YS black teas - what to get ?

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


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Dec 2nd, '13, 19:50
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Re: YS black teas - what to get ?

by Joel Byron » Dec 2nd, '13, 19:50

I've got the Feng Qing "Ye Sheng Hong Cha" and the Jinggu "Golden Strand" right now and both are good. The Ye Sheng can get a little astringent if overbrewed but if you do it right it's great.

Dec 16th, '13, 18:45
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Re: YS black teas - what to get ?

by AllanK » Dec 16th, '13, 18:45

sriracha wrote:Btw, has anyone tried their zheng shan xiao zhong?
I bought this about a month ago and got it in the mail a week ago. Finally got around to trying it today. It was good, very astringent and somewhat bitter, not smoked. Too astringent for my tastes.

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Oct 11th, '14, 03:00
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by joelbct » Oct 11th, '14, 03:00

Had the upton black buds and it reminded me how much i love tippy yunnan... but good golden yunnan is pricey and hard to find stateside, so thank you for reminding me of Yunnan Sourcing!

I can't wait, last time I ordered from them in 2007 there was like 250g minimum, and the shipping took forever.

Now I see they offer 50 and 100 packets, shipping is quicker, better website, larger selection of golden tippy offerings, and they even have a warehouse in portland.

This board isn't nearly as active as it used to be, but I will report!

I just wish their was a 'Keemun Sourcing' and an 'Assam Sourcing' with similar pricing ;)

Oct 11th, '14, 13:20
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Re: YS black teas - what to get ?

by ethan » Oct 11th, '14, 13:20

Joel, I had fun getting & comparing many of YS USA black teas. I think YS is excellent; however not the only vendor. Adagio sells some excellent "golden blacks" also. First time customer discount pops up when you search. Can have some fun w/ that also. Please report. I'm into black tea.

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Nov 8th, '14, 11:09
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by joelbct » Nov 8th, '14, 11:09

I received a $90 order of black teas from Upton, (25 or so samples) and 3 items from YS USA, and one Black from Ito En over the past month or so. I will post my highlights shortly.

There were 4 or 5 black teas I sampled that I rated 4 or 5/5 from Upton and that I plan to reorder, and the Spring 2014 Imperial Needles from YS are not the best I've had but good enough that I will probably order 500g of the Autumn 2014 picking at $47 from their China based site, if shipping is reasonable.

I'll post a more detailed review in a separate thread, shouldn't be hard to spot as this forum has become sparsely populated over the years :)

Nov 8th, '14, 20:25
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Re: YS black teas - what to get ?

by ethan » Nov 8th, '14, 20:25

joelbct, Thanks for the post. I welcome your comments. My niece buys many black teas from Upton which I get to taste. I think most that I tasted are quite inferior to tea I've had from YS, but my niece buys mostly Upton's cheapest so it is not a perfect comparison.
I've been surprised by the difference in specific YS teas by year. I had assumed that fermentation/oxidation played such a big role that year to year variation would be much less noticeable than it was--- Wrong.
I'd like to add more comments about black tea but now only have some gold Yunnan tea & the Himalayan Orange from Nepal.

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Nov 9th, '14, 11:11
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by joelbct » Nov 9th, '14, 11:11

Of the 3 I ordered from YS, I preferred Imperial Mojiang Golden Bud Spring 2014, followed by the Imperial Golden Needle Spring 2014.

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Nov 9th, '14, 11:18
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by joelbct » Nov 9th, '14, 11:18

Many of Upton's Blacks are unspectacular, but I would recommend:

ZY63: Yunnan Black Buds (Sold Out)
ZK93: Keemun Hao Ya A Select ($18 for 50 gram but an excellent example of real Hao Ya A)
ZK89: Jiangxi Golden Tips ($15 for 100 grams)
ZKP2: Pre-Chingming Golden Black ($12 for 80 grams)
ZK11 Keemun First Grade (good value, $8.80 for 125 grams)

Ito En often has a limited selection of quality China and India blacks, they are very picky about what they stock. Their current Ceylon Vithanakande is decent and only $3/oz.

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