Yunnan Sourcing

Looking through the cupboard while at a loss for a tea I particularly wished to drink, I put my hand into a pie and pulled out a plum. Well, actually I pulled this tea at random out of my pu samples tin, but that is a less vivid image so let’s ignore it.

The dry leaf in the sample was loose and chunky with an earthy smell. The liquor was thick and black, almost like coffee and the mouthfeel was the same, being full-bodied, smooth and thick. Taste-wise, it is earthy with a slight iron tang, some plum notes and a hint of honey. It is a no-nonsense enjoyable tea that feels nicely cooling and has a relaxing, friendly cha qi. For the price I think it is really good value, and I shall probably add a couple of beengs to my next Yunnan Sourcing order.

Autumn 2013
This was an excellent tea which I enjoyed over six steepings. Upon opening the package, I could immediately smell the vibrant floral qualities of the tea. The tea was very fragrant, and smelled wonderful- a scent matching the beautiful leaves.

The dried leaves were a rich golden color, and were very straight and pointed. The brewed leaves retained the wonderful qualities of the dried tea, and produced a very refreshing brew- a bit of maltiness, floral notes, and a sweet aftertaste with hints of chocolate in the finish. Each steeping changed only slightly, increasing in floral notes.

Purchased this late summer and now that there is 4 inches on the ground it makes perfect sense to imbibe. This is my first foray into Jin Jun Mei. The funny thing is I bought a whole mess of tea without knowing much about them except the price and descriptions from the sellers websites. I knew I liked flavorful oolongs and reds but no finesse in my choices. So it was with this tea, buy first research second. Then comes the big day, will I be disappointed, is this just another tea look-a-like, how can I be so impulsive? Spent an hour googling all things Jin Jun Mei yesterday, and this offering from Yunnan Sourcing seems to be their medium grade offering. I’m surprised I didn’t buy the premium because if it costs more, surely it will taste better (as in a good bottle of wine…….not!).

Dry leaves are all uniform, small golden black threads with an inviting bouquet, saying brew me you will not be dissatisfied. Used a 150 teapot with 3.5 grams tea, quick rinse off the boil and then the first steep for 5 seconds.

OK now I can understand the bigger picture. I suffer from tea anxiety. I want every cup to be better than my last. I go willy-nilly on buying binges and hate to be unfulfilled. Thank goodness I bought the middle road Jin Jun Mei. The flavor was great, caramel, malty stout, and dried cherry sweetness. The liquor is of good body and carries the same fragrance if not more pronounced than the dried leaves. It steeped out to 7 brews and never really lost that much of its flavor or aroma.

Now I know why people seek out that special Jin Jun Mei to call their own. The tea is certainly worthy. In league with Qing Pin from Yezi tea. Alas I have wiggle room to try Yunnan Sourcing’s Premium grade next year in my search for the penultimate JJM.

:-) I like it even more than I expected to.

Wonderfully smooth and sweet. No bitterness. I added the extra steeping time because I am using a new yixing teapot.

Yay, I’m the first to write a note on this one! :)

After discovering a Dragonwell at the back of the cupboard and drinking that, I suddenly had a craving for raw pu so I thought I would start one of the sample packs I have been buying recently. For some reason, I bought a sample pack of this one, even though I have a whole untouched beeng in the stash. I guess that was an oversight at the time, but it does not feel so now.

The dry leaf is grassy and sweet, and the initial steepings were the same. About the third steeping, the tea developed a spicy sparkle on top of the grassiness that lasted ages in the aftertaste, even developing further on the tip my tongue. There’s a slight smokiness to my breath that develops further on into the aftertaste and I can feel the tea waking me up gently. The mouthfeel is creamy and full, double cream, perhaps. It’s very pleasant drinking this and I think I have a ways to go yet. The leaf feels like it has legs to it after half a dozen steepings and I should get a fair few more out of it. Nice.

Drinking this one to wake myself up and found it to be totally soporific instead! It’s smoky, peppery and still pretty darn good.

This is another tea that Sil sent me, and so far I’ve been liking the Yunnan Sourcing blacks. (I’m a little concerned about avoiding a Yunnan Sourcing order before I get my stash under control.)
This is a little strange to me, but strange in a good way. It’s really sweet and a bit earthy – not pu’erh earthy, but heading in that direction. It’s really smooth, no astringency (even with sporadic steep times at work). This is a good tea. I really like it, and would be more than happy to have more of it in my cupboard.

wow, I just did a session with this tea using yixing pot and a lower leaf to water ratio. Its great tea!

amazing that what once appeard to be a dull, lifeless snokey tea now has zero smokey aroma, a clam, steady quality, and smooth, aged character.

Its not particualry complex , but the flavor and aroma are woody with slight camphor fruity notes.

So far its one of the less remarkable shengs I have come across.
Smoky, rather lifeless and devoid of flavor/ intensity.
Hoping this stuff will surprise me after it airs out a bit in a jar.

I broke the first rule of puer:
always buy sample first. do not buy entire cake.
I bought based on a few good ratings.
Maybe it was exposed to bar conditions during shipping, or the particular cake I received was different.

UPDATE: just did another disappointing session with this tea. after several cups, my reaction was same as last time: do a compensation tea session with something more pleasant. My tea friend did not enjoy this tea either. Its rather flat and dead.

Yet another tea that Sil sent me, this time a black – had enough oolong for tonight. Thank you for sending this my way.

I don’t know what to say about this. I like it, I really like it, but I’m not sure why. In general I’m a fan of Yunnan black teas, and this is a pretty good one. It’s really Yunnany – ok that’s not a word, but what ever it is that I like about Yunnan teas – this one has lots of that. It’s almost yeasty, or bready, or something. Yeah a little honey, yeah a little malty, but lots of whatever that other thing is. Ultimately I guess it really doesn’t matter, but thumbs up – this is a good one.

Thank you Sil (and Terri?) for this sample! (162)

It smells so dark and rich, and I probably shouldn’t be drinking it at 11, but I’ve got more Supernatural episodes I’d like to watch.

It’s very rich with a lot of cocoa notes and maybe some oak? It’s not as sweet as I had expected, but ti’s still very nice. It makes me think of Laoshan Black, although I couldn’t quite say what the difference is.

Wish I had read SANSNIPPLE’s note before trying this tea. It is indeed a bit unruly with its tackiness and pungency. But I put mine away in the cupboard as well and it did mellow some in the drying.

Brewing was another mess all together. Used my yixing pot, chaulk one up for naivete. Water at 200F and rinsed 5 grams of tea. I was able to get a nice chunk of tea from this small brick so I was not surprised when I rinsed and the color was a nice light brick. Then came the first steep which was as soon as the water filled the pot I poured. Mud, mud, mud. Smelled like mud, looked like mud, tasted like mud. If I only read the review first. But no, I drank the first steep anyway, yuck. Then it dawned on me to check the review, wait for it, ohhhh I should have rinsed it a few times, duh. Did three more rinses and the soup is still a dark brick colour, but no longer tastes of mud, and it does have a faint sweetness added to the traditional pu ehr flavors. I can now discern the flavors of the chrysanthemum versus the tea and I’m feeling a bit better about this unruly brick of pu erh.

Finished this one off today. This is my favorite of all the Yunnan Sourcing teas Terri has sent, all of them have been enjoyable, but this could be a purchase some day.

This is another good one from YS courtesy of Terri Harplady and the BBB. This tastes of roasted nuts and is incredibly smooth. I’m using my gaiwan and accidentally forgot it during the 20 second steep and it went for about 2 minutes. Not at all bitter. Just extra roasty and nutty. I don’t taste anything sweet or chocolatey, just a nice roasted tea. I like it!

sipdown! Today is a work from home and drink tea sort of day given all the issues in toronto. I’ve got soup being made in the slow cooker for this afternoon and now i can settle in and drink up some delicious tea. Not focusing on sipdowns today but i’ll try and get at least a couple so that i’m closer to my goal for the end of 2013. As mentioned before this is a tasty juicy cup =- though i DID like the other one from the BBB Box slightly better :)