Yunnan Sourcing

This was either my last sipdown in September or my first sipdown in October. I can’t remember which is the case. I finished a bunch of teas right around that time, so my confusion is perhaps understandable. Anway, I’m normally not huge on Yunnan bi luo chun black teas for whatever reason. Even when I like the regular loose leaf/bud offerings, I often find myself less impressed by the formed versions. I’m also normally a huge fan of Feng Qing black teas, and though I am not sure whether or not there is an unrolled/unformed version of this offering, it is still almost always the one regular Feng Qing black tea offering to which I have difficulty warming up each year. That trend continued with this spring 2018 tea. It was not bad, but it also just did not excite me all that much.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of malt, pine, cocoa, marshmallow, and smoke. After the rinse, I detected aromas of sweet potato, honey, cream, and sugarcane. The first infusion brought out aromas of caramel, baked bread, butter, and banana. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of malt, cream, butter, sweet potato, cooked green beans, and cocoa that were backed by hints of cinnamon, caramel, baked bread, roasted almond, banana, and sugarcane. The majority of the subsequent infusions brought forth aromas of roasted almond, eucalyptus, orange zest, and earth. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted almond, baked bread, caramel, and sugarcane appeared in the mouth alongside notes of marshmallow, minerals, cocoa, and orange zest. I also picked up on hints of smoke, pine, honey, eucalyptus, grass, earth, and horehound. As the tea faded, the liquor served up notes of minerals, cream, cooked green beans, malt, marshmallow, and butter that were chased by lingering hints of baked bread, honey, orange zest, roasted almond, sugarcane, and sweet potato.

This was a very sensitive and subtle tea. It seemed to not react well to infusions that were conducted in rapid succession. It also seemed to hold back a lot throughout each session I conducted with it. Though the body and texture of the tea liquor were nice, the tea’s bouquet was a little more simplistic than I expected, and it was a bit too stuffy and reserved in terms of the way it expressed its flavor components. In the end, this was a pretty good tea, but it was not the sort of Yunnan black tea I typically enjoy. Out of all the regular Feng Qing offerings, this is the one that I will continue to look forward to the least each year.

Here is a slightly more recent sipdown of mine. This one came from either early or mid-September. Considering that many of the reviews I had seen were mixed, I did not expect to like this tea all that much. Well, it ended up surprising me. I found it to be an excellent offering overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of baked bread, hay, malt, sweet potato, sugarcane, and chocolate. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted peanut, roasted almond, and banana as well as a subtle camphor scent. The first infusion brought out more camphor on the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, malt, cream, butter, sweet potato, hay, sugarcane, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of chocolate, roasted peanut, maple syrup, brown sugar, and banana. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of black pepper, cream, butter, eucalyptus, honey, clove, red apple, red grape, and orange zest. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of chocolate, roasted peanut, and brown sugar appeared in the mouth alongside mineral, black pepper, camphor, earth, eucalyptus, red apple, pear, honey, plum, clove, orange zest, and red grape notes. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to offer up notes of minerals, malt, roasted peanut, baked bread, roasted almond, butter, and orange zest that were balanced by lingering hints of sugarcane, red apple, pear, hay, honey, sweet potato, chocolate, and black pepper.

For me, I think the biggest issue with this tea was its name. There was a honey aroma present, but I found the tea’s overall bouquet to be nuttier, creamier, spicier, and more herbal. The honey aroma was not particularly consistent or dominant. I have that complaint a lot with so-called “honey aroma” teas. Ignoring that quibble, though, left me with a very pleasant, balanced, and complex Yunnan golden needle black tea. My advice to anyone interested in this tea would be to ignore the name and do not expect an overwhelming honey aroma. Approach it like you would any other golden needle black tea, and you will likely find it to be a tremendously rewarding offering.

Okay, people. It’s time for my weekly wave of tea reviews. This is one of the golden oldies that I have been meaning to review for some time. I recall this sipdown coming from late August. Unlike a lot of the Yunnan Sourcing teas I had tried up to that point, this one was entirely new to me. I had missed out on all of the previous productions. I’m kind of sorry I did because this ended up being a very respectable offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of straw, cedar, malt, honey, baked bread, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, grass, and pine. The first infusion introduced aromas of roasted peanut and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, butter, cream, straw, baked bread, pine, and roasted peanut that were balanced by subtler impressions of oats, roasted almond, grass, smoke, pear, honey, and cedar. The bulk of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of smoke, oats, cream, chocolate, black pepper, orange zest, and green bell pepper. Stronger and more immediately evident impressions of oats, grass, pear, and roasted almond appeared in the mouth alongside notes of cinnamon, red apple, minerals, orange zest, plum, earth, and green bell pepper. Hints of black pepper, chocolate, beeswax, and brown sugar were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized impressions of minerals, malt, butter, cream, grass, straw, green bell pepper, roasted peanut, pear, roasted almond, and baked bread that were balanced by fleeting hints of beeswax, red apple, honey, orange zest, oats, and cinnamon.

This was a very approachable and likable Yunnan black tea. As anyone familiar with this offering knows, this tea was processed in the Taiwanese style, and it did a good job of approximating the character of many Taiwanese black teas. I could see it being a good stepping stone into the world of Yunnan black tea for Taiwanese tea drinkers. I also could see it being a good option for fans of Taiwanese black tea that are searching for a value offering capable of standing up to both rigorous gongfu preparations and basic daily drinking.

Okay, here is my final review of the day. This was one of my summer sipdowns, likely coming from either early or mid-August. Though the 2018 Feng Qing black teas have proven to be more variable in terms of quality and appeal than I would typically expect, this was an excellent offering overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of malt, baked bread, marshmallow, hay, sugarcane, and sweet potato. After the rinse, I detected aromas of honey, roasted almond, roasted peanut, and eucalyptus. The first infusion introduced aromas of clove and black pepper in addition to a subtle chocolate scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, cooked green beans, sweet potato, marshmallow, grass, hay, caramel, roasted peanut, and sugarcane that were balanced by hints of baked bread, honey, chocolate, black pepper, and eucalyptus. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of green bell pepper, camphor, roasted pecan, earth, and roasted walnut. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of baked bread, black pepper, eucalyptus, and chocolate emerged in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, molasses, earth, roasted almond, green bell pepper, orange zest, celery, camphor, roasted pecan, and roasted walnut. I also picked up on hints of clove, cinnamon, plum, caramelized banana, and red pear. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, earth, malt, cooked green bean, baked bread, sweet potato, and marshmallow notes that were underscored by lingering hints of hay, chocolate, orange zest, roasted pecan, roasted almond, camphor, eucalyptus, plum, and sugarcane.

This was a very impressive black tea with the expected herbal, vegetal, and spicy impressions so typical of the Feng Qing style. Aside from the relatively minor quibbles that this tea faded a little faster than I would have liked and there were a few instances in which the herb and spice notes were a little overwhelming, there was not much to fault with it. Fans of Feng Qing black teas would likely be highly satisfied with this offering.

This was one of my most recent sipdowns. As a matter of fact, now that I have gotten into the habit of dating the rough drafts of my reviews, I can assure all of you that I finished the last of my pouch of this tea on Saturday and that I composed my review Friday night. Interestingly, Feng Qing #17 continues to both underwhelm and confound me. I know a lot of people absolutely adore teas produced from Feng Qing #17, but I have yet to have one that blows me away. This one obviously did not buck that trend. It was a pretty good golden needle black tea though.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of malt, chocolate, cream, cedar, tobacco, and brown sugar. After the rinse, I detected aromas of raisin, roasted almond, and banana as well as a subtle scent of smoke. The first infusion brought out aromas of vanilla, maple syrup, baked bread, and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of malt, cream, butter, baked bread, and chocolate that were backed by hints of roasted almond, banana, brown sugar, vanilla, raisin, marshmallow, and tobacco. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of eucalyptus, honey, lemon zest, camphor, praline, marshmallow, black pepper, plum, roasted pecan, and sweet potato. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted almond, vanilla, marshmallow, and banana appeared in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, maple syrup, cedar, eucalyptus, camphor, honey, lemon zest, roasted pecan, black pepper, plum, praline, earth, sweet potato, and orange zest. I also picked out hints of smoke, peach, pear, and red apple lurking here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, baked bread, lemon zest, orange zest, sweet potato, earth, and roasted almond notes that were balanced by lingering hints of red apple, roasted pecan, butter, cream, tobacco, cedar, plum, pear, eucalyptus, and honey.

This tea displayed admirable depth and complexity, but it was also a little too even-keeled to make much of a lasting impression on me. It ultimately just struck me as a sweet, smooth, approachable, balanced, and steady tea with deceptive depth and complexity. I tend to prefer Yunnan black teas that are a little pricklier and more commanding.

In case anyone who reads my reviews has missed it, I have been focusing on polishing off a lot of the spring 2018 black teas and Dancong oolongs that I purchased that year. I spent way too much money on tea in 2018, and quite frankly, I only realized how many 2018 teas I still had when I recently went through my tea hoard. I’m trying to finish them all prior to the end of spring 2021 since they will likely be more or less at or near their peak up until that point in time. That being said, expect many more reviews of 2018 black and oolong teas over the next 5-6 months. This was one of my last sipdowns of September. At the time I was working my way through what I had of this tea, I recalled liking the spring 2017 version of this tea quite a bit. Fortunately for me, this production had not seemed to have been impacted by its lengthy time in storage and was about as impressive as the previous spring’s offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of smoke, malt, pine, cedar, and butter. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of banana, sweet potato, roasted almond, cream, and vanilla. The first infusion introduced aromas of geranium and baked bread as well as a more subtle roasted peanut scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, roasted almond, cream, and butter that were backed by hints of baked bread, smoke, roasted peanut, sweet potato, caramel, and molasses. There was also a bit of a meaty impression left on the palate after each swallow. It reminded me of smoked or barbecued pork, as crazy as that may sound. The subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of caramel, dark chocolate, orange zest, plum, red grape, roasted hazelnut, sugarcane, and roasted walnut. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of baked bread, caramel, sweet potato, molasses, and roasted peanut appeared in the mouth alongside notes of earth, minerals, dark chocolate, red grape, pear, plum, roasted hazelnut, roasted walnut, orange zest, cooked green beans, and sugarcane. I also picked up on hints of pine, red apple, cedar, banana, vanilla, and geranium. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, cooked green beans, roasted peanut, cream, earth, and roasted walnut that were underscored by hints of smoke, dark chocolate, roasted almond, roasted hazelnut, sweet potato, caramel, baked bread, orange zest, and sugarcane.

Overall, this was a great Yunnan black tea. I tend to be a huge sucker for any sort of high grade Yunnan golden bud black tea anyway, but this one really did strike me as being a great offering. I was especially impressed by how well its aroma and flavor components worked together. There were a few things in there that could have easily thrown the liquor off-balance, but they never rocked the boat.

Feels like being wrapped in a warm quilt, or gardening in the morning , a hint of dendelion, reminds me of a combination of Bi Luo Chun’s green snaily-ness and Mao Jian’s foresty dustyness. Flavor of grape stem lingers on the tongue after more rounded mouthfeel has gone.

I tried this tea the day it arrived and was not particularly impressed, it had a pleasant honey sweetness but not much else going on. Revisiting it a week later reveals incredibly complex, pleasant flavors with a creamy mouthfeel and all around balanced sweetness. Incredible value at 13c/g.

Very aromatic and floral black tea. I get a lot of cinnamon. I do think though that I won’t be byuing a lot of black tea from outside of Yunnan in the future. This just doesn’t have the body and substance and ‘feel’ of a good dianhong. Aromas feel more and more like a secondary thing for me. I need some of that Assamica punch in a black tea.

This was my most recent sipdown. I finished my 50g pouch of this tea last night while I was staying up and watching goofy horror films. At this point in my tea journey, I am no stranger to Yunnan golden needle black teas, so I pretty much knew what to expect with this one, but I am happy to report that it did not prove to be a carbon copy of the autumn 2016 and spring 2017 imperial golden needle offerings from Yunnan Sourcing. This tea produced a liquor that was a little thinner and sharper in the mouth and also leaned a little more heavily on fruity and spicy aroma and flavor components.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of malt, baked bread, sweet potato, and molasses. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of banana, chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, roasted almond, and sugarcane as well as subtler scents of pine and eucalyptus. The first infusion coaxed out a stronger eucalyptus fragrance and clear aromas of butter, vanilla, oats, and honey. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, honey, malt, butter, and roasted almond that were balanced by hints of pine, sweet potato, marshmallow, molasses, banana, and chocolate. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of black pepper, camphor, fennel, orange zest, plum, red apple, marshmallow, roasted walnut, roasted chestnut, and coffee. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of marshmallow, pine, and sweet potato came out in the mouth alongside coffee, oat, ginger, molasses, sugarcane, eucalyptus, mineral, caramel, orange zest, black pepper, cinnamon, camphor, red grape, red apple, plum, fennnel, roasted chestnut, roasted walnut, and Asian pear notes. I also detected some hints of vanilla and peach here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor shifted and emphasized mineral, malt, baked bread, roasted almond, butter, and marshmallow notes that were chased by fleeting hints of sweet potato, orange zest, honey, sugarcane, pine, roasted chestnut, red apple, red grape, and caramel.

This was an interesting and endlessly fascinating Yunnan black tea with a ton of appeal on the nose and in the mouth. I liked that it had some new characteristics to offer compared to the previous two productions and also found it to be incredibly drinkable despite its depth and complexity. My only knocks were that it seemed to fade a little quicker than I thought it should have, and the liquor was slightly thin for my liking. Still, those were very minor issues. This was a great tea overall.

Had this a few days ago and wanted to make a quick note for everyone. The tea was very bitter and acidic, but also very clean. Medium dark. If this sounds good to you then you’ll probably like it. Too bitter for me for a ripe pu erh.

From my records, I see I bought 50 g of this oolong in early 2015 for $8. If only Dan Congs were still that affordable! Before I got my gongfu equipment, I would dump a few leaves of this tea into my Finum infuser and thought it was tasty. Then I tried gongfuing it and it was a bitter mess, leading to its relegation to the “tea museum” at the back of my cupboard.

Okay, let’s try this again. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain teapot at 195F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is faint and is of almond, roast, wood, florals, and peach. The first steep has a pronounced almond note, behind which is hiding tannins, baked peaches, minerals, cream, brown sugar, florals, and wood. The more this is held in the mouth, the more that almond flavour takes over. This isn’t true for the aroma, which is a nice balance among the various flavours. The returning aftertaste is also amazing, with peach, mandarin orange, jasmine floorals, and almonds. The same thing happens in the second steep, with the peach and floral aftertaste being the best part of the experience.

Peach, orange, and apricot appear in the third and fourth steeps, though the almond is by far the strongest flavour. The accompanying bitterness is reminiscent of almond skin. Some grass and grapefruit show up in steep five. By steep seven, the roast, wood, and minerals are becoming more prominent, although the almonds are still going strong and the stonefruit, citrus, and florals are still present in the aroma and aftertaste. The end of the session has notes of spinach, earth, tannins, nuts, wood, and roast, and is quite bitter.

If the floral, citrus, and stonefruit flavours of this tea had made it into the actual sip instead of just the aroma and aftertaste, I’d have rated it in the nineties. As is, the session was kind of frustrating. I’d love to know whether tweaking the brewing parameters could pull these flavours out a little more.

Autumn harvest from a state protected forest in the Yiwu mountains.

The sample I have is from just outside the beenghole and has a moderate to tight compression. It smells sweet and cool like an alpine forest with a strong note of baked stonefruits and raisins. The warmed leaf is intensely sweet, same baked stonefruits and now I pick up cherry. A cool undercurrent lies beneath. I gave a rinse and let the leaf steam for several minutes to loosen the compression. Notes of apricot, forest floor, cinnnamon, menthol, pungent herbs and a hint of smoke present. The rinse color is a glowing harvest gold.

The taste is initially somewhat alkaline bitter, umami and nutty, buttery stonefruits with some restrained sweetness. It’s very smooth and round, heavy and light at the same time. Pure osmanthus aftertaste. A cooling sensation grows from a vague feeling in the chest upward along the whole throat and into the mouth. I sit. A wave of sleepiness washes over me. My note for the second steep says only ‘subdued strength.’ I lie down. I can feel the energy in my teeth, electric chatter. My senses are heightened and I’m picking up things I normally wouldn’t, unlike some sheng that seem to gently mute my perception. Can’t describe the feeling well but it feels like coming down from a day trip. I fall asleep mid-afternoon, a bit after the second steep.

The next day, the liquor is like broth, a tone of honeyed apricot juice mixed with walnuts and tobacco, slightly metallic. This character, along with a drying and strong violet aftertaste and returning sweetness, persists throughout the remaining infusions, fading gradually. The spent leaf reveals some of the fattest stems I’ve ever seen.

The tea speaks for itself and is more complex than I can convey. I hope to provide a more comprehensive note next time. Recommended to the experienced. I don’t think a person new to sheng would fully grasp what’s going on here, much like myself. However! that doesn’t mean that only experienced drinkers would gain great satisfaction from these leaves.

This is another of my summer sipdowns. I think this one comes from June. I know it was one of the first black teas I finished this summer. At the time I was drinking this tea, I recalled trying the spring 2017 version and coming away with the distinction impression that I didn’t quite get it. I wanted to give this tea another crack, so I jumped at the opportunity to try another version of it. At first, I did not get this tea either. It actually struck me as rather unpleasant, but then it started to grow on me, and by the time I finished my 50g pouch, I realized that it was actually a very good tea despite a few notable quirks.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of malt, cedar, stewed tomato, pine, sweet potato, and sugarcane. After the rinse, new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, butter, and baked bread emerged. The first infusion brought out aromas of cream and banana. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of roasted peanut, roasted almond, baked bread, butter, malt, pine, and stewed tomato that were chased by hints of cream, oats, sweet potato, banana, pear, sugarcane, and cooked green beans. The subsequent infusions coaxed out scents of camphor, black pepper, earth, honey, chocolate, and grass. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of cooked green beans, sweet potato, banana, and sugarcane came out in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, cedar, earth, caramel, grass, chocolate, orange zest, camphor, and black pepper. I also detected hints of honey, plum, and red apple. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, roasted peanut, cream, butter, and malt that were balanced by delicate hints of roasted almond, sugarcane, chocolate, camphor, sweet potato, pine, and cedar.

This was something of a prickly and intense black tea. Even though the aromas and flavors I picked up were nothing new for a Yunnan black tea, they frequently expressed themselves in rather challenging and unpredictable ways. The tea liquor was also alternately sharp and starchy in terms of texture, and that required some time and effort on my part to appreciate/tolerate. Overall, this one was a grower for me. I found myself appreciating what this tea had to offer more and more the longer I spent with it, but as of now, I can also easily imagine that the odd texture of the tea liquor and the boldness and/or sharpness of some of the aroma and flavor components would be huge turnoffs for a large number of people. In the end, I would recommend this tea, but I would also recommend it with the caveat that it is very likely not suitable for beginners. More experienced drinkers of Yunnan black tea would probably get much more out of it, but even among that crowd, I think this is the sort of tea that would be very polarizing.

Here is another of my somewhat older sipdowns. I think I finished what I had of this tea sometime between June and the start of August. At this point, I can’t really remember as I was plowing through some of the spring 2018 black teas I had in my cupboard at a very rapid clip. Overall, this was a more or less excellent Yunnan black tea. At the time I was drinking it, I remembered greatly enjoying the spring 2017 version Yunnan Sourcing had offered. I’m guessing this is one of their more consistent black teas.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of baked bread, malt, marshmallow, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, and sweet potato. The first infusion introduced aromas of roasted walnut and hay. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, malt, cream, black pepper, eucalyptus, roasted almond, sweet potato, cinnamon, and hay that were balanced by hints of grass, marshmallow, clove, roasted walnut, and caramel. The subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of apple, eucalyptus, caramel, clove, black pepper, green bell pepper, grass, leather, cedar, and plum. Stronger and more immediately detectable flavors of marshmallow, clove, and caramel appeared in the mouth alongside hints of roasted peanut and new impressions of earth, minerals, red apple, leather, cedar, green bell pepper, and orange zest. There were also some fleeting hints of celery and plum here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, earth, baked bread, sweet potato, and grass that were chased by hints of roasted almond, cream, hay, green bell pepper, marshmallow, plum, and black pepper.

This was a very complex yet smooth Simao black tea with some absolutely delightful spicy and vegetal notes. Some of the aromas and flavors I picked up I tend to associate more with Feng Qing black teas, which was a bit of a shock. Overall, this was a very enjoyable Yunnan black tea. It is likely that fans of such teas would be pleased with it.

Very clean and delicate —
Dry notes: Asparagus, sauteed spinach, brioche,
Wet notes: Crusty bread, egg custard, green nuts, buttermilk biscuits
Finish: bright, clean, mildly dry

2020 version but i’m too lazy to create yet another year’s entry. Really enjoyed this the other day…lots of wins from my YS order

This is a very aromatic and enjoyable Dian Hong. The aromas are indeed quite complex, with notes of dried fruits and honey. It feels a little harsh and somewhat (not a lot) less smooth and more astringent than most Dian Hongs but maybe that’s also because it’s only 5 months old?

while the description of this says there are no smokey tastes to this one….that is a lie haha. I’m ok with that though, since i currently have no smokey teas in my cupboard. But let’s be clear…this is lightly smokey. tasty though. more to come once i have it again.