2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Lucy" Ripe Pu-erh

Tea type
Pu'erh (shou) Blend
Ingredients
Pu Erh Tea
Flavors
Camphor, Compost, Dry Leaves, Earthy, Hazelnut, Bread, Mushrooms, Wood, Tea, Toasty, Bitter, Blackberry, Blueberry, Coffee, Earth, Fireplace, Fruity, Grapes, Nutty, Sour, Tart, Thick
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Compressed
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by TeaEarleGreyHot
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 4 oz / 110 ml

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6 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Brewed and noted on 23 Sept. ‘24. This was a 25g bag I’d bought last year from YS, and I’d forgotten about it until looking over the comments from my review 2 yr ago of the 2020 Yunnan Sourcing...” Read full tasting note
    65
  • “Date drunk: 2023 May 31st Dry leaf smells of a fragrant sweet softwood like sandalwood or cedar. Wet leaf smells woody and like baking brown bread. Liquor tastes very flavourful, mushroomy and...” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “I agree with Rich: 2018 Lucy is “…a little more complex.” “It tastes of bittersweet chocolate …” “Very smooth, and moderate caffeine.” Like Code, we tasted a little astringency. For me, when it was...” Read full tasting note
  • “I’m admittedly very new to pu-erh teas, and this is my first purchase from a reputable seller. I was somewhat apprehensive about how I’d like this tea, but it’s VERY accessible — even to my novice...” Read full tasting note
    100

From Yunnan Sourcing

Celebrating 7 years of Lucy! Loved by humans, feared and hated by squirrels and vultures, Lucy is a force to be reckoned with! Feel the thunderclap of her gallop, hear her stomach rumble, behold her shiny luster, listen to her snore, and breathe in her cinnamon and watermelon scent!

You saw the pictures, the silly little videos, profile pictures, Youtube guest appearances, and facebook mentions, so you knew this day would come! The queen has arrived and she has ascended to her rightful throne in this year of the dog 2018!

The tea itself is a blend of Menghai and Lincang (Mengku) ripe teas from two different wet piling batches, the Menghai batch is from Spring 2016 material, the Lincang ripe is from spring 2017 harvested tea leaves.

The taste is rich and pure, there is a crisp woodiness in the tea followed by a thick sweetness. The tea soup is dark but not cloudy, the mouth-feel is pungent, cooling and lubricating. The tea leaves are very robust and will deliver 8 to 10 infusions or more when brewed gong fu style. Cha Qi is strong for a ripe tea, but very pleasant and nurturing.

This is a tea to sip contemplatively and imagine oneself living the lazy life of a spoiled dog. Sunning, eating, and sleeping without any anxiety or concerns for the future.

250 grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo leaf tong)

Wrapper Design by Rising Red Lotus (Brandon Sadler)

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

Company description not available.

6 Tasting Notes

65
89 tasting notes

Brewed and noted on 23 Sept. ‘24. This was a 25g bag I’d bought last year from YS, and I’d forgotten about it until looking over the comments from my review 2 yr ago of the 2020 Yunnan Sourcing “Ba Da Mountain” Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake and seeing that user looseTman had asked about it back then. I must have brewed it previously and not reported because 5g is missing.

Anyway, I did my version of a gongfu session, using 5g tea, a stainless infusion basket, 3 ounce espresso cups, and alpine spring water at 90°C. Started with 10 sec wash, discarded, then six infusions of 15 sec each, then an hours’ pause, and six more infusions, again 15 sec each. I suspect I could have done a third set for a total of 18 decent cups, but stopped. The first two of each set were very strong and could have been yet briefer. The attached photos show the dozen infusions, from right to left. The weakest ones were #11 & #12.

I was not thrilled with this tea, as I have been with my other recent ripe puer tastings of late. There was still a bit of wet-pile humidity odor and taste in the first four infusions that masked any more subtle flavors. Not astringent, not fishy, not creamy either. No bitterness. It is a decent, solid tea, and I was pleased by the camphor arising in #5 & #6, and later by the lingering finish with notes of hazelnut in 10, 11, & 12. I didn’t get any notes of cocoa or fruit or leather. Next time, I’ll cut down the leaf by half, and try to control the early infusions to produce a less inky brew. YMMV. I’m also going to transfer the remaining tea from its mylar pouch to a filter-paper-covered jelly jar in my darkened tea cabinet for 6 months, so that the wet-pile notes can dissipate before my next session with it.

Full cakes are still for sale on YS and YS.us, and I’ll leave them for others who prefer potent shou.

Flavors: Camphor, Compost, Dry Leaves, Earthy, Hazelnut

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML
TeaEarleGreyHot

Okay, I did six more infusions, for 18 total. This time, starting with 5 sec/90°C, then 15sec, then gradually increasing the time to 2 min and the temp to boiling. Got a nice uniform set of liquors, #13–#18, all tasting alike, same as #12. No complaints, quaffable, uninspiring. We’ll see what 6 mo of airing ot out does.

ashmanra

I am considering getting ranger beads to keep track of the multi steepers! Sounds like you coukd have used them for this tea! That’s a lot of steeps.

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84
261 tasting notes

Date drunk: 2023 May 31st

Dry leaf smells of a fragrant sweet softwood like sandalwood or cedar.
Wet leaf smells woody and like baking brown bread.

Liquor tastes very flavourful, mushroomy and bready like a well-fermented olive bread. Very enjoyable and pairs great with food and fruit.

Rating: 84

Flavors: Bread, Mushrooms, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
ashmanra

That sounds like a delightful tea!

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139 tasting notes

I agree with Rich: 2018 Lucy is “…a little more complex.” “It tastes of bittersweet chocolate …” “Very smooth, and moderate caffeine.”

Like Code, we tasted a little astringency. For me, when it was noticeable, it was on the front portion of my tongue. Perhaps it’s related to the notes of bittersweet chocolate?

Overall, intermittent astringency aside, Lucy is rich, smooth and provides 6 full-bodied steeps, 2 moderately full-bodied, with the last 2 being lighter-bodied, but still enjoyable.

At the current $50 regular price, the $/gram ratio could be better – $50/250 g = $.20/g, as Lucy is a 250 g cake as opposed to the traditional 357 g or larger 500 g cakes. With our steeping method, https://steepster.com/looseTman, this works out to be $4/day unless it’s purchased on sale.

mrmopar

Nice to see you on here, been a while hope you both are safe and well.

looseTman

Thanks mrmopar! Yes, we’re both are safe and well. We hope all is well with your family too?

mrmopar

Yeah, all good at the moment. Hope you both have been well.

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100
1 tasting notes

I’m admittedly very new to pu-erh teas, and this is my first purchase from a reputable seller. I was somewhat apprehensive about how I’d like this tea, but it’s VERY accessible — even to my novice palate.

There’s a wonderful scent to the tea, and it has very little astringency. There’s a depth of flavor that continues to evolve over multiple infusions. I’m overjoyed with how delicious this tea is, and I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone. As a new pu-erh drinker, I’m extremely satisfied with my purchase.

Very delicious, very aromatic, very accessible tea. No “fishy” smell or taste. After drinking several infusions of this tea gongfu style, I felt relaxed, and my senses were invigorated. I’ll work on detecting the subtler flavors next!

Flavors: Tea, Toasty, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 9 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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86
984 tasting notes

Another one of Scott’s shou blends I really like, it has all the qualities I expect from these. The aroma is a mix of fruits (blueberries, blackberries), fresh seafood (calamari) and cooked meat. The first thing I notice is when drinking the tea is its extremely lubricating and oily mouthfeel that makes me salivate. It is also decently thick and a touch chalky. Taste-wise, it is a very smooth and woody tea. It is more savoury than sweet. Among the flavours I get are those of fireplace, coffee, and blue grapes. The aftertaste is more sweet and earthy and balances out the profile nicely. There is a sort of expansive camphor-like fragrance, nutty flavour and hints of sourness, shades of which are noticeable in the liquor itself as well actually.

In the middle of the session, the profile has some bitterness as well, which is nice. Overall, I would describe the tea as a fruity and woody one with little sweetness and camphor-like aftertaste.

Flavors: Bitter, Blackberry, Blueberry, Camphor, Coffee, Earth, Fireplace, Fruity, Grapes, Nutty, Sour, Tart, Thick

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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89
289 tasting notes

I don’t know why I bother with factory ripe pu erh, I might just stop buying it. Scott’s ripes from Yunnan Sourcing are almost always delicious, bold, high quality, tested for pesticides, and overall consistently good. Lucy is no exception. It is subtly different from their other ripes, a little more complex. I think there is a bit of camphor in the background, which is nice. It tastes of bittersweet chocolate and very slight smoke. Very smooth, and moderate caffeine. Another winner from YS.

Cwyn

I’m sort of kicking myself for not buying Rooster before it sold out.

Rich

Yeah, just saw that as well. I have one cake and was about to order more. That last sale saw the Year of the Goat Ripe sell out as well, but I bought 2 tongs of it since I had the feeling it was about to sell out. I just ordered samples of the other 2018 YS ripes sou can see which ones I will like. I will not make the same mistake again!

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