Yunnan Sourcing

This is such a high quality black tea. Sometimes you can’t exactly put into words why a tea tastes so good but it just has that IT factor. This is that tea. There is a robust malty flavor that stays steady and fades slowly. Highly recommend.

A bitter, pungent, and herbaceous tea. It is also meaty, vegetal, sour, flowery, perfumy, biting with a strong presence of unripe fruits.

Wanted to like this more than I actually did. It’s not that it tasted unpleasant, it was just weak and watery. I still got a hint of a more cooked, medicinal orange note and a somewhat smoky earthiness from the pu’erh. But I needed more. So, making the note for myself to use two of the little resin/cha gao pieces the next time I make this for myself!

Happy New Year! This is a great tea to start 2026 off with; malty, sweet potato goodness with hints of cinnamon and molasses. This will definitely be a repurchase for me once I finish my current bag, it’s so, so good.

This is a very tasty black tea with complex aromas and flavours. It is well balanced, but also quite sweet.

Dry leaf aromas remind me of wood chippings, brown sugar, coffee, blackberry, cookies, honeysuckle. The perfumy nature is a bit like Mi Lan Xiang oolong. After a rinse, there are additional notes of malt, fur, sugar beet, and caramel.

The taste is sweet and a little bitter with notes of grapes, root vegetables (notably beetroot), menthol, and ash.

This year was the year I fell in love with florals like osmanthus and forms of chrysanthemum outside of my familiar favourite, snow chrysanthemum. So, I just HAD to try this tea when I saw it while placing my last order. It’s gorgeous, obviously, but steeped up it was also really delicious. The more honeyed, peppery, and earthy notes of chrysanthemum are really well integrated with the richly brown and earthy shou pu’erh; highlighting notes of damp top soil and a carob-like sweetness. Plus, the finish was very cooling and camphorous, with a lingering menthol freshness.

It was super easy to drink through a lot of this in a short timeframe, and reminded me somewhat of another personal favourite tea from Yunnan Sourcing (the Drunk On Red mini black tea cakes, pressed with snow chrysanthemum) that I’m long overdue on a revisit of…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSa5Eerkktp/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2bFArwyXGw

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from these spiky little lads, but steeped up Western style, it made for quite an interesting brew. Overall, I would describe the taste as bright, tangy, and sour with notes that straddled a line between a more lemony citrus profile and a somewhat non-descript tropical vibe. I also got notes of rosehip, and if you’ve ever steeped straight rosehip then you know they can come off as fairly acidic and sharp but also with interesting fruitier and floral notes; basically Granny Smith apple meets fresh picked roses.

The undertones were super contrasted to this otherwise vibrant and top note-heavy brew. I’d describe them as honeycomb and steamed milk, the latter of which was REALLY strange alongside such a lively and sour infusion. But even though I found it incredibly odd, it also wasn’t unpleasant. I even resteeped this a few times, which is admittedly not something I normally do with Western style brews. It never really got less strange, I just kinda acclimated to it. Pretty neat experience, and I can only wonder what it would be like steeped gongfu or even cold brewed!!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSgGb1bksJJ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD-F2J5nCa8

I haven’t dabbled a lot with Cha Gao infused with other ingredients, but when I saw that Yunnan Sourcing was carrying a handful of pretty unique offerings, I decided to give them all a try. The last week or so, I’ve been really enjoying thermos brewing during my commute as a way of tasting through the order.

This is by far the most fragrant of the bunch; as soon as cute heart-shaped resin started dissolving, the aroma was sweet, lush jasmine. I felt as if I’d walked into a tea house crossed with a flower shop. The infusion is smooth and a bit on the more mellow side, with a natural sweetness to it that I enjoyed a lot. The jasmine comes through really nicely, and I appreciate those softer florals contrasted against a more dense, earthy and grounding foundation. I’ve never been huge into jasmine green teas, but I’ve always loved jasmine scented black tea and this definitely comes across quite similarly. Not surprising, I suppose.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSI0mhUEiIK/?img_index=1

Also, shoutout to this yunomi cup that was a Christmas present from my mom! It’s got such a satisfying hold to it, but the matte blue-green glaze and speckling is TOTALLY giving me dinosaur egg vibes. I love it!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS2mkllK9uo

Last but certainly not least of the night…

Something I’m noticing with all of these “infused” tea resins is that they have an overall milder and more gentle flavour than the straight ripe or raw resin I’ve tried. With the Prickly Pear it was too mild, but here it felt just right. The infusion was really smooth and silky with that perfect sticky rice note that I adore when combined with the earthiness of a good shou. There’s not a ton of complexity to this tea and you could argue it’s maybe a bit flat, but for something that you literally just stir in hot water I think it’s pretty dang cozy and comforting.

(And I could see it making an AWESOME milk tea.)

I placed a “Black Friday” order with Yunnan Sourcing last week, though they don’t really do Black Friday so it was more just an order placed around that time frame. It was delivered very quickly though, so I’ve already started dipping into it…

One of the things I ordered was a bunch of these different infused cha gao/tea resin varieties. This was the most unique sounding to me, so it’s where I started. One resin in a twelve ounce mug, lightly stirred until it dissolved. Honestly, I was surprised by how mild the flavour was. So much gentler than any other tea resin I’ve tried, and honestly almost watery. In the future, to my surprise, I’d probably use TWO of the little half a gram resin pieces.

I don’t even know if I could describe the taste – it was SO soft and light.

This is a nice, dark colored rock oolong. Right up my wheelhouse as far as roasted oolongs go. A very nice roasty char flavor without being ashy or too far into the wood smoke realm (though there is a hint of that in here). What really set me off about this tea was the sent wafting out of my gaiwan. Right after the third steep, I stuck my nose in and wow. Just transported me to a land, time, and place that felt like a mountainside fire on a cool morning. Fairly good durability here too.

If you are looking for a smooth, roasty oolong, this will hit the spot.

Got this as a single serving sample with my order. Brewed in a 170ml teapot at boiling.

Rinsed for 30s – rinse was dark, taste was surprisingly funky and slightly bitter.

1st steep was similar to the rinse but not as off-putting. There’s still some kind of bitterness I’m not used to in shous. Liquor is dark amber brown. Taste profile is definitely earthy type shou, a bit of wine-tannin bitterness. It’s not terrible, but with so many enjoyable shous in my collection, the bitterness on this makes me reticent.

Not going to do a full steep by steep, just gonna jot notes here: 2nd steep is almost black, brown at edges. Bitter note continues – it seems to be the character of the tea. Mouthfeel is thick. It’s not completely bitter, there’s a balance of a syrupy creaminess, but it’s still most boldly an earth bitterness. 3rd and 4th steeps are not as bitter, but I’m also having it with a meal that could mask that. The shou is also slightly on the bready side, but the dough bread note is not strong. Steeps are still super dark. Coming down from the meal, the bitter note has indeed died down a bit, making it a bit more enjoyable. into about the 8th steep, its still coming out incredibly dark – quite a lot of life in the tea

Over all, thick dark and soupy, a strong characteristic bitterness, a slight funk, but a shou creamy sweetness that attempts to balance it. I could see someone enjoying the flavor profile, but it’s not for me. The back end evens out the bitterness, but why go through that when there’s shou in my cupboard that’s enjoyable all the way through?

I really like the thick and smooth texture and a balanced and little unique taste of this shou. The taste is medicinal, sweet, mineral, but also a bit bitter and floral. The aftertaste is then quite sugary sweet and a bit sour.

Sangria-like, with red fermented grapes, cherries, and pineapple. Seems to have taken on some lighter black tea-like qualities, too. Brews up dark amberish and maybe has the faintest beginnings of the malty-type tastes you find in a black tea. I find it is best to break up the ball with a knife before brewing – otherwise, it really doesn’t get going for quite a while. Also, I am brewing for at least five minutes on first steep, or it is really not worthwhile. Kind of a weaker white tea, I quess, but pleasant enough if you brew it strong and break it up into smaller pieces. This one is good for two steeps at the most. It’s okay, but there are a zillion better white teas out there to drink.

I don’t understand the other reviews. On my side it’s well balanced, citrus, some flowery notes, and good sweetness. Bitter phase is not too strong and the huigan phase is long enough to let you steep a total of 1 litter IMO.

Spring 2025: Fantastic complex black tea. Of its many qualities, I think its nuttiness stands out to me most, as evidenced by the very nutty aroma when you open up the pouch. Also with oaky notes, some chocolate, malt, hints of plum, a nice leathery feel, and an “autumn leaves” aftertaste that lingers a bit after each sip.

It didn’t strike me immediately just how nutty this tea is until I mixed it 50/50 by weight with the 2023 Yunnan Sourcing “Ku Zhu Shan Hong” Black Tea Cake – The nutty notes of this tea plus the grapey notes of the cake combine to make an amazing PB&J black tea blend!

Spring 2025: Bought this based on the recommendation of Leafhopper – Thanks, Leafhopper! Definitely a strong sweet potato aroma/taste going on here, ocassionally veering a bit into chocolate territory – both milk and dark chocolate. But, interestingly, there is also a winey element peaking its head out once in a while, with definite grapey notes but more of a sweet white wine type quality rather than a deep red. A whiff of osmanthus florals here and there, but not overly floral to me. An unusual tea with a lot going on!

2023 version of this cake: Wow, this is a dead ringer for the “Natural Redhead” black tea from white2tea that I recently tried. Or maybe Natural Redhead is a dead ringer for this tea, as I think the Yunnan Sourcing version may have been produced first?

I think now I have a pretty good guess as to where Natural Redhead is sourced from.

My description of Natural Redhead included: “This is a lovely winey black tea, not very malty at all, but with deep red wine flavors and wonderful perfumy rose-floral notes,” and “Kind of like a Yunnan version of Keemun black tea, a favorite of mine.” Those same notes hold up for this tea here.

This is a superb shou. While not extremely complex or aromatic, it is very tasty and has a remarkably thick, bubbly and buttery texture.

The taste is bitter, woody and earthy with notes of coffee, cocoa beans, nuts, rice, and a hint of mint.

Today’s hongcha selection!

I generally like Qimen, and this is no exception. It definitely has a heft to it not found in the other teas I’ve been drinking, but it also has smooth and sweet bread and honey notes. Such a nice mix of that rich and strong malty undertone with the softer notes to round off the edges a bit. Just a touch of syrupy dried fruit, like golden raisins or figs, along with a gentle, nectarous floral note near the end of the sip. The description mentions chocolate, which I am not noticing, but I don’t miss it with the lovely honey notes.

Definitely the heftiest, and most breakfasty of the hongcha I’ve tried so far, which makes sense for a Qimen. It’s interesting to try all of these different teas each day, and see where similarities and differences exist!

(Spring 2025 harvest)