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From the Nanhu Mountains, China
Dry leaves are tiny twisted black brown with a few golden ones mixed in. They have a malty scent.
I brewed this Western style.
Wet leaves smell like baked dark pumpernickel bread.
Liquor is a deep amber red with scents of spring water, malt, and honey.
Flavor is smooth, well balanced with notes of the pumpernickel bread, malt, honey. Very good red tea!! I have enjoyed all the teas I have tried from Yezi Tea.

From the Jun Chiyabari Tea Garden, single estate located in the Himalayan hills of mid-eastern Nepal.
Gardens are located at 6,000 to 6,500 feet in the ‘hills’ around Hile, a typical Himalaya hill-town, about 15 km west of Ilam (the major tea-producing region of eastern Nepal) not far from Sikkim and Darjeeling to the east, and Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) to the north.

I could tell I was going to like this green tea because the dry leaf smells like White Peony white tea. The leaves are gorgeous, twisted and plump at the same time. Their color is beautiful moss green with snow cream green leaves mixed in.
I brewed this Western style and I think I under leafed it a bit and it was still fantastic.
The wet leaves smell zingy and like grape leaves or the dolmas wrapping/ grape leaves.
The liquor is a light pearl green color. Gorgeous.
The flavor is cream and has a creamy thickness to the liquor. I taste the grape leaves with tiny tiny elements of butter bean. There is a slight cleansing to the palette so this is a great after meal tea.
I re-steeped the leaves in my gaiwan to concentrate the flavors and found that these delicate leaves do not want to be re-steeped because I brought about some bitterness :(
One steeping and delicious!!!
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8/27/14
Western style today and I put in the recommended TBSP leaves. This tea has a tiny balance of bitter but not too bad. Otherwise, it has good flavors of cream, greens, and maybe a touch of almond.

Autumn 2013 Ming Hong from China’s Nanhu Mountains.
The dry leaves smell like sugared raisin bread and pastries. They are black brown twisted threads and a few gold ones mixed in.
I brewed this Western style. The liquor is a deep auburn red and smells very sweet, like the top of a créme brûlée and also like fresh clean spring water.
The wet leaves are still twisted, autumn brown color and smell briny and like rye bread.
The flavor is delicious . Very naturally sweet with notes of sweet raisin bread, rye bread, honey butter.
YUmm!
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7/14/14
Had some more today Gaiwan style!!!!! Lots of essences and flavors of Raisin Bran. Little bit of smoke.
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8/4/14
Gong Fu style today. 195F Immediate rinse-20-35-40-40-50
Nice light orange Sunkist color liquor. Malty scent and flavor. So good. Cream, malt, tiny touch of smoke.
This is best brewed Gong Fu,,,I really have stopped brewing Western style for my Chinese teas. Darjeeling and Indian teas are my Western style brews.
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8/22/14
Good stuff!

From the Tan Yang Mountains, Fujian, China.
Yezi’s notes say that Jin Jun Mei grows at 4,500 feet above sea level, at which altitude there is very little agricultural land available to grow tea. This in large part explains why there is so little Jin Jun Mei to go around.
(From Wickipedia) Jin Jun Mei (金骏眉) (Golden Beautiful Eyebrow) is a Lapsang Souchong black tea from Wuyishan City, Fujian Province, China. It is made from two small shoots plucked in early spring from the plant’s stem which are subsequently fully oxidised to giving a tea that has a sweet, fruity and flowery flavour with a long lasting sweet after-taste. The brew is bright reddish in colour.

In China, this variety of tea is viewed as one of the most prestigious of all teas. Its price varies depending on the quality, ranging from US$60 to US$700 per ounce.

I brewed this tea Western style. The Yezi website suggested temps between 176F-185F,,,I brewed at 180F and tasting at every minute, I steeped for a total of 5 minutes.
The liquor is a gorgeous red amber jewel color and has scents of the dried apple and maybe some prune, there is a slight tamarind note as well.
The flavor is cooked red apple peels, there is a tamarind aspect of puckering your mouth. As the liquor cools, a dried apricot note is coming through strongly. Very different flavors to me and I might have to play with this one since I brewed it the way I did, Western with a low temp. I will be gong fu brewing.

6/16/14
Took this one down to 175F Western style this morning. Used 4 grams tea in 16 oz water. Steeped for 5 minutes.
Liquor is deep orange and the flavor is apple peel, a bit of toast. These buds benefit from a lower temperature Western style. Still gotta brew this one Gong Fu.
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7/5/14
Finally brewed this one Gong Fu style this morning. I haven’t had this in a while and the dry leaves smelled winey and had notes of bread today. I used 1 heaping tsp of tea in my little 100ml porcelain gong fu pot. Used 185F water.
Did an immediate rinse then
15"- thin and very subtle flavors
30" – more golden in color and has a subtle smoky and fruity flavor. This is a very refined Lapsang Souchong. The wet leaves are all buds.
30" – got sweeter as the smoke faded.
30" – nice but subtle flavors
45"- very subtle flavors.

Overall, I think more leaf would be fine for this tea to bring out even more flavor. I will have to try an extra tsp next time with gong fu.
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7/31/14
Having a cup Western style. Yezi just has such good tea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is smoky and has lots of flavors adding depth to it especially apple.

Wow!!!! I picked a good one for Earth Day!!!!
This is from Nanhu Mountain, Fuqing City; Fujian Province, China.
Dry leaves smell sweet like molasses and they are black and gold, tiny and twisted.
I brewed this Western style.
The liquor literally smells like hot chocolate and is a deep auburn red.
The flavor is strong chocolate and cacao notes with subtle molasses. Naturally subtly sweet.
The wet leaves smell like hot chocolate too,,,is this hot chocolate? Super Good!!!!!

Happy Earth Day!!!!!!!!! Earth Day EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Think of her, and help her everyday. This is our only home.

5/23/14
Tried this on Gong Fu style today
190F 1.5 tsp 4oz water/pot
15" rinse
30" golden light liquor, cocoa notes, open wet leaves smell so cocoa chocolatey.
Taste is chocolate, subtle honey sweet.
1 minute Delicious!!! Cocoa, not malt, just subtle sweet cocoa. Rich, and good with no bitter or astringency even when I brew Western style with more leaf.
This is my very favorite tea!!
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6/12/14
Enjoying my favorite chocolatey morning tea!!!!!!!!!!! So good. Went with less leaf per cup today, 1 tsp per 8 oz and it is still chocolately good. I think 1 1/2 tsp might just be perfect. The suggested amount is a little more leaf per cup —but I’m running low and I can’t re-order until summer in the desert is over lol.
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6/20/14
YUMM YUMMM my favorite tea!! Had a little sample size that I brewed Western style. The sample size is 5 grams of tea so I put the whole bit into my infuser basket for 2 cups water. Smoky, chocolatey, subtly sweet and good!
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7/8/14
Western style this morning with the recommended 3 tsp tea per 8oz. This creates the chocolatey effect. You can re-steep these leaves lots too since it is so much leaf. I make iced tea after I enjoy my hot tea to get good use out of them!! YUmm this tea!!!
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7/21/14
Brewed Western style today. I got a huge “bowl-like” infuser basket to allow tea leaves to be really free and to swim and evenly brew the teas I have when I brew Western style. Now with Yi Fu Chun, changing this brew basket did bring out more smokiness than I have tasted in the past but still has my yummy cocoa and subtle sweet notes.
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7/26/14
Yep,,,drinking it again bc it’s so good!!!!!!!!!

chun (Chun) = Springtime (春) 1; or Rich or Winey (醇) 2; or precious (see Zhen)
Yi – ?
Fu – in the context of heicha, short for Fu Zhuan, but this syllable has dozens of meanings in Chinese

Fujian Province, Zhenghe county. Pre Qing Ming buds picked from Zhenghe Da Bai varietal.
Perfectly picked, beautiful buds that have a fresh sea foam green color and scents of light cocoa and honey.
Liquor is light, clear, golden champagne color with the same essences of light cocoa and honey.
Flavor is really perfect Silver Needle,,,honey, subtle cocoa, cream, dried fruit notes,,,,fantastic.
Hummingbirds and Lizards are having so much fun out in my garden this beautiful Spring morning in the desert and this tea is the essence of Spring!!

6/1/14
So delicious and a lighter tea for this warm desert day. Going to brunch later and Silver Needles is always perfect.
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6/12/14
Having more today,,,a necessary tea in life!!!
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6/17/14
My morning tea today,,,,only going to be 100 in the desert today!! That’s chilly to us!! lol

yin (Yin2) = silver (银 or 銀)
zhen (Zhen) = needle (针 or 針) 1; or precious (珍) 1
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7/24/14
I have this tea all the time but don’t always log it. But today, I brewed up a White Peony next to Silver Needle and the quality of Silver Needle is just the best. It is creamy; equally on the mouthfeel, flavor, and nose. It has a color of creamy champagne. Not a golden color but a creamy color. It has a scent that is vanilla and a tiny tiny tiny touch of ylang ylang. There are subtle flavors woven throughout the vanilla and cream flavor, which today I caught almond which I realize I have been tasting the whole time but failed to notice it properly. It is truly the most exquisite tea to me.
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8/8/14
Having a cup this afternoon, always one of my first loves, Silver Needles.

Assam Banaspaty from the plains of Assam, Banaspaty garden. India.
The dry leaf smells like malt and cacao beans. They are tiny dark black-brown twisty threads but broken into halves and tiny bits. There are a few blonde ones mixed in too.
I steeped this at 200F for 3 minutes. It created a deep red liquor with scents of malt and hints of orange.
The wet leaves look like chopped reddish brown fall leaves and smell like baked brown bread.
The flavor is good. It has a touch of astringency from a taste like orange zest but just a touch,,, not overbearing at all and would be good for people who add a splash of milk. I love this tea, it really tastes like malt and orange zest. Delicious.

I added some of my homemade almond milk to this and it is heavenly!!!! I see this as a good base for when I make Chai since it has that orange hint in there and blends with milk.
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7/19/14
Having a bit of this today with milk. Bold, citrus, malt, good.
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7/31/14
Having a cup with milk in it. It needs the milk and can take sugar too though I didn’t put any.

From gardens in Nepal; short distance from Darjeeling.
Dry leaves are nice twisty, thick threads of light brown, cream, and dark brown with an interesting scent of a light ginger snap but not heavy on the ginger—more snap!
As it brews, it is smelling like Oriental Beauty and come to think of it,,,,those leaves look like Oriental Beauty.
I tasted this at 3 minutes and it was still faint in color and flavor so I left it steeping a total of 4 minutes at 200F.
This is a black tea that wants to be an Oriental Beauty. It has all of those qualities that are sort of indescribable about that tea. The wet leaves are mixed fall colors and the liquor is that golden orange clear hue. I think I will play with this tea because the tasting notes on Camellia Sinensis promote fruity apple and chocolate accents along with honey and rich floral perfumes. I want to bring more out of this tea. I do catch the apple as the liquor cools off a bit.
Very interesting and unexpected flavors.

From Nan Mei Valley, Lincang Region, China.
Absolutely Gorgeous, spicy-scented, velvety-soft, wild downy buds.
Brewed Western style at 165F. I tasted this at five minutes and it was starting to gain some lovely flavor so I steeped it for a total of 7 minutes.
The liquor is spicy-scented with notes of citrus, fresh-grated nutmeg (which is lighter and more fresh than already grated jarred nutmeg).
These wild whites are some of my favorites!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cool in appearance, scent, and of course taste!!!!
Brewed, the wet buds take on a deeper green color with accents of brown on the edges and a spicier scent.
The flavor is honey, fresh nutmeg, touches of orange zest. Very fresh and delicious. I love these wild whites in the morning, so cleansing and delicious!!!

Second Steeping – this has one more brew in it and I steeped for same temp and amount of time and it still tastes lovely!!

8/20/14
I have been aging this one and I brewed some Western style today at 165F for 5 minutes. Boy has this progressed well! It is sweeter and creamier. The spice notes are still present but it is getting a great mouthfeel and more depth. Love!
I live in a very dry climate so this one is aging well for me.

From China and Xue Ya means Snow Buds. This is exquisite tea.
The dry leaf smells like white tea with sweet notes and looks like a White Peony made from Silver Needle. The color has that silver/green loveliness.
I brewed this at 175F since it is a green and was able to steep a long time with no bitterness or harshness. I tasted three minutes in and it was very light so I kept in for 5 minutes total. Now the dry leaves may have tried to trick you into thinking they were a white tea,,,,the brewed leaves totally smelled like a Dragonwell-type green tea. All the leaves were two leaves and a bud,,,gorgeous and a very faint clear spring green colored liquor.

Presentation gets a very high score and no bitterness either so next time I try this I know I will brew it to bring out lots more flavor :)

Pairs lovely with chopped salad!

Second Steeping - O.K. this is definitely one for the Gaiwan. I couldn’t wait so I got new leaves and first added a bunch to the other leaves to completely stuff my gaiwan. This wasn’t the answer bc it had the same flavor notes as Western brewing but just less time.

I got new leaves and put the recommended 2 tsp into my Gaiwan and steeped for 30 seconds, then 15 seconds, then 30 seconds. Each session produced a light spring green liquor with more color than Western and light green flavors of spring pea to honey. This is definitely a green tea that wants to be a white tea. Don’t change!!!! You are fun and delicious and beautiful the way you are!!!!

6/3/14
Steeped some in my gaiwan this afternoon and I caught a note of cinnamon that I didn’t detect last time. Peas, cinnamon, honey, bit of cream. This is lovely tea!!
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7/22/14
Having a cup of this in the morning. Very light and probably more of an afternoon tea for me usually but wanted a lighter tea than a black this morning. It is very good with subtle notes of cream, pea, spice, sweet honey. Very good white.