Yunnan Sourcing

Yum!
Yeah, I’ve realized that I love Fujian Blacks (& Oolongs).
This is thick, malty, a little peppery, & I love it!
’nuf said.

Last week I went on the Yunnan Sourcing website. I’ve been haunting that site for awhile, reading about the various Puerhs they offer, but on this particular evening I was looking for something interesting to share with the ‘Babes’ (BBBB). Since we’re all lovers of the dark side, we’ve more or less committed our box to mostly unflavored black teas, along with some puerh, so I had been checking out their black tea offerings, & I knew which ones I wanted. I started filling out my shopping cart, of course I was only gonna get 2 teas, but then I saw this. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a Jin Jun Mei, & what can I say? Rich malty goodness, a little sweet, a little peppery. Anyone who has read my post over the last 2 days knows that I went a little overboard in the ordering department, but all the teas I ordered sounded SO GOOD, and they ARE! I still have 2 sheng samples to try out, but I’ve been pleased with my order, AND it didn’t break the bank either!
So now I have enough tea to share with my Black Box Buddies for the next couple of months!

My new friend Scott sent me a sample of this with my order. I drank many many steepings all evening. Before I started I was pretty drowsy, but that changed nicely. The dry aroma was so soothing, the tea itself was so restorative. I used to prefer Shu over sheng, but now I love them both.

Thank you Scott!

Always a pleasure to unwrap this brick. Heavily compressed, rough cut; black as coal, but still an elegant taste. Dehong tea factory, definitely, knows how to make a good Pu Erh.

Dark, complex tea. Gong fu style, 10gr, 1 minute, etc. Eskimos love it. Me too.

Enjoying multiple steeping of this beloved tea this morning. I keep thinking I’m going out in the garden, & overtime I set foot outside, it starts raining. Then when I come in it stops. LOL
This tea is kind of like LB, but without the bean taste.

This is one of those teas where the first couple of sips don’t seem like much, but every subsequent sip adds a layer of flavor & texture, until your mouth is thick with roasted barley, molasses, & chocolate. It’s awesome & it’s delicious. It’s like LB, only without the beans taste. I love it.

Still delicious! (see previous reviews if you’re looking for one)
This morning this tea came with me into the city to the school, where I visited with the awesome new principal, & I got to select my classroom: I actually get a real classroom! Previously, it was a closet & we had to drag the harps out onto the stage to practice), & my classroom has windows! I never had those before! And shelves, & everything (such as electrical outlet for teapot…).
So it looks like I’m actually really doing this! I’ve been self-employed, living the pajama lifestyle, for years, so it will take some adjustment, but it’s only Mon, Wed, & Fri, and I’m actually kind of excited.
Tomorrow I have to go to a meeting, Friday I get to set up my classroom (I’ve never actually done that before).
Monday school starts!

I woke up early & immediately started getting ready for my trip. Last night I stayed up & started 2 crocks of cultured cucumbers (think “awesome garlic dills, the old sour kind”), & a crock of cultured dilly beans (same recipe, using green beans instead of cucumbers).

Today I have a lot to do, & so far I’ve lined up my clothes for packing, watered all of the houseplants, & enjoyed 2 steepings of this tea! It’s time to get back to work, & to pick out another tea to drink :)

This was my first tea of the day, hours ago. It is delicious, lovely chocolatey goodness.

God, this stuff is good! It’s not the smokey lapsang type, but just a super rich dark chocolate thick mouthed roasty cup of YUM!
I made a cup this morning to drink en route to the wedding. Now I’m having a second cup before heading out into the garden for an hour. It’s such a beautiful day in this neighborhood!
I’m also drinking it to make Sil jeolous ;)

Time to rehash my day, through tea :)
This was the gong fu cha of the morning. The black leaves are small & tightly twisted, with an aroma of chocolate.
5G + 4oz (rinse) X 15/30/45 sec
This first round of 3 steeps featured roasted grain, sorghum molasses, & a quickly building satisfying mouth of hot cocoa, with an unbelievably creamy texture.
1/2/3/4minutes
In the 2nd round of steepings the flavors began to fade, until I was left with sweet wood & a slight lingering incense feel.
A perfect start to my day :)

Yup, I love this tea!
It’s amazing how so many different teas can taste like chocolate, but not taste like each other, right? To be honest, I believe I’ve decided this tea is going to be the official replacement for Anxi Fo Shou, of which I only have enough to drink 2 more times. I think one of those 2 times will have to be a side by side comparison, maybe. The other one will be some special occasion, like maybe ground breaking day in my garden, or a celebration of the sprouting of the first seeds that I plant. Or maybe a day when I just need to pamper myself. Meanwhile, I’m feeling a little better about running out of THAT tea, because I have THIS tea, & I think I will have to add it to the list of Hoard-worthy teas, because it really is THAT good. It really is like German Chocolate Cake. And don’t let the name fool you, because although it is roasty, it is NOT smokey, at all.
Now I have to get ready to go play that gig.

I finally have some of this back in my collection! It’s so good!
You think of Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, & usually a smokey lapsang souchong comes to mind, but this is not that tea. This is a roasty chocolaty cup, but not smoked. It’s delicious!

Sipdown!
This is one of the teas from my first order with Yunnan Sourcing. I’ve enjoyed it! Speaking of YS, I placed an order with them over a month ago, & it still hasn’t arrived. It was from their China headquarters. Hopefully soon…

I enjoyed this tea earlier in the afternoon. It kind of reminds me of Laoshan Black, only less sweet & more dark chocolaty. It is delicious!

I just got home from playing a wedding in the Lobby of the Fabulous Fox Theater! I love the Fox, it’s been years since I played there, but 2 of the guys from the stage crew remembered me! That was really nice!

Anyway, what better to come home to than a steaming hot cup of tea, right? I’ve been working my way through the box from Yunnan Sourcing, & this one is next. I think my favorite selection (so far) is the Wild Tree Purple Varietal Black tea of Dehong. Of course, I’ve only drank it once, and I have enough to sample it several different ways, along with the other teas I purchased. And speaking of black teas, I just noticed Yunnan Sourcing has all of their black teas on sale until sept 12. The promocode is black10 (how’s that for enabling?).

Anyway, this tea is nice too! There is a nice dark chocolate depth to it, an earthy sweetness, a sweet roastiness, & a satisfying mouth that reminds me of a really awesome 97% gourmet cacao, kind of thick, & almost a powdery feel too.

I put off ordering from Yunnan Sourcing for a long time, but I’m very pleased with everything they sent to me (still have a few other things to sample), & I think Scott & I will be great friends! ;)

I took my sons Drew & Leif out to breakfast, as a prelude to a day of prepping the front porch for paint. I made a large go cup of this tea to bring along, because the tea they offer at the breakfast joint is…well, it’s just not what I wanted :)

I have yet to meet a tea from the Wu Liang Mntns that I don’t like, & this one is especially nice, with a sweet chocolate richness, a hint of coriander, & a little floral in there too. A nice start to my day.

No new notes about this, but I am enjoying it. It’s a nice smooth cup, zero astringency. The sun is out, it’s in the 60’s, & trees are starting to bloom. I hate having allergies. I need to start drinking my Nettles again.

Sipdown!
Sadly, I’ve had a weird bitter taste in my mouth all day. Bitter & with a lemony mouthfeel. It has pretty much ruined the taste of all the teas I drank, or at least made them bitter. This one included, which is too bad, because I enjoyed this one yesterday.

This is the first of 2 bubble bath teas…
“Shhhh, little Terri, don’t tell everybody we’re in the bath tub!”
“Why not? It’s not like they can see us!”
“Yeah, but it might creep somebody out!”
(Harrumph) “Not my problem”

Yes, we are going to lay here with our iPad & soak, drinking delicious tea, including this one. And post about it.
“So there!”

This tea is delicious!
It has a smooth & bright mouth to it, & the flavor is sweet, with a chocolate & honeyed essence, and nicely rich but clean taste, if that makes sense.
1TB + my mug (12 oz?) X 3min/5min resteep

Another tea, enjoyed while watering the garden this morning. There is a black swallowtail that has been hanging around my garden a lot lately. Earlier in the summer there were swallowtail caterpillers on the parsley & Parsnips, which some people would be unhappy about, but for me it is a thrill, because I know that caterpillars result in beautiful butterflies!

This is a tasty tea, with a chocolate mouthfeel, & a sweet fruity kind of taste. I went with 1 Tbls in my mug for 3 mins, resteep @ 5mins. Both were delicious, but I’d also like to try a longer single steep, & maybe a gongfu session too.

Another tea from my new friend Scott @ Yunnan Sourcing, this tea is delicious! It is rich & sweet, with essence of chocolate, maybe a hint of floral but more in the mouth than taste (as if that makes sense), & a lovely fruitiness. There is also that bit of honeyed coriander, telling me that the tea leafhoppers probably paid a visit, and that’s a good thing!