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It is Monday morning, my weekend was boring and nothing exciting has happened yet so this introduction is short and lame…on to tea!

Once in a while I run into a tea that really makes me go ‘ooooh’ when reading the description, Yunnan Sourcing’s Wild Tree Purple Moonlight White Tea from Jinggu * Spring 2016 was definitely such a tea. It is no secret that I adore purple teas, and not just because it gives me the excuse to shout ANTHOCYANIN at the top of my lungs whenever I drink it. The extra anthocyanin seems to add a unique quality to the purple teas I have enjoyed, especially some of the purple hong chas, so mixing my love of purple with my almost maniacal love of Moonlight, yeah, I needed this so badly. First off, these leaves are so fluffy and so pretty, practically a rainbow of colors, they are magical. The aroma is pretty heavenly, notes of melon, lettuce, hay, cucumbers, muscadine grapes, plums, sage, and an underlying earthy note that is really hard to pin down. It is sweet and rich while also being light and airy, I am intrigued by its complexity.

Gaiwan time! Decided to use my bat gaiwan set, for nostalgia, plus the dark colors of the leaves compliment the blue quite well. The aroma of the leaves is wow, notes of melon and lettuce dance with cucumber, muscadines, apricots, plums, and a distant note of pepper. It is sweet and pretty intense! The aroma of the liquid is also pretty intense and very sweet, notes of plum and cherry dance with lettuce and cucumber and the distinct note of dandelion pollen. I feel like I am sinking while sniffing it, the aroma has a weight, like purple tendrils pulling me down into sleep.

Well, this tea is magical, that is all I have to say, review done….ok not really. Though this tea is pretty magical, I am amazed how it manages to be both immensely light and refreshing while also being dark and heavy. It is honey drenched lettuce, cucumber crowded plums, buttery muscadines, and a finish of myrrh and distant spice. This is a peculiar tea of notes that I would not usually combine working well together.

The aroma of the second steep is a wonderful combination of muscadines, lettuce, zucchini and myrrh with an underlying honey quality. So this steep is heavy and not as sweet as the first, but with a lingering spice and fruit note that sticks around forever. The start is a bit crisp with notes of honey and grapes with a slight cumber quality. Then the richness of this steep really settles in, buttery lettuce and bok choy with a thick stewed plum quality, though without the usual sweetness associated with the fruit. It is fascinating to have it taste like plum without the sweet, it is unique and I am still loving it.

For the third steep the aroma is still pretty sweet and also crisp, blending grapes and zucchini with lettuce and honey. It still has a gentle resinous myrrh note and also a slight woodiness, specifically sweet fruit wood. This steep is like a combination of the first and second, being immensely sweet and fruity while also being buttery and very rich. The cooked plum note is joined by apricots and it is very nectar sweet, combining with a middle of crisp lettuce and cucumbers, and melon and gentle spiced finish that lingers. Ah, this tea, pity it is already sold out because I want lots more!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/08/yunnan-sourcing-wild-tree-purple.html