Love that Yunnan Gold

[shardy53]

I just received my black tea sampler from Adagio yesterday. I also purchased a sample of the Yunnan Gold and tried that this morning. This is my first experience with loose teas so I really have nothing to compare it to except for Twinings and Tazo teabags. At this point I will have to say that this was the best cup of tea that I have ever had. There was a really nice flavor with no bitterness, and the after taste was very pleasing too. I plan on trying a new tea each morning and keeping a log of my expreience so I will know what to order in the future.

My only complaint so far is that the sampler kit was suppose to come with a sample of the Assam Melody, and instead it came with a sample of the Irish Breakfast tea. This is no biggie though, I will just order the Assam next time.

Steve

[Victoria]

Congrats! Yunnan Gold is one of my favorite of the Adagio blacks. Glad you liked it too! You will probably like Yunnan Noir too.

[geeber1]

Steve,

Many times Adagio substitutes different samples because they are out of stock. I have ordered the Black, Oolong, and Green samplers and none of them have had the teas listed in the description. I have discovered some teas that I wouldn't have tried that way!

That being said, all of the teas I've ordered from them have been great. (Except Jasmine Oolong, which I couldn't even brew because I hated the smell!)

Best of luck you your tea discovery!

[shardy53]

They also sent me a FREE Zodiac "Cancer" tea that I don't like the smell of. I think that I will give that one to my wife. She is a Cancer too. What a great guy I am!

Steve

[Victoria]

Ha! Yes, very thoughtful to pick that out just for her!

[Riene]

I love that Yunnan Gold...goooood stuff.

[shardy53]

Before anyone takes offence at this post, let it be known that I started this thread and I love the Yunnan Gold tea. That being said, my wife informed me today that the dry leaves of Yunnan Gold tea smell like the sheep and goat exibit at our local petting zoo in town. I said she was crazy and checked it myself, and I'll be darned if they don't. I am assuming that it is just a musty smell of like hay or grasses or something, and not the actual animals. I then checked the rest of my black teas and found that only the two Yunnans that I have, (Gold, and Jig) had that smell. Now she thinks that it is hillarious that I go out of my way to purchase tea that smells like our local zoo!

I need some help defending my tastes here.

Steve

[Tea Noob]

Not sure what this says about me but I enjoyed Yunnan Jig the most out of the 25+ samples I have tried from Adagio. I agree it has a distinct smell and I haven't been to a zoo in a while so I can't make that connection. Is it the smell after steeping or before? If it is the post-steep essence, then you have a wonderful smelling zoo!

[Cinnamon Kitty]

The Yunnan Gold sample that I had smelled exactly like the barn at zoo with all the sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, and llamas.

[murrius]

I am very fond of Adagio's Yunnan Gold. To me the unbrewed leaves smell like pipe tobacco and honey. I can't say that it has ever reminded me of zoo odors. The leaves go through a moist fermentation process at controlled temperature which I guess produces the unique flavour and scent.

I seem to remember Salsero describing a particular Pu Ehr as smelling like dirt and smoked cow pies or something like that so I guess it's clear that anything is possible when it comes to tea.

[Beidao]

Don't mind the smell as long as you like the taste. You probably wouldn't even have that association had it not been for your wife. And it's all associations, right, the doesn't really have anything to do with zoo outside your head.

[joelbct]

I just received my black tea sampler from Adagio yesterday. I also purchased a sample of the Yunnan Gold and tried that this morning. This is my first experience with loose teas so I really have nothing to compare it to except for Twinings and Tazo teabags. At this point I will have to say that this was the best cup of tea that I have ever had.

Ha, u have good taste then! I love Yunnan Gold too... A really good, tippy, malty Yunnan Gold is like a spiritual experience for me...

Not sure abt the smell of your particular batch, mine have always smelled fine. A better way to get the true aroma of the leaf is to smell the wet leaf left after you pour off the liquid- this is what pro and industry tasters do.

Also, Special Teas has my fave Golden Yunnans, the royal and competition grade... I had a sample of Adagio's once, it was decent. Oh, and then there is the Yunnan Sourcing ebay shop, actually ships from China.

[tenuki]

my favorite is 'gold standard' from miro tea, but they don't sell online. my favorite net source is teasource. Hou De also has a decent offering.

btw - i'm personally not too impressed with Yunnan Sourceing's Yunnan Gold offering, been drinking it the past few days and will probably give the remainder away to someone who usually drinks tea in bags.

[Victoria]

I have never tried the TeaSource one, I hadn't noticed it there before. But I have a lot of Yunnan Gold on hand including the YS one, which I agree is rather ordinary.

I just tried Andao's Organic one, it was pretty good, I need to try again before I can get a real feel for it.

[joelbct]

btw - i'm personally not too impressed with Yunnan Sourceing's Yunnan Gold offering

I half concur, didn't blow me away, the YS pure gold was a bit bland for a YG, but at ~$3/ounce, it is as good as a lot of Yunnan Gold that US vendors sell for 3x the price. In fact, I suspect a few US vendors might source from them, or the same processor...