Yunnanese black teas

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


Jul 31st, '12, 08:18
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by iovetea » Jul 31st, '12, 08:18

Chip wrote:Our young sushi bar server is from Wuyi of all places! We have had numerous tea conversasions with him!

He just returned from "home" and brought some Jin Jun Mei back. Hm, he did not offer us any like he often does. Maybe he will surprise us ...

He once said Da Hong Pao was the most expensive tea in China, but says this could be as well.

It is funny, he starts talking about a Fujian tea, assuming we never heard of it, he starts trying to translate as best he can to English, and I will excitedly interrupt with a broad smile and proclaim the Chinese name ... then it is his turn to excitedly smile in return.

You have to understand, we live surrounded by PA Dutch, Mennonites, and coal crackers ... it is such an unlikely and fortuitous connection.
according to my tea magazine they only sell 25 g of real da hong pao each year at an auction, and 5 years ago or so the price was over 20000 dollar

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Aug 10th, '12, 04:19
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by TwoDog2 » Aug 10th, '12, 04:19

iovetea wrote:
Chip wrote:Our young sushi bar server is from Wuyi of all places! We have had numerous tea conversasions with him!

He just returned from "home" and brought some Jin Jun Mei back...
according to my tea magazine they only sell 25 g of real da hong pao each year at an auction, and 5 years ago or so the price was over 20000 dollar

Now these names are tossed around like coke and pepsi. Every dark oolong is suddenly "da hong pao" and every Chinese red is now "jin jun mei". The real stuff of either is incredibly expensive

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Aug 19th, '12, 10:45
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Pawel » Aug 19th, '12, 10:45

I ordered several Yunnan blacks from YS and received the package yesterday.

Tried out so far:
1) Simao Spring Tips,
2) Imperial Feng Qing Dian Hong

1) I have the impression that I enjoyed Mariage Freres’ Yunnan and Palais des Thes Golden Bud a little more than Simao Spring Tips Buds, which seems for me to be less powerful or I am just used to those for a time.
But, to be honest, I can’t see any difference in quality and definitely couldn’t guess which is higher grade.

2) Golden Needle form Palais des Thes compared with another light oxidation needle form Yunnan Sourcing – Imperial Feng Qing - tastes equally good.

Can’t wait to try out other “buds” and “needles” from Yunnan Sourcing :D
I think I will find a few, perhaps, even more enjoyable ones than those I have been buying before, not to mention the prices. A waste of money till now, being almost sure of that.

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Aug 20th, '12, 05:29
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Tead Off » Aug 20th, '12, 05:29

Pawel wrote:I ordered several Yunnan blacks from YS and received the package yesterday.

Tried out so far:
1) Simao Spring Tips,
2) Imperial Feng Qing Dian Hong

1) I have the impression that I enjoyed Mariage Freres’ Yunnan and Palais des Thes Golden Bud a little more than Simao Spring Tips Buds, which seems for me to be less powerful or I am just used to those for a time.
But, to be honest, I can’t see any difference in quality and definitely couldn’t guess which is higher grade.

2) Golden Needle form Palais des Thes compared with another light oxidation needle form Yunnan Sourcing – Imperial Feng Qing - tastes equally good.

Can’t wait to try out other “buds” and “needles” from Yunnan Sourcing :D
I think I will find a few, perhaps, even more enjoyable ones than those I have been buying before, not to mention the prices. A waste of money till now, being almost sure of that.
Must be a big price difference between Mariage Freres and Yunnan Sourcing. I'm sure a bigger price difference than quality difference.

Aug 23rd, '12, 16:52
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by iovetea » Aug 23rd, '12, 16:52

Pawel wrote:I ordered several Yunnan blacks from YS and received the package yesterday.

Tried out so far:
1) Simao Spring Tips,
2) Imperial Feng Qing Dian Hong

1) I have the impression that I enjoyed Mariage Freres’ Yunnan and Palais des Thes Golden Bud a little more than Simao Spring Tips Buds, which seems for me to be less powerful or I am just used to those for a time.
But, to be honest, I can’t see any difference in quality and definitely couldn’t guess which is higher grade.

2) Golden Needle form Palais des Thes compared with another light oxidation needle form Yunnan Sourcing – Imperial Feng Qing - tastes equally good.

Can’t wait to try out other “buds” and “needles” from Yunnan Sourcing :D
I think I will find a few, perhaps, even more enjoyable ones than those I have been buying before, not to mention the prices. A waste of money till now, being almost sure of that.
than you are lucky to me Mariage Freres sold like 5 year old tea or so.
Totally undrinkable. Maybe you went in one of there shops personally??
or maybe it was just because of my name.

Has Palais des thes the same owner as Mariage Freres??

but maybe it was just because of my english skills, that marriage freres said, well he cant speak good english, thats why he is a monkey and we can cheat and insult him big.

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Aug 25th, '12, 15:04
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Pawel » Aug 25th, '12, 15:04

iovetea wrote:
than you are lucky to me Mariage Freres sold like 5 year old tea or so.
Totally undrinkable. Maybe you went in one of there shops personally??
or maybe it was just because of my name.

Has Palais des thes the same owner as Mariage Freres??

but maybe it was just because of my english skills, that marriage freres said, well he cant speak good english, thats why he is a monkey and we can cheat and insult him big.
I visited MF shops twice and the staff was all right, I think. I was looking around for a while and they didn’t seem to behave like : the more bad things we sell the better.

I have the same experience online. When they were out of stock of sth didn’t want to sell anything instead. When a tea was missing in the package they shipped it separately right away. I bought even the same tea in their shop and the next year’s flush online and couldn’t complain about the freshness again.

I don’t know if it’s a matter of chance good or bad service there.
I bought from the other company (Palais des Thes) once online, and was satisfied too.

Aug 25th, '12, 15:49
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by iovetea » Aug 25th, '12, 15:49

than you were really lucky.
when i ordered online from marriage freres they ripped me of big time.
they send me so old yunnan gold golden bud, you couldnt drink it.
they also sold me taiwanese black tea, also so really really old totally undrinkable....
they sold me i cant even discribe what they sold me as alishan....

anyway when i ordered from them, they behaved like gangster and kept my money.
if someone wants to risk their hard earned precious money anyway, better buy it directly in the shop,
or tell them you only accept paypal. so when they try to rip you off as well, you can call paypal and say you want your money back.

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Oct 22nd, '12, 13:47
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Komsip » Oct 22nd, '12, 13:47

My favorite tea category is Yunnan Gold/Dian Hong/滇红茶.
I just ordered a big order from Yunnansourcing and one other less known online tea store open to the west. I bought as many different types of the Yunnan Black Tea as I could possibly find. Specially I've always wanted to own one of those Dian Hong tea cakes. (both the "drunk on red" one and the FengQing golden tips cakes. I'm just waiting.
I also ordered some of the more experimental teas from YunnanSourcing. Wild/purple leaf big-bitter leaves based black and wulong.
Cheaper Dian Hong teas have become my staple morning tea.
Some of the ones i ordered were borderline between "luxury tea" and "daily brew". I drink some form of Dian Hong most days. It's my main tea. I would guess ¾ of all tea i consume on a long term is Dian Hong. (Heavy Roast oolongs, mainly Tie Guan Yin as a no.2)
Another tea that I've been trying to get hold of priceworthy and high quality lately, milder/finer lapsang souchong/zhengshan xiaozhong/正山小种 with that lovely strong dried longan aroma (it really does have a strong aroma of dried longan, it's not a myth!). Wonderful tea, I wish I could serve this grade of lapsang to everyone so they would change their minds about "tarry tea" or fake smoke aroma.

Oct 22nd, '12, 14:32
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by ethan » Oct 22nd, '12, 14:32

Komsip, Please report on the various blacks from YS once you've tried them. I drink YS's Simao tips & Dian Hong regularly & think of trying some of YS's other black teas. (I also have liked black teas from other vendors but not as much as what I have from YS)

I loved Simao tips & Dian Hong so much that everyday I was infusing 2 heaping teaspoons w/ 14 ounces of water 3 or 4 times (drinking 6 - 8 cups). Now I only enjoy 2 infusions as subsequent infusions seem to lack enough flavor.

Cheers.

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Oct 22nd, '12, 18:40
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Komsip » Oct 22nd, '12, 18:40

ethan wrote:Komsip, Please report on the various blacks from YS once you've tried them. I drink YS's Simao tips & Dian Hong regularly & think of trying some of YS's other black teas. (I also have liked black teas from other vendors but not as much as what I have from YS)

I loved Simao tips & Dian Hong so much that everyday I was infusing 2 heaping teaspoons w/ 14 ounces of water 3 or 4 times (drinking 6 - 8 cups). Now I only enjoy 2 infusions as subsequent infusions seem to lack enough flavor.

Cheers.
Last time I ordered from YS was in 2009 when it was still an eBay store, and I still have some Simao golden tips left. Even back then, a big portion of my order was black tea (now it's almost exclusively black tea).
Even the ones I have left have a strong dian hong aroma it's not as spicy or bitter as back when I ordered it, but its main aroma is still as strong, and the rose-petal-and-black-pepper-like aroma that exists in many "golden tips" teas is still strong, but more balanced. There is a note of this type of mouth tobacco that a lot of men use over here in Sweden, but I usually find the mouth tobacco disgusting, but when there is the same aroma in tea I love it. I don't know anything about finer tobacco like cigars but I can imagine there is a similarity with the more sour "oxidized wet leaf gone dry" aromas, like the sort of aromas that arise from when as a child, some oak leaves were stuck in my backpack to school and from day to day the smell would change, but never completely to a bad smell.
I can't compare it to anything right now, I don't have any good quality black tea except some cheap dianhong bought here in Sweden which is of very inferior quality, not comparable, but still one a really nice black tea. It does have that farmyard aroma or horsedung like shu pu'er tea, but very weakly.
I'll report on the teas when I get them.
These are some of the black teas I ordered (I also ordered a couple of pu'er tuo):
  • Light Roast Wild Tree Purple Varietal Black Tea of Dehong Spring 2012
  • "Drunk on Red" Sun-Dried Jing Gu Black Tea mini cake Autumn 2011 1 cake
  • Feng Qing "Gold Tips" Pure Bud Black Tea Autumn 2012
  • Yunnan "Yi Mei Ren" Wu Liang Mountain Black Tea Autumn 2012
  • Imperial Pure Bud Yunnan Black tea of Simao Spring 2012
  • Simao "Spring Tips" Pure Bud Black Tea of Yunnan Spring 2012
  • Spring 2012 "High Mountain Red" Ai Lao Mountain Black Tea
  • 2012 Spring "Traditional Process Dian Hong" Black tea of Feng Qing
I haven't ordered since 2009, but these types of teas, both Yunnan Gold and the Pu'er teas tend to only get better by storing. This time I dared to order more in one go. I also ordered the Fengqing golden needle 500 gram cake from another store. Since I got obsessed with DianHong back in 2009-ish, I always wanted to own one of those cakes, even if they might not be the best tea. I often go for strange and experimental types of tea when I order, outside the few categories I feel safe within like Dian Hong and reddish-high-roast wulong.

Oct 22nd, '12, 21:42
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by ethan » Oct 22nd, '12, 21:42

Komsip, Good to hear that those teas do well by storage. I think that shows quality since typical supermarket black teas don't age well.

You probably have an exceptional palate to enjoy the subtle differences between all those black teas.

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Oct 23rd, '12, 06:23
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Komsip » Oct 23rd, '12, 06:23

ethan wrote:Komsip, Good to hear that those teas do well by storage. I think that shows quality since typical supermarket black teas don't age well.

You probably have an exceptional palate to enjoy the subtle differences between all those black teas.
I don't think my palate is more sensitive than others in general, but I like Dian Hong a lot and since I drink a lot of it, so I care about it. It's very possible that some of the types I ordered are so similar to eachother that I couldn't tell them apart, but Yunnan Gold is really a pretty wide category of teas and there are big differences between them.

I have never had this many different ones at home at once before, and maybe some of them will be so similar to eachother that I couldn't tell them apart, but several of them are pretty different types from eachother and I rather try many different types than buy a bigger amount of just one type. I don't know if I will necessarily feel the difference between for example fengqing spring gold tips and simao spring gold tips, but I think it is possible, since there are so many variables technique of producing black tea. Then to a lesser extent in the case of black tea, it matters what varietal the source material is and where it grew and when. In black tea the processing is the main thing that gives character. Generally the tips have that rosehip-tobacco and wet-leaf and earthy aroma, but weaker mouth flavor, while the ones with only black leaf have a stronger mouth flavor both bitter and sweet and also have a more "refreshing" aroma. Some of the more bud-rich types also have that shu pu'er aroma around. Some have more smoky touch, some are more honey-like.
When I drink some other categories of teas that I don't drink very often or I don't like as much, for example Darjeeling/Nepalese style teas, I don't notice at all as much difference.

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Dec 15th, '12, 19:24
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by amaranto » Dec 15th, '12, 19:24

I'm currently drinking a Yunnan Gold that tastes a bit like feet. I don't know if this is normal or why it has this taste (and I don't like it). This is just one component of the tea's flavor profile, and the others are pleasant. Is it normal for a Yunnan Gold to have this flavor?

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Dec 18th, '12, 00:10
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by Tead Off » Dec 18th, '12, 00:10

amaranto wrote:I'm currently drinking a Yunnan Gold that tastes a bit like feet. I don't know if this is normal or why it has this taste (and I don't like it). This is just one component of the tea's flavor profile, and the others are pleasant. Is it normal for a Yunnan Gold to have this flavor?
male or female feet? :D

Dec 18th, '12, 14:19
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Re: Yunnanese black teas

by AMH004 » Dec 18th, '12, 14:19

Your Yunnan Gold should definitely not taste or smell like feet. I usually order mine from Yunnan Sourcing. Where did you buy yours, so I know never to purchase from them? :)

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