2021 Puerh.uk YouLe ManKong Ancient

I did an evaluation sampling of this free sample from Puerh.uk yesterday.  This 2021 Puerh.uk YouLe ManKong Ancient Small Leaf goes for approx $300.00 for 200g cake or $1.50/g.

Dry leaves have an almond nutty sweetness with sweet penetrating sugar odour, distant wildflowers. 

Rinsed leaves have a sweet grain cereal odour.

First infusion has a creamy milky sweetness distant nutty with an oily viscus texture.  Cooling mouth lingering with strawberry milk sweet aftertaste.

Second infusion has a sweet nutty milky taste very oily and viscus texture. Longer lingering sweet taste sort of milky strawberry.  Flavour and slight sticky sandy mouthfeel more on the tongue they thrust with faint opening.

Third infusion is an oily very viscus sort of milky with faint strawberries taste. Mouth flavours linger with sandy tongue coating.  Mild peaceful feeling I. The mind with mild mind clearity.

4th is left to cool and is quite sweet with a sugar candy strawberries.  Wet oily mouth coating with slight sticky sandy layers. Mild cooling strawberries on breath. Mild comfortable Qi.

5th is watery sweet sugar and strawberries mild taste with wet mouthfeel and sandy tongue. Mild Qi comfortable feeling.

6th is left to cool and is a watery oily wet with mild strawberries sugar sweet.  Mild feeling, mild taste, thick oily wet mouthfeel.

7th is put into a long mug steeping and comes out wet, woody, slightly oily sweet.  Mild easy comfortable puerh.

The leftover of the mug steeping the next day is very oily viscus with light sweet taste.

Peace

2022 Gold Mark TianMenShan Tall Ancient Trees

I just sampled this one this afternoon it’s my first evaluation puerh sample in many months…

This 2022 puerh.uk Gold Mark TianMenShan goes for approx for$215.00 for 200g cake $1.07/g …. It’s a really nice TianMenShan for the price …

The dry leaves smell of very sweet candy and forest sort of pine forest odour.  Lots of layers of sweetness.

First infusion has a very clear light soft taste. Pungent first then long sweet mild taste.  With spicy almost peppermint camphor cooling is so faint. Refreshing with sticky mouth coating and cool deep gentle throat opening.

Second is a wet camphor lightly sweet evolving. There is this mild low lying minty pungent forest that evolves in the throat.  Mild peaceful floating.  Head swelling.

Third has a cool mild watery sweet pungent with sticky full mouthfeel.  Sweet deep mild throat evolution.  Peaceful gloating feeling.

Fourth has a mild watery forest sticky mouthfeel deep throat opening with camphor.  Chest opening feeling.  Slow forest sweet candy opening in the throat long candy breath. Chest bubbling and energy emitting.

Fifth has a sticky full mouthfeel with deep thrust opening with candy.  Candy taste is mild distinct and long on the breath.  Big chest beats with chesty bodyfeeling and peaceful space out. Stronger deep building euphoria.

6th has a woody forest bark taste with sticky full mouthfeel that deep throat opening with woody forest mild lesser sweetness.

7th has a watery woody taste that has a long deep candy sweet finish.  Almost like bubble gum taste.  Long bubblegum breath finish.  Big chest bodyfeeling a mind uplifting euphoria.  

8th is a long mug steeping… and it has a very sweet candy very pear taste.  Oily watery mouthfeel with deep oily throat long evolving candy.  Big swelling chest and euphoric peace.

This is a very very nice Tianmenshan!

Peace

2025 Puerh.uk XiNiuTang Single Ancient

 This Puerh.uk XiNiuTang Single Tree is one of those astronomically priced things that are more for sampling than whole cake purchase…. But I got this sample free for review… it was the last sample I had before I dropped of posting so I’d like to post it now…

Dry leaves are super candy sweet with a penetrating sweet candy forest odour.

Rinsed leaves

First infusion has a soft candy chalky fluffy taste that is a bit roasted notes and mainly creamy chalky creamy taste and texture very smooth and sweet with subtle forest notes.

Second is left to cool and is a sweet banana pure fluffy chalky smooth sweet creamy smooth fade out taste. Face has mild numbness and happy feeling.

Third infusion is a soft sweet melon creamy smooth soft chalky fluffy mouthfeel.  Face qi and relaxing feeling.

Fourth infusion is left to cool and has a very sweet oily creamy candy taste really smooth with a taste that fades away.  

5th infusion has a creamy melon sweet pure taste with fade out creamy sweet melon. Happy relaxing and mild face qi.

6th infusion has fruity slight woody creamy sweet fade out with some chest and face qi with a relaxing ease.

7th is a long mug infusion and is a sweet sugary and fruity very bright sweet taste.  With a mild bitterness throughout.  Happy feeling qi.

Peace

Jagasilk Yabukita Okuda by the Fujioka Family

 Yabukita Okuda by the Fujioka Family goes for $53.00 CND for 20g tin or $2.65/g.  It is currently not available for purchase.

This is my first time having matcha from the Wada region.  I’ll need to try more from this region to get a feel for it but so far I find it very enjoyable with this one…

Dry powder is deep with savory notes and more subtle sweetness.

Savory oily nutty vegital.  More savory and flavour and thick chalky almost fizzy mouthfeel.  Sweetness is behind the salty/savoury.  Salty taste of sea air or seaweed.  Fresh cut grass, tree branch or weedy floral.  Nice layered tastes.

The complexity of taste and mouthfeel is interesting and the flavours last long in the mouth thanks to the solid mouthfeel.

Uplifting feeling.

Peace

Jagasilk Samidori by the Fujioka Family

Jagasilk Samidori by the Fujioka Family goes for $79.00 CND or $3.95/g.

The dry powder has a leafy grassy strong vegetal odour with slight nutty and distant floral. 

The taste is stronger up front vegetal taste with olive oils with a distant nutty lesser sweet taste. The finish becomes slightly bitter and mildly astringent. Mild happy feeling.

Peace 

 

2013 Bao Hong Yin Ji Tong Qing He

These notes are from last year… this 2013 Bao Hong Yin Ji Tong Qing He goes for approx 560.00$ for 380g cake or $1.47/g…. Currently sold out at Puerh.uk.

This was the last sample of puerh I enjoyed that I mentioned in my first post back here.  I’m still thinking about how awesome the subtle root and cola flavours and happy high light body floating feeling…. Memorable..

The dry leaves smell like faint woody floral fresh melon sweet.

Rinsed leaves have a sweet very purfume odour to them. 

First infusion has a spice and sweet melon and woody onset.  The good taste comes early and lingered in the mouth with a melon pungent spice taste.  Spicy woody melon sweet with a nice oily viscus mouthfeel cooling breath and open chest feeling. Returning melon sweetness like a powdery candy melon sweet… yummy.  Happy feeling early in the morning here!

Second infusion has a sweet spicy woody perfume onset that is full of interesting and delicious flavour there is a sweet chalky candy melon and spicy finish.  Happy uplifting energy.  Chalky oily mouthfeel feels full in the mouth with deeper opening cooler breath.

Third infusion has a stronger onset of perfume with some spice and sweet and even faint bitter.  Melon chalky candy floral purfume. Cooled down it is a thicker chalky faintly bitter but very sweet tasting with a full mouthfeel and long cooling aftertaste on the breath.

4th has a melon woody spicy taste with oily wet full chalky feeling.  Slight perfume.  Happy feeling qi. Light body.

5th is left to cool and is a smooth woody spice oily almost resin taste with a spice finish and chalky full mouthfeel.  Happy energy in here spacy and happy feel.  

6th infusion has a spice wood taste.  Happy relaxing feel to it.  Light mild bodyfeeling.

7th has a woody spice sweet taste.  The spice woody sweet taste with chalky full mouthfeel and faint cool breath is a nice taste for me a bit unique.  Happy cozy feeling to this puerh.

I put the leaf into a mug and give it a long steeping… it comes out sweet spice wood with a resin woody quality spicy with soft thick powdery mouthfeel. Chest beats strong limbs heavy mind happy and sleepy.  Candy sweet spice on the breath.

Peace

 

Jagasilk Samidori #8 by 70% Sakata & 30% Ookubo

 Jagasilk Samidori #8 by 70% Sakata & 30% Ookubo is priced at $75.00 CND for 10 g or $7.50/g is currently unlisted or sold out. This was one of the special orders celebrating Jagasilk’s 20th anniversary! Congratulations Miyuku and Jarred!

From the Competition line at Jagasilk.  As stated on the tin this one revived the following grade at competition:

Out if the score of 200, tencha for this matcha was scored 184:

Appearance 37/40, Aroma 61/65, Liquid Colour 17/20, Flavour 61/65, Leaf Colour Post-Extraction 8/10 Milled April 02, 2026.

Of these past three tins opened this one dominated the speed test and is very delicious!

Delicious sweet flavour approach quickly and lingers long.  Lots of complexity of taste that comes and goes - Sweet berries lime sweet beet cashew- with strong overarching sweet milky taste and mouthfeel.  The milky sweet taste is long in the mouth.  Mild happy Qi.

Peace

Jagasilk Asahi #14 by Kenta Hosoi

 

Jagasilk Asahi #14 by Kenta Hosoi is priced at $67.00 CND for 10g or $6.70/g it looks to be currently not offered or sold out. This was one of the special orders celebrating Jagasilk’s 20th anniversary! Congratulations Miyuku and Jarred!

From the Competition Line at Jagasilk.

As stated on the tin this one revived the following grade at competition:

Out if the score of 200, tencha for this matcha was scored 174:

Appearance 33/40, Aroma 59/65, Liquid Colour 16/20, Flavour 59/65, Leaf Colour Post-Extraction 8/10 Milled April 7, 2026

Very beautiful very smooth silky mouthfeel.  Very soft cloudy silky feeling in mouth with slow evolution towards candy and almost underlying tangerine in grass taste.  Peaceful high euphoria.  Tingling bodyfeeling floating.  There is a pooling of energy in the heart and fantastic floating high.

Peace

Jagasilk Okumidori Okubo by the Takaki Family

This Jagasilk Okumidori Okubo by the Takaki family is currently unlisted at Jagasilk but was that complimentary tin of freshly roasted and ground on site matcha.  It was milled just days before my order!  It’s from the single estate line at Jagasilk from my absolute favourite matcha growing region- Hoshino.  This was a very deliberate and thoughtful gift and I am so thankful.

 I was educated in matcha initially in the traditional teahouses of South Korea where they most definitely overlook Japanese Tradition for price/quality.  Most Teahouses that I frequented much preferred Yame in this regard.  So I suppose I have a bit of taste for such things as well personally traveling to Yame… so I’m a bit bias… 

I have many memories in Jagasilk’s early days at the Jagasilk tea bar of me trying unsuccessfully to convince Jarred and Miyuki to source from Hoshino when they were, like most Western matcha drinkers at the time, awestruck by Uji .

Here we go…

The powder and prepared matcha is an atypical very dark deep green!

Very chalky mouthfeel with berries and slight cut grass and spinach - layers of berries raspberries predominate.  Nice sweet-bitter-chalky balance that features flavour over bitter or sweetness- mainly chalky with flavour. Qi pooling in the back of head and focused eyes.  Nice matcha as everyday wake-up with its moderate focusing energy! I can’t stop drinking this matcha… so good!

Peace

A New Way of Matcha

 There was a pleasant surprise in my last order from Jagasilk! Jarred and Miyuki sent me a gift of their freshest in house roast and grind just weeks before my order…. What a treat. I honestly am not used to drinking in-house ground and roasted matcha.  It looks like Jagasilk has been doing this since 2018. 

Things have come a long way with matcha consumption in the West and I am still of the old school of ceremony and the main brands Hoshino and Marukyu-Koyamaen (of which all grades can be found on this blog).  Besides a few monastery  matcha that’s all I have consumed!  Actually, my very first exposure to this sort of thing was a free sample that was slipped into my last order of Hoshino matcha at Cultivate Tea.  I just consumed it last month blind without reading the sample package which I threw out and I instantly called my wife over to the bowl in disbelief.

There is now so much information available to the drinker these days- cultivar, location, elevation, blend, competition Score, date of grind… and Jagasilk gives the discerning drinker all of it… this is going to be a learning experience.  Jagasilk reviews are coming next…

Peace

MattCha Shortage? Highlights from the Year Past… And Posts to Come?

 Oh Yes…. I’m alive and well…. And STILL drinking great teas!  I hope you are also alive and enjoying life and, of course, tea!

I fell off posting again abruptly as life became busy… very busy… mainly with my many kids and with career as well… tea is a beautiful respite and it’s been a while since I even did an evaluation session… I’m mainly drinking for enjoyment …. And this year I did!

Some of the highlights of the past year was trying the fresh 2025 line ups of both puerh.uk and Tea Encounter… nothing beats a sampling of fresh puerh once a year…. Nothing.  See these last posts for my tastings…

Also I did a pre-order of Xang Ming Tea Factory puerh from TeasWeLike which had great dry storage on them… all those cakes are long gone in my house… ha!  I wrote up evaluations posts on these but never got to editing them … sad.

TWL have just put up a re- order on these and I can highly recommend the 2007 Manlin Gushu… which won the speed test out of those Xang Ming tea cakes at my house.  It’s a priority for me to post these notes…. 

Also Ordered a bunch of nice Malaysian stored cakes from Liquid Proust… another highlight is always picking up some of his Korean Tea that he sources from Lady Hadong and others… he even sent me some free famous Korean herbal tea blends that are common to support immune health and I definitely needed it this year!

So I’ve been drinking good puerh for sure! I’m sure you have also hit the good stuff lately, no?

I also have been drinking some random free samples from Puerh.uk off and on… One of my best sessions in recent memory is a good experience from their 2011/2016 GuaFengZhi Gold … the right tea on the right day at the right time is some sort of beautiful harmony… so good! The last weeks puerh I had was a sample of 2016 Puerh.uk Ethereal… it’s sort of at an in between stage but nice and smooth in the mind with a certain throaty presence. Last few days I’m sipping a 2013 BHYJ Tong Qing He from puerh.uk…. Brilliant cola and root bear depth with a Spacy high.  These are all hitting soooo nicely this month!

Before I feel off evaluation sampling I was sent a box of samples via Alex of Puerh Blog samples… haven’t gotten to them yet …. Eeeeeee… it’s next on the list. Check!

A huge highlight for me this year was randomly running into Jared of Jagasilk on the streets of Victoria, BC last summer! I had a nice long trip to Victoria where I took a weeks supply of Traditional roasted Hong Kong Oolong!  In Victoria I was absorbed in the family vacation energy…. But fate would intertwine me with Jared!  We had a short but good talk, he put the big invite to have us for tea … but it was the last day and we were heading home but I promised to check out what was new at Jagasilk and make my next matcha order Jagasilk…

As twists go, I fell ill a month or so ago with that damn virus that leaves your taste and smell missing and altered…. Dare I say it gave me an aversion to puerh tea ….. NNnnOOoooooo…. It tasted like rotting!

But on the plus side… and this is strange.. it somehow made matcha taste better than ever!  So I have been making myself some top shelf matcha every morning for a good month or two now!  I’m not joking when I say top shelf because I had tins of the highest grades of Hoshino matcha such as the cloud floating Houju (and then imagine that experience amplified). It was glorious indeed…

I so drank through all my top matcha and was left to re-order when I noticed something super strange…. First thing is that it was very difficult to track down my fav brand of matcha Hoshino… Second the price of replacement of Houju was hundreds of dollars more per tin!?!?!?

In my digging I found an explanation on no other that Jagasilks website!  There was indeed a matcha shortage that has been going on since last year and dealing havoc on the price of matcha!  But I also discovered that Jagasilk has evolved quite a bit since their offering of exclusively Harimen estate matcha. This was their whole brand for the first many years (see here and here and here and here!) but now they were doing so much more! The next posts are on Miyuki and Jarred at Jagasilk’s latest offerings.  They were honestly the first people in the North America as far as I knew that we talking about single estate and freshly in-house ground matcha and 30 years later they are still doing it…. Amazing.

Anyways, my taste for puerh did in-fact return but not before really loving and falling into a daily morning matcha ceremony.  Only a few times a week have I been afternoon steeping puerh at work.  I have been appreciating it more because you never know how good you have it until it’s gone!

I’m back! 

Peace