Interview w/Scott Wilson (Yunnan Sourcing) feat. 2013 YS Da Si [Episode 115]

[@4tooitous]

Thumbs up if you're watching this while drinking tea you bought from Scott!

[@kellysereda4961]

And 4 years on, got me. Drinking 2018 Wu Liang Raw Puerh, stumbled on this video, stumbled on this comment and lol'd.

[@anthonyanderson9771]

I'm just getting started on my loose leaf tea exploration journey. I'm pretty leary of buying from most but this comment is encouraging me to give these Yunnan Sourcing a try. (Started with Harney's, been trying Red Blossom.)

[@shengpuerh]

Great interview. Wonderful to see and hear Scott, especially great to see him brewing tea.

[@serhiiarion]

Thanks for the video - easy watching and listening, even for average english level. Good luck to Tea DB guys and Mr.Wilson!

[@TeaDB]

+Sergey Arion Thanks!

[@vitopettito1689]

Congrats on making the home page of Yunnan Sourcing! How cool is that?!

[@TeaDB]

Vito Farella Pretty cool!

[@Artem.Alalykin]

Wow! It is pretty unexpected! :) Thank you and Scott.

[@danielburgess9122]

I love these videos, so glad to see someone behind the website I buy from is real! I only wish I could do these podcasts as well as you guys at teadb.

[@MCRDOTCOM]

Really fantastic episode! Hats off to you for putting out some of the best tea related content online right now! Also love Yunnan and Taiwan Sourcing, hats off to you Scott for running an excellent tea business :)

[@wanderingteaapprentice]

Yunan Sourcing is amazing, I saw he was on here! Now, I am your fan too.

[@aaronvandereyk7175]

Scott I just ordered some of your teas. I'm very excited to try them!

[@TeaDB]

Hi +aaron vandereyk , Thanks for the note. I suspect you'll be very satisfied with Yunnan Sourcing. Great tea for a great price really. Please report back your experiences :). Cheers and happy tea drinking! -James ps. Yes. Glad to see another PNW drinker.

[@ThomasL.116]

What a beautiful video, thanks a lot!

Awesome epizode. Thank you.

[@knyghtryder3599]

One of my favorite teas , love the northern stuff !!!

[@TeaDB]

Cheers!

[@fishermanryan]

Well... this WAS my first time hearing of Scott Wilson lol. Good vid thanks for the history lessons and all

[@TeaDB]

MercifulFate As good a time as any to hear of him and Yunnan Sourcing!

[@EdwardLangeland]

Great video :) I have a couple of 2013 YS Da Si myself and drink some while watching :) Love your great teas Scott!

[@TeaDB]

+Edward Langeland Thanks! Good tea!

[@stevesheldon8616]

Nice video. It's nice to be able to put a voice and face with the name, Scott Wilson. Scott mentioned the trick of vendors giving you a cup of superior tea before serving you the one you want to try so that you think the qi and possible aftertaste from the first tea is actually from the second. Well, a vendor pulled this trick on me in Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, a few days ago. I asked to try an 8,000 baht per kilo da hong pao. I sat down for the tasting and the vendor said here drink this. It was a 20,000 baht per kilo Oriental Beauty. Well, I'm not one to turn down free tea so I drank it and then the tasting of the da hong pao started but I was already wise to them, having watched this video. On my way out the door they tried to get me to think I'd agreed to buy 50 grams of Oriental Beauty. Haha, hard sell.

[@Yunnansourcing]

Steve Sheldon Yeah... in Chinese getting tricked and not gaining the upper hand is called "Paying your tuition fees". Glad you are wise to these tricks!

[@stevesheldon8616]

Sadly, I am all too familiar with paying tuition. At least it was all cheap tea. I just wish I hadn't gone "all in" before giving my palate some basic training.

[@Yunnansourcing]

Steve Sheldon My first couple of years in the tea market in China were rough. I decided to stick to offering factory pu-erhs at that time to mediate risk.

[@lucajooste5661]

The gaiwan's still so coool!!! Revisiting these episodes is awesome :):

[@TeaDB]

+Luca Jooste Scott has some baller gaiwans. Unavailable of course.

[@michaelanthony1493]

Really great interview :)

[@StephanosBlack]

Great interview, Scott! You should do more videos like this.

[@Yunnansourcing]

Steve Rey thanks bro... Good to hear from you!

[@davidcasler8913]

I've been buying ripe PuEr tea from Scott for years. Great stuff! I love the loose leaf ripe puer. I drink it every day at work in America.

[@TeaDB]

+David C Indeed! Good tea for a great price.

[@joelbny]

Thanks for this. I remember placing an order in 2007 or 8 when they were still on eBay. Nice to put a face and voice to the name behind YS.

[@SweetChinMuzik1]

When he said "I eat right and take care of myself because in the spring I'm drinking about 10-12 maochas a day and that can get a little rough" Is he referencing his sampling of harvests? And also maybe how hard it can be on the gut?

[@nova0241]

I believe he's talking about sampling teas to determine which ones he wants to sell on his website; with the sheer amount of offerings he has, it makes sense that he has to sample that many teas every day. As for the "rough" comment, I think it's because of the very high amount of caffeine and other chemical compounds in the teas he's drinking. Those compounds are all really nice in moderation, but drinking that much tea every day is definitely an overload and has some detrimental effects.

[@nominal6]

It was fun to watch. I would have asked two questions: - 1) Apart from some exceptions, the quality and type of pressing of the YS sheng puerh cakes is always consistent. The pressing allows for what I call 'space between the leaves' which makes it easy to pry. I had some puerhs that were quite difficult (*). This 'light' pressing is certainly a reflection on how Scott sees how it should be. I would have asked to expand on this subject. Is there a name to this method pf pressing ? How is it done, compared to other ways ? What influece does this pressing has on aging, as compared to cakes that are more dense ? Do cakes become more dense with years ? - 2) Why are taiwanese teas so friggingly expensive ? At one point in the interview Scott's wife is mentioned and it sounds like she was there. Since she has a good say in choosing YS teas it would have been interesting to know how she sees teas. (*) One of them being the incredibly dense 2013 "Ye Sheng Cha" Wild Tree Purple Tea of Dehong mini-bricks (only in the US store now). Very hard to pry anything from these bricks ! Cheers.

[@Yunnansourcing]

nominal6 1. It's called stone pressing... a heavy stone is lifted onto the just steamed leaves. It's the traditional way and it ensure the compression will be just right. My wife doesn't speak english particularly well at this point, she's shy. 2. Different economy... Taiwan is way more developed than Yunnan. I think if you compare similar quality Taiwan teas to the ones we offer, you'll find ours are priced quite cheaply... but yes they are expensive compared to most Yunnan teas. However Wu Yi Rock oolongs from Fujian can be just as expensive or more expensive than Taiwan oolongs.

[@jaredphau]

Can't believe I just found this! Great interview. The audio seems out of sync though.

[@TeaDB]

Is it? Definitely possible but I can't tell.

[@renobscure7910]

Where did you get that beautiful red and white gaiwan?

[@Yunnansourcing]

Ren Obscure Got it several years ago in China. Have not seen one since.

[@lucajooste5661]

Denn that's the peacock cup!!!! My favourite!!

[@livertine504]

Great idea and awesome show guys :). About the "drink tea at your place difference in comparison to drinking it somewhere else" - I also found out that it make a huge difference in my point of view. Even if I got the same water and an ok tea equipment the tea always tastes different as it does when I am enjoying it at my place in my tea room / corner with the whole kind of tea vibe there. Sometimes I brought some teas to my parents place on the countryside where they live or to friends but the outcome was always different and most of the time more disappointing than in a good way. Because in many of those cases I was very excited to show my folks some of my favorite teas but then when I enjoyed those with them not them got disappointed (not that I noticed) but I felt "Ok, I am not happy how it tastes. This isn't the awesome tea I wanted to show them at all". It is strange but place, mood and many other influences can change the outcome of a tea totally.

[@TeaDB]

Hi Philipp Aba , Totally agree. I can definitely relate to your story on teas tasting different. I've had some humbling experiences and it teaches you not to go to buy-crazy after just one session. Cheers, -Jamess

[@Yunnansourcing]

Philipp Aba Very perceptive indeed! This is something most people scoff at but for those of us who are paying attention to the tea we will notice the differences in taste/aroma/feeling when drinking in different places or different times. The same thing has happened to me too. I really was excited to make a certain tea for someone and it didn't come out right. The biggest thing I noticed was how raw pu-erh tea didn't brew as well on a rainy or overcast/windy day, but on a warm sunny day it comes out well... strong and full of aroma.

[@livertine504]

True. Beside so many other aspects this is also a great thing about tea because you can drink only one tea but you can experience so many different outcomes and moments with this very one - it's just amazing. I love this complexity because tea can't work on it's own. Like the fact it was always something that brought people together his preparation itself isn't a one man show too. Like in the old ancient times a Chinese tea master said "Even if the tea is a ten but the water is just an eight the tea itself is going to be only an eight in the end. But is the tea an eight but the water quality a ten the tea might become a ten too in the end" And so the stone starts to roll. Because not only place, weather and time could change so much, also the water and the type of teapot you us could change the whole outcome drastically. Tea needs good friend and this is why tea is my religion because it teaches us not only to find our inner peace but also focus on the good in life and appreciate even the most ordinary things and most of all good friends and people you love. Because tea is like a part of your self. Tea can't show his full potential by just being on its own and we people need others family, friends and someone you deeply love because we can't exist if we just focus only on our own. Sorry if you drifted a bit apart but like I said the isn't only a plant it is the whole fusion itself - it is a working and mutually understanding and appreciating of many aspects working side by side together to create the perfect outcome. In my case I noticed the most noticeable difference when it comes to the source of water and teapot type. Because not every type of clay is suitable for every type of tea. Sometimes you need to listen to what the tea and the pot wants. Sounds a bit silly maybe but it is true. Quite a while ago I bought my first Nixing tea pot and because it looked so rustic and vintage I wanted to use it for Wuyi Oolongs but in the first moment I prepared one inside of it the chemistry was catastrophic. Both individuals couldn't work together then I realized what the pot really wanted it was Sheng Pu'er and now both they were like chalk and cheese together. Perfect. One of your (Scott) Jianshui Teapots I bought is only used for Dancong and both fit so perfectly together like if they were made for each other. The clay makes the best out of every Dancong you brew in. I could write further and further but last but not least there is so much history, love and knowledge about this old passion called tea - so much which only starts with the word tea but contains so much more :)

[@Yunnansourcing]

Philipp Aba Well put... hope we can drink tea together in the future. ;-)

[@livertine504]

Would love to. I hope a chance is going to open someday in the near future ;)

[@DiscotopiaUk]

No way! How cool!

[@Keyboard12850]

I wonder if he drinks a lot of different teas a day to choose the best, then each one to the full steepings time? Like one raw 10+ steepings, next tea also so much?

[@TeaDB]

Scott most definitely does drink a ton of tea.

[@nova0241]

I think he drinks a good portion of the steepings available for each tea (although I'm not sure if he drinks until it completely loses flavor). By doing this, he can see how the tea changes throughout the session to determine if it's good. For example, if Scott tries a fresh sheng pu-erh, and its flavor drops significantly after only 4 steepings, then he may not want to offer it on his store. If he hadn't steeped the tea that many times, he wouldn't have noticed

[@pde442]

Good video

[@CruznN4th]

hes brewing for 1.5-2 minutes after the first infusion?!?!!? i gotta try that tea. haha

[@TeaDB]

Brian O'Donnell It's a good one!

[@Yunnansourcing]

Brian O'Donnell I was a little distracted but the Da Si really comes out nice even when brewed strong.. It's also hyper-infusable.

[@CruznN4th]

+Yunnan Sourcing i just got my sample of it.....and i gotta say i was pleasantly surprised. interesting cooling effect in the mouth. smooth and full feel. delicate, yet you can run with 60+ second infusions out of the gate.

[@Yunnansourcing]

+Brian O'Donnell Hehe... I drink alot of young raw pu-erh... I have been drinking like 12-15 mao cha everyday in the last month to choose which teas we will press for our 2016 YS line of raw pu-erh cakes.

[@CruznN4th]

this tea is sold out. dang it

[@TeaDB]

Sadly, yes it appears so. I think he produced a 2016 one too, but that looks to be gone too.

[@mikedelgado8888]

Awesome

[@williampichardo1485]

13:44 oooh have I been in this situation a number of times

[@rawmark]

I think this has got to be my favorite episode thus far. I have yet to order or sample a raw Pu erh for the reasons mentioned but now you guys have inspired me. So I'll check out Yunnan to see if they have an organic raw pu erh. I only buy organic so I probably miss out on a lot of teas but I am vegan and prefer to stay and chemical free as possible. Cheers and keep making these awesome episodes.

[@LeeLuvsTea]

Cool

[@balob]

I just received my first order from YS, took about 2 months lol, one thing came broken though =( But so much tea to go through!

[@TeaDB]

balob Nice! Enjoy. Cheers! -James