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A delicate, smooth and complex dianhong. The early autumn peacefulness and richness of aromas. Its unique taste gently but resolutely resists the attempts to describe and deconstruct it. However: some malt, caramel, plum, spices, baked goods, sweet potato, herbs…

It induces wakefulness, sharpens your senses and brings a note of nostalgia.

[Spring 2019 Harvest] This is a Yunnan Red from old wild trees that Whispering Pines started offering recently. The tea is complex and reminded me of drinking a good red wine. There are so many different flavors that I will not even try to describe all of them. It’s easier to note what is NOT there: I did not find any fruitiness or mineral notes.

I had it Western but I think it would be good gong fu as well. Herbs, malt, honey, bitterness… Very well balanced, so nothing dominates. Vibrant. It tasted and smelled much like a good Zhen Shang Xiao Zhong (my favorite kind of tea) but with a distinctly dianhong-ish sweet note at the end. This tea has a pleasant aftertaste and re-steeps well, although losing most of its original complexity.

I liked it.

Aroma (dry): A+, appearance: A+, taste: B+.

For a pure bud Yunnan it looks and smell great, but the taste is muted and not particularly multilayered: apricot, carrot, vegetable stew, malty sweetness. Thanksgiving in a cup.

There are other pure bud teas from Yunnan Sourcing that are more complex and their Black Gold Bi Luo Chun has more of a backbone. Maybe the Imperial version of this tea elevates it to a different level – I have not tried it yet.

It is a little ball of puerh suitable for a single session and individually wrapped. Nothing to remarkable: grassy, floral, flowers, some astringency balanced by sweetness. It does not easily slides into excessive astringency when oversteeped, which is a plus.

This tea is solid and convenient but not remarkable. You can definitely do worse if you are looking for individually wrapped puerh for drinking on the go, but puerh cakes will give you a more interesting experience.

I was a bit hesitant opening the bag with this tea: it looked suspiciously like one more gimmick of trying to sell an unfinished product on its novelty. I never had tea nuggets before. I should admit that I was totally (and pleasantly!) mistaken.

This tea has a surprisingly pleasant dry leaf aroma for a shu : fragrant hay, stone fruit, old books. The first steeps ( I had it Western at 212) were mild and very sweet. I was able to pick up stone fruit (including peach and cherry), dried apples, lake water, honey, warm hay, and molasses. So yeah, this ripe puerh unexpectedly tasted very much like a fruity oolong – only at the tail the familiar earthy bitterness of shou made a brief entrance.

The latest steeps added mushrooms and rose to the nose and mild rose, marmalade, rock candy, burnt sugar, blueberries, gooseberries and some general sourness to the palate. The taste was somewhat reminiscent of Liu Bao, especially the long aftertaste.

To summarize, this is a ripe puerh that with a pleasant and complex fragrance and aroma. It evolves with subsequent steepings. It possesses a unique character. It has a good long aftertaste. And last bot not least – these tea nuggets are incredibly convenient for easy picking just the right amount of tea to brew.

If this tea has some weak spots I was unable to find them yet. It was one of the most enjoyable ripe puerhs that I tried so far.

This is a pretty and powerful green. The dry leaves emit the aroma of warm grass, hay, butter and spinach. The taste follows the smell: grass, spinach cooked in butter, asparagus, spiciness, some nutty undertones.

With my predisposition to robust and “loud” teas I usually avoid greens but this Yunnan can certainly hold its own against Dian Hongs and Zheng Shan Xiao Zhongs. This tea also has plenty of complexity and aroma – despite being a year old at this time. I can only imagine how good it is when fresh.

When I first tried this tea I was rather disappointed: the dry-leaf aroma was all but absent and the first seep returned a very muted flavor. But then it started growing on me – and kept doing it for days. This tea has a very balanced and smooth taste: just the right proportion of fruity sweetness, malt and bitterness. After finishing the first cup I thought that it was actually not bad at all. Next morning I wanted more of it, and then at lunch, and in the evening, and the day after… Almost every time when I wanted a cup of tea I kept reaching for this little cake.

This is an archetype of a Chinese red to me. It has nothing of note but somehow carries the essence of what Hong Cha should be. This tea is incredibly versatile and can go along with any mood, but is especially good at accompanying food (anything baked).

On the negative side, this is not a tea for gong fu: the best way to have it is to make a large pot Western-style and do not resteep. There is not much complexity. It is an epitome of a daily drinker – and at a very affordable price.

[Spring 2019 harvest] This is one of those Yunnan teas that started the golden bud craze of the recent decades. It seems that I, as many other tea drinkers, while liking this tea quite a bit struggle for the words to describe its aroma and taste. It is subtle, fleeting and ever changing.

This dianhong is really strong in any way a tea can impress you: it has an absolutely lovely and striking appearance, a distinct, hard-to-describe but charming aroma, nice murky golden liquor….

The taste is multi-layered and subtle, reminiscent of good greens but with a malty backbone and welcoming chocolate bitterness. Plenty of interesting sweetness, baked bread, fruit. In the subsequent infusions nuttiness becomes prominent. The aftertaste is long, satisfying, and also rather complex.

This is one of the teas that richly rewards experimenting with different steeping times, leaf amounts and temperature by displaying new flavors. I thoroughly enjoyed this red and will order again.

This tea is a study in sweetness balanced by the bitterness of dark chocolate. Honey, caramel, peach, some floral undertones. The bitterness comes at the tail and lingers. It is a very nicely balanced tea, although it’s flavor composition is fairly common for Yunnan reds.

The liquor is deep red and the aroma is for some reason reminiscent of river water. It is a very solid red but it lacked any wow factor.