2011 ChenYuan Hao Qian Jia Zhai Jin Cha: Smooth, Deep, Long

I requested this sample of this 2011 ChenYuan Hao Qian JiaZhai Jin Cha (approx. $100 for 300g mushroom or $0.33/g) from Paolo of Puerh.uk in my last order.  I have been interested in it since seeing it posed on the Teas We Like site.  Jin Cha is not usually of high quality product but this one apparently is.  Also I like the tight compression and tend to enjoy the puerh I’ve sampled from QianJia Zhai in the past.

Dry leaves very very creamy sweet notes it smells like cake almost.

First infusion has a watery floral vegetal peat moss kind of initial taste with a long sweet floral watery finish.  Nice calming mind feeling.

Second infusion has a chalky floral creamy sweet taste with an expanding long floral sweetness that is subtly cooling and long on the breath.  It is really expansive and mouthwatery.  The mouthfeeling makes the lips tight and has a mild puckering feel over a mid-deep opening throat.  Nice long floral sweet taste.

The third infusion is left to cool and gives off a woody floral sweet almost bitter taste the taste is really a nice with a long and sweet floral almost candy-like taste which really expands in the soft oily texture and subtle tight mouthfeeling underneath.  The mouthwatering effect is slow and gradual and gives the feeling of a silky smooth puerh.  The Qi is deeply relaxing and reflective with deep sighs.

The fourth infusion has a creamy floral woody almost peat kind of taste with a nice soft gripping mouthfeeling and throatfeeling with dry lips and a tugging at the back of the throat.  There is some sweet taste and bitter woody-peat.  A faint sugar taste is left in the mouth.  Minutes later there is a distinct coco chocolate taste that lingers on the breath.  Nice deep calming with chest heaviness.  Qi has a strong unwinding feeling that you just sink into.

5^th has a woody bitter oily peat floral less of a sweetness now.  The oily taste is substantial over a tugging tight mouthfeeling.  The returning sweet taste is big and interesting with pops of floral and tart bitter sweet cherries and coco chocolate deeper tastes.  Deep reflective Qi.

6^th infusion has a coco floral onset with nice oily taste with slight gripping tongue long sweet chocolate taste with this one.  Nice slowly building aftertaste and deep heavy chest calming and reflection.  Nice pops of creamy tart bitter cherries but overall and throughout coco.

7^th has a woody cherry bitter tart taste with a long woody kind of peat but with a sweet cherry edge taste.  Nice expansive taste.  Mouthwatering tart-bitter-sweetness with a strong throat simulating effect which pushes saliva in the tongue and mouth.  Deep relaxation and reflection.  Limbs and neck heaviness.

8^th has a cherry berry woody sweet onset with an expanding taste that gets a bit cherry and coco and creamy sweet.  Nice long unveiling of flavor. 

9^th has a creamy cherry sweet woody onset with floral nuances in there.  It ends with this slightly dirt but more of a coco chocolate note.  The flavor slowly evolves over a slightly tight motuhfeeling and nice throat simulating in the mid-upper throat.  Nice relaxing contemplative Qi.

10^th has a cherry-woody-coco onset with a balance of bitter and sweet with a bit of tart flavor initially that stretches into more of a creamy sweet with tart cherry-berry and woody-dirt-coco flavours.  Nice Qi folds over my mind and has a bit of a heavy feeling in the shoulders and arms and face.  Feels deeply reflective.

11^th has a honey woody sweet taste in this cooled down infusion.  There is a long dirt coco taste with creamy sweet honey undertaste.  The Qi has a heavy chest feeling and nice deep relaxing.

12^th has a woody plum coco onset over a tighter mouthfeeling and oily body.  The throat is stimulated mid level and creates a nice long aftertaste of creamy coco slightly bitter-sweet.  Nice deep contemplated Qi.

13^th has a dirt woody bitter coco that is more this bland brackish dirt taste now with lesser sweetness that is more in the aftertaste and almost creamy sweet.  The mouthfeel is becoming tighter here.  Nice strong relaxing Qi.

14^th has a strong creamy bitter sweet coco and brackish dirt taste with a oily slow to develops coolness and creamy sweetness in the aftertaste.  The Qi is this really enjoyable unwinding feeling in the mind while still keeping the alertness and energy stable. 

15^th rich coco taste developing with a nice oily sweetness that slowly comes out in the aftertaste under the dominant coco.  The coco is slightly brackish and dirt there is an evolving almost sweetness.

I got back to the leaves the next day and the flash infusion has a bitter herbs taste to them.

I mug steep out the rest…

Deep dark coco chocolate taste with woody and fruity and bread layers.  Still very deep and complex tasting with a pungent coolness that has a numbing mouth feeling.  Nice oily and rich taste.  Deep dark sweet bitter-sweet coco.  It has that peat-brackish-dirt undertaste to it.

I felt really really good after consuming this puerh.  The Qi is really nice- it is this deep contemplative puerh that doesn’t slow the mind down.  It has some heavy sensations in the body but yet the mind doesn’t feel heavy or bogged down.  I like the slow moving profile and long aftertaste.  There is some really delicious sweet tastes in there and they are nicely balanced with a bit of bitterness that comes out later but not that much astringency.  The throat is nicely stimulated.

I’m unsure what I would compare this one too… but it is really good for its price and I’d like to try the Teas We Like storage before considering a purchase.

Peace