The Best of Chawangshu: 2024 Essence of Tea Cha Wang Shu

This 2024 Essence of Tea Cha Wang Shu goes for $413.00 for 200g cake or $2.07/g.  I saw that Essence of Tea was pressing high quality Gushu from this area in 2022 & 2023 and wanted to try but never go to that order.  I was most looking forward to this session, Chawang shu is near the very top for me, and waited for a day where I could really take it all in.  That day I was already feeling amazing …. This session really took me over the top!!!

Dry leaves are a pungent sweet forest that reminds me immediately of unmistakable Cha Wang Shu!

Rinsed leaves have a creamy pungent forest odour… very Cha Wang Shu in every way!

First infusion has a soft clear onset with some melon and sugar creamy sweetness.  Wet mouth oily feeling.  Mouth salivating coolness with long creamy sweetness left in a wet oily salivating mouth.  Creamy sweetness delicious.  Peaceful calm with head tingling. Some opening feeling in the chest.  In the mind a spacy high is building up and I feel my mind already floating… subtle body floating…

Second has a melon creamy woody onset oily and wet mouth.  Saliva gobs and jams up the throat with producing saliva deep throat salivating.  Very strong spaced out with body and mind floating!  Vibration upwards!  Space out- take me away Qi… chest slight heavy with scalp tingling.

Third infusion has a delicious creamy melon sweet oily wet mouth lots of saliva producing candy like sweet pops of taste.  Long sweet melon finish.  Slight roasty woody bready in the throat.  Very strong space outs.  Body, arms, and scalp tingling with floating head, floating body feeling.  I feel so high… but not useless … a deep energy boost.

Fourth( or fifth?)infusion has a sugar creamy wet oily sweetness edges of woody almost melon tropical creamy sweetness is long there is a bit of sticky-sweet gums and roof.  Open chest feeling with scalp and body tingling and floating feeling. Spaced out deep charges.  Float.

… I’m so high I think I combined the third and fourth infusions …. Hahaha

Fifth ? Infusion has a creamy sweet sort of creamy melon taste.  Long lingering melon sweet woody taste.  Salivating wet oily texture with deeper throst salivating.  Bigger chest opening feeling with more energy charging up than spacy high but still lots of high, and floating and shoulders heavy and scalp tingling, face tingling, limbs tingling!

Sixth infusion has a creamy woody melon sweet onset with wet mouth less oily now.  Long creamy sweet finish.  Big Bodyfeeling and mind Qi!  Tingles, happy boost, big chest feeling heavy shoulders… big things here!  Cooled down it is soft icing sugar sweetness that returns/ evolves into a creamy sweet soft melon taste.  Mouthfeel is soft and smooth with a subtle stickiness and deep throst opening with some saliva producing.  Very happy and feel amazing /actualized.

Seventh has a woody lesser sweet sugar onset now with creamy woody taste getting a bit woody bland with some return and aftertaste mild melon sweetness.  Slight stickiness with sticky gums and still big spacy feeling good with heavy shoulders and chest.  For other reasons I am already feeling amazing today but this Qi has replicated that feeling to the next level!

Eighth infusion is watery sweet woody soft sticky mouthfeel with a returning melon sweetness on the cool breath.  Flavour is fading but there is a long sweet finish.  Not an oily texture but still some deep throat cooling.  Big qi is more relaxing and floating now.  Long sweetness…

Ninth is left to cool and is sweet woody… not much left. Milder spacy high now..

The long mug steeping is a woody almost potato melon.  More bland woody than sweet but still sweet edges.  Granular sandy mouthfeeling.  Relaxing Qi here with only mild body feelings left.  

I put it for another overnight thermos steeping and it is an oily sort of spicy woody melon potato taste.  Sweet oily taste.  Mild high now….

One of the best Chawangshu I have ever tried… very characteristic taste and feel with Qi and Bodyfeeling much above the average for other years/ productions of Chawangshu I have sampled recently.  I hope to have a few more 2024 Cha Wang Shu coming here soon so we are going to find out if it’s just a particularly good year for the region.  

Peace