2010 Yunnan Sourcing Nan Nuo Ya Kou

This tea is another Nannuo puerh from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing. He has beautifully captured life in Ya Kuo village on his blog post when he traveled there to secure the raw material for this tea. The story sounds nice, how about the tea?

After opening the sample pack kindly supplied by Hobbes, the smell of rolling rose and wildflower florals and forest-like pungents fill the nose and the mind. The light notes are vibrant, light, and uplifting.

The first infusion pours a bright yellow. The initial taste is clear, vibrant, and creamy with strong hints of returning wildflower sweetness and a touch of cardamon spice. The aftertaste is of somewhat sweet pungent forest. The mouthfeel is soft and round, coating the mouth and upper and mid-throat.

The second and third infusions contain a noticeable pungent base which stretches across the profile with graceful creamy depth as the taste smoothly transitions to sweetness. It finishes somewhat floral, gummy, and sweet- this taste lingers for some time in the mouth. This tea presents a nice balance of deeper, heavier, and pungent gritt balanced with a vibrant, pronounced floral sweetness. The mouthfeel coats the mouth and mid-upper throat- a bit of saliva globs into the lower throat, a nice sensation there. The qi is warming and revitalizing, pushing mild euphoria at times. It is powerfully calm.

The fourth infusion starts with mild spicy, pungent taste that picks up more woody notes and has now lost some of its vibrant floral qualities. The floral taste is strong in its returning, gummy, fresh-greeny-wood-grassy, sweetness. It shows subtle signs of being more grainy with an underlying heaviness and fullness to it. The aftertaste fades to sweet wild floral tastes in the mouth. The flavours of this tea are vibrant and distinguished with enough interesting depth.

The fifth and sixth starts with woody notes pairing with soft florals these tastes slowly fade into the aftertaste and are joined there with pungent tastes. When the floral sweetness dissipates, a woody forest taste is left lingering in the mouth as well as a very light bland taste. A gentle sweet floral taste pushes past this light bland note after it has lingered for just a short bit. There is lots of action in the mouth here.

The seventh infusion sports a soft wood base with a sweet and tangy, soft fruit finish. The mouthfeel gets a touch dry here but remains robust and full.

The eighth and ninth infusions present with a sweet fruity floral taste which becomes bitter and woody. It then slowly reverts to sweet grass and faint floral fruits. The bitter-wood taste becomes more prominent in later infusions but still seems counter balanced by those light, fruity, floral tastes. This balance continues to play out as the tea stretches into a few more satisfying pots.

Link to Hobbes (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes

Link to Esteban Revas (Tea Drops) Tasting Notes

Peace