This is one of the more famous Wistaria productions. A cake goes for approx
The dry leaves smell of very sweet cake and creamy caramel
with a distant pondy like odour underneath.
Vibrant, mouthwateringly tasty, and sweet smelling.
First infusion has a smooth creamy approach with a slight
sugary sweet base with slight woody taste and an almost dry woody incense
finish with a pond and dry wood bark aftertaste. The thin sugary sweetness is long in the
profile but drops quickly in the aftertaste.
The mouthfeeling in a thin soft silky mouthcoating with a slight open
throat.
The second infusion has a sugary sweet onset with dry wood
base this time with more substantial smokiness that follows. There is a smooth rich sweet smoky finish
with a bit of pondy taste. The
mouthfeeling is thicker and more gripping and full now. The Qi is strong in the mind and opening in
the chest here.
The third infusion has a thick rich sweet sugary and thick
woody presentation with a full woody thickness in the mouth. There is a returning sugar taste with
distinct moderate smoke. Thick
mouthfeeling with open top throat.
Strong powerful energy push and full woody feeling in mouth with strong
heady Qi and open chest body feeling. It
has a strange Yi Wu/ Man Zhuan vibe to it.
The fourth infusion has a perfume with sweet sugar plum and
fruity onset. There are nuances of cake,
plum, figs, and apricot, a nice fruity and complex sweet feeling with some
chalky mouthfeeling. There is a nice
faint smoke underneath with a sweet taste left in the mouth. Overall, quite sweet with a bit of woody,
perfume and smoke to add contrast and complexity. Nice mind focusing Qi.
The fifth infusion has a quick faint smoke with a strong
sweet fruitiness. There is a chalky
mouth coating and faint smoky finish.
There are some woody nuances but overall nicely sweet and full
feeling. A bit of Heart racing and numb
face sensations. Stronger focusing Qi
now and developing bodyfeelings.
The sixth infusion pretty fruity sweet onset with a nice
juicy peachy and plum tastes almost creamy sweet with faint wood with some wood
underneath. The smoke can’t be detected
in this infusion. A nice thin chalky
mouthfeeling with open top throat a tiny bit of returning sweetness. Nice heady
and relaxing Qi. The Qi of the body and
mind are very nice.
The seventh infusion has a fruity plum and apricot that
turns into a creamy peachy sweetness on the breath. The cooled cup is very
creamy and fruity with a faint smoke with a woody background. The sweet and fruity tastes are really
supported by a thicker feeling in the mouth.
Nice relaxing Qi.
The 8th infusion has a creamy peach sweetness
with dry woody over a chalky mouthfeeling.
The Qi is almost spacy and hypnotic now.
The 9th infusion is a watery woody slight smoky
onset with some sugary faint aftertaste under a smoky woody taste. The mouthfeeling has thinned out considerably
and so has the taste.
The 10th has a pear fruity flat woody taste
now. The mouthfeel is flat and dry and aftertaste
is faint. Some pond, presumably storage aftertastes.
Not that sweet anymore.
I go to a mug steeping now…
The mug steeps are very pungent resin with a woody light
bitter incense no sweetness left. Kind of a spacy relaxing Qi.
Overall, this puerh has a very layered, full, and complex
sweet presentation with woody, incense, resin, and smoke to provide contrast, balance
and depth. The sweet thick tastes in
these first infusions are very nice. The
Qi comes fast and strong but after the first handful of infusions is really
relaxing and stoning. The Qi is also
quite memorable. The aftertaste and
throat feeling is the weakest point of this puerh as well as its stamina. I liked this puerh a lot but the lack of
stamina makes me weigh a purchase…
How would I compare this to older style puerh cakes … well
this is the only puerh I sampled out of the Wistaria bunch that hardly resembles
old style puerh at all. It’s too clean and elegant for this comparison. It’s only closeness is in Qi. To me this has a
feeling of Taiwanese boutique puerh or maybe even closer to the newer style
factories that were coming out of China in the mid aughts like Douji and
Chenshenghao. I guess it makes a lot of
sense that Chang Tai helped produce this puerh because it kind of has
that vibe to it… but it’s just really good, much better than any Changtai I
have tried.
James (TeaDB) Drinking Report notes and newer tasting notes
Peace
No comments:
Post a Comment