u/Witty_Activity_869

Anyone know where I can get the straight species of V. tenellum, V. pallidum, or V. crassifolium? Preferably from a nursery that ships plants, since I haven't found any within an hour of me that sell these

Hello. I've been a long time visitor here when I ask the internet questions about tea. I created an account, because I have a specific-to-me question.

I’ve ordered 3 different samplers from Yunnan Sourcing, and I found at least 1 tea I like from each one. Out of all the teas I received from YS, there were maybe 3 that I just did not care for and couldn’t finish the bag. From each of the 3 samplers, I reordered the tea I liked best. I decided to branch out to The Steeping Room so I could try non-Chinese teas. I ordered 11 teas at random. I’ve tried 4 so far and haven’t liked any of them except the 1 Chinese tea I did get, so now I’m worried I blew my entire tea budget on a set of tea that I won’t even be able to force myself to finish. I brew western style, and I usually just add a bit of honey. Having to add milk puts tea into the “bad” category for me just because most others are fine with that small amount of sweetener.

From TSR I’ve tried:

• Organic Four Seasons Oolong from Taiwan
  • Least bad; reminded me of an Anxi oolong I got from Yunnan that I did not finish
  • I won't finish this bag either, but I can at least drink the whole cup of tea
• TSR House Chai (Black Chai Tea)
  • Strange after taste that I couldn’t get past; palatable with milk
• Cinnamon Wood Smoked Tea from AMBA Estate (Organically Grown)
  • Awful. First sip was ok but every sip after got worse to the point that I didn’t finish the cup. Mildly improved with milk but still didn't want to finish the cup
• Jin Ya - Golden Buds Black Yea from Yunnan
  • Not bad; I don’t like it as much as the one I reordered from YS but I will finish the bag
  • I followed the TSR brewing instructions for this one too

I have to make some conversions, since TSR sends instructions in ounces and Fahrenheit. For example, the Four Seasons recommends 1.5g tea for every 3oz water at 190F for 3 minutes. I brewed 6.75g tea for 400ml water at 88C for 3 minutes.

Yunnan has general instructions by tea type. For example, black tea I brew 3.5g tea for 400ml water at 90C for 3 minutes. I'm terrible at math so maybe I went way off there?

Teas I reordered from Yunnan:

• Classic Jasmine Pearl Yunnan Green Tea from the Jasmine Lovers Green and White Tea Sampler
• 13 years Aged Da Hong Pao Rock Oolong Tea from the Introduction to Chinese Oolong Tea Sampler 
• Light Roast Wild Tree Purple Varietal Black Tea of Dehong from Purple Black Tea Sampler (I went back and forth between this and Jingmai “Purple Beauty” Black Tea of Simao)

I’m hoping someone can tell me how I’m brewing the TSR teas wrong or make a recommendation on something I might enjoy from them based on the teas I reordered from Yunnan