Wild Black Yunnan

It is about time I finally do a review on this one…it is long overdue. I wanted to get a tasting note in before I leave for a mini vay-cay but since I am on here sporadically, I don’t think it would have been noticed even if I didn’t mention the vacation.

This came my way from my first swap with the wonderful JustJames. I’ve actually had drunk it a few times, but didn’t review it, because I was surprised at the sourness that I was getting from it, and thought I should hold off reviewing it until I steeped and tasted it properly, rather than feeling stressed about getting it logged.

So even though I am stressed about trying to pack everything up, I decided to take a break and steep and taste this as it was meant. Now that I have done that the sourness has disappeared.

The dry leaf smells reminds me of tobacco and earth.

The brewed taste is a little reminiscent of tobacco, but smooth, and no sourness or bitterness. This is actually quite enjoyable when brewed properly. Note to self…do not rush this tea – it doesn’t like that.

My appreciation to JustJames for sending this to me!

Finally a review on my family day on vacation and I used my new Breville One-Touch Tea Maker to steep this beauty. It truly enbodies what I imagine the Earth the would taste like. This is a dark brew, it isn’t for those strictly dainty, pinky straight up in the air tea drinkers. Although, I do that from time to time myself. I found it representive of all things earthy such as nutrient rich soil, mossy covered stones, basically an ancient forest bed. I immediately feel transported under a large old prehistoric tree sipping this cup of tea that only binds me closers to the forest around me. This tea tastes just as described and doesn’t disappoint. Next time you place an order I suggest giving this one a try.

1 gently rounded TB to 450mL water, bare.

I love Yunnan teas. The more I drink them, the more I go deeply mad for them. I used to avoid China black teas, but then I found good Keemun and good Yunnan. They share the good depth and body of the richer India teas like Assam, and the brightness of Darjeeling, but none of the astringency. Some Golden Monkeys get a bit malty, but the malty notes are often balanced with dark fruit notes.

I usually drink Black Needles and Golden Monkey from Stash. I had tried DavidsTea’s Black Needles but found them a bit flat. Their Wild Yunnan is quite a different story.

Hey, who can resist tea from ancient trees?

The ad copy is accurate on the tasting notes. I would add that the tea is a slight bit earthy — but a clean earthy, none of those dubious tastes you get in some pu-ehrs. A strong mineral undertone adds to the perceptions of “clean.” Lots of Yunnan pepperiness, too. Some honey notes, and something else relaxing — another reviewer calls it “hoppy.” I can agree with that. Very smooth.

An excellent tea. Highly recommend. Yay, Yunnans!

Backlog

Between this and the Assam Banaspaty, this sealed it for me that I wasn’t a fan of David’s actual teas (as in, pure teas, whether bought to be enjoyed as such or as the base for flavored blends). It was nice to learn later I do in fact like some Yunnans (and I always knew I liked a good assam; that was a type I’d been drinking since adolescence), I just hadn’t had any online yet from a spot more into the actual tea leaf.

This was my morning cup on the way to work. The dry leaf smells very earthy. When wet I get more of the earthy smells like damp woods and early morning damp summer day. The tea itself has all of the earthy flavors but with a creamy note and also is very light. This is a winner for me.

What a complex tea! Black it is delightful, if a tad bit strong for me to be drinking at 7 at night. From the first sniff of the dry leaves I wanted to add cinnamon, but I resisted (at first). Once I’d sipped down some room from my overly full cup, I added some sugar. And this is when the tea got really complex, since even though the sugar had melted and been well stirred, my sip was two very distinct flavours of sugar and the black tea, untouched. Such a weird experience, and not really pleasant, so I added some milk. And again, I now had sweet milk and black tea. Not yet giving up, I sprinkled the top with that cinnamon that had been calling to me.

Voila! What an amazing cup of tea, now! Next time I may add a bit of cinnamon stick in the brewing and see what that does!

My first review, so bear with me.

Picked this up because I really love the Yunnan FOP from a local place, but the place of origin is where the similarities between these teas end, for the most part.

This particular time I steeped for about three minutes, near boiling. The strongest note I get from it (and this goes for any steep time) is a bite of spiciness, like cracked black pepper. Under that there’s a delicate sweetness on the tip of the tongue, akin to honey. Then comes a grassy field sort of taste, the primary trait I like in the FOP, riding the tastebuds along with all that spice.

I also find a similarity to a Keemun, but I’m ill-equipped to define or describe it (I’m still a tasting noob when it comes down to it). Even if you’re not into Keemun, though, I’d recommend this, as you may not even notice.

One thing to add: Longer steep times just seem to progressively amplify all the different tastes. Doesn’t really go bitter, which is awesome.

I wouldn’t drink it all day or anything. More of a nice occasional treat sort of tea.

Oh dear. I expected more from this one, I really did. I did get a bit of what everyone’s raving about — a bit of something woodsy, a slight cocoa note… but there was an /odd/ smell and taste that I couldn’t quite place… and then my brain came up with: Potato. I am getting a very strong savory, potatoey note from this, and it is not what I like in a tea at all.

Brewed Russian style, so it may be overstrong or oversteeped. I’ll try it western style to see if that makes it any better. =/

Had this to go from the davidstea store. This tea was just ok. It was kind of earthy,very vegetal, pretty smooth, not very astringent, but it just was kind of bland. Not something I would order myself again.

This smells and tastes just like baked goods to me. Like… a baked pretzel or some kind of dark bread. I’ve never really had a tea like this before! There’s no bitterness and little astringency, and it has a really clean finish. I guess since it tastes like bread I would describe it as malty? I was so surprised by the taste but I like it.