Yunnan Sourcing

This tea came across too malty for me, to the point of distraction. I varied steep times and sugar/milk combinations but ultimately it didn’t work for me.

This is a lightly fermented safely tasty shu. Just a slight touch of fishiness, which I actually like in this tea. It is quite smooth, with light body, and a hefty caffeine kick! Kind of a safe shu. Hard not to like, though I enjoy bolder teas.

Too lazy to backlog at midnight but I think the description is spot on, slightly sweet fruity almost, a hint of smokiness in the first few infusions but all around a good tea and fairly cheap, a real contender for my next full cake purchase. A good middle of the road starter cake, I have not had many but I have had way worse and only maybe 2 or 3 that were better (but they are 5x the price of this cake).

TheTeaFairy ’s note about Ailaoshan from Whispering Pines encoraged me to try this tea.
thru Wiki i found that longan and lychee are cousins, they are in the same soapberry family. people say that lychee is more fragrant and potent. by looking at the pics i realized that i probably eat longan thinking it was lychee.
i did make this tea gongfu style before. for some reason i didnt record that which makes me think it wasnt right method for me. i prepared the same way as WP recommends. 1/2 TBSP 205F 8oz 3 min
the tea tastes very fruity(lychee kind),sweet,juicy, some nuts and white rice.
i havent detected any chocolate, caramel, or plum. it does taste like Taiwanese black tea style.
And i came to the conclusion that i need to get a sample fr. Whispering Pines because these teas sound different

I didn’t care for this one. It was quite astringent and lacked flavor. It did hold up, though, and the leaves looked like they were good quality.

In a hurry so more of a note for myself

Sweet, not bitter or sour that I could detect, only had a decent body on the second or third steep otherwise was fairly light and “daintly”.

Maybe lighter in caffeine or maybe just my caffeine tolerance but calming gaba content seemed higher maybe because of the elevation.

This is by far the best silver needle I have tasted, it’s flavor is so complex and evolves over the course of the tasting. Be very careful on the steep times because 5 seconds either way makes a big difference, when they say the first steep after rinsing is only 10 seconds they mean it! I do find that after 3 or 4 steeps the flavor kind of mellows but on a good way, as though the tea was speaking loudly at first to be heard in a full tea cabinet but then settles down once it knows you’re paying attention.

So good. This tea. It’s just so good.

Thank you Sil!

Short review since im on my mobile excuse any typos or conversely auto correct edits, really sweet and vegital when cold brewed it produces a sweet smooth taste of a veggie medley, hot brewed it is unmistakably green peas and super sweet crisp green peas at that. Leaves and bud super high quality, some teas I actually do NOT prefer first flush or pre qing ming but this tea I believe is perfectly suited duenton its sweet light profile. If it last me until the summer I will look forward to making refreshing iced tea with maybe a squeeze of lemon.

This tea was an impulsive purchase triggered by my recent discovery of assam tea.
I must say, assam in the morning is a really nice start! The leaf is long and twisted, almost look like mao-cha.
I thought id start with brewing it like a darjeeling SF for 3m. As sompared to the indian assams that usually steep for 4-5m.
The result was satisfactory. It is has that strong slightly dry undertone that I love about assam tea. The maltiness is there just as in both assam and yunnans share, however this assam has a very nice sweetness to it. It is almost like i added honey!?! Very sweet aftertaste thats is well balanced by a slight astringancy.

It lacks the oomph of some of the other darjeeling assams i´ve tried but the flavour is wonderful! Perhaps try brewing it for 5m and see if i can get that almost slight bitterness on the aftertaste that is so pleasant with assams.

Time to install a cadancemeter on the bike. Haha my 5year old wants to help, its set up for chaos. ^^

Ah, this years harvest of one of my favorite black tea did not let me down!
Superfresh, the aroma when i opened the bag was powerful. It taste like it smells, malty and sweet.

I think that this years harvest taste less honey and more malty. It has an increadibly thick body almost like the thickness of milk! No astringancy at all even when brewed at 90C for 3minutes.

The quality of this purebud tea is top notch and will be restocked as soon as current stock runs low. :D

Three infusions
80C – 1min
90C – 2min
90C – 3min

Brewed in a red clay yixing

Was in the mode for a nice yunnan after an afternoon on the playground.
Malty and sweet with slight astringancy. My daughter loved it aswell with a generous splash of milk.

Yunnan black, how i missed you!

I tried this tea with less leaf and long infusion as per rumor. The result was malty, somewhat sweet but less honeynotes and a hint of wet leaf and the slightest hint of astringancy during the aftertaste.
Body is full and thick, feels somewhat oily. This setting works well for a single infusion. Taste reminds me a bit of black bi lou chun.

A package arrived from china today! Yunnan sourcing order has arrived and with it some new and old yunnan blacks!

This one is new, the aroma when i opened the bag was malty and sweet! The tea itself is not really sweet but very malty without astringancy, perhaps a tiny bit fruity?

I found this info about the mao feng varietal.

Keemun Mao Feng (祁門毛峰) – A variety, where Mao Feng means Fur Peak, which is made of only slightly twisted leaf buds and is sometimes noted for a smoother and different flavor. Many people prefer to brew a smaller quantity of this tea for a much longer time than usual, up to 7 minutes, to bring out more interesting tones in the tea.

I will try half the leaf for 7 min, kinda like i brew Indian assam teas.

I really enjoy this one. The taste is rounder and fuller than the golden buds dian hong, yet not as sharp and smoky as the purplevarietals. It is something of its own i guess, havn´t tried that many keemuns.

Anyways its time to get some shut eye!

rinse 5/10/15/20/30 etc
I really like this tea. Dark bittersweet chocolate and cream of wheat. No earthiness. all leaves are whole golden brown. The brew is clear copper-red color. I haven’t noticed rice notes. If you like Special Dark by Mandala you will enjoy this one. they seem similar.

A wonderful surprise gift from boychik. This tea is unlike anything I’ve had, I reckon. It’s smooth and sweet and has some satisfying rich black tea flavor, yet there’s a freshness, almost a green element to it too, a little plant-like. The sweetness is a kind I’m not at all used to with black tea; it’s more like the kind I love and associate with greens like Laoshan Green and good bilochuns. I wonder if that’s the cane sugar they describe in the unusual quick-fried process. Whatever it is, it’s delicious and unique (and perfect for the season, which can’t make up its mind if it’s still winter or going to honestly stay spring—this is how I feel right now: https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/10154100_622880174469069_8744260657632339606_n.jpg ). Later steeps bring out an oat bran smell I’m digging. Man, I may have to procure a bunch of this. Awesome find, boychik! And thank you so much for sharing it (and so much of it! Gosh) with me. :D

Back logging and I was a little rushed so Im holding off on a numerical rating at the moment. It was smooth without any unpleasant tastes but there were no pleasant taste either. Their was a slight smokiness but it was in the background and only slightly. Will retry next weekend.

Free sample fr Angelina’s tea – thank you
I love it. So simple and nice. Sweet sticky rice smell and taste. Perfect as after meal
190F short steeps in 150 ml gaiwan
Goes on my shopping list