A day or so after experiencing the elegance of Marco’s blind
sample “Delta” then pretty much having an out of body experience later in the
day with “Gamma”, I hope to tread a bit more cautiously going forward. No more crazy two blind samples in a day type
of thing. With the weather still quite a
bit warm here this summer I look for something a bit younger or dry stored and
settle on the look of this sample with the symbol “Alpha” on it. I snip open the sealed package and smell…
The dry leaves have a meaty musk meat like odour that
immediately remind me of Laos puerh.
First infusion has a peachy and very musk gamey almost salty
watery meat kind of onset that tastes similar to the dry leaf odour. Very faint pungent finish with a chalky/talc
mouthfeeling and tongue coating. It has
a blank chalky finish.
The second infusion has an almost sweet almond watery clear
with gamey musk onset. There is a
lubricating mouthfeeling. The Qi is
starting to swell in my chest a bit.
There is almost a creamy almond but mainly watery sweet finish. A bland chalky talc develops in the mouth
minutes later.
The third infusion has a woody sweet almond onset with a
faint less obvious gamey taste. There is
a soft cloud like round sweetness to this one that is interesting. Almost peach fruity but not really. The finish is sweet creamy almost faint
marshmallow. The tongue coating is more
sticky faint sand. I can feel my heart
racing mildly here. This has an East
Yiwu close to or even over the boarder vibe to it. In some ways it reminds me of the Essence of
Tea Tian Men Shan but not at all as substantial.
The fourth infusion has a pondy, almost blank bland woody,
almost mushroom onset with almond sweetness.
There is some faint fruitiness that tries to establish itself. The mouthfeeling is a soft almost sandy
stickiness. The throatfeeling is faint
and somewhat deep. The Qi is very
calming on the mind and almost hypnotic.
The aftertaste is a walnut taste not really fruity but with a very faint
not really there candy on the breath. I
can feel a mild slow heart sensation in the body. The Qi is starting to build in the mind.
I’m having a really hard time placing this puerh. In some ways it tastes like an old dry seal
stored puerh and in other ways it tastes rather new. In many ways it is like the 2001 Naked
Yiwu. Even the location has evaded
me. This is a tough one.
The fifth infusion has a woody and mushroom and almond onset
over a pondy base taste. There is a
creamy incense building almost caramel sweetness that comes out of these
tastes. The mouthfeeling is becoming
drier pucker stickiness. There is a long
solid incense base taste. There is a
long candy like sweetness developing on the breath. The Qi is a bit hypnotic and a bit
relaxing. There is a lot of nuanced
complexity that just can’t quite punch through such as orange peel, herbal
tastes, and floral tastes. My scalp
feels a bit tingling. This is a really
interesting infusion. The thought of
this being a seal stored Youle crosses my mind- again this puerh is really hard
for me to place. My mind is starting to
really unravel. It has a nice deep
warming Qi sensation to it which suggests age.
The sixth infusion has a pondy woody incense onset with some
sweet almond and almost suppressed floral.
The mouthfeeling is becoming really engaging and has a sticky drying
cotton mouth effect. It feels almost
like there is something caught in the mid-throat. There is some faint long candy in the
aftertaste as well as walnut taste and almost peach orange taste. The mouthfeel is really intense here. The Qi is warming and pushes me into a
sweat. I feel quite stoned from the
Qi. There is a deep strength to this
puerh in its Qi, mouthfeeling, and even taste, in a subtle way. This is a really interesting puerh to me.
The seventh infusion has an incense woody onset with some
walnut taste in there as well. There is
almost fruity taste that tries to emerge.
There is also a bitterer base emerging as well as there as well. The mouthfeel is a sticky punckery pretty
engaging thing now. The Qi is warming in
the body and hypnotic in the mind.
The eighth has a fruity floral onset over wood and incense
notes. There is a bland chalky base
taste then a faint coolness and a strong true apricot fruit finish almost like
apricot jam. This infusion has turned a
corner and is very apricot tasting. Very
delicious. A sticky almost puckering Qi
is there.
The ninth infusion has an almost nutty not really toffee
sweet onset the woody and incense taste is less now and a fruitier and sweeter
suggestion is left to enjoy. There is a
pondy aftertaste. There is a bit of a
mineral taste here and a floral and apricot fruit. Over a slightly puckering sticky engaging
coating in the mouth while the throat seems pretty absent throughout this
session is carries a touch of very very faint coolness.
The tenth infusion is a pondy, kind of fruity, slightly
woody incense taste initially that has an almost chalky bland midtaste before
returning mild chalky apricot aftertaste.
The aftertaste is not super long not overly complex throughout any of
the infusions but sometimes carries a very very faint candy suggestion like
this infusion does. The Qi is strongly
warming in the body and feel like aged Qi energy.
The eleventh infusion has a fruity incense taste with a
bland chalky finish with some faint florals and barely candy appearing over the
bland aftertaste finish. Mouthfeeling is
thicker chalky pucker. Warming euphoric
Qi.
The 12th infusion has a mild fruity onset with a
bland almost woody creamy pondy taste.
There is a slightly sticky mouthfeeling and a faint fruity almost candy
finish. This puerh is dropping off fast. The Qi is mild.
The 13th infusion I steep for 30 seconds over
flash… it yields a woody bland onset with a bit of creamy fruity finish with
some throat coolness.
I put this in a mug to grandpa steep out. It tastes of
generic smoky incense and some woody bitterness.
The wet leaves are different colours of aged olive green and
coppery colours some of them are chopped leaf grade indicative of a factory
production.
Overall, this puerh is really difficult for me to place. More difficult than the others so far. The
first few infusions and the dry leaf almost remind me of Laos puerh or something
East Yiwu close to the boarder with a meaty and gamey taste. Then the next group of infusions develop a
pondy woody taste to it with some fruity and creamy sweetness. The mouthfeel builds and becomes thicker
almost pucker. The Qi is warm and indicates
something more aged as does the incense base taste that develops. These infusions remind me of a dry seal
stored older more old school puerh. In
the later infusions a strong apricot sweetness is highlighted.
This puerh changes a lot throughout the
session which makes it kind of interesting.
It is definitely dry stored, likely Taiwanese dry storage, and possibly
even sealed storage. It also has a
factory feel to it like a Xiaguan, maybe especially in the later
infusions. It’s more of a generic
factory taste in the last half. Not sure
how this puerh would be priced which depends on how old it is really. I think this might be an option for offering something
older but more affordable at Teas We Like.
Its profile is something that I don’t think I would be too interested in
buying, either way. But if the price was
low it would be a bargain.
Guess: An aged possibly seal storage very dry Taiwanese stored
factory production? This one is the
hardest of the blind samples for me to place…
Answer: 2010 Youle Gushu from Teas We Like
Answer: 2010 Youle Gushu from Teas We Like
Peace
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