Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #8

 

Dry leaves have a sweet almost cherry plum odour.

Rinsed leaves have a very sweet creamy sort of strawberries and mainly peachy fresh fruity smell.

First infusion has a sugar sweet woody watery infusion.  Nice long barnyard cool pungent pure sugar sweetness.  Pure clear watery tastes.  Slight mild sticky feeling in mouth.

Second infusion has a creamy sugar peachy sweet pure onset with a mildly oily slight sticky sandy feeling in mouth.  Nice cool breath.  Warm face and happy cozy feeling. 

Third infusion has a watery woody not as sweet taste but some faint had to grasp peach. Nice relaxing happy and even a touch warming energy.

Fourth infusion has a pure sugary sweet peach taste onset with a moderate oily texture.  The sweet oily peach taste extends into a long sweet pure aftertaste.  Nice happy deep sighs relaxing vibe with some warming face and brow.

Fifth infusion has a sweet fresh pure peach taste in an oily texture mouthwatering with another pop of peach with a deep throat feeling of saliva gob there.  Nice long peaches and pure sugar sweetness!  A big of qi in chest and heavy limbs. 

6th has a sweet peach onset with oily mouthfeeling and vibrant and juicy pops of peach.  Long creamy candy almost like those Fuzzy Peaches candies.  Chest release with deeper sighs and full mouthwatering oily peachy juicy taste.  Happy and focused mind.

7th infusion has an oily very pure peachy sweetness with an oily sticky mouthfeel and deep throat stimulation.  Ashy jucy peach with long sweet candy peach finish deep throat gob of saliva with chest chest and face warmth shoulders relaxed and open and heavy feeling.  Happy focused and refreshed mind. 

8th has a vibrant fresh peachy ashy taste with oily mouthfeel and deep throat gob with long peachy taste. Slight oily sticky feeling.  Qi is building up and feels big and euphoric but not spacey and strongly focusing now.

9th very juicy peachy ashy woody very sweet and oily with deep throat saliva producing effects.  Big almost transcendent Qi feeling.  It really pulls me out of this mundane day-to-day mind that Ai have been in and elevates it! Not sure where this teas is from but has some GuaFengZhai/ ChaWangShu/ TianMenShan type of strong quality Qi in there!

The next day I come back to the leaves…10th has a peachy oily sweet taste with sweet very sugary finish over a slightly sticky mouthfeel.  Deep throat gobs and expanding feeling.   Heat expanding feeling.

11th has a sweet fruity peach oily taste with a deep throat saliva gob expanding mind feeling and chest and abdominal feelings as well.

12th oily delicious peachy thick oily sweetness deep throat peachy saliva gobs and long sweet taste.   Nice big Qi feeling.

13th has a peachy oily watery sweet taste. Still bother Qi feeling but has posts lots of flavour.  Pretty good stamina.

Guess: a powerful 2020 ish Yiwu Gushu area possibly near GuaFengZhai/ChaWangShu/ TianMenShan? Not sure exactly … 

Wrapper: TMS ‘19… hahaha yes… 2019 TianMenShan!

This was my last of these Puerist Dragonballs!  Thanks again Mark Turner for sending them!

Peace

Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #7

 Dry leaves are sweet fresh peach.

Rinsed leaves have a deep creamy almost sweet pastry woody Forest odour.

First infusion is left to cool and has a watery forest woody taste with wet faint barely sweet sugar.

Second infusion has a sweet bread taste with a watery oily wet mouth feel and sweet mild melon finish some icing sugar minutes later.

Third infusion has an oily really delicious creamy buttery sweet mouthwatering layered sweetness.  Yummy! There is a faint cooling but mainly butter, creamy sweet.  There is a faint smoke in there that is really nice with the layered sweet tastes. Mild happy feeling Qi.

Fourth has a peachy wood oily taste creamy sort of pungent forest creamy finish.  With a sticky chalky mouth.  Some chest Qi is very faintly building.

5th has a watery woody creamy faint taste.  Very watery a wet feeling with just faint edges of wood and sugar.  Soft mouthfeeling subtle spacey relaxing qi. 

6th has a sweet caramel almost melon sort of sugar not complex or layered just faint and hard to explain. Mild space out relax.

7th is left to cool and has a very mild watery pure tasting relaxing sleepy qi.  Mild faint hard to grasp sweetness pure empty hard to grasp tastes. There is a faint creamy sweet taste that is most prominent.  Soft fluffy mouthfeel.

8th has a creamy sugar melon oily buttery onset soft oily watery mouthfeel with faint sticky edges.  Flat woody watery taste with faint cooling and sugary faint edges finish.  Slight sticky roof of mouth and sleepy relaxing Qi mind slow.

9th has a woody oily sweet pear and sugar taste. Pure, clean with a creamy sugary finish.  Sleepy relax.

10th infusion has a pear oily onset with a oily woody taste with a sugar creamy sweet throughout.  Mouthfeel is soft and oily with sticky edges.  Slight cool and creamy breath.  Sleepy relaxing qi.

11th infusion has a woody oily buttery taste with an oily bland sweet finish.  Sticky edges of the mouthfeel become slightly sandy and not that tight.  Deeper relaxing sleepiness.

12th has a woody oily bland sweet taste.  No astringency or bitternesss at all throughout this session- very pure clean sleepy energy very soft on the body and sedative on the mind.

Overnight infusion of spent leaves have a sweet coco pure taste.  Pure and refreshing coco sweetness.

Days long steeping has a coco sweet taste with a sugary sweet edge and silty mild mouthfeel.

Guess: has a generic but delicious 2020/21 Gushu feel … no one area character stands out too much … could be Yiwu???

Wrapper: SJ ‘15?…. ???? 

Peace

Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #6

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Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #5

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Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #4

 

Dry leaves are an almost smoke sweet plum odour.  Nice sweet plum = yum!

Rinsed leaves have a plum rich woody dirt odour to them sort of smells like Nannuo.

First infusion has a bland watery sort of mushrooms and barnyard faint watery taste. Soft mouthfeel.

Second infusion has a watery taste with a woody dirt faint taste with bland sweet almost plum taste.  Mouthfeel is soft and mind a bit spaced out.

Third infusion has a woody onset with a pop of cherry then long emerging candy cherry candy taste.  Some chest expanding and relaxing feelings.

Fourth infusion has a caramel sweet onset with a bland woody finish some faint candy left on the breath.  Mouthfeel has a sticky mild dry feeling and lots of feeling on the cheeks and down the throat.

Fifth infusion has an oily fruity peach and caramel sweetness.  Some body tingling and spacy relaxing.  Full oily onset fruity caramel sweetness.  Face and limbs tingling body feeling.  Mild space out mind slow feeling with open chest. Slight gripping mouthfeel underneath oily onset.

5th has an thick oily peachy caramel with a progression to dry gripping feeling in the mouth and throat.  There is a quick returning candy. Very spaced out feeling with lots of subtle tingling.  Floating body is strong.  

6th has an ashy almost bitter dry woody onset with a background peach caramel.  The mouthfeel is quite gripping but the body feel is stronger as well with chest sensations and beats. Numb floating bodyfeel and spacy mind.

7th has a pop of peach caramel under gripping dry wood and tight gripping mouth and throat. Staring bodyfeel continues.  Very puckering here but strong tingling and floating and chesty bodyfeeling!

8th I come back to the leaves the next day and it has a caramel and fruity juicy honeydew melon taste.  Nice mouthwatering.

9th has a watery lime taste to it there is a dry woody bland taste with a slight dry puckering mouthfeel.

The long mug steeping of spent leaves reveals a woody bland slight caramel oily textured with faint suppressed sweetness and pretty intense mouth puckering driness. The overnight infusion is an ashy sweet taste with a mouthwatering wet feeling.

Guess: 2018ish I am confident it’s Western Xishuangbana area maybe Nannou ? Or even Bulang with that Qi! Feels like an area I’ve had before…

Wrapper: D’20 MN?  … must be a 2020 Man Nuo region!

Peace

Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #3

 Dry leaves have a creamy very sweet Yiwu odour!

Rinsed leaves swell of a muted dirt and brown sugar odour.  Smells more mid aged maybe…

First infusion has a dirt rubbery bland beets sort of tarte… not sweet at all. Warming qi and face flush. 

Second infusion oops a 30 second infusion instead of keeping with my 20 sec rinse, 20s, 15s, 10s, 5s, flash until spent for these Dragonballs… it has a malted caramel taste with an oily mouthfeel.  Sweet pure and oily tasting with some mouthwating and warm face.  Pure brassy and caramel taste. Subtle mild sticky mouthfeel. Warm chest and face.

Third 10 s infusion is slight melon caramel pure clean taste.  Slight mouthwating wet mouthfeel.  Cooled down it tastes watery with a faint floral brassy caramel. 6-8 years of age on this maybe. Warming qi in face and chest. 

4th infusion has a melon orange onset with a sweet and slight woody taste.  Sweet oily orange and orange blossom taste with warm chest and face and mildly spacy mind.  Long sweet orange tastes. Chesty qi. 

5th is left to cool and has a icing sugar onset with a creamy sweet finish.  There is a long lingering candy sweet finish minutes later on the breath.  Very strong chest sensations with a spacy feeling in the mind the juxtaposition of these sensations is a bit jolting and makes the mind wander.

6th has a watery sweet sorts melon woody bland onset.  Qi is pretty strong chest Qi like a vibrating in the chest with mind unsettling feeling.  Wow strong.  Reminds me of the qi of a strong Menghai or pasha but tastes like Yiwu.

7th has a melon oily sweet onset with a faint woody almost coco with subtle orange finish.  Strong unsettling chesty Qi warm face.  

8th has an ashy woody almost coco onset with a mild fruity peach orange sweet finish.  Mouthfeel has a faint driness now.  Strong chesty Qi and scattered mind.

9th has a brown sugar and fruity oily woody taste. Very oily and viscous feeling with woody slight sticky dry mouth.  

10th has a oily woody almost coco onset very viscus mouthfeel reminds me of Yi Shan Mo. strong unsettling chest s powerful with big chest sensations and tremor.

11th has an oily caramel and brown sugar sweetness there is some fresh fruity taste but background and an ashy woody brown sugar finish.  Lots of mouthwatering over a slightly drying mouthfeel. Big chest Qi and face warmth.  Qi is really strong and almost unsettling. 

12th I come back to the leaves the next day… it has a faint sweet taste with bland woody bark and a slight buttercup floral finish. Soft mouthfeel.  Big qi building up but not as strong. 

13th has a sweet oily slight coco banana peel bland taste with creamy sweetness mild in the aftertaste.

14th is left to cool and has a mild banana taste in lots of bland.

Long mug steeping of spent leaves has a dry slight woody dirt wood bark gripping mouthfeel with faint lingering fruity orange-peach taste. Big Qi still apparent in these leaves.  The overnight steeping is very candy sweet melon lime upfront with a vibrant dazzling melon sugar candy that fades fast. 

Guess: 2015-2018 Pasha? …. Hummm… not sure about this one… a bit confused by it… nothing immediately coming to me…

Wrapper: ALS’16- it’s obviously a 2016 AiLao Shan!

Peace

Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #2

 

Dry leaves have a creamy sweet odour.  Smells like a creamy sweet Yiwu! Hahaha 

Rinsed leaves have a very fresh rubbery sweet orange odour.

First infusion has a pungent spicy savoury vegital sweetness.  There is a sweet taste throughout.  It tastes very fresh 2023 or fall 2022 I think.

Second infusion has a slight coco woody Forest taste.  There is a faint bittersweet woody coco throughout and a slight sticky mouthfeel.  

Third infusion has a watery coco melon fruity taste over an icing sugar sweetness.  The icing sugar sweet really expands in the mouth then fades as the faint coco drops off first.  Mouthfeel is wet and very mouth watering.  Mild relaxing feeling with slow breaths.

Fourth infusion has a creamy faint coco sweet taste very pure and clear taste with no bitterness lots of mouthwatering wet mouthfeel with long creamy sweet finish.  Some faint gripping mouthfeel with squeaky teeth. 

5th has a coco faint almost savoury forest vegetal onset with a watery wet mouthfeel and woody sweet almost melon finish.  Done slow chest beats and calm focused mind. A big relaxing wave hit me from the Qi here.

6th has a coco creamy woody almost dirt coco onset.  Overall pretty sweet and not reallly bitter.  There is a nice wet mouth feel and salivating from slight mild throat stickiness.  Some face flush and waves of relaxing. Chalky fruity clear sweetness with some banana peel taste.  Warm face deep relax slow breath.

7th has a watery woody creamy almost banana peel forest taste.  The mouthfeel is wet and slightly sticky.  Watery sweet woody faint coco.  Chest opening with chest beats and warm face.  Waves of relaxing almost time slowing.

8th has a watery woody coco fruity light flavour onset.  Very light pure flavours.  Light but mainly sweet.  Some faint tropical and banana peel.

9th infusion has a watery melon fruity taste with a creamy chalky sweet finish.  The next day I sip the last half of liquid left in the cup and it’s a cooling pungent forest slight salty taste with sweet fruity banana finish.

10th infusion is a smooth creamy tropical fruity oily sweet onset.  Lots of mouthwatering and almost candy sweet returning. Wave of spacy relaxing with chest opening. Soft wet slight chalky mouthfeel.  

11th is left to cool and has a creamy fresh fruity sweetness oily meet mouthfeeling.  Nice clear pure tastes.  Open chest feeling with relaxing waves.

12th has a sweet watery melon taste.  Pure and clean with a more creamy candy return.  Soft wet mouthfeel. Spacy waves of relaxing.

13th has a woody Forest salty taste slight woody mainly faintly sweet almost melon. Still stronger chest opening and relaxing spacy feeling.  

Long mug infusion has a creamy chalky vegetal slight bitter taste with a slight gripping mouthfeel and sweet lime flavours.  Sweet complexity in here.  Overnight it has a sweet lime fresh sweet almost melon taste with an ashy woody taste. Sticky sandy dry puckering with pops of very sweet almost candy returning sweetness.

Guess: 2022 Da Miao ( a common favourite production of Purlerist) or other Northern Yiwu area

Wrapper: C’21 M Sai- Must be a 2021 Man Sai!

Mark Turners Comments: The Man Sai is also a bit of an outlier. It's from a village near Kyaing Tong in Burma/Myanmar. It definitely has aspects that are more Yiwu-like than say Bulang Shan to which it is geographically much closer. Maybe more akin somehow to Xiao Meng Song?

Peace

Puerist Blind Dragonball Sample #1

Dry leaves have a subtle pungency to them…

Rinsed leaves have a dirt fruity orange pungency.

First infusion has a clear watery sweet sugary taste.  Soft pure tasting with some tongue and lip sticky tingling.

Second has a sweet distinct pure orange citrus sweet taste. Slight soft sandy mouthfeel.  Slight floral light pure tastes with an orange blossom and slight woody almost coco finish.  I’m leaning towards Nannou producing area…

Third infusion has a watery orange sweet taste initially.  It’s still watery and pure with a wet mouthfeel and light mild qi sensation.  Some faint cooling pungent and wood with a sticky mouthfeel.

Fourth infusion has a savoury watery taste.  Again very pure and clear with a fine sandy mouthfeel with faint orange smtaste that’s hard to grasp in the distance.  Mild qi with a heavy brow and light mild feeling.

5th is left to cool and is a watery savoury slight woody slight vegital pure clear tasting.  The body feel is light and comfortable and mouthfeel is a fines soft sand.

6th has a faint buttery floral taste very pure watery taste.  There is almost a faint orange and maybe melon taste that returns with some coolness.  Done almost faint coco minutes later.  Tastes like something I’ve tried before at Puerist a Northern Yiwu maybe… 

7th has a savoury oily light woody with a puer clean presentation the is cool breath and light comfortable body feeling with soft stick fine sandy feeling.  Subtle evergreen tree finish.

8th is left to cool and has a pure watery peachy taste light pure Gushu type of thing with soft slight fine sand mouthfeel and calming light qi with slight spaciness.  

9th has a watery woody faint sweetness sort of orange sort of peach but not really strong at all.  Wet mouthfeel with fine soft sand on tongue calming easy on body peaceful qi.

10th has a soft faint peachy pop then watery sweet finish with subtle wood.  Watery pure and gentle.  Some sweetness lingers on breath almost coco like taste minutes later. 

11th I return to the leaves the next day and they give a watery pure taste of almost lime sweetness.  Wet mouth mild relaxing qi. Mild faint sugary finish.

12th infusion has a watery lime sweetness slight almost creamy melon faint wood returns.  Slight sticky fine sandy finish. Mild relaxing qi.  No bitterness at all in  this one even late in the session.

13th is eft to cool and has a woody lime peachy watery onset with a wet mouthfeel.  Mild sweet woody finish.  A light Qi relaxing.

14th is left to cool and has a lime sweet watery pure taste that has a refreshing taste almost melon and not really dry wood.  Sweet sugar mild returning taste.  Mild and comfortable feeling.

I give the 15th a longer 30 seconds steeping and it comes out quite delicious- it has a creamy sweet orange oily onset and a chalky creamy.

Back to a flash infusion on the 16th which is very sweet melon with wet mouthfeel.  A chalky melon sweet taste with faint wood.  Very mouthwatering and still pretty tasty.  Great stamina even for a Dragonball! Mild chill vibes.

17th infusion has a sweet almost melon almost orange clear watery taste with some dry wood. A fine sandy sticky mouthfeel is in here with mild  cooling breath.

Days long infusion brings a lime and sweet taste very pure and oily slight sugary taste.

Guess: maybe 2020/2019 MengSong?

Wrapper: it had different things written on different sides of the wrapper BPD2 ‘18- 17?  Okay this must be a 2018/2017 Ban Po Lao Zhai … I could see that in the second infusion there in the notes…

Mark Turners comments: It's a bit harder to tell its origin because it's single tree, so a bit more refined maybe. More 'individual'.  tea was BPDZ so Ban Po Dan Zhu. I think actually it was from 2015, but at some point I maybe doubted that and wrote 2017. You were pretty close in any case.

Addendum: Puerist used to sell these Ban Po Lao Zhai single tree samples.  See here.  I have a few more labeled single trees from Puerist that I will post after this blind sampling… they are all unique and different enough, all very high quality such as this Dragonball!

Peace

2024 Sampling of Puerist Blind Dragonballs!!!

 Here we go again!!!! I had such a blast with it last year that Mark Turner of Puerist sent another bag of Dragonballs!!!  Just like last year I will attempt my (poor)skill at determining the age and area by sampling them blind.  I used the same steeping method and guessing method as last year as described here.

This year I think I did very well with my blind guessing! Maybe the best blind sampling I have ever done… hahaha still got it!

Join me in the fun over the following posts…

Peace

Dry Storage: 1997 Menghai Red Ribbon & 2007 Youle Old Tree Maocha (Dry Storage Gentlemen)

I picked up a few of these Taiwanese dry storage puerh from Puerh.uk because I wanted to see what this dry storage source, the Dry Storage Gentlemen was like.  I enjoyed extensively sampling Mr.Chen’s dry storage and (Old Man) Daniel’s hot/dry sstorage from Puerh.uk this is another source I am interested in.  I sampled these two back to back…

1997 Menghai Red Ribbon (Dry Storage Gentlemen) goes for approx $356.00 for 357g cake or $1.00/g.

Dry leaves have a paper odour to them.

Rinsed leaves have a peat odour to them.

First infusion has a dusty sweet fruity taste.  There is a dusty paper taste with soft faint wood and slight fruity taste.  Mouthfeel is a touch dry with cooling throat.

Second has a dusty paper base with a soft mild sweet taste with woodsy bark notes underneath.  Slight talc powdery.   Cooled down it is more rounded sweet melon.  Faint dry feeling in mouth. Mild qi feelings.

Third infusion has a mineral sweet woody talc taste. Mild Qi feeling and mouthfeeling.

Fouth has more rich peat earthy mineral talc notes.  Almond chocolate taste.  Mild qi with soft mild dry mouthfeel.

Fifth is left to cool and has a mineral dusty talc sweet taste.  The sweetness is almost a sweet melon.  Slight throat coolness and mild dryness.

Sixth infusion has a woody rich earthy taste.  There is a nutty almost caramel peat sweet taste.  Mild Qi, cooling throat and mouthdriness.

Seventh has a mild woody dry dusty taste almost mushroom and almond tastes with dry peat but sweet overall with slight dry throaty. Mild relaxing.

Eighth is a bit sweet woody dust peat tastes.  Mild tastes.

Ninth has a mild sweet woody peat mushroom dusty. It has an overall mild watery sweet taste, mushroom and almond and dirt/peat.  Mild dry mouth. Mild sleepy relaxing.

10th has a woody sweet almost mushrooms overall sweet taste. Mild dry mouth and faint cooling throat.  

Overnight infusion has a medical woody sweet taste.  There is mild cooling camphor and sweet finish.  Some dry silty chalky tastes.  

2007 Youle Old Tree (Dry Storage Gentlemen) maocha is currently sold out.

Dry leaves have a sweet creamy sweet woody odour.

Rinsed leaves smell of peat roasted nutty almost floral.

First infusion has a roasted faintly bitter nutty pistachios shells sunflower seeds taste pretty savoury flavoured. Long sweet creamy finish.  Unique tastes.

Second infusion has a bitter-sweet sunflower seed tasty a bit roasty.  The mouthfeel is a silty slight chalky full feeling.  Spacy qi feeling.  Long candy creamy sweet finish minutes long. Interesting and satisfying.  Chest pressure and heavy shoulders bodyfeeling.

Third infusion has a sunflower seed onset there is a roasted nut/seed taste and full silty almost dry feeling.  Spaced out Qi with heart out of body chest feeling heavy limbs.  Strong quality qi. Slight creamy sweet minutes lkk ok my aftertaste along with some bitter roasted seeds.  Very satisfying unique taste.  Tastes more like Pasha than Youle producing area.

Fourth infusion is left to cool and has a creamy roasted seed sweet bitter taste.  Long creamy sweet candy and bitter seed finish with full silty almost dry mouth. Chest heart Qi with heavy shoulders and light arms and spaced out mind offers a nice qi experience.

Fifth offers a bitter seed sweet coco roasted nutty taste.  Mouthfeel is more dry slight gripping.  Has a dirt coco bitter seed taste throughout now. Strong Qi if lifting heart and chest/ shoulder heavy.  Spaced out feeling.  Numb face.

I come back to the pot the next day and continue flash steeping…. 6th is left to cool… and is a dusty woody slight sweet almost cloak with a clear sweet aftertaste.  Slight dry gums and tongue and heart opening Qi with slight energetic spacy.

7th is a dusty dry mouth sweetness. There is done floral pure sweet finish.  Some butter up honey.  Finished with sunflower seed shells.  Big qi feeling in body with Heart pulling out and limbs and shoulder heavy with Heart palpitations.  Spacy feel.

8th is left to cool and has a sunflower seed shell taste bitter not that sweet a bit peat dirt coco.  

Overnight infusion is a watery sweet wood and salty bland  almond.  Soft silty taste. Sort pond not that fruity unique but very satisfying taste.  I like how unique this Youle is!

Peace

1990s and 1980s Mr. Li’s Shou

 

I got these complimentary samples from Puerh.uk.  It was an unseasonably cool June day and I was looking for warmth… and I found it with these nice shu samples!

1990s Mr. Li’s Shu 

Dry leaf has a milky nutty Traditional Hongkong storage odour.

Rinsed leaves have a wet fermented slight milky odour.  

First infusion has a woody milky taste with nutty minerals finish.  Soft of sweet mineral plum/honey faint taste.

Second has a honey woody taste.  Cooled down it’s a creamy mineral honey taste.  The honey sweetness is unique in Shu puerh and I really enjoy the taste.

Third infusion has a prune mineral sweet taste has a sweet light feeling to it medium viscous.  Nice smooth mouthfeel as well. Relaxing warming Qi.

Fourth infusion was left to cool and has a honey woody smooth sweet taste. Some faint milk and nut tastes but smooth and moderately lighter feeling tastes for a shu. Relaxing warmth.

5th has a nut milk sort of sweetness slight woody and mineral.  Smooth taste and feel overall mild sweet. Mouthfeel is soft not oily or drying. Mild relaxing warmth.

6th has a woody sweet mineral smoothness.  Soft round taste is easy to drink and satisfying. Smooth relaxer.

The rest is put into long mug steepings… overnight it comes out… smooth coco sweet… this is a nice aged shu… smoother and sweeter than most with a moderate body.

1980s Mr. Li’s Shou Brick Nobel Heart goes for approx $305.00 for 250 g brick or $1.22/g.

Dry leaves have more musty mineral odours than 90s.

First infusion has a nutty dusty sweet taste.  Mouthfeel is neither oily nor dry.  Stronger Qi here with spacing out and sighing.  Pours a lot darker than the 90s which seems like lighter fermentation than this 80s.  This 80s has more pronounced Hongkong Storage notes.

Second has a thicker oily sweet milky with some clear almost cherry/ plum and ginseng tastes.  Nicely pure and sweet and vibrant oily taste.  Very delicious!  Qi is deeper in the chest and happy mind.  Strong chest thumping. Excellent Qi in here!

Third infusion is left to cool and has a sweet oily red ginseng taste.  Nice oily feel with Qi strength in the chest and upbeat mind. The sweet ginseng taste is really delicious and the Qi is powerful and astute.

Fourth infusion has a milky creamy oily onset with a sweet red ginseng taste.  Strong chest beats and chesty feeling is deep and strong. Mind spacy and happy and uplifted. Nice complete package with this one!

Fifth is a milky nutty woody fallen leaves less sweet but still strong chest beats Qi and energized mind.

6th has a woody milky nut taste.  Lone nutt and wood now but not any fermentation tastes just like the 90s ready pure tasting Shu puerh. Strong Qi.

Put the rest in a long mug steeping overnight it comes out smooth nutty oily with a sweet taste overall. Very satisfying!

Mr. Li has some really nice aged Shu with the 90s being a lighter fermentation shu and the 80s being a thicker more traditional Hongkong stored shu.  No off tastes, no dry mouth, nor any harsh elements to either…. A very good aged shu puerh experience for me!

Peace

Teas We Like Old Gushu Comparison: 2004 Old Tree Bulang Single Origin

Teas We Like was selling this comparison sample of Early 2000s Old Tree Bulang Tasting Set for $108.00 for two 20g samples.  

Dry leaves smell of faint dry wood.

Rinsed leaves have a rich resin coco odour.

First infusion has an oily resin bitters onset with a tingling mouthfeel and dry lips.  Chest pounding qi feeling.  Strong uplifting qi with happy excited kind.  Soft salivating mouthfeel.

Second has a clear pure fruity vibrant sweetness with bitter silty undertones.  Somewhat grape and coco almost wine like with dry woody coco finish in the mouth. Big chesty Qi feeling with a spacy.

Third infusion has a vibrant coco bittersweet onset with a wine taste in the middle and coco bittersweet finish. There is a sweet wine raisin coco chocolate taste with lots of mouthwatering effects.  Wine and chocolate finish.  Gobs of saliva in throat. Qi has a happy euphoria to it makes me feel happy-high! Limbs heavy and light with slow strong chest beats.

4th infusion has a rich bitter sweet pop almost wine tasting mid profile with significant salivating and strong high feeling with light almost floating body.  Vibrant pop of sweetnesss with salivating.  Long coco finish with soft sandy silty mouthfeel with deep throat saliva blob.

5th has a vibrant fruity sweet bitterness with a wine like taste in the mid profile which turns into a delicious coco taste. The mouthfeel is soft and almost a bit tingling with a saliva producing effect and throat deep gob.  Very Big spacy high feeling with heavy neck and limbs slow chest beats.

6th infusion has a dirt bitter sweet onset with a wine mid and almost resin honey finish.  The mouthfeel is a bit more chalky and the bitterness goes down the throat.  Spacy high feeling is very very strong!  The bodyfeel of light jaw, floating numb face heavy neck and limbs is also strong!

7th has a juicy fruity bittersweet coco onset with a silty slippery bitterness the sweet coco taste slides deep into the throat where saliva gobs linger. Big spacy high euphoria with strong alternating heavy and light body sensations!  Chocolate finish in mouth.

8th has a bitter dirt woody ashy onset there is more bitterness here still saliva gobs deep in throat and coco finish but red wine nuance is dropped as well as fresh fruit and there is faint honey resin still.  Long chocolate finish.

9thhas a bitter sweet resin honey coco taste. Silty slight sandy mouthfeel.  Deep throat mot as much saliva producing but still long coco finish.  Big spacy high qi super strong with face, jaw, neck, shoulders, chest and limbs going different things.  Big high quality Qi here. Chest and kind expansion.

I leave the pot over night and come back to the leaves for a flash 10th infusion which is left to cool and is a sweet chalky sweet taste with a subtle coco bittersweet finish.  Nice full soft chalky mouthfeel and deeper throaty opening with long lingering chocolate taste.  Body feels all over with a spacy euphoria happy feeling.

11th has a sweet pop of fresh fruity almost wine like with a bitter sweet finish very vibrant with grape wine like taste. Wet mouthing feel to it with deep throaty feeling.

12th left to cool has a resin pop of vibrant sweetness and a coco chocolate finish with a bittersweet nuance.  Nice spacy mild happy euphoria still. Coco aftertaste chesty Qi and heavy and light sensations.

13 has a vibrant sweet fruity pop very vibrant and delicious with a mouthwatering coco finish.  Happy euphoria now with lots of bodyfeeling heavy shoulders and light limbs. Face light and numb brow heavy…. Lots going on.

14th has a fruity pop of vibrancy then fruity long chalky almost but not really bitter sweet coco.  Chalky silty mouthfeeling with not much mouthwatering.  Spacy happy euphoric Qi.  Lots of bodyfeeling. Slight mouth drying feeling.

15th has a fruity sweet and menthol dry woody resin onset with a mouth drying.  Chalky dry mouth not much sweetness. Slight bittersweet coco finish.

I put the rest into long mug steepings.., an hour later it’s has a thick oily viscus bitter sweet coco with a slight roasted nut and even mushroom taste.  Humongous Qi explodes through body and mind! Big chesty beats push the mind it’s a frenzied euphoria!

The overnight infusion of the spent leaves has a bitter sweet resin oily mouthwatering onset with an oily and wet with mouthwatering.  I put it into another overnight steeping….

17th infusion has a smoke woody resin with wet mouth overall sweet and oily taste.  Nice sweet taste still. Strong Qi is still coming out of this one…

Maybe the best early era Gushu single origin I’ve ever sampled!!!!! The best! (Sorry the post on the blend stated this: This is very much a very high quality Lao Ban Zhang… probably the best I’ve ever tried!)

That comment was actually meant for this Single Origin.

In Oder of preference:

1- this single Origin

2- Nannou Gushu 

3- Bulang Blend

Peace