One of the disclaimers I would theoretically give, were I the type of person to give disclaimers, has to do with one of my very favorite teas: Tippy South Cloud, from the Tao of Tea. Tippy South Cloud is another Yunnan tea of a more or less similar description to this one; however, it has this wonderful, magical quality that I just can't get enough of, and which I'll have to go into further in my tasting notes when the time comes to take on that challenge.
This Yunnan Gold, alas, just doesn't measure up. It has a bit of the Yunnan sweetness, a fair amount of tannin on the tongue, a nice medium body... Good, just not super distinctive. Of course, the tea didn't jump out of the bag and say, "Hello, I'm Yunnan Gold! I will be the perfect supplement to your cache of Tippy South Cloud: similar, subtly different, perhaps even better!" No, those were my hopes talking. So, perhaps it started off at an unfair disadvantage, this one.
I was just there three weeks ago. That tea isn't their best Yunnan Gold. It's a standard Dian Hong that happens to have a tippy presence, hence the difference in name. However, their *TRUE* Yunnan Gold is their Golden Needles, which is - without exaggeration - pure awesome.
I couldn't agree more — their Golden Needles are delicious, and quite reasonably priced (says me, anyway :).