Fancy Grade Yunnan Yellow (Certified organic yellow tea) – Yunnan Sourcing
2020 Spring, 6.03g / 150ml gaiwan
10s rinse, 10s +5s for each consecutive infusion. 175°F
TLDR: Excellent tea. Anyone who enjoys white and green tea should try this. It’s glorious iced and serves as an excellent palate cleanser and food pairing for most dishes. I recommend brewing a large batch of iced tea to drink over the course of several days. Take it everywhere and drink it with everything. It creates an interesting experience that benefits most dishes and cuisines.
Dry tea:
The leaves are beautifully coiled and completely intact. There is no tea dust or broken leaves.
They smell sweet, delicate, almost like dried flowers and undergrowth. It’s creamy like oat milk with notes of cut hay. It strongly reminds me of dried honeysuckle. It smells a tad like nutmeg with a strong prune smell. The prune notes remind me of this delicious golden monkey I once tried from tealyra. I’ll review that one in the future.
Wet tea:
It took several steepings for the tea to uncoil completely.
It smelled of candied fruit and prunes. It smelled like the light undergrowth of a forest floor. The buds we’re almost tangy, with notes of wet hay and maple water.
The first few infusions were sweet with notes of prunes, dates, dried honeysuckle, and wet hay. They were creamy with a soft yet lightly astringent mouthfeel. There was no bitterness. It got more buttery each time.
From the third to fifth infusion, it became less complex and developed a slight bite. It stayed sweet with a nice candied fruit taste. It completely lost complexity at the fifth infusion.
So it peaked at 2-3 and fully degraded at 5.
I really enjoyed it and will be keeping some around from now on. If you like naturally sweet teas, I’d pick this up. Yellow tea is a remarkable tea and everyone should try it.
ICED TEA:
2 1L infusions, 175°F, 3 and then 4 minutes (5g per 1L). Infusions were mixed together into 1 pitcher.
Appearance: brownish amber, clear
Smell: kind of sweet, light floral and vague fruitiness
Taste: Sweet, light indistinct dried fruit notes, vaguely floral like fresh flowers, crisp and refreshing mouthfeel
It has a delightful light floral pungency. It’s a beautiful and delicious iced tea that needs no additions. I’ve been drinking it for days and it goes well with various foods. It tastes a little awkward with brightly sweet apple, but does well with more savory dishes.
FOOD PAIRING: Iced yellow tea with Teriyaki beef bowl, Tonkotsu Ramen, mochi
I got some takeout from Wasabi Sushi PDX yesterday and paired it with a batch of the YS yellow I brewed a day beforehand.
The mild sweetness of the iced yellow tea does not overwhelm the creamy savory nature of the ramen. It’s quite refreshing after the ramen and serves as a palate cleanser so you can relive the flavors of the foods every time after you drink the tea. The cooling and refreshing qualities as an unsweetened iced tea gives the preferred hydration in between heavy foods.
I’ve noticed through the last few days that the yellow tea compliments and contrasts most foods. It’s mild sweetness and savory notes pair with a surprising amount of foods of various cuisines. It’s also delightful when out and about in place of water.
When consumed with mochi ice cream/sweets, it adds a lightly savory nature to the experience with a slightly contrasting tone which accents the sweetness of the ice cream. The natural sweetness of the tea blends with the sweetness of the ice cream and serves as a structure. It does not overwhelm, it simply adds some nice tones to the otherwise simple experience.
By drinking yellow tea in place of water or soda you are adding complexity to the experience that accents the best qualities of the food. It just is and coexists peacefully with the foods around it.
These are some of the reasons yellow tea is my favorite tea.
P.S. Wasabi Sushi’s N Failing location has fantastic, modern, and affordable food. I pick up food from them often.
Food pairing: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUWOoR-FCOK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Flavors: Creamy, Dates, Dried Fruit, Flowers, Fruity, Hay, Honeysuckle, Maple, Oats, Prune
