Yunnan Sourcing

Do you know Yunnan Sourcing? Do you drink Chinese tea?  Do you live outside China?  If you answered yes to all 3 questions, I am sure you are familiar with Yunnan Sourcing (YS).

Scott Wilson is the owner of Yunnan Sourcing. He primarily operates out of Kunming China. He started YS about 20 years ago. He is an American. His online store comprised of mainly pu erh and other tea from China. He also sells tea ware.  He is unique in that he sells Chinese tea in China to customers that live outside China. He was an early pioneer  that he made use of the internet and made his tea easily available worldwide. 

I am one of his customers. I started buying tea from him since 2009. When I placed an order from YS, it was a thrill to see my tea order arriving at my doorstep a few weeks later.  It was quite addictive buying from YS.  

I had just befriended a new tea buddy last week in Singapore. He had purchased a huge bag of tea samples from YS and he proudly showed off his purchase to me like a trophy prize. 

Pix showed a purchase I made in 2011. The pu erh was a 2011 Ai Lao San sold under the YS brand. The teapot was another purchase from YS as well.  Made from Da Hong Pao clay.

Well, being a hardcore Chinese tea drinker, I made a trip to Kunming specially to meet Scott in 2009. I even bought a tong of tea from YS as my souvenir when I was there. Scott was very hospitable (more bald now).  He was in a good mood and taught me how to age tea by holding a tea cake on top of my head. 

I hope to make another pilgrimage to Kunming next year and visit Scott to attain more enlightenment about tea.    

Plukt Fireweed Tea

 

I was at the Paris tea festival last month and had bought this tin of tea. This tea is from Latvia produced by an outfit called Plukt.  When I sampled the tea, the tea tasted familiar like the black tea I am drinking at home. The tea reminded me of black tea produced by Yi Yuan Long. This Latvia tea has quite similar aroma and taste. I proceeded to buy a tin of this tea. 

I was told by the seller that this was fireweed tea  A quick check on the internet revealed that the leaves of the fireweed plant were harvested, dried  and fermented and used as a beverage in Northern and Eastern Europe. 

Plukt described the tea as - Imagine the taste of black tea that was born on Northern Europe.  Or just try this infusion-you imagined right, didn't you?

This was an accurate description and I really thought it was black tea. It was a happy discovery and adventure. A fun tea.  

2005 Hong Tai Chang Ripe Pu erh Tea

 

This is a 2005 ripe Hong Tai Chang pu erh tea  A 400g tea cake, this tea was wrapped in brown paper instead of the white rice paper used by other pu erh tea factories. 

I found this ripe pu erh unique in that the tea has that extra herbal taste, like a faint herbal Chinese soup. It was an interesting but very  pleasant tea to drink. There was also a nice hint of a leather aroma, like you are walking into a leather shop.   It does gives the impression, to me, that I am drinking a very old raw pu erh tea. 

This is where a few naughty teashops I had visited (Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Malaysia), displayed this tea naked in a clear plastic wrapper and claimed this tea is a very old raw tea from the 80s and 90s.  A couple of these shops even have sampling sessions of this tea. If you are not familiar with Hong Tai Chang tea, you may be duped into buying a ripe tea thinking it was an aged raw pu erh tea. 

 I would recommend a purchase of this tea if you are a hardcore ripe pu erh tea drinker like me.  

Banzhang - Lao Man Er Brand

 

This is Lao Man Er's offering of BanZhang raw pu erh tea. A large 500g raw pu erh tea brick, this tea had been in my storage for more than 10 years.  The compression of this 2010 tea brick is quite hard and I had to use a tea knife to pry open the tea. 

This pu erh tea is strong. It has a very strong and bitter taste.  No sweetness but a nice mouthwatering aftertaste. I enjoy the bitterness in the tea which added to the complexity of the taste......woody, bitter and slightly medicinal. This tea is good for about 10 good infusions.  Quite addictive.  

How Long Should You Store Your Pu erh?

     

    

I recently opened a 1996 Dayi shou brick and had a tea session of the tea 2 weeks after I had broke up the tea brick. 

An almost 30 year old tea. It was no surprise that the tea was smooth, mellow with a light sweetness in the aftertaste. 

The question now is whether the tea will age further with further storage. Chan Kam Pong, a famous Chinese tea writer felt that pu erh will reach a 'climax' in terms of taste and aroma around 40 years of storage.   

I have very little experience drinking such tea. I only got these special treats when my collector friends brewed their old tea. I had mainly got to drink early 90s tea so far.  I actually found that such tea was much smoother and a few were lighter in taste and aroma than I had hoped. These tea were smooth and mellow.  Very enjoyable. 

Storage of pu erh tea to me is......actually controlled decomposition.  How the pu erh age or decompose is subjected to temperature and humidity,, which the tea collector can control.  Collectors in  temperate countries may use a pumidor to maintain temperature and humidity.  I store my tea in an empty bedroom (used to be 2 rooms). I closed the windows and draw the curtains in the room and left my tea to age with no fuss and bother.  I stay in Singapore, a hot and humid country. I do not expose my tea directly to the climate. I store my tea in a clean and dry room where the weather outside is hot and humid.  The room's humidity and temperature  is relatively constant all year round. 

I agree with Mr Chan that there is a peak storage time for pu erh tea. Yes, the tea will continue to age with more time in storage but the taste and aroma might peaked or be more ideal (a subjective conclusion) around the 40 year mark, give or take, based on our climate here. 

Time for a cup of tea.     

The Legendary Yellow Tin Oolong

This is the legendary yellow tin oolong. Produced by Xiamen tea import & export co under the Sea Dyke brand.  This tinned tea had been around for more than 50 years. 

This 125g oolong is high roasted. it is aromatic and has a pleasant aftertaste. Take a sip in your mouth and breathe out through your nose. The tea aroma would linger for sometime after you had drank the tea. Good for 5 infusions. 

This is not even a top shelf tea but I consider this a legendary tea.  Chinese migrants who had migrated from China to South East Asia many years ago, looking for better prospects, were usually poor with only their shirts on their backs. When these migrants (a big number from Fujian, China) settled down in these countries, buying and drinking this tea (when this tea was introduced in the late 60s) was a nostalgic moment and an emotional connection back to their hometown roots. 

Today, this Lao Chung Shui Hsien yellow tin oolong, is still produced and made available all over the world. I enjoy this tea very much. An inexpensive tea, a high roasted tea, strong taste and aroma. I cannot ask for anything more. I am happy. A legend.  

2012 Haiwan Shen San Lao Shu

 

Chinese tea drinkers today are spoilt for choice when buying tea. They can go to a physical tea shop or buy from online shops.  These online shops operate from around the world; China, USA, Europe, Japan and South East Asia.  Not sure of what to buy?  Go online and visit blogs and the various social media sites like Youtube or Instagram  and you can see many reviews on tea. Some of these sites might even give you detailed pricing by price per gram of tea or even give you a list of tea you can buy with $100 - $500.

The most popular pu erh brands are Taetea and Xiaguan.  These brands are well known and these tea factories produce a wide selection of tea every year for the tea market.  For the western tea drinker, he or she is in a way 'limited' to tea that are available for their purchase.  Let me explain.  There are a lots of tea that are not covered by social media or made easily to the western buyer. They are not aware or are unable to have access to buy these lesser known tea. 

Lesser known tea are not less popular or inferior tea. Many of these tea have a huge loyal following among the Chinese tea drinkers in China and South East Asia.  6 famous mountains, Chang Tai and Xinghai tea factories are few examples.  

Haiwan tea factory produces this famous Shen San Lao Shu. This tea has a very big following within China and South East Asia.  This tea is strong, lightly smoky with a long sweet complicated aftertaste.  Yes, it is impossible to try or buy every tea but I want point out that there are many good tea out there that would interest you and give you a good bang for your buck.  Try to made a trip to China or South East Asia and visit the tea shops there. It will be an eye opener for you. I promise.