Royal Yunnan

Yunnan Gold, or Royal Yunnan, as the tea I'm sampling today is called, comes from southern province of Yunnan, China.  It must be a blessed place to produce such wonderful tea.

This particular Yunnan tea is from In Pursuit of Tea, and I'm not sure what the difference in name is about, but as you can see from the pictures here, the leaves are a combination of dark green and gold. 

After enjoying the Adagio Yunnan Gold so much, I had to try IPoT's version and see how they compare. 

The first thing I noticed on opening the container was the smell.  It smells ... green, for lack of a better term.  Very green and sort of ... wet.  Earthy, yes, but definitely a green smell.  I wonder if that relates to the freshness of the leaves? 

The first steeping was very tasty, with a gentle earthy flavor much like the Adagio Yunnan Gold, but again, with a slightly greener flavor.  Second steeping was better.  It lost some of the green-ness, but kept the comforting earthiness.  The package says "honey and earth tones", and I'd say that's a good description of the flavor. 

The IPoT website describes the flavor as honey and cocoa, so I was hoping for a hint of the cocoa flavor, at least in undertones, as Cindy described.  I couldn't taste anything cocoa-ish here, unfortunately.

It's a little pricier than the Adagio, but overall this is a wonderful tea, perfect for a late afternoon in the garden with the crickets.

Comments

[Cindy W.]

Quick comment from me before I dash out to run some errands. . .

The IPOT tea hasn't been the same since about January. I and a couple of others have noticed a substantial change in taste. It's still a good tea, but it doesn't have the strong mocha-cocoa flavors that were so wonderful before. :(

I'm still searching for one to replace it, but no luck so far. The new batches for this year should be starting to appear, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a gorgeous new cocoa yunnan will appear.

[Katxena]

I made this tea yesterday and steeped it for 2 minutes only, and it was much better. Thanks for the tip. I agree that the second steeping is the best. I steep it 4-5 times (I drink steep 1 & 2 hot, and 3-5 iced).

[Christine]

Hi Katxena,
I haven't gotten a good thermometer yet, so I'm not sure about the temp. I listen for the kettle, and just before it whistles, I pull it off the heat, let it sit for a count of 20 or so, and then pour. Scientfic and precise, huh? :))

I let it steep for about 2 minutes, maybe a little less, the first time, and almost 3 minutes the second time.

I liked the second steeping better, I've decided I don't care for the "green" taste.

[Katxena]

I've been struggling with this tea lately. I used to brew it at 190 degrees for 2.5 minutes, but it doesn't taste right to me anymore. How did you brew it?