Tops! 2024 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan Cha Wang Shu

This is the first sample I tried from the complimentary 2024 Yuan Chen Hao samples I recently received!  I sampled the 2023 version of this one last year.  The 2023 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan ChaWangShu came a bit later than the initial group of 2023 ChenYuan Hao samples I did end up sampling it but unfortunately I lost the notes and didn’t post it on the blog.  I remember it was similar to but enjoyed it maybe a bit more than the 2023 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu which I had sampled months earlier.  

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan ChaWangShu goes for $297.00 for 100g cake or $2.97/g.  So far it is my favourite out of the 2024 ChenYuan Hao samples I’ve tried this week…

Dry leaves are very sweet creamy melon potato… mouthwatering delicious.  Vs the 2024 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu which is more pungent sweet the HuangShan is more sweet smelling and less pungent.

Rinsed leaves have a sweet forest pungent odour.

First infusion has a clear watery sweet onset with a pungent forest almost woody faint gamey taste.  Sweet faint long return.  Cooling faint sweeet breath.  Relaxing peace. Some shoulder lightness.

Second infusion has a banana creamy sweet onset with oily mouthwatering feeling in mouth.  Lots of deep throat opening with salivating return of sweet taste.  Chest opening feeling with light shoulders and jaw.  Peaceful spacy feeling with some head bobbling and mind floating away.

3rd has a mild bitter sweet onset with a lingering banana melon woody taste. Slight dry roof of mouth less oily texture.  Deep throat opening.  Jaw and face numb with shoulders light.  Open bubbly chest feeling.  Energetic calm with mind focused but slight spacy floating.

4th has a quick bitter sweetness with a floral soapy melon potato taste.  Pop of complex sweet floral tastes with a sandy mouthfeel and deep throat opening.  Sticky sandy mouthfeeling. Spacy focusing floating feeling with jaw, shoulders light and chest opening.  Spacy tingling feeling while body buzz!

5th juicy fruity burst with mild bitter sweetness.  Oily texture with sticky sand underneath.  Oliy sweet juicy pop then sandy sticky coating left behind.  Spacy coating mind with sharp focusing energy is contrasting but works the effect is a strong qi experience.  Melon sweet taste is left on the breath.  The body is tingling and airy with limbs and shoulders face and jaw open chest feeling. Vibrating feeling!

6th has a bitter sweet woody oily potato melon type of sweet taste the sticky almost dry sandy feeling really coats the mouth and is exposed after the oily sweetness recedes.   chest expanding and bubbling is strong with energetic spacy focus. Body and face tingling with airy floating libs and lots of shoulder things. Buzzy calm is contradictory 

7th has a sweet dry woody potato melon onset.  Strong spacy energetic high.  Body vibration and light softness airy limbs and big expanding chest opening.  Spaced out with strong focusing.  Strong contradicting Qi in body and mind is not disorienting but rather adds to a deeper Qi experience.  The oily/ dry sticky sand mouthfeel and bitter/ sweetness deepens the contrasting feeling that some how works well and adds complexity to this puerh.

8th has a watery woody onset with oily melon sweet return fine sandy mouthfeel.  Sweetness fades as mouth becomes slowly sandy.  Spacy energetic high with all the body things happening!  Tingling high art floating hyper space out.

9th has a sweet buttercup floral with slight melon finish.  Nice floral sweet balance oily.  The compounded qi feeling sends me up, up, and away….  Big chest feeling grounds me in my tingly body.

10th infusion is a melon woody floral oily mouthwatering thing. Cool breath and deep throat faint opening with mild saliva build up there.  Spacy high.  Mouthwatering floral sweet freshness with cooling finish.  Spaced out high with energy!

11th watery woody floral oily sweet with sticky lips.  Mouthwatering deep throat saliva build up.  Great transition through the session and stamina! Very enjoyable mid session to later session!  Very high feeling!  Good stamina in this one!

The long mug infusion of spent leaf is pungent spice and layered sweetness with an oily chalky texture and sticky roof of mouth.  Long deep sweetness sort of floral purfume in throat and breath,  ends in a candy melon taste.

This is an excellent ChaWangShu with complex opposing features and qualities of taste and Qi that make this a treasure to explore in its depths… it has great stamina as well! I liked this one a lot! As it cools it is more floral maybe with a sort of tingling mouthfeel.

Peace

 

2024 ChenYuan Hao Release!!!

 Okay, here we go!!!! Paolo of Puerh.uk facilitated a sampling of the fresh 2023 ChenYuan Hao line up last year and was it ever a treat… so many very high quality Gushu productions for so many of the famous areas in Yiwu.  It offered me a glimpse into what high end boutique Gushu scene was like these days.

I thought the samples for review was a one off thing to launch the new English ChenYuan Hao site… I was surprised that Paolo offered me the 2024 lineup for review again!

I look forward to sampling some that I had missed in 2023 also to compare with Alex’s Tea Notes as he has already started to post some of his….

Peace

2020 Fu Shun Gao Legacy (The Beast): Blended Bulang Beats!

I received this 2020 Fu Shun Gao Legacy “the Beast” (approx $670.00 for 357g cake or $1.88/g) as a free sample with my last purchase from Puerh.uk.  It is another high quality blend of 2015 aged maocha from the same producer as the 2016 Puerh.uk Ethereal which I sampled back-to-back days. 

Dry leaves are a smoky bitter smelling thing…. Very delicious too me!

Rinsed leaves have a very subtle bbq smoke that someone could miss.

First infusion has a watery woody creamy bittersweet.  There is a vegital woody taste.  Creamy sweet no fruity tastes here. Maybe orange peel?  Soft creamy orange finish.  Strong heart beats developing.

Second infusion has a vegital bitter creamy sugar bittersweetness.  Oily mouthwatering with fluffy soft mouthfeeling.  Almost sugar candy hard to grasp sweet return.  Sweetness is left in the mouth. Strong chest beats with spacy mind. Subtle bbq some that is barely there.

Third infusion has a watery creamy sugar sweetness.  There is a vegital woody bitterness with creamy finish.  Spacy mind happy feeling.  This tastes and feels like Bulang material to me.  Fluffy mouthfeel with some bitterness gripping.  Happy strong heart beats and sighs and spaced out feeling.  Energizing boost!

Fourth infusion has a watery melon vegital bitter sweetnes! Chest expanding creamy chalky sweet finish.  Long creamy sweet finish return subtle smoke bbq and vegital bitterness with strong energetic feeling building with strong chest beats and overwhelming strength building.  There is done melon taste in there.  It’s Bulang material here. Vegital bitterness is left in the mouth minutes later.

5th is left to cool and is a slight smoke melon fruity but mainly sweet creamy mild bitter vegital taste.  Faint smoke sweetness very faint smoke with more melon creamy sugar sweet than smoke.  Spacy relaxing feeling now. Rises leaves have that bitter smoke Bulang odour.  Either a Bulang blend or wider blend maybe but not very Lao Ban Zhang even though you can imagine some in here.

6th has a sweet melon creamy sweet taste with a mild bitter finish.  Oily mouthfeel with a slight almost banana returning.  Big chest beats but Turing relaxing.  Sweet mouth finish with not really much smoke.

7th has a sweet oily woody bitter vegital is mild and bitter woody with some cool and creamy sweet return.  Spacy with relaxing feeling now.

8th has a oily fruity sweet with a vegetal bitter taste.  Sweet slight faint smoke.  Very much Bulang but more refined than rugged!

The long mug steeping… has a smoke bitter vegetal with an oily mouthfeeling.  Some woody smoke with underlying sweetness and cool breath.  Spacy relaxing floating vibes with chesty Qi feeling and some jaw tingling.

Overnight infusion of spent leaf is a vegital bitter with oily sweet bright fruity undertones.  Big chest opening energies with deep sighs and energetic feeling.

Big deep energetics with great Qi sensations again!  This source from Puerh.uk is my favourite after ChenYuan Hao and Old Man/ Daniel… of course these two samples were both expensive examples (pictured top is the 2020 Beast, bottom is 2016 Ethereal).

Alex’s Tea Notesb

Peace

2016 Puerh.uk Ethereal: Harmonious, Deep, Complex,

I got this 2016 Puerh.uk Ethereal (approx 464.00 for 357 g cake or $1.30/g) this as a complimentary sample with purchase a year or so ago.  This is sourced from the same producer as the 2020 Fu Shun Gao (Legacy) “The Beast” (and another I like the 2014 Puerh.uk Green Mark Meng Sa) which I will drank back to back and will post next.  I use the term ethereal a fair bit when describing very subtle but complex gentle puerh and I wonder if this namesake will resemble my own concept of what makes a puerh an “ethereal” puerh.  I really enjoyed Alex’s review of this puerh especially his commentary on the nerdy aspects of puerh appreciation… he gets into “ethereal” a bit there.

Dry leaves smell of sweet raisin fresh plum woody.

Rinsed leaves have a sweet plum/ raisin odour.

First infusion has a watery clear taste with sweet icing sugar custard taste with a distant woody bitterness. Sticky mouthfeel.  Long lingering cool pure sugar.  

Second has a plum raison pungent taste sort of faint woody in background. Cooled down it has a raisin sweet onset with expanding sweet layers of sugar, golden sugar, and custard that build into a long sweet taste.  Chest unraveling feeling.  With gentle ease mind high feeling.  Sticky mouthfeel.  Calm visual acuity focusing.

Third infusion has a brassy sweet plum raison there is a nice return of layered sweet tastes.  Creamy custard, sugar, brown sugar.  Oily mouthfeeling.  Long lingering sweet taste with spacy gentle mind easing with sharp vision engaged.  Calm visual acuity and floating bodyfeeling.  Tastes like possibly Lincang or Manghai area… but not sure exactly…

Fourth infusion has an oily sweet taste of sugar/ custard with the oily mouth feeling getting more substantial with each infusion.  There is some faint background woody with sticky mouthfeel that is becoming subtly dry.  Mind spacy with arms light and airy and chest unraveling bodyfeel with some floating body!  Contemplation mind with stillness and visual acuity sharpening.

Fifth is left to cool and it gives off a sour sweet oily woody taste.  Sweet finish.  Spacy high with some face tingling.  Sugar with some background woody raison/plum.  Taste like Lincang maybe?

Sixth infusion has a woody raisin sugar onset .  Oily chalky mouthfeel with slight sour orange in the distance reminds me a lot of Lincang.  Long gentle sweet taste.  Face tingles and arms airy. Focusing and relaxing.  Chest slight swelling feeling.

Seventh has a sour mild bitter sweet infusion in an oily mouth.  Sweet layer taste more orange peel subtle sour now something I get from Lincang and sometimes Northern Menghai regions.  Slight bitterness woody slight almost but not really coco.  Relaxing focus with heart opening chest feeling is unique and deeply powerful!

8th has an oily sweet onset with woody sour bland slight mild bitterness.  Orange peel woody coco.  Slight with sweet finish.  Relaxing focus with unique chest feeling.  Woody bland almost bitterness left in the mouth.

9th is long mug… is woody oily and a bit bitter… overnight… it’s an oily woody bittersweet with slight bitter orange peel and bitter dry woody.  

Overnight infusion of spent leaves is oily with a sweet sugar taste.  Long bring sweet mild taste.

This one is all about that amazing Qi experience- it’s really good. However I’ve had puerh much more ethereal before….. this one has a wonderful deeper complexity and balance to it that those that I consider more “ethereal” would lack.  Overall, this one is more complex and harmonious and deep than ethereal I guess which is definitely not a bad thing.  I like the session and enjoyed the Qi experience a lot!

Peace

2021 Essence of Tea Morsels: Retaste!

 

The last time David sent a bunch of samples for review was back in 2021and he included a sample of 2021 Essence of Tea Morsels which goes for $168.00 for 200g cake or $0.84/g  (see here).  At that the time I said I would love to try it years later to see how the blend really comes together… so we will see how it is 3 years later…

Dry leaves have a creamy sugars piercing fresh pure odour.

First infusion has a sweet sugars taste over a wet nutty taste the sweetness evolves and returns with a cool breath… a veil of sweet sugar washes over my mouth.  A spacy high with tingling face kicks off. Oily wet mouthfeel.

Second has a sugar honey sweet pear fruity clear pure onset.  Complex layered different pure sweetnesses present simultaneously for great effect.  Mild sticky fluffy mouthfeel mouthfeel deep throat traps some long pear sugar sweetness returning.  Candy tastes are long in the mouth as the liquid cools.  Long pear taste is very delicious pure and undisturbed.  Face tingling and deep sighs with head floating feeling. Floating bodyfeel with spacy mind. Sweet pure complex!

Third infusion has a peachy fruity vibrant taste onset with icing sugar layers underneath.  Very layered sweet initially and long sweet finish.  Peach pear sugar finish is long and evolves into candy in the aftertaste.  Face tingling and head floating feeling.  Deep throat salivation and sweetness.  Spacy vibrating bodyfeel.  A strong slowing of senses. Long minutes long sugar taste.

Fourth infusion has a sweet fruity sugar onset with an oily pungent sort of metalic mid taste and long cooling and sweet tastes.  Woody metalic salty tastes in there now. Spaced out with lots of head and face feelings.  Cooled down it reveals a complex layering of initial sweet tastes and with peach, pear, sugar depth pure tastes.  Mouthwatering saliva forming effect with slight mild sticky chalky modeling and deep throat opening.  Spaced out with increased senses. Long sugar minutes long taste.  Spaced out floating.

Fifth infusion has a woody icing sugar sweet onset when it cools down.  Metalic salty taste.  Spaced out mind. Oily wet coating with a melon sweet and sugar sweet finish.  Slight sticky almost pucker feeling develops.  Long sweet taste.

Sixth infusion has a sweet oily sugar onset with forest metalic mid-profile and some faint bitter woody taste emerging cooling return with sticky almost pucker. Chest beats and deep sighs.  Spaced out sort of heavy head feeling.  Chest expanding.

Seventh infusion has a sugar woody onset the cooled down cup is sweet melon onset with slight woody middle with bland wood taste.woody bland sticky almost dry sort of mouthfeel.

Eighth infusion has a watery sweet onset with a bland woody mid and lingering sweetness. Spacy feeling continues…

Long mug infusion is a bitter bland woody tasting with slight dry aftertaste.  Not as much seeetness but some mild astringency in there underneath.  Heavy head.  

This was the last of the review samples from Essence of Tea.  Thanks David!

Peace

2017 Essence of Tea Spring Yiwu Daqishu: BiYun Hao-ish

This 2017 Essence of Tea Yiwu DaQiShu ($108.00 for 200g cake or $0.54/g) spent a bit of time in another’s storage before being sourced by The Essence of Tea.  Sounds like it is sourced from the same farmer that supplied the SanJiaZhai material in the 2024 Essence of Tea 15++ cake which I very much enjoyed!

It was included in the package of 2024 Essence of Tea puerh samples that were free for review.  

Dry leaves have a prune plum strong sweet dried fruit leather odour.

Rinsed leaves have a deeper plum sweet odour…

First infusion has a rich creamy coppery vibrant plum taste. Has a candy bubble gum sweet l vibrant taste throughout.  With oily wet mouth and lots of saliva producing.  Oily wet sweet.  With a happy high feeling.

Second infusion has a round sweet oily plum dried fruit pop of taste.  Very mouthwatering effect.  Very sweet which turns to a candy bubble gum sweetness. Sticky mouthfeel.  Happy high spaced out feeling is getting stronger feeling.  Sighs. Stress and tension release.  There is such a nice vibrant sweet taste here.

Third infusion has a sweet plum onset with oily mouthfeel.  So vibrant and sweet shinny brassy plum sweetnesses.  Returning candy plum in the finish.  Happy high feeling.  Cooled down it has a wonderful sweet taste dried fruit with faint resin woody.

Fourth has a fruity sweet floral soapy sugar onset with juicy saliva producing feeling.  Happy highs.  Oily sticky mouthfeeling with deeper throat gobs. Reminds me of a newer BiYun Hao in taste and feel and production.

Fifth infusion has a creamy pungent sweet woody taste.  It has a longing sweet pungent resin woody taste in there.  Plum dried fruity turns into a sweet candy-like dried fruity taste.  Mouthwatering effect with soft sticky feeling.  Happy high feeling. 

Sixth has a plum, dried fruity resin woody with a sweet candy pop return taste.  There is this sweet sugar note throughout so a layered and evolved sweetness.  Saliva producing with a sticky mouthfeeling underneath.  Happy spacy sort of sleepy high.  Cooled down it is a sweet plum sugarcane taste with some honey.  Nice sweet layers and subtle resin suggestions.  Candy sweet finish.

Seventh has a sweet honey plum candy sweetness more candy to finish.  Soft slight sticky mouthfeel.  Sleepy Qi. 

Eighth has a woody sweet plum onset less deeply sweet with an almost sugar woody sweet taste.  Soft sticky mouthfeel happy sleepy feeling.

Ninth has a sweet sugar woody taste.  Mouthfeel is soft… happy feeling and comfortable body feeling.  

The long overnight thermos steeping… has a sweet dried fruit taste with a slight woody resin taste. Nice happy feeling.

Feels and tastes a lot like BiYun Hao with similar area, quality, and production… I sampled a few of these BiYun Hao to compare but none of the cakes and samples I had was close to this one… must of finished that sample… either way this Da Qi Shu is really nice!

Peace

2024 Essence of Tea Ma An Shan: Sneaky Sleeper!

 

This 2024 Essence of Tea Ma An Shan goes for $478.00 for 200g cake or $2.39/g and is apparently a famous mountain in Wanggong in the protected forest area… a new sub area for me…

Dry leaves have a forest pungent slight barnyard odour.

Rinsed leaves have a sweet piercing sort of spice cake odour.

First infusion has a sweet icing sugar sweetness very pure not watery almost metallic edges oily texture with mid profile to background pungent forest and returns almost candy sweetness as it trails of in the aftertaste.  Mid throat depth and salivation.

Second has a pure clear icing sugar with hints of background forest almost barnyard.  Sweetness returns sweeter as an oily sort of fruity/candy taste.  Subtle spacy body and mind. Soft fluffy sticky mouthfeeling.  Mid throat depth.

Third infusion has a sweet icing sugar fruity oily pop of taste it returns more as a candy pungent finish.  The mouthfeel is a soft sticky.  Subtle spaced out body and mind.  Gentle Qi feelings.

Fourth has a fruity pear pop onset with an oily sugary taste.  There is some forest mid profile with cooling breath finishing sweet with the return of sugary taste. Sticky/ sandy mouthfeeling.  Open chest with subtle mind expanding feeling slight spaced out.

Fifth has a sweet fruity sugar pop initially then a slight woody forest.  There is a slight oily texture the returning sweetness and finish is more sugar sweet.  This infusion has a stickier/sandier mouthfeeling.  Mild/ moderate spaced out feelings.  Subtle heavy brow.

Sixth infusion has a sweet oily woody/subtle cereal onset they returns stronger as sugar sweetness.  Subtle bodyfeeling and brow heaviness. Oily texture with sticky/sandy mouthfeel underneath.  Nice mild space out with some body spaciness as well - but mild… brow heavy… comfortable body feel.

Seventh infusion is a woody spice sugar onset with a woody spice finish. Sticky sandy feeling in mouth.  Spacy quiet mind feeling.  With some brow heaviness/ some sleepiness here too.

Eighth left to cool is a woody sort of sweet slight bitter woody Forest.  There is a mild spacy feeling. Slight dry sticky sandy feeling with a grapefruit taste trying to push through. Not much throat action from this puerh.

9th is a slight buttery sweet oily woody taste still nice oily texture.  Buttery sugar forest finish with some faint spice.  Sticky mouthfeeling especially gums and roof of mouth.  Gentle spaced out with subtle bodyfeeling and heavy brow… slight sleepy.

10th has a mainly woody sticky/slight dry bland taste with still a mild oily texture.  Subtle body feelings…  the qi is getting stronger in a putting me to sleep way…

I put the spent leaves into a mug and do a long steeping… oily woody sugar sweet taste.  Dry woody sticky mouthfeel with oil. The overnight steeping after this is oily with a forest slight sweetness…. 

Overall a mild subtle puerh that is comfortable on the body.  Subtle spacy feeling that turns into a sleepy Qi mid way through the session.  Not very Wanggong in my experience of Wanggong but a soft smooth subtle puerh.

Alex’s Tea Notes

Peace