Yunnan Sourcing

Still among my favorites from YS, it really is a gentle & delicious cup, especially nice made in the yixing, although today I’m just doing 1 T + mug X 3/5 min. My head hurts, I have things to do, and I don’t feel like extending any effort.

On a side note, today I’m renting my harp to a harpist from out of town to play at her cousin’s wedding. I’ll deliver the harp at 1:00, complete with music stand, bench, etc, and go back to get it around 3 or so. She came over to practice yesterday and turns out, she is a tea lover! Guess what, she works at Teavana. So while she was practicing, I put together a box crammed full of samples from Verdant, YS, & Teavivre, all companies she had never heard of, and told her all about Steepster, which she also didn’t know about. So we may have another harpist joining in the near future :)

So the tea…honey, pollen, sweet potato, yum

I thought this was going to be a sip down, and a part of me wanted to break down & cry out to the Heavens, “Nooooo, not this one!”
Then I realized I have another small bag of it in my secret stash!! Yay!! I am saved!!
(when the zombie apocolypse comes, you’ll find me hiding in the attic, guarding my tea stash until the world ends).
Anyway, this is one of my absolute favorites from YS, although I do have several absolute favorites, this is def one of them. It’s beautiful straight golden leaves yield a sweet & malty brew. I’ve written better descriptions in some previous post.

Oh Glorious Day Off!!
Yes, there is no school today, no bratty kids to attempt to mentor, no 5am alarm, no real schedule until my private students start arriving at 4:00, so I slept in until I was well rested (8:30), & have been sipping many short steeping with this lovely lovely tea, truly one of my favorite Black teas from YS. I have quite a bit of desk work to do this morning, a few errands to run (maybe), & then NaNoWriMo! Hopefully I’ll get caught up to where I’d like to be!
Now for more tea :)

Not much to say about this tea that I haven’t already said in several long winded reviews :)
It is a wonderful start to my day, with the prominent aroma being honey.
My LH gongfu technique is pretty good, & since I don’t have much to do other than fill out financial papers for the hospital, & listen to music (currently Coltrane’s album Blue Train), I foresee a day filled with back to back gongfu sessions!
The silver lining :)

I love working from home!
I slept in until 8:30, such a luxury these days. It felt good just to lie in bed & gradually unfold into the world, sunlight streaming through my south window, filtered by the plants that reside there. I knew I wanted some kind of golden yunnan type of tea, with a laid back gongfu session, using my golden yunnan yixing & other beautiful teawares.
5G x 4oz yixing (rinse) X 15/30/45sec/1/2/3/4/5min
And breathing…lots of slow deep relaxed breathing.
This is such a lovely tea, perfect for waking up to. It’s not bold & brash, it’s comforting.
Dropping the long beautiful leaves into a preheated yixing, the aroma of honey & malto-meal immediately rises to greet me. I breath it in, & exhale, saying, “Thank You”.
The tea itself becomes toast with butter & honey. Sweet, rich, satisfying, delicious.
I savor every drop.
Thank you!

Breath…yes, that’s what I need to do, just breath & relax, & drink this tea…
Cream of wheat, honey drizzle…oh, the aroma… oh the tongue tingle…thank you…sigh…

I think some of you know me well enough to appreciate the sudden shift in my life from lounging in my home, playing with tea & tea ware, cooking, gardening, knitting (the new hobby), playing instruments, yoga, Tai chi, students coming & going, on & off Steepster sessions all day. It’s been pure bliss, to be honest. I could continue this way forever…

Suddenly I’m out the door at 6:00am mon, weds, & fri (ok, really, that’s my goal, but to be honest I still haven’t left the house earlier than 6:30, barely arriving on time), arriving home just in time to teach private students from 3 – 7pm. Tues & Thursday are still work from home days, with students (& lots of tea) from 10 – 7.

It’s a somewhat rough transition for a night owl like me, but I think I needed to challenge myself a little, to be honest, maybe I was getting a little too relaxed, & the extra income will be enjoyable. Having to make lesson plans, prep food the night before, & figuring out how to fit in maintenance activities & practice time will push me to new heights of organizing & time management skills (dream on…but it could happen)

In spite of my lack of posting over the last few days, I’ve drank my usual amount of teas:
Golden Fleece
Persian Princess
Golden Monkey Black
…just to name a few…
So, now I’m having this, & I really need it!
5G + 4oz blue lotus porcelain beautiful tiny teapot X (rinse) 15sec/30/45/ etc
I warmed the leaf in the preheated pot, & it smells like some kind of heaven.
…sigh…just letting go & breathing for a few minutes, that’s all I need.
The Breatharians are a sect of people who claim to live on oxygen & water alone. They tend to become very thin & frail, meditate a lot, & there are stories about the famous leader of that belief, who appeared much more robust than the others, & was seen secretly eating a hamburger somewhere, LOL.
I have no desire to give up food, of course, & I have no doubt that my body needs it. But sometimes it’s nice to just sit & breath. To sit & breath in the aroma of something wonderful, like this the lime flowers in my sunroom (the meyer lemon & kumquats are also getting ready to start blooming…oh heaven!). And of course, like this tea. The aroma is cream of wheat cereal, with a big blob of butter melted on it, drizzled with a really good honey. Once I rinsed the leaves, the honey aroma became even more real & prominent.
I could get by just on the aroma of this…I could almost just breath it, but no, I drank the rinse water, I wouldn’t want to waste a precious drop. I’m drinking multiple cups, & with each cup, like magic, I’m becoming happier. This tea has excellent qi, & in spite of it’s lighter golden appearance, brews up into a rich & dark cup of tongue tingling sweetness. I’m sure I could go on & on, but I think I’m gonna do a little Taichi, to further enhance my mood, & then work on my taxes, for a little while anyway. Namaste.

I’ve been really happy with almost every tea I’ve tried from Yunnan Sourcing, & it’s also been fun sharing them with my BBBB Sisters. And by the way, girls, I’m still covered on my box offerings for at least a couple of months, & there is another box, somewhere between here & China, with a few more goodies in it. I’m hoping it will arrive in time for my birthday :)

This is a gorgeous tea! Beautiful buds in the straight ‘needle’ shape, in shades of gold, caramel, rust, wheat, & with an occasion hint of olive drab (one of my most favorite colors in the world). Opening the bag, the aroma of Maltomeal drizzled with honey rises to greet me this morning.
5G + 4oz porcelain blue lotus teapot X 15/30/45/60seconds etc…

Someday I’ll probably have a yixing for yunnan black teas. But I still LOVE this little porcelain pot (thank you Garret!), it’s so adorable sitting in a lineup with my yixings, like their cute little sister, & for now it’s become the gongfu pot for blacks for me.

I prewarmed the pot, dumped the hot water into cup #1, put the leaf in the hot pot & closed the lid. When I opened it, the already aromatic tea was even more so, & the sweetness of the inhale was, dare I say, ecstatic? The delight of breathing in the sweet aroma of this tea almost cancels out the need to actually drink it…sigh…almost!

Thick, malty, honeyed, buttered toast, maybe a hint of floral. I need to remember to shorten my steepings next time, maybe 10/20/30 etc, as it did develop a bit of a sharp edge around the 4th or 5th cup, which didn’t render the cup undrinkable & then that faded, replaced by rich bee pollen. The dark chocolate was more of a mouth-feel than a taste, that gradually built up over several steepings. The flavors of this tea were present from start to finish, not really changing much, just growing & then fading. I think I’m on my 8th steep, the color is still dark, the flavor still satisfying, though not as sweet at this point. I’ve loved every sip.

I drank this one earlier today while I was practicing, but at this point in the day, I can’t really say that much about it. I know I enjoyed it, & it had a thick maltiness to it. I brewed it western style, but next time I hope to take my time with it, doing multiple short steeps.

I’ve reviewed this tea several times, so I’m not really going to say much, except that it is pure enjoyment, and perfect for this morning…oh, I guess now it’s afternoon! Heh…
It’s been 3 weeks since I quit my job, & I’ve slipped comfortably back to little terri mode, sleeping in, doing my morning yoga/workout, gardening, & for the last 2 weeks practicing like crazy for an orchestra gig, which was completed on Saturday night. Today I’m sipping tea & practicing for a different orchestra gig that is tomorrow night. We’re doing the Harry Potter Symphonic Suite :)
I love my life, again.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends, & I’d like to extend my gratitude to the rest of the world for putting up with us, LOL. I’m also grateful for many things, including my quiet neighborhood, in a city that is struggling with violence & craziness these days (St Louis).

I’m starting my morning with a gongfu session with this beautiful beautiful tea, so luscious & rich. It is creamy & malty, with elements of sorghum, hints of Vanilla, citrus, & pepper, & excellent Cha Qi. Thick across the palate, with a pleasant tongue tingle, & a rich bee pollen sensation, followed by a very clean finish. If I had to pick favorite black teas (which gratefully I do not), this would be on that rather long list!

Now to leap into action: I have pies to make!

I’m enjoying the quiet of the morning
yes, Sil, I know it’s almost 10:00 here, but Tony’s still sleeping :) he needs his rest!
This is a pleasant tea for a relaxed wake up, & although I do prefer it in a gongfu session, it’s good western style as well.
I know my finger is healing, because as of yesterday it is starting to itch like crazy, on the in side!

The awesome mouth-feel continues…
Having a cup of the 2014 version of this tea. It’s malt & honey, & a hint of orange peel. It’s delicious. The only thing that would make it better would be gongfu steepings, but I’m at Tony’s, so it’s western steeping for now.

It’s silly to remove this from my cupboard, even though it is a sipdown, because I just placed an insane Yunnan Sourcing order, which includes this tea, but it will take awhile to get here, so I’m counting it!

This is a comforting cup of warmth, with a honey wheat toast quality to it, a creamy feel across the palate, a graininess, & a sense of bee pollen. There is also a tiny hint of orange peel lingering. This is one of the teas I featured this month in the BBBBox, & although it’s not as glamorous as the Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong or the really awesome Gold Needle, it’s still a lovely tea & I’m sure my BBB sisters will enjoy it.
318

Another morning of drinking a quality black tea gongfu session!

5G + 4oz (rinse) X 15/35/45/sec 1/2/3/4/5 min

This is a lovely malty & sweet cup! The earliest steepings featured a creamy vanilla sensation, which quickly transformed into a rich toasty flavor & a thick mouth. This one shares some qualities with the Jinggu Golden strand that I drank yesterday, as if they were brothers, but of course, it has a personality of it’s own. My favorite steeps were by far the during the first 2 minutes, as the unfolding of a tea & it’s flavors & sensations excites me, but even the last cup had value, with a creamy kind of flavor.

I hope nobody will be offended, but I updated this tea’s page, which originally had “Spring 2011” on it, because there were only 2 other posts, both for the 2012 version, & I’m posting on the Spring 2013 version.

For those familiar with Golden Fleece, the leaf of this tea has that sturdy texture. The leaves are the opposite of fluffy, a much hardier type of material, that reminds me of grasshopper legs or something. The colors are rich caramel, gold, & streaks of charcoal.
The dry aroma is rich & malty, and for this first experiment I did 2 western style steepings at 3 min with resteep at 5 min. It was a nice cup, malty, a little sweet, & a little pepper, but honestly, I don’t think my steeping parameters did the tea justice, so next time it will be gongfu sessions for sure.

After my folks picked me up at the airport, we went to lunch at a place called TooJays.
Now I’m chillin’ out with my Parental Units, & having my first cup of tea here.
Halleluia! They got a new water purifier on the kitchen sink! Yay!!
No sulphur, no horrible water. I’ll enjoy drinking teas during my visit, Yay!
And it’s a good thing, because I brought a bunch of teas. I thought about bringing my fancy teas, but instead I brought teas that I need to polish off, so my visit with my folks might be a mini ship down extravaganza.

This one is not a sip down, at least not yet, but I’m getting close. It’s not one of my favorites from YS, but it’s not bad. The main flavor features, at least today, are leather & malt.

This was the free sample that Yunnan Sourcing sent me with my last order: an entire cake of this tea! It is very densely packed, but I managed to chisel some off, going with short steeps in my tiny porcelain teapot.
I don’t really have much to say about it yet, it was a little bitter, but drinkable. I probably over-leafed. I’m gonna experiment with it further, and then get back to you.

Welcome to day 29 of little terri’s Ultimate Sipdown Extravaganza!

I want to call this a sipdown, & in a sense it is one, in that this is the end of the tin.
The truth is, I already have a refill for it, somewhere in my bedroom/tea hoarding place.
This is like a rich & chewy molasses sweetened old world rye bread today, both sweet & savory, AND delicious!

Good morning, my tea drinking friends!
As my supply of this tea dwindles, I find that I have just enough for 2 sessions: 1 with 5 Gs of tea & 4 oz of water for mulitiple steeps, & one as a western Brew.
I’m having the western style this morning with an amount of tea that I actually didn’t measure, but is probably around a heaping tsp + 8oz or so of hot water for 3min, resteeped for 5 min.

This tea is rich & toasty, with a growing bass note, a slightly tangy buttermilk richness, a little graham cracker, & a nice thick sensation. Very satisfying.

Now it’s out to the garden for awhile.

Today this cup is honey sweet, malty, & delicious. I love the way it tastes, like a slice of honey wheat toast, spread with honey & bee pollen.

First cup of the day, hours ago. The mugs at Tony’s house are huge, & it seems like I always either under leaf, which is what I did today, or over leaf in an effort to compensate. Add to that, in spite of the fact that I soaked my steeper basket over night, it still enhanced the cup with essence of campfire blend, which wasn’t necessarily bad, lol.

This morning I’ve been enjoying 2 different Jin Jun Mei’s from Yunnan Sourcing. I used the same steeping parameters for both:
1 heaping tsp of tea + 10oz X 3 min/re-steep in 8oz @ 5 min.

The leaf size on this one is slightly larger, with a much higher golden tippiness. The flavor is immediately butterier, with a thicker feel, & a richer maltiness. The resteep is sweeter, with a lingering fruit pastry kind of taste. I’ve enjoyed both of these teas, with this one being a little more favored, & it will be fun in the future to line up all of my Jin Jun Mei’s in gaiwans, for back to back steepings!

Today this tea is bringing to mind brown toast with sorghum molasses on it. This is a tea that requires care, as too much leaf or too high of a heat will make it bitter.