Yi Mei Ren

I took my sons Drew & Leif out to breakfast, as a prelude to a day of prepping the front porch for paint. I made a large go cup of this tea to bring along, because the tea they offer at the breakfast joint is…well, it’s just not what I wanted :)

I have yet to meet a tea from the Wu Liang Mntns that I don’t like, & this one is especially nice, with a sweet chocolate richness, a hint of coriander, & a little floral in there too. A nice start to my day.

terri…i really hope this is the one you sent to us for the bbb Box the other day. i usually count on tastybrew’s notes to let me know i’ve found the right one but there’s none to be found under this one haha

this is another one that escapes me today but still lands on the side of YUMMY! More to come in future tasting notes but yes… YUM!

This is another good one from YS courtesy of Terri Harplady and the BBB. This tastes of roasted nuts and is incredibly smooth. I’m using my gaiwan and accidentally forgot it during the 20 second steep and it went for about 2 minutes. Not at all bitter. Just extra roasty and nutty. I don’t taste anything sweet or chocolatey, just a nice roasted tea. I like it!

…If you had served me this tea and told me that it was Earl Grey
- then you would have FOOLED me!

’Cause it reminds me of the Earl … Kinda. I would had looked at the reddish liquid, bittersweet smell and gone “Oh, Earl grey is it?”. But a moment later or so I would had stopped, frowned, and stared at you with a confused look in my face.

“What is that nutty flavor” I would have asked you.
“What nutty flavor?”
“That Dirt/Nuttyness in the aroma”…

And then I would sip at the tea and my eyes would go big as I swallowed because I would think something in the line of :“Uhm… sweet black tea… Nutty…. And whats that TINGLE in the back of the troat!? I know this feeling! IT’S POISON!!!!”

Snort

But It’s just me who overreact. ‘Cause I am too silly (and don’t you all know it.)
Then I would sip again and talk about the flavors. Chocolat, bergamot, tobacco, nut and a earthy aftertaste.

Sweet and bitter taste.

Hmm… I like it.
But for the wrong reasons. I like it because this tea reminds me of MARLBORRO.
Don’t know why, maybe I was brainwashed before anything with cigarrets was banned from TV. Oh, don’t get me wrong – I don’t smoke. It’s just that I can imagine a Marlborro Guy in a bar drinking this tea. (Smirk).

I leave you with that image.

Lovely, deep red/orange broth with a sensual, dark aroma of malt, fruit and raw cacao. Taste is also dark and sensual with a thick, dark, malty taste like a good stout beer but without any bitterness at all, as well as a light fruit and raw cacao flavor. The second infusion was not quite as thick but still very round and lush, the malty goodness was still there, as well as the taste of fruit and raw cacao nibs. The third steeping was left for close to two minutes and I was rewarded with an aroma and taste that was just as thick and lush as the first infusion but brighter and with even more raw cacao taste and aroma added to the fruit, though the malt overtones were much less foreward but still there. The fourth infusion was much lighter, even after steeping for three and a half minutes, but still just as delicious. A fifth infusion was weak, even after five minutes, so I let it steep until cold and it made a very nice cold tea.

This was actually the first ‘real’ tea (non-flavored) I’ve ever bought and I bought it via Amazon.com. I loved it so much that I went to Yunnan Sourcing’s site and bought more immediately.

This is the last YS black tea from my order that I’ve yet to review. I don’t frequent Steepster as often, so the thought of logging tasting notes slipped my mind. That being said, I’m looking forward to getting some new YS teas this year. :)

Here’s my tasting notes on a short steep of Yi Mei Ren (2012):

First steep tasted smooth with that “fuzzy” mouth feel. There is also a hint of fruit and black tea flavour.

Second steep brought out a new astringent flavour (I can’t describe the actual flavour so well).

Final and third steep was a really satisfying and strong cup. More of the tea body came out, along with the previous notes.

Overall, this was probably my second favourite out of the five I purchased. Not an amazing resteeper, but still pretty flavourful in short doses or a long steep.

Steep parameters: 100ml gaiwan, 5g tea leaves, rinse and 3 steeps (30s, 45, 1m)

I love this tea like little boys love throwing snowballs. I don’t even know how to describe it, but it’s dark without being heavy and tastes like a fruit, not a specific fruit, but in a way that makes me feel like I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a fruit out there somewhere that tastes like this. And the later infusions become sweet and caramel-like and wonderful.

Chocolatey, fruity, slightly roasty, and incredibly sweet, this is one of my favorite black teas. For me it doesn’t ever really get the bright orange color pictured, but that doesn’t matter. I’m still floored by how incredible Yunnan Sourcing’s black teas are for their stupidly low prices, this is really a unique and top tier tea. Oh, and it’s just indescribably delicious and aromatic cold brewed, I cold brewed a pitcher of it in the fridge for ~36 hours and the fruity chocolate smell is so strong, and the sweetness is even more pronounced, best iced tea i’ve ever had.

A good black tea, although I’m not that much into black ones.
I like to brew it strong like coffee. It has a cocoa/chocolate aftertaste. I’ve liked it better with a cooled down water.
5g, zhong 12cl : 45",1’00,2’00,3’00,5’00.

Yum

Really tasty, approachable, and durable.
Can’t really justify rating this any higher since I just don’t feel it has the range of character necessary for me to stick this alongside teas I have the highest regard for, but boy does it taste good. Not much to add to the vendor’s description, though…

Used 2g with 60ml water in a small glazed ceramic gaiwan. Used 90 degree C water and it cooled to 83 degrees C by the 4th infusion, reheating for the 5th and 6th. Steep times followed 30, 45, 60, 150, 180, 210 seconds, followed by a steep a couple seconds shy of the 20 minute mark.

Up front it is floral and toasty. Chocolate, honey, a touch of caramel, and toasted marshmallow in the flavor with cinnamon, table grapes, allspice berries, and a mix of tropical and annual wildflowers melded together in the aroma and nose. Very very smooth. I accidentally let the 6th infusion go for 20 minutes and it’s still very tasty and not particularly different from the earlier infusions. This is really reminiscent of Taiwanese Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao Oolong) but with more cocoa. Rich, buttery body and slight sweet-crisp mouthwatering impression similar to the effect of eating grapes after a tiny bit of chocolate covered caramel.
Soothing and quick to disappear from my cup.