This year sees a focused attention on Mansa area puerh by David
and Kathy of Essence of Tea. Previous
years saw a sustained focus on the Gua Feng Zhi area. As Gua Feng Zhi maocha continues to climb especially
in famous gardens it makes sense to look to areas like Zhang Jia Wan in
Mansa. This year they released 2020 Essence of Tea Xu Jia Liang Zi and this 2020 Essence of Tea Lao Jie Zi GaoGan which goes for $298.00 for 200g cake or $1.59/g.
This 2020 Lao Jie Zi is being billed as the crown jewel of their
2020 line up- one of those meditative take you some place, comfortable, covered
in silk type of gushu puerh experiences.
I love when I can experience these in sample form, a nice treat. I have little to none of this type of puerh
and, although I rarely look to buy such things myself, I value the experience
these types of puerh offer. I found a
small complimentary sample slipped in my order of the 2020 Essence of Tea Tian Men ShanGaoGan. It is rather beat up looking. Let’s see if this one lives up to its claims
as an exceptionally subtle and gratifying experience…
Dry leaves smell of very sweet candy with an almost
watermelon edge.
The first infusion (no rinse) pushes out a soft watery
slightly creamy slightly vegetal taste with a mild faint coolness on the
breath. The mouthfeeling is soft and smooth.
The second infusion has a soft vegetal almost creamy sweet
onset with a low cool pungency. There is
faint suggestions at bitter astringency that don’t really break through in the
taste. The taste is soft and so is the
mouthfeeling. The throatfeeling is moderate
deep. With a fresh mild pungent cool
finish.
The third infusion has an almost bitter vegetal onset with a
creamy sweet suggestion. The taste kind
of sticks on the tongue and there is a mild pungency in the throat that comes
later. The Qi in the body is mild
relaxing and mellowing and a bit slowing.
The mouthfeeling has a sticky tongue feeling and not that much throat
simulation but faint middle opening.
There is a bit of pucker going on with the lips and sides of mouth.
The fourth infusion has a faint creamy sweet and faint
fruity sweet onset over a more bitter astringent vegetal base taste. There is some tongue gripping and puckering
but it is mainly in the middle tongue and cheeks. The Qi has a mild hypnotic effect on the mind
and the body has a faint floating sensation.
The throat depth is less obvious and the aftertaste has less cooling
pungent finish and more faint bitter vegitalness. There is a bit of mind release with the Qi
here. This puerh is really soft with a
rather timid taste.
The fifth infusion has a mild watery woody slightly salty
slightly floral almost kind of creamy and not really fruity onset. This initial taste is very faint but complex
and is hard to grasp at. The base taste underneath
is a soft vegetal and woody. The bitter
and astringent taste is less here even if faint to begin with. I wonder if the condition of the beat up
sample pack had anything to do with it. The
mouthfeel is mild with a sticky pucker taste in the mid-tongue which is weaker
now. The Qi is relaxing and mildly hypnotic. The body feels a touch light.
The sixth has an almost creamy fruity floral onset. The initial taste is soft very faint and smooth. It has a mild base of faint bitter
astringency and hard to grasp at pungent coolness. The aftertaste is a weak almost vegetal
taste. The throat simulation and depth
is weak. The stomach feels a nudge of
very mild astringency and youth and feels not overly comfortable in the body. The processing of this puerh is really green
for Essence of Tea and I think it’s the right processing for this puerh. The Qi is relaxing and slightly hypnotic.
The seventh has a bitter astringent sour mild vegetal onset
with a pop of sweet floral grass almost fruity sweetness which comes and goes
before you can get into it. There is a
longer sweet floral fresh grass taste. The stomach is getting a bit raw from
the astringent bitter of this young green puerh. The shoulders have a subtle lightness to them
and the mind has a deeper sense of ease and relaxation.
The eighth infusion has a light fresh grassy almost but not
really floral sweetness with a vegetal base.
There is a lingering grassy floral almost melon fruitiness that skirts
the edges of the whole profile. The Qi
is relaxing and peaceful. The face
experiences a faint tingle.
The ninth infusion has a grassy fresh melon nuance to it
with a vegetal base. There is a faint
cooling pungent. A faint mid throat
opening. The aftertaste is of faint
grass and melon. The Qi is relaxing and
slows the mind down here.
The 10th infusion I add 10 seconds to the flash
steeps and it has a watery floral melon presentation with a soft underlying
creamy floral finish. There is a quite
cool pungency more like a freshness in the mouth. There is a faint long elegant creamy
sweetness that is long in the breath.
The mouthfeel is really soft sticky mild. The Qi is very chill. These last two infusions are nice when the vegetal
taste is not present- this is something that will age off in the coming months.
The 11th infusion I add 10 seconds to the flash
steeps and it has a woody fresh grass and suppressed buttery sweetness. There is a bit of mild fresh cooling pungency
and the mouthfeeling has a bit of puckering but faint. A faint creamy woody finish. Deep sighs relax the body and mind.
The 12th I add 15 sec to the flash steepings and
it has a mild creamy woody and less fresh grass and melon. The taste is really clear and soft and
soothing. The mouthfeel is a very soft
sticky in the middle of the tongue. This
puerh doesn’t give you that thick tongue coat or feeling and is tenderer.
13th I add 30seconds to the flash steeping and it
results in a soft mild almost lime and grass and faint bitter taste with a soft
faint creamy grassy floral breath finish.
The tastes of this puerh are really gentle throughout the whole
session. Even these 30sec pushes don’t
push out anything strong or one directional in taste. This is a soft puerh with nothing extreme
even when cajoled a bit.
14th 50 seconds has a soft mild grassy melon
onset which kind of just stretches into the aftertaste. It has a juicier melon edge now and a more
substantive mouthfeeling which is a bit drying on the tongue. The Qi is relaxing and mellow. The breath has a mild fresh pungent taste.
15th infusion I push for a minute… it gives back
blank woody tastes with edges of fresh grass and even melon fruit. There is a fresh aftertaste cool pungent with
some breath melon trying to hang on.
The throat has a faint spacious mid-throat opening.
16th infusion is a few hours and I drink the cool
broth… even under pressure it pushes out a smooth creamy sweet, fresh grassy,
edge of melon peel kind of taste with a slow fresh almost pungent breath taste
and a faint bitter. The mouthfeeling is
sticky on the tongue and faintly opening in the upper throat. Expansive fresh grass and almost creamy sweet
edge of melon breath. Relaxing focus.
I put it into another long infusion because I like the last
one so much and it gives off a smooth almost floral creamy sweetness with melon
peel in a sticky mouthfeeling. No bitter
or astringency left just smooth simple drinking. A long breath faint creamy sweetness emerges.
I put this into an overnight infusion…
Pictured right is this 2020 EoT Lao Jie Zi and Left is 2020 EoT
Tian Men Shan.
This Lao Jie Zi has a solid stereotypical unwavering Mansa
smoothness to it and starts to show its colours later into the session when a
soft, smooth easy drinking taste emerges that are typical of Mansa like grass
and creamy sweet and melon. The Qi emulates
the taste and so does the mouthfeeling- it is mellow in the mind at times
almost hypnotic with very few bodyfeelings and overall a mild and relaxing qi
experience. The overall experience is a quieting one not an overly engaging or excitatory experience. The sign of quality to me is
when you really start to push this puerh but it basically is stubbornly smooth. This also has decent stamina as the longer
push at the end suggests. To criticize
this puerh it is not overly complex in taste, mouth- and throat-feel, or
qi. Its more of a "Everyone Stay Calm and Carry On" type of experience that maybe we all can benefit from these days. Early in the session it has mild
signs of astringency and bitterness which detract from the experience but
should go away with a bit of age as I’m drinking this very young.
Shah8's tasting notes
Shah8's tasting notes
Peace
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