Feng Qing Ye Sheng Hong Cha - Wild Tree Purple Black Tea

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Bread, Cherry, Cinnamon, Dates, Fruity, Malt, Oats, Orange, Smoke, Smooth, Umami, Apricot, Blueberry, Dried Fruit, Grapes, Honey, Leather, Plum, Sweet, Tart, Tobacco, Wood, Black Currant, Blackberry, Cherry Wood, Muscatel, Stems, Berries, Cannabis, Sugarcane, Sweet Potatoes, Chocolate, Herbaceous, Bark, Cacao, Citrus Zest, Dark Wood, Mango, Mineral, Osmanthus, Passion Fruit, Rose, Rum, Tangy, Thin, Floral, Spicy, Brandy, Caramel, Musty, Nutmeg, Pleasantly Sour, Astringent, Herbs, Citrus, Cream
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Togo
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 45 sec 4 g 13 oz / 386 ml

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From Our Community

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19 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I received this sample as a gift from Derk, thank you! The steeped tea smells of warm cinnamon bread, malt, stewed cherry and dates, with some nutty and umami overtones. Smooth and malty with an...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “Kind of puzzled as to why western black tea blends were always so astringent to me. Is it that their brewing instructions say to use boiling water and steep for up to 5 minutes? Is the tea much...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “I’ve finally built up my caffeine tolerance to the point where I can make two cups of black tea right before bed and still sleep like a baby. Yesss. Had a sticky rice pu’erh brewed gong fu style...” Read full tasting note
    97
  • “What a really nice tea I just experienced… Thank you Derk. :D I’ve been wanting to try this given the good reviews on it. For one, it is exceptionally smooth. I always love teas that give off a...” Read full tasting note
    90

From Yunnan Sourcing

This is expertly fermented black tea was crafted using a wild tree purple leaf varietal from Feng Qing area of Lincang prefecture. This wild tree varietal grows wild in the mountainous areas west Feng Qing township near the Da Shi village at an altitude of 2000-2200 meters.

Ye Sheng "野生“ varietal aka “Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze var. assamica (J. Masters) Kitam.” is a primeval varietal that pre-dates Camellia Sinensis var. Assamica and is a naturally occuring non hybridized varietal. It’s potency in cha qi arises from it’s unadulterated nature. It is naturally bug repellent, grows wild in the forests of Yunnan at an altitude of 1600-2200 meters.

An very lightly wilted and processed tea, the green in the leaves is still present and the tea soup is a golden yellow color, much different from the Dehong Wild tree black tea that we also offer. There is a hint of fruit, chocolate and barrel aged rum in the taste and aroma. An exquisite experience!

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

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19 Tasting Notes

80
1214 tasting notes

I received this sample as a gift from Derk, thank you!

The steeped tea smells of warm cinnamon bread, malt, stewed cherry and dates, with some nutty and umami overtones. Smooth and malty with an oat/rye quality, with some fruity orange notes and a sweet ’n sour sauce flavor that lingers on my tongue. A hint of Chinese black smokiness.

Very tasty! Thank you, Derk!

Flavors: Bread, Cherry, Cinnamon, Dates, Fruity, Malt, Oats, Orange, Smoke, Smooth, Umami

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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90
74 tasting notes

Kind of puzzled as to why western black tea blends were always so astringent to me. Is it that their brewing instructions say to use boiling water and steep for up to 5 minutes? Is the tea much lower quality? Is black tea just more suited to gong fu-style brewing?

Well, who knows, maybe I’ll experiment with that more now that I’m being turned around on black tea. Or am I just getting all the best black teas and everything else is still a disappointment? Questions, questions.

This one was so nice and creamy sweet. Dried fruit and cherry, wood, honey, some grapes and apricot, really a whole bunch of fruits, some malt, leather and tobacco throughout. Love the complexity from steeping to steeping. I envision this being a good one to start the day with as there’s so much to appreciate.

Flavors: Apricot, Blueberry, Cherry, Dried Fruit, Grapes, Honey, Leather, Malt, Plum, Smoke, Smooth, Sweet, Tart, Tobacco, Wood

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 100 OZ / 2957 ML
Mastress Alita

When I first got into tea, the “boiling for 5 minutes” thing always made shit cups of tea for me. Also, they usually always recommended a lot more leaf than I found I prefer. Now I just ignore any provided “instructions” and brew the way I know I like it.

Mateusz

Ahh this is making me want to experiment right now with some leftover earl grey and breakfast tea. It’s not like I need sleep. /s Do you have any initial suggestions for temperature and time?

Mastress Alita

I personally use https://octea.ndim.space/#/ for my leaf-to-water amount ratios which work well for me. I usually brew blacks at 205F for a 3 minute steep, and drop the steep time to 2 minutes for CTCs.

Mateusz

This is very useful, thank you, I appreciate it. That’s also good to know about CTCs.

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97
66 tasting notes

I’ve finally built up my caffeine tolerance to the point where I can make two cups of black tea right before bed and still sleep like a baby. Yesss.

Had a sticky rice pu’erh brewed gong fu style followed by this brewed in a basket last night. The sticky rice was something of a death pact with a few friends who had the same sample and were too apprehensive to try it by themselves, and this purple was to wash down the aggressive umami straw and mushroom flavors. This particular tea is one of those that smell so good when they’re dry that you have to spend a few moments huffing the aroma like a junkie. If I had to put it into words, I’d say funky Yunnan black tea aged in an oak barrel with blackcurrants and grape skins and an exceptionally smoky Bourbon vanilla pod.

The finished brew doesn’t disappoint in the least. The dominant note is grape skin and it lasts long, long after you’re finished swallowing. We’re talking 15 minutes later and you can still vividly taste the tea on your tongue. Gently astringent and fruity. The heart of it is juicy with blackcurrants and dark berries, there’s a tobacco and vintage leather kick, some woody fruit stem notes, and all of that is built on a foundation of the musky raisin-y flavor of a subtly fermented Yunnan spring flush.

God, that aftertaste, though. It actually makes it hard to finish a cup if you’re not paying attention. It always tastes like you just had a sip. No need to absent-mindedly reach for more when there’s plenty of flavor still bouncing around on your taste buds.

Flavors: Black Currant, Blackberry, Cherry Wood, Grapes, Leather, Muscatel, Stems, Tobacco

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 30 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
Martin Bednář

Apparently I got this tea, but based on my review I don’t recall it much at all.

Eelong

It’s a delightful tea, Martin. Can’t say I would have liked it if I tried it when I first started drinking tea, though. It has a polarizing flavor.

Martin Bednář

Haha, true :) But palates are certainly developing and I really enjoy that there can/is tea I liked before and now even more (or little less), and that it isn’t same twice!

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90
379 tasting notes

What a really nice tea I just experienced… Thank you Derk. :D

I’ve been wanting to try this given the good reviews on it. For one, it is exceptionally smooth. I always love teas that give off a comforting mouth and throat feel as it goes down.

The amber colored liquor had the aroma of stewed sweet fruits. It has very light malt notes and light sweet potatoes in the background but that’s where it ends for me comparing it to other black teas. It is nothing like any other black tea I’ve tried. The different fruits are the stars in this one. It’s one of those hard to describe type of teas and it’s wonderfully complex. There is some sugarcane and fruit sweetness, and then some tang of fruits. It is flavorful from steep to steep, full of fruit, and then there is a sweetness and aroma that is quite different… Like the sweetness of the smell of cannabis when you’re sitting at a Pink Floyd concert. The fruits I tasted were mainly of plums and grapes, muscatel, some berries. Really enjoyed this and will look out for it.

Flavors: Berries, Cannabis, Fruity, Grapes, Malt, Smoke, Sugarcane, Sweet Potatoes, Tart

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 2 OZ / 60 ML
derk

you’re welcome

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1557 tasting notes

Bit of a bittersweet sipdown for me.

I had a large amount of the Spring 2018 harvest and put off drinking it because sometimes ye sheng can mess with me. Last summer, I was in the backseat of a taxi hurtling along the Caribbean coastline in Colombia, heading to the city of Barranquilla to fly back home the next day. I didn’t have cell reception the whole time I was there but suddenly on a fairly deserted stretch of road, I got a voicemail from an unknown number. I called them several times before I could connect for more than a few seconds. And when I was finally able to figure out who it was that kept cutting in and out, I heard from the cat sitter that the twin sister of my good old Sophia was found unconscious and breathing behind the bathroom door. She was on life support and I had to make an instant heartbreaking decision to let her go. I never saw Nyx again.

I felt terrible for the cat sitter having come across my girl in that state. As a token of appreciation for rushing Nyx to the vet, after finding out the cat sitter was a loose leaf black tea drinker, I bagged up most of what I had of this tea for her. I hadn’t tried it yet but based on the great reviews I was hoping she’d like it!

I can say I did. Though it does get me amped up in different ways depending on when I last ate and my mood. I had some earlier this week that I brewed western and poured in my thermos. I had slept restlessly the night before and didn’t eat breakfast. This tea saved my day. And at one point it had me really appreciating the view on my way home from class, like some weak psychedelics. Hm, yes.

Then I made a pot for me and the mechanic. It got me so physically amped up I spent hours tearing down an English ivy tree that had no business growing in the corner of the back yard. Once I clear out all that debris, I get to hack away at its subterranean remnants. Curse you, ivy.

I brewed the last of this tea today in my small gaiwan, 4g for 60mL. I’m amped up. And the flavor and aroma are just wonderful. Cherry wood, malt, black cherries, blueberries, blackberries, concord grapes, red grapes, musk, something herbaceous… cannabis? Later some chocolate comes in. Smooth and sweet. The muskiness is more animal based than a Darjeeling grapey muscatel. Whew. This tea is magical. I wonder what the cat sitter thought of it.

A farewell to Feng Qing, San Francisco and Nyx.

Flavors: Blackberry, Blueberry, Cannabis, Cherry, Cherry Wood, Chocolate, Fruity, Grapes, Herbaceous, Malt, Muscatel, Smooth, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML
Kittenna

Your story breaks my heart <3

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92
1836 tasting notes

Well, a loose leaf sample from Derk. Thank you again.

5 grams, gaiwan 85 ml, steeps 15/30/45/60/75/90 seconds

Trying to describe it somehow, but maybe my brain is working on standby yet (7 am), or it is so complex? Oh, by the way, this is spring 2018 origin.

Anyway, colour is wonderful, clear, dark golden. Really lovely!
Aroma: dried fruits, maybe bit smoky, bit tobacco (but very nice), bit sweet, floral, of course really smooth.
Palate: here it is going even harder than in aromas :D – fruits, malt, lingers for very, very long. Bit woody, spicy (3rd). Maybe bit like Darjeelings? I do not know again. Ah, I think I know now (4th) – grapes! Probably red ones. I did not noticed any chocolate notes, nor alcohol. But it is completely okay.

I like it!

Flavors: Dried Fruit, Floral, Grapes, Smoke, Smooth, Spicy, Sweet, Tobacco, Wood

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 85 ML
Togo

I love this tea! Finally, I have some more on the way. Hopefully it makes it over the Pacific :D

Martin Bednář

It is indeed very nice tea! Really complex and tasty.

haptiK

I have added this tea to my Yunnan Sourcing wishlist based on your glowing review!

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85
7 tasting notes

This tea quickly became my daily drinker when craving some hong cha.

Very comforting and easy drinking tea. Although when focusing on the taste it has some great fruit and chocolate flavors. It leaves a nice sweetness in the mouth lasting an hour or so. I can get it to last 8 or 9 infusions pushing it pretty long in power steeps for the last couple ones. Little to no astringency, and whatever bitterness is in there transforms to a lasting sweetness.

Flavors: Chocolate, Dried Fruit, Malt

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 90 ML

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92
943 tasting notes

This is quickly becoming one of my favourite teas, very aromatic with some similarities with both darker darjeelings and oolongs. I found it to be quite complex, both in the smell and taste.

In particular, the smell is kind of hard to identifyr, although fairly pungent. I noticed some musk, sugarcane (maybe rum?) and malt. Some prunes and floral notes are present too.

The taste starts off with some nutmeg spiciness and brandy impression. Soon, some heavier fruity notes appear, I identified red grapes and plums for instance. It is mostly a mix of controlled sweet and sour tastes, with the spiciness reappearing in the aftertaste to complement the acidity of balsamic vinegar. One other thing I noticed once the tea has cooled down is a little bit of seaweed savouriness.

As for the effects, I feel this tea is fairly warming with decently strong cha qi.

All in all, a very exciting tea, highly recommended.

Flavors: Brandy, Caramel, Dried Fruit, Floral, Grapes, Malt, Musty, Nutmeg, Pleasantly Sour, Plum, Rum, Sugarcane, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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87
91 tasting notes

While I found this tea a bit one dimensional, it has some very nice flavors.
Nose; strawberries, peaches, floral — plumeria, nice " round " aroma.
Palate; Peaches, sugar, nectarine, slight ginger, slight sweet orange.

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93
189 tasting notes

Delicious, creamy, berrylicious tea with high energy akin to the best raw shengs. I find myself drinking Yunnan Sourcing black teas most of the time. There’s something untamed about their teas that makes me feel like I’m drinking some magic potion.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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