Yunnan Sourcing

Doh!
Forgot how to brew this tea western style. used to little leaf @ half the time.

My proper westernstyle for this tea is 4g/100ml water, 2m/2:15/2:45.
If you want a full strong flavour.

However this tea has developed its flavour since i bought it last year. guess its maturing somewhat. Perhaps i should restock and let this be another year.

The flavour is pleasantly sharp and sweet with some smokiness. blissful!

5.5g / 220ml zhuni yixing
2:40m/4m @ 100C

Tried to use less leaf and longer steepings. first was about right in strenght, somewhat weak. second was much to weak.
will try 7g 3m/5m next time.
This purple varietal has a very uniqe taste. malty sharp with some astringancy and sweetness. Very well balanced flavour. It has actually improved with a year or so shelflife.
Will sample the heavier roast version next harvest.

5g / 90ml celadon gaiwan with water from tetsubin.
wash/30/50/1:10m

This tea has a very distinct flavour. a subtly smoky sweetnes with some maltiness. 5g was on the shy side. Next time ill use more leaf, i like this tea on the heavy side!

6g / 200ml glaspot.
Single infusion before gym.
2:20m @ 95C

Result in the glaspot is less aroma then i remember from the zhuni yixing.
Still the flavour is very nice. A fresh light astringency with some burned sweetness. This somewhat weaker brew does actually taste more complex. Will try less leaf longer infusions next time.
Perhaps 3m?
Actually this tea is just amazing. Where most yunnan has a heavy malty flavour. This is fresh while still retaining a heavy “tea” flavour, perhaps it´s the “eucalyptus” mentioned by the seller?
Bumping up rating.

7g / 90ml celadon gaiwan.
I´ve taken to do some gongfu brewing when watching big bang theory.
This time i tried this purplevarietal and i must say it is well suited for gongfu. It lifted the whole the another level.
I´ve fond that most teas do better, maybe its the constant high temperature?

The flavour was intense and with considerably less astringency. Sweet with a sharp edge. A wee bit smokey.

i did
wash/10/15/20/30/45/1m/1:20 added 25s after that.

Worked well.

Another try yielded better results.

This time i used 10g/220ml yixing @95C
1: 2:00
2: 2:15
3: 2:45
first cup was strong. A bit of bitterness.
Other 2 was just right. some astringency. I think the flavour is a mix of yunnan black and darjeeling second flush?

This tea smells very nice indeed.
Long leaves.

Not really sure of how to get the most out of this.
I used 7g / 220ml yixingpot with 95C water.

3 Infusions
1: 1min
2: 2min
3. 3min

First infusion was pleaseant without astringency. But felt like it was a bit weaker then it should.
I think next time i will use 10g and slightly longer infusions.

6.5g / 200ml in 360ml Banko-yaki

Had to try this tea in a reduction fired pot. since its easy to have a high astringency result. Banko-yaki gives a more mellow flavour with a strong aftertaste. Kind of perfect for green/white tea.

I did 2 infusions.
1m/2m @ 75C

The result was marvelous. The first cup was light and clean. Very smooth. The second cup had a much fuller flavour with nuttiness and a hint of astringency. Mouthfeel was slightly dry. I think second infusin should be perhaps 1:45?
Anyways, reduction fired pot is much prefered compared to glas.

7g / 220ml glaspot
Western style 3 infusions
1/2/3 @ 75C
Tried brewing it a few C colder with decent result.

Very fresh with the fruitiness one expects from a green bi lou chun.
Also a nutty tone with minimal astringency on the aftertaste.
Would be interesting to try this in a reductionfired claypot.

A yunnan Bi Luo Chun processed as a white tea.
A very light tea with a sweet floral aftertaste.

Not quite as good as Yin Zhen or Bai Mudan.

But it is very refreshing!

I did 3 infusions
7g/220ml glaspot 80C.
1: 1m
2: 1:30m
3: 2m

Passable shu, if bland and a bit dry. Decent enough for a mini, but nothing special. Much better than the other minis I’ve tried (teavivre), but won’t be getting these again.

6g / 90ml Celadon gaiwan.

Wash/20s/ +20s per steeping.

Very floral with some buttery flavour. I would say it was a and is a bit light. I´ve found that i do prefer theese lightly oxidized oolongs western style. I´m surprised of the high quality of this oolong. it reminds me alot of the fine alishan:s from taiwan. Very beutiful intact leaves when they unfurl. Gain “alot” in volume.
If you want a good high mountain oolong this is a nice budget choice!

7g / 90ml Gaiwan
Gongfustyle
wash/25s added 10s per infusion.

Fresh with some astringency. Typical high mountain taste.
Beutiful leaves on stalks. Fills up gaiwan to the top.

A good quality high mountain oolong.
Taste alot like Alishan oolong.

Did 10g / 200ml @ 95C
Three infusion

1: 1min
2: 2min
3: 3min

Three flavourfull cups.

I used 7g in a 220ml yixing pot.
Three infusions
1: 1min 90C
2: 2min 90C
3: 3min 90C

Malty slightly sweet. A bit of dark chocolate? A very slight astringency on the aftertaste.

A superb black tea.

This is the last YS black tea from my order that I’ve yet to review. I don’t frequent Steepster as often, so the thought of logging tasting notes slipped my mind. That being said, I’m looking forward to getting some new YS teas this year. :)

Here’s my tasting notes on a short steep of Yi Mei Ren (2012):

First steep tasted smooth with that “fuzzy” mouth feel. There is also a hint of fruit and black tea flavour.

Second steep brought out a new astringent flavour (I can’t describe the actual flavour so well).

Final and third steep was a really satisfying and strong cup. More of the tea body came out, along with the previous notes.

Overall, this was probably my second favourite out of the five I purchased. Not an amazing resteeper, but still pretty flavourful in short doses or a long steep.

Steep parameters: 100ml gaiwan, 5g tea leaves, rinse and 3 steeps (30s, 45, 1m)

This is manly tea; earthy, brown leaves wadded up into nuggets and smashed into a tightly compressed brick, not to mention a few bits of things that weren’t actually tea at all. From the outside I can see a little wood chip on the nei fei and a thumbnail sized black pebble that looks like flint or graphite peeking out from one of the corners.

Early steeps: Mild and sweet with sage and cedar notes with just a bit of mushroom flavor. It has a really clean taste for shu. Not as clean as the Verdant Peacock Village that I got to sample, but definitely the next most “sheng-like” that I’ve tasted. The taste is earthy, but still clear and crisp. The third steep starts to show flavors of pine and grilled corn? I know that’s a weird one, and its not smokey, but that’s the flavor I get. :P

Later steeps: Around the fourth steep the tea starts to gets even cleaner with linen, spice cabinet, and raw corn flavors, and a mouthfeel like warm milk. Around the seventh steep it starts to show an almost sparkling quality, a cappuccino creaminess, and a fresh, clean taste like a light rain. The tea started to fade in the ninth steep, but held out for a tenth.

Bottom Line: This is a delicious and very re-steepable shu, but not for you if you’re grossed out by the idea of finding “bonus content” in you tea. Personally I’m not really bothered by finding things in my pu’erh, so long as it’s relatively sanitary. “If I were a rich man” (cue pit music) I think I’d buy a few more of these bricks to stash away.

Its a beautiful day! Its dry and slightly breezy, with a temperature latching on to the mid seventies. Its the sort of intoxicatingly bright, pastel weather that makes everything seem to shine, and it feels great just to be out in it.

This is a tasty, affordable Wuyi tea. Fresh, clean flavor with notes of peach, pumpkin, and red clay with slightly roasty, mineral edge. Very mild and difficult to over-brew. Kicks the butt of any cheapish Wuyi oolong I’ve had.

To me this tea tastes like waking up on a crisp Fall morning, hiking somewhere in the Appalachians; but I suppose a lot of people would say it just tastes like tea. :P

Fancy Tie Guan Yin Oolong Autumn Harvest 2012
Dry: Rich, clarified butter, orchid-floral
Wet: Oceanic, vegetal, faintly floral, almond
Leaf: Deeply luminescent green, tightly rolled knots that unfurl to huge full leaves. 4g easily fills the volume of an 10oz pot.
Cup: Pale, lemony-golden liquor with a cloudy appearance, that clears up to a bright, glowing white grapefruit translucent hue by the 3 extraction. The cup is deeply fragrant and hints at the buttery and sweet flavors in the cup. Rich, explosive layers of resonate orchid, with a sweet oceanic depth and almost sea salt lingering. The resounded waves that bloom throughout the mouth are like the ocean against the shore, laying new sparkling moments that linger for many minutes after drinking. The splashing flavors are rich with a texture that is like holding flower petals in the mouth, only to find them vanish upon searching for them. The flavors continue, steep after steep, only becoming cleaner, more mineral, elusive and sparkling sweet. It seems to hold onto the temperature of the liquor and translate it into something that is nearing a texture, but also a physical sensation that resonates against the top of the palate and against the uvula and intensifies each whisper of incoming breath.
Directions: used 4g in 10oz glass pot, decanted into glass tea ocean and steeped for 1-2 minutes using 190 degree water (with an initial ½ oz of cold water to pre-extract the leaves on the 1st steeping. 2nd steep same. 3rd steep 3minutes. 4th steep 4 minutes. 5th steep 5 mintues.
Notes: I have been assembling over a dozen Tie Guan Yin oolongs of various grades, types, oxidation, locations, harvests and crafts to hold a free tea cupping for the local public in my Tea Around Town program. Its been a very interesting journey and quite educational, as I have draw together aged oolongs, double fired, spring/autumn harvests, China/Taiwan harvests, and variable oxidation and this particular tea floored me. I have always heard about the quality of these oolongs being defined by the characteristic of ‘orchid’ notes and the tendency for them to ‘blush’ in repeated ways beyond the first sip. I guess I have experienced some of them in the past, but this was truly an example of this all the way. Later steeping even drew out flavors of Asian pear and granny smith apple. All I can say is with such a bounty in a simple cup, why would anyone ever need to flavor these? Wow…..amazing.

Hmm, this is ok I guess. It was cheap, but the other black teas I’ve had from Yunnan Sourcing were WAY better.

It has a nice black peppercorn quality, and a sweetness a bit like maple syrup, but it also tastes a bit like wet dog… Its a smooth tea, but it’s fairly one dimensional and overall not much improvement over decent quality teabag blacks.

I wonder if this wasn’t stored very well? It may have gotten slightly damp at some point or had too much humidity.