sweet honey note. The flavour is light but pleasant. As it cools the green cool floral note mixes with a bit of cucumber with the more rounded sweetness remaining muted underneath.

The next two steeps were brighter and more intense with the plum tone more intense and the floral scent heading to freesia, the green sprout note and honey were still present.

The flavour was of freesia, clover, light pea sprout, cucumber, light plum, and had a more delicate sweetness. They were very floral, and slightly spicy on the tongue. There was a slightly thicker broth that developed more creaminess. Once again sweetness intensified in the aftertaste.

At 100s. the broth took on more of a yellow tone. The scent reminded me a little of a sunscreen I’ve had with freesia and a cooler green orchid, over plum, and a cream note. It was soft and floral with a touch of sweetness.

The flavour was of green sprouts, cucumber a faint hint of freesia and sweet plum.

The following steeps consisted of a blend of fading cool floral notes, cucumber and plum, with the introduction and then rapid loss of an artichoke note. By the last steep the flavour was quite faint and was more of an impression.

The finished leaves are thickened straightened buds.

This is a tea that may be appreciated by lovers of green floral Oolong’s, as it has a similar bite in the mouth and a lasting lingering floral taste.

Thanks boychik this tea is certainly beautiful to look at and I quite enjoyed it.

Tried this one out today. After a quick rinse did a 10 sec steep and added a bit more for the next steeps. I could definitely smell hay and honey from this tea. I could taste mushroomy notes with a honey sweetness and it didn’t fade much with each infusion. It was a pleasant cup but after 4 infusions I was tired of the tea and wanted a change. I put the leaves aside to see if I can do a steep on them tomorrow.

Today I tried the spring harvest of this tea using short steeps and boiling water, covering the bottom of my 150ml Gaiwan with leaves. My timings were 15,20,40,65,100,120s.

This is the spring harvest of this tea and I am not sure whether the differences I found in flavour are the result of using different techniques or a different season.

I found that this time the cocoa notes were intensified over my previous tasting. The fruit notes found were longan and blackcurrant. Cashew butter and cream notes were also present. The caramel notes were present but not as distinct and I did not find the grainy notes of the last steeping. I’ll have to try my longer steeps and lower temperatures to do a true comparison with the previous season, but I did really enjoy it this way.

This tea was a pleasant confection of fruit beginning with longan dominating over a plum note and than switching dominance during the later steeps, consistent cocoa notes, butter caramel, that morphed to honey in the middle steeps, and ended in cane sugar, a roasted grain note, cashew butter, and malt that really only became strongly apparent in the later steeps and blended well with the plum cocoa notes. The early steeps were really buttery in texture and the flavours blended well together creating the impression of a sweet nutty, caramel cocoa confection with a bit of tartness. The broth does become thinner and slightly astringent in later steeps. Although this is a light tea it really does have a nice intensity flavours with my favourite steeps being perhaps the second and third one.

I steeped one heaping TSP of this tea at 92*C in 225 ml of water. The leaves are long, dark roughly wound, wiry strips that smell of cocoa and longan. My steeping times were 60,60,80,120,180,240s and 5 min. Onced brewed I had a golden broth touched by brown which became redder in later steeps. The tea smelled of longan, butter caramel and cocoa. Altogether a nice light tea. I especially like the nutty tones and the way the tea blends the cocoa, longan and caramel tones so that neither becomes dominant over each other. Thanks boychik for sending me the fall 2013 harvest for me to try. I am happy I have some of the spring tea heading my way!

Given the choice, I prefer the Imperial Gold Needle Yunnan over this one, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love this one as well. I enjoy them both. This one is a more masculine gold needle than the other, more robust, not as golden in appearance, but still beautiful, not honey sweet, but still quite delicious. It provides a very satisfying malty rich cup,with a dark chocolate undertone. And who doesn’t love malt & chocolate?

I’m headed out to see my hand surgeon…hoping to get the pins removed today…

It’s not fair for me to be reviewing this tea now, at 9pm, when I drank it 12 hours ago.
5G + 4oz (rinse) X 15/30/45/60/75/90 seconds, then 2/3/4/5 minutes.
Some of the steeps were drank on their own, others were combined in a larger cup.
All in all, it is a delicious tea, richly flavored with Malty goodness.
That’s all I got!

I probably should have more to say about this one, but I’ve had a rough time with tea this morning! I had to be out the door at 9am to go play a wedding, so I started a cup of this one, & forgot to set the timer. I was making breakfast, changing a broken string, & other multitasking activities, so it probably steeped 10 minutes. Needless to say, it was bitter, so it was dumped. I made another cup, took a sip too soon & burnt my tongue, loaded my harp, changed into my gig clothes, & it was tasty, but lukewarm at that point.
I got back from the wedding & made a third cup, and then sat with it until it was cool enough to sip. It’s quite good. Nicely malty, the floral aspect is a little more on the savory side, just a little bitterness, with a nice milky kind of mouth.

I am suffering from not enough tea, & I need food too. The only real decision I have to make is what teas I’m taking to Tony’s house & which pjs I want to spend the next 36 hours in.

Origin: Yunnan, China. Early Spring harvest, 2014
Dry Leaf: Cute, tiny, twisted threads that are golden and dark in color and sweet-smelling like brown sugar with malt.
Method: I played with this one a lot before finally switching from a small 3.38 oz gong fu pot to a tokoname kyusu pot that I use for gyokuro. These leaves are so small and delicate that I found it best to brew it like gyokuro to bring out its best. So this is immediate rinses and pours. I used 1 1/2 tsp/2 grams tea in my tiny 2oz tokoname pot.
I brewed it at a low temperature as you would a delicate green tea as well, 170F. These are all very delicate buds that were picked a few short days after sprouting so they do not like heat and sitting in hot water.
Wet Leaf: Still tiny and thin after opening up, all very tiny buds. When I was using my other little gong fu pot, the leaves were escaping and causing uneven brewing by getting into the little pour holes. My tokoname has a fine mesh strainer built in so it was perfect to achieve an even brewing exposure for the tiny leaves.
Liquor: Golden orange color with scents of honey and malt.
Flavor: Lightly and subtly sweet and malty. Very lovely and delicate tea!
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7/14/14
Had some Gong Fu style this morning. Good stuff!!!
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8/7/14
Gaiwan style this morning!!!!! This is a good method to brew this one. 185F