Master Han's Wild Picked Yunnan Black

Interesting. Dry leaves smell almost identically to the tea I remember being sold in the Soviet Union as just “Indian tea”. Admittedly, the quality was so-so, but the smell was incredible (to make me remember it after 20 years). Master Han’s smells almost similar to that. Even the taste starts similarly, but next moment you are just blown away by the amount of different notes and nuances of the liquid… the tea from 20 yrs ago could not even compare…

The only problem with this tea, I think, is the lack of pronounced aftertaste which is sad, otherwise it’d be perfect.

Well it has been awhile since I have written a tasting note. It has been a while since I really drank tea, so my taste buds are a little rusty.

I get a oily taste. The smell almost musky. I wish I could get the crisp apple taste like the description says, but Im not tasting that sadly.

Not my cup of tea sadly…

Sipdown! 61/365

Sad I didn’t write a note about this previously; I made an unusual mistake when I brewed this up – I underleafed (or rather, overwatered). And since it was a sipdown, I was out of luck. I just happened to use a 12 oz. mug in place of my usual 8oz (approx… all I know for sure is that there’s a significant difference in size) and didn’t reduce the water. So, I was left with a watered-down cup of sadness. I mean, it was still tasty, just very light, and I could tell it was a good tea (I had a tasty enough second infusion, but black really don’t give good second infusions, IMO). So no particular notes as to flavours, unfortunately, although I don’t believe it was anything terribly out of the ordinary for a high quality yunnan.

I didn’t have enough to make a pull pot of tea so I ended up mixing it with a pu’er that I has lying around. The pu’er added a nice earthy flavor.

GCTTB
Starting to think my taster is off tonight. Why does this taste like stone fruit, apricot? This is lighter than I think it should be for a Yunnan black, but wow us it sweet. This is more like the Nilgiri I was drinking earlier that a typical Chinese black. There is a hint of chocolate and malt in the scent but it doesn’t seem to be coming through in the taste. I like this but it’s odd.

As this tea (a 2013) is an aged tea, truly, I should have passed it by in my cupboard, but as I’ve only had one other tea from Verdant (their celebrated Laoshan Black), I decided to give it a whirl this morning. The dry leaves are still lovely twisty seal brown with tips of gold. There are some Yunnan’s, especially those that come from older trees, that I find to have flavor profiles that are more “manly” that typical Yunnan teas. Along with the apricot and chocolate notes, there is a wood note….sometimes an old wood note. This Wild Picked Yunnan tea has that wood note, but it is one that is more refined. It is not the bottom of a boat that a former sailor takes out each weekend to fish the local lake….it is closer to an old wine cask of oak that was never used for it’s purpose. The wood note is clear but not smoky or earthy. It is purely “of the tree”. I kinda like the organicness of that.

Being that this tea is old, it’s a very nice, well-balanced Yunnan Black. I’d like to try one of their more recent pickings to see how the wood note has morphed….if it has at all….. but in general, this is a nice Yunnan Black.

(I acquired this tea in a swap and for the life of me I cannot remember who sent it as an extra added bonus….so whoever you are, THANK YOU for your generosity.)

Very woody…glad this was only a sample! :S

I’m trying to get back in the swing of things on here. Maybe not as dedicated as I was before, but at least an occasional note here & there. I was afforded this sample some weeks ago by my ole’ pal Pureleaf. I saved just enough to try to write a review on.
It’s a nice tea for sure. Seldom am I disappointed with Verdant’s offerings. It’s not as sweet as I expected, but still smooth & pleasant. I used a generic gong fu style as I typically do. Small amount of water/quick infusion. I generally start off like this with teas I’m unfamiliar with, then after I get a few steeps out of it I bump the amount of water & time to switch to a more western style infuse.
Anyway this tea is mildly malty to me. It does contain some sweet notes as well. Really a well proportioned blend of the two. I like the after flavor & I’m happy too that there is little astringency or dryness.
Sadly my time with this tea was cut short. I made a FATAL mistake when going to pour water for third steep in the pot. I can use the term fatal because I ‘killed’ the leaves. I use a Stanley thermos as a carafe for my boiled water since I’ve still not gotten off of the pot & purchased a water boiler.
I also keep one for coffee…. you can see where this is going.
I immediately poured the cofftea out but it was too late. the coffee had impregnated itself into the leaf. Ruined.
Again no tune today;

I’m uncovering this ancient sample I got from Verdant a while ago. The first cup I tried to steep my sample for 2 minutes and I didn’t like it that much. Normally I’m a fan of yunnans but the 2 minute steeping time had some very bitter/tobacco elements. So anyway I am not rating this today.

This is a sample which came to me from Terri HarpLady – thank you
Gongfu style
4g 150ml gaiwan 205F
rinse 1/3/3/5/5/10/15/15/15/20sec etc
I like this tea a lot. it starts like pale and floral. Later steeps introduce Lychee, grape, nuts and some floral in the background. its sweet and malty but delicate. even kinda Darjeeling type with some slight citrus. im not done, lots of life left in this tea. some steeps i combined in one cup, but tried them first. very nice and light. i think its easy to drink in Summer, its not heavy with honey and malt ( could be too much in hot weather).
Thank you so much Terri for letting me enjoy this wonderful tea. Sadly, Verdant doesn’t have in stock but i can totally see myself buying it