2018 Private Label Lao Ban Zhang Huangpian 250g Brick

I sampled this one not knowing it was Hunagpian but drinks like something between Huangpain and standard leaf.  Somewhere in the notes below I ponder if it is hunangpian but the leaves are not obviously huangpian.  This was given as a free sample but is also included in the In Search of Real Lao Ban Zhang tasting set at Puerh.uk.

Dry leaves have a sweet floral odour.

First infusion has a watery clear buttery faint floral approach that has a salivating mid profile and wet oily texture with light candy floral finish.  Very oily and mouthwatering.  Very pure dry stored flavours tastes so fresh.  Light candyfloss in the oily saliva 5 minutes later.

The second infusion has a pop of fruity fresh candy with almost fresh rain forest taste that appears briefly afterwards but not really just a strong very sweet and mouthwatering effect.  The thick onslaught of saliva strongly pushes lots of sweet candy taste out.  This tastes like a good Yiwu to me.  Lots of layered candy taste even 10 minutes later.  Qi is calm mild and feels very comfortable in the body.  Makes me feel calm and focused and happy.  The oily and layered and long sweetness is really nice.

The third infusion you can see the oily texture in the picture here… pungent rainforest onset with creamy sweet oily layers that follow.  The cooled down cup is very fresh rainforest taste with a thick oily sweetness layered in there.  The saliva producing is significant.  Thick oily buttercup sweet layers.  Nice mild spaced out calming Qi.  It isn’t that Laobanzhang though… tastes more like Yiwu with a thickness of Huangpian.  I would have guessed it to be 2020 material… quite fresh.

The 4^th is oily thick juicy sweetness fresh forest tastes.  The cooled down cup is more pungent caramel sweet oily thickness with a faint mid-pungent taste lots of oily saliva producing slow faint rolling candy finish.  Nice chest sensations and relaxing feeling.

The 5^th has a fresh forest oily taste.  The processing and storage feels a lot like the fresh Zheng Si Long Hao processing.  Lots of sweet candy thick oily layers over an emerging pungent and fresh forest tastes.  Really tasty!  Calm focusing Qi with fine sand under oily textures.  The cooled down cup gives off delicious and fantastic tropical vibrant fruity tastes.

6^th has a bitter sweet fruity and fresh fruity onset with a slight fresh pungency and a nice oily mouthfeeling.

7^th has an oily and mouth lubricating floral pungent even slightly bitter woody taste with nice oily fruity sweetness in the finish. Calming Qi and a bit spacy.  Sweet aftertaste in saliva oil.

8^th has a floral fresh forest taste with an oily texture of sweet fruity fresh flavours the underlying mouthfeeling is dry but oily textures carry the sweet tastes.  Calming relaxation.

9^th has a fresh fruity sweet taste oily sweet layers not too much pungent freshness but nice layers of fruity and creamy and almost caramel sweetness.

10^th has a buttery creamy oily sweetness with some faint pungent coolness and woodiness slight faint bitter.  Oily textures over a slight sandy, dry mouth.  Relaxing Qi.

11^th has a buttery oily fruity fresh forest and caramel buttery oily sweetness.  Mildly relaxing effect. 

The next day I get back to the teapot and the cool cup is still nicely oily and very flavourful fruity fresh tastes.

The 13^th is still very very lubricating and oily sweet with mild coolness in the throat.  Very vibrant oily sweetness, fresh tropical fruity tastes.  Good stamina in these consistently oily sweet leaves.

14^th this is the first infusion longer than flash infusion and sits over the leaves for a few minutes… very lubricating oily fresh tropical sweetness with a subtle cooling and creamy sweet finish. This puerh has very little bitterness even a longer infusions..

15^th infusion is minutes long again and is unwaveringly oily and sweet there is a bit of fainter bitter but mainly very distinct oily fresh tropical fruits there is some increased saliva producing then a creamy sweet layered over the fruity oily sweetness the bitter lingers throughout in these long infusions.  These leaves are very consistent with great stamina but never boring due to the great taste.  Nice calming mild Qi in these leaves nothing too exciting.

16^th is left to cool and has a lubricating fruity deliciously oily sweet taste faint bitterness and a coolness tries to punch through the oily sweetness…. Chill relaxing…

The long mug steeping is still bursting with thick oily juicy mouthwatering sweet fruity tropical tastes there is a base of mild bitterness with vibrant sweet pops of layered fruity sweetnesses.  This is a super delicious oily and vibrant puerh!  This is one of the best tasting younger puerh I have tried in a while…

Dry stored, tastes very fresh, tropical juicy lubricating oily tastes tastes like more like a 1-2 years sheng than 4 years but possible.  Does have many classic or typical Laoban Zhang qualities tastes more like Yiwu than Menghai to me.  Super delicious and easy to drink single estate with a very oily juicy and lubricating feeling.  Qi is just a mild relaxing Qi really…

Peace

2018 Puerist Youle (Ya Nou): A Powerful Youle

This is an interesting Youle for me because it was deliberately sourced by Mark to age based on his tastings of other aged Youle from the same famer and garden specifically in 2013.  This is opposed to most of the other Youle that we in the West have been exposed to that are more for drinking now.  I purchased a sample of this 2018 Puerist Youle which goes for approx. $83.00 for 200g or $0.42/g in my last order from Purist…

Dry leaves a very floral and fruity and sweet and have the odour of fresh grapes almost aritifical grape candy sweetness.

First infusion has a strong buttery floral sweetness in it that has a certain long dense thickness to it and goes deep into the throat like sticky butter.  There is an initial pop of fruity grape then a long thick buttery floral that fades out long and slowly in the throat and breath.

The second infusion has a strong push of heavy fruity buttercup floral thickness that goes the distance in the mouth, throat, and aftertaste breath.  The throat feeling is deep and is stimulated by a faint veil of very mild astringency that pushes saliva on to the tongue.  The mouthfeeling is a thin very full coating dryness.  The Qi is warming and strong and warms the face and relaxes.  The bodyfeel is specific in the face- it feels kind of tingling.

The third infusion has a really thick buttery floral taste with a very sunny fruity thick taste and mid-deep throat.  There is a very faint astringency that pulls saliva over the tongue and extends the taste into the aftertaste with a nice almost bread like and even melon and grain like glimpses.  Very fresh thick floral buttery sweetness.  The mouthfeel is a very full but thin almost dryness.  A strong peachy odour and faint taste is also found throughout the profile.  The Qi is warming in the face with a free spirit and mind like effect.

The fourth infusion has this thick juicy peachy grape burst of taste with a long fragrant floral finish.  Thick oily texture with mid-deep throat and strong saliva producing astringency gives this Youle strength and power.  The taste is long and thick and turns almost into a apricot bread taste.  The Qi is pretty warming and the face feels subtle numbness and the heart starts to race.  There is enough astringency in here that it starts to turn on my empty stomach.

The fifth infusion is left to cool but has a strong floral fruitiness, and buttery taste and with an astringency that continues to increase.  There is a really full almost tight dry mouthfeeling with a very oily viscus mouthfeeling and returning saliva.   Strong enlivening Qi with face sensation and Heart sensations.

The sixth infusion has a less thick fruity floral presentation.  There is some subtle throat coolness and a full thin tight mouthfeeling that works well with a mid-to-upper throat opening and saliva simulating throat. 

The seventh has a bitter astringency to it.  Very thick fruity floral taste, very very fragrant buttery sweet fragrant.  The mouthfeeling is really good.  Very full but thin but kind of tight.  There is a coolness developing.

The 8^th is very oily and much more floral buttery.  The floral taste is really strong and interestingly interacts with the strong mouth and throat presence.  The cooled cup gives off a more bitter melon type of taste which is kind of unexpected.  The taste is strong either way, thick, a bit of astringency.

The 9^th has a bitter melon floral type taste to it with a bit of bitter astringency over there is a distinctly floral melon taste to it. The flat mouthfeel is still there but not as much throat feeling and less cooling and saliva producing now too.

The 10^th has a bitter coco and strong floral initial taste with a melon, floral, fruity coco finish.  There is a full but thin tight tongue coating and a deep cool throat feeling.

The 11^th is bitter coco with a creamy floral onset that stretches over the full thin almost tight mouthfeeling and into a subtle coolness.

The mug steepings are a thick heavy bitter coco deep floral.  This is a super strong and interesting Youle.  The teeth are squeaky and the mind very sedate.  The aftertaste lingers for a long time in the mouth.

This is the most powerful Youle I have sampled since this 2013 Pu-erh.sk Youle.  It is less refined than this one but has lots of power, mouth, and throat presence.  It’s a nice Youle for the price for sure one for aging.

Peace

2018 Puerist Ban Po Lao Zhai Selected Trees Dragonball: About Selected Trees Puerh

One of the areas of special interest of Puerist is its focus on Nannou, and specifically its most famous village Ban Po Lao Zhai.  11 of 42 offerings at Puerist (1/4 of their current offerings) come from Nannou.  Out of these 2 of their offerings are more specific offerings for those who want to dive into the world of selected tree or single tree productions.  The two are 2017 Puerist Ban Po Lao Zhai “Single Trees” and this 2018 Puerist Ban Po Lao Zhai “Selected Trees”.

For me Nannou has always been a favorite.  In my earliest of puerh drinking days Nannou was always known and it has a rich history with puerh production.  The price of Nannou puerh is also quite reasonable for the quality you receive, at least to me with a strong robust flavor and Qi with significant mouth and throatfeeling and a nice deep camphor coolness.  As a result Puerist can offer these more specific productions at a price that won’t completely kill the bank account and put you into years and years of debt… hahahah…

This complimentary dragonball was composed of the same material as this 2018 Puerist Ban Po Lao Zhai Selected Trees 200g cake thatgoes for approx. $178.00 for 200g cake or $0.90/g.  For those who don’t know, “selected trees” are usually considered both the oldest/ largest trees in a garden which usually have a noticeable difference in taste compared to the rest of the garden.  In my experience that difference is usually a softer and more ethereal Gushu puerh experience while still having lots of qualities of the garden it is located in.

Let’s see how this special treat goes down…

Dry leaves smell of faint creamy sweetness.

After a 30 second rinse and then wait period I flash steep the first infusion and get a watery creamy sweet infusion with an airy expanding sweetness.  There is a creamy fluffy chalky light mouthfeeling with a saliva producing effect in the mouth.

The second infusion has a creamy watery initial taste that has a nice expanding creamy sweetness over a still watery profile from the balls not unfurrowing.  A nice slippery chalky tongue and saliva producing throatfeeling.  This is a smooth creamy sheng.  Nice long creamy sweet sugary aftertaste.  A nice subtle Qi feeling puerh.

The third infusion is a very smooth in taste and feeling with a creamy airy surgery taste and slippery mouthfeeling with a mild saliva producing effect after a very faint cooling and then long subtle creamy sweetness.  Smooth in the mind as well- just calm focus with a bit of Heart beats.

The fourth infusion has a woody creamy taste initially over a slippery mouthcoating.  There is some almost vegetal sweetnotes that appear before a slow to evolve cooling which pushes out a freshmint and creamy sweet faint long finish.  The Qi is really smooth and with Heart beating slow-down bodyfeeling.  A faint astringency can be felt on the empty stomach.

The fifth infusion has a creamy sweet woody onset that has a bit of vegetable taste.  The low lying coolness triggers a long aftertaste of faint creamy and sugar tastes. The mouthfeeling is starting to become a mild puckering feeling that can be felt on the lips.  Qi is mellowing with slow Heart beat palpitating effects.

The sixth infusion has a creamy melon watery smooth taste that has a low building faint coolness in the throat that turns to a creamy surgery taste.  Some vegetal faintness, almost woodiness comes out in the aftertaste. Hear beats slow and mind feels very relaxed.

The seventh has a clear sugar creamy sweet initial taste over a fluffy chalky thin mouthfeeling.  There is a bit of a vegetal woody creamy taste that returns after a mild pungency but also a long sweet taste.  Cool calm feeling with slow strong Heart beats.

The eighth a mild pure clear orange creamsicle with woody onset with a sugary returning sweetness.  The sweet taste rides long into the aftertaste on a backbone of ethereal cool pungency.  The clam in the mind is juxtaposed with the beating of my Heart.

The ninth infusion has a creamy woody sugar pure taste.  There is an expansive and opening coolness deep in the throat that carries sugary pure tastes into the distance.  The mouthfeeling has a mild chalkiness to it, lips dry, throat opens faintly but deeply and slowly embraces a deep pungent taste. 

10^th has a mild astringent bitterness to it with a woody almost orange taste upfront and an almost dirt taste underneath. 

11^th has a mild watery creamy sugary taste to it.  A tight mouthfeeling is developing.   Kind of finishes a faint creamy pear taste. 

12^th the taste is most definitely weakening here with a faint watery sugary woody taste and increasingly gripping mouthfeeling… I’m going to try to loosen that dragonball with a pick….  Very relaxing Qi… too relaxing this snowy spring day…

13^TH has a buttery woody sugar-melon creamy upfront sweetness.  There is an interesting full creamy sugary melon condensed sweetness here and a slightly drying mouthfeeling.

14^th I add 20 seconds to the flash to push something more interesting out… and it does a fuller flavor presentation of sugar, creamy sweetness, woody, vegetable, and slight dirt with an overall sweet taste over a thin sticky mouthfeeling. 

15^th oops… left the water in the pot for a good 10 minutes… intensely floral fruity almost rose with a strong saliva producing effect.  Strong creamy fruity tangy taste almost like orange blossoms.  Not much bitterness at all really.  A bit of mouth puckering sensation and more invigorating energy when pushed this hard….

16^th I push hard again and get a very floral orange blossom dirt clear fruity mainly sweet taste.  There is just a bit of bitterness here over a smooth chalky mouthfeeling.  Qi is stronger in the mind and in the Chest with these long steeps.

17^th I push hard again the next morning with these leaves a get a strong candy like taste over a sugar backdrop with faint woody.  There is a nice orange blossom taste with a lingering floral sweetness.  The leaves sitting a day really allowed for nice candy-like tastes to develop.  Nice focusing Qi this morning with still noticeable slow calming Heart palpitations.

18^th I do another long infusion… this is a great puerh considering the lack of bitterness and astringency.  It gives you a lot of diversity in a session.  The tastes are of a chalky woody almost fruity carrot like creamier sweetness.  The creamy sweetness lingers in the aftertaste and combines with subtle candy.

I mug steep out the rest… and it’s pretty delicious with the dragonball still unfurrowing… its sweet sugar with a bit of a dirt woody background and low cooling throat with long dirt sugary feeling.  Nice focusing relaxing Qi with slow Heart beats.

The gushu has a nice smoothness to it with a focus on sweetness.  The contrasting distinct slow heart pounding with a very very relaxing feeling is an interesting and more rare Qi experience for me.  Overall the effect is a very mindful and centering feeling.  These Qi sensations are what Gushu is all about.  This puerh also has the ability to be pushed really hard to get more intensity of Qi and flavor due to the low/lack of bitter/astringent taste.  This gives you a lot of flexibility.  Nice sugary creamy sweetness and low pungency with long pure aftertastes can be had or stronger orange blossoms and dirt woods if pushed harder.  Overall, very nice high quality gushu thing.  It’s refined in a way that I would have not guessed it as Nannou.  My experience with this region is long into the era of stronger older school factory Nannou.  This more refined Gushu has subtle suggestions of Nannou that can easily be pushed out at will or you can opt for more elegant things.  Very nice.

Peace

2018 Puerist Zhang Jia Wan: A more Edgy Zhang Jia Wan!

 

These days I am really enjoying a deeper appreciation of softer and more subtle tasting puerh.  Years past I have enjoyed these things but always under the shadow of “how can they possibly age into anything substantive?”  These days I have come to terms with the idea of them being consumed and appreciated young or just aging them terribly dry and living contentedly with the subtitles that remain.  In this mindset problems in the future are overlooked for the enjoyment of the present... and boy did I ever really enjoy this one... turns out it wasn’t one of those overly faint experiences.

This 2018 Puerist Zhang Jia Wan goes for approx $84.00 for 200g cake or $0.42/g.  My experience so far with the Zhang Jia Wan area is lots of gentle and subtleties this one had that but it is just done so well...

Dry very small leaves smell of faint dry distant floral and sweetness- almost like a light faint honey.

The first infusion has a very soft creamy honey smooth profile with no bitterness but an oily fullness.  There is a fresh watery oily mouthfeeling that gives this puerh a full feeling although it is decisively light.

The second infusion has a almost minty fresh meadow olive oil taste with a honey undertone.  There is a faint fresh coolness then returning floral honey almost creamy candy strawberry taste that combines into a vibrant and refreshing sensation with a sticky soft but full mouthfeeling.  This is a very nice Zhang Jia Wan.  The Qi is light and airy in the body.

The third infusion is left to cool but gives off a vibrantly delicious mouthwatering cooling taffy, no bitterness nor astringency and a very long floral sweet taffy candy-like returning sweet aftertaste.  Very nice chalky soft and full mouthfeeling.  Nice peaceful Qi sensation.  Very nice overall.

The fourth infusion has a creamy oilive oily floral and creamy sweet presentation.  There is a creamy chalky long floral candy sweetness that comes from the fresh long pungency.  This puerh has a very vibrant and enlivening presentation but very smooth and peaceful in the body.  Nice open airy Qi in the body- like a subtle floating body.

The fifth infusion oops good 20 second infusion there… a strong cool minty pungency with an oily taste and long candy floral cooling breath and aftertastes.  Strong but not bitter or astringent even when pushed too hard.  Nice sticky chalky taste. 

The sixth infusion has an oily silky floral almost honey sweet taste to it.  There is a strong wave of cooling minty pungency then a candy almost woody aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is starting to be more sandy sticky and the Qi continues is airy and light armed journey throughout my body.  I feel at peace.

The seventh infusion has a fresh minty, oily floral taste that returns as a fresh minty and creamy candy taste.  The mouthfeel is an oily feeling with a slight sandy more sticky feeling.   Nice peace exudes from this puerh.

The eighth infusion is left to cool and gives of a creamy sweet fresh minty toffee taste.  The mouthfeel is full soft sticky taste.

The ninth has an almost melon taste with floral and cool pungency.  The oily texture is waning a bit but has a nice sticky sandy feeling with a fading longer sweet melon floral almost woody aftertaste and less candy now.  Peaceful feeling flows through the body.  Very harmonious Qi.

The 10^th has an almost soapy woody not that floral taste now.  There is little to no bitterness nor astringency.  Nice chalky floral finish a bit sandy now but still exceptionally smooth in taste, texture, qi, bodyfeeling.

The 11^th has an almost empty melon sweet taste with a bit of wood. There is a light melon and woody floral.  Overall better than average stamina in this one too.  Nice peaceful feeling.

12^th I go for a 30 second steeping.  It’s very woody and melon still no astringency or bitter and it feels like the taste is still significant even as the mouthfeeling loses all oily texture and is mainly a full sandy chalky.  Peaceful feeling.

13^th is another 30 seconds and pushes out a very peachy woody taste.  Almost a melon and woody bland taste.  The mouthfeel is becoming more sticky and chalky.  This is a very nice representation from this area- nice stamina too.

I mug steep it out… it is faintly bitter wood bark and empty floral.  The dry wood bark really takes over but still a cooling throat and dry mouthcoating.

Overall, this was a really nice Zhang Jia Wan experience with the puerh not being overly opaque but rather gentle with substance.  Yet still managing to pull it off with the fact that there is no bitterness or astringency… that is hard to do and hard to please someone of my tastes… but this one seems to aim to please.

Peace

2018 Puerist Ai Lao & Breaking My Winter Abstinence from Young Puerh

 

This year I did something that I have never done before in my years and years of drinking puerh.  I completely abstained from the consumption of green tea and young puerh from late Autumn to early Spring. Readers of this blog already know my seasonal preferences for tea.  It is a formula that I generally follow every year but never strictly.  This year to bring about greater harmony I completely abstained from young puerh and others teas with cold thermal energy and I feel healthier, I think.  The last puerh I consumed that was younger was this nice 2015 Nannou Dou Yi Zhai which I ended up multiple caking.  Then I just consumed semiaged and aged Puerh throughout the Winter.  It felt great and I highly recommend trying it!

As the seasons started to shift from Winter to Spring I started once again to crave younger puerh again.  I choose this very very inexpensive 2018 Puerist Ai Lao ( $25.00 for 200g cake or $0.13/g!) that I received as a complimentary sample for review in my last order from Puerist to break my winter’s fast.  I always seem to enjoy young Ai Lao area puerh as the quality of this inexpensive area seems to be quite high for the price you pay.  Strangely enough I have never tried aged Ai Lao region puerh and I left wondering how it would age out?  I think Scott of Yunnan Sourcing has a few options there.  If anyone out there has tried any, please amuse us...

Dry leaves smell of very floral sweet odours mixed with a butter tart raison odour.

The first infusion has a buttery, almost can peaches, but mainly vegetal onset with a nice oily presenting mouthfeeling full and saliva producing and lubricating.  There is a vegetal and mainly long floral finish in the mouth.

The second has a sweet oily syrupy floral lubricating vegetal canned peaches onset there is a flash of interesting complex ash woody taste that turns to a mouthwatering canned peaches taste.  The mouthfeel is very oily and lubricating.  There is an interesting warming Stomach and lower abdomen feeling that is rarer in younger puerh and quite re-assuring.  Very nice thick satisfying gushu presentation.

The third infusion has a quick moving woody mild bitter vegetal with a strong floral that moves to a more oily thick vegetal with a buttercup floral insistence.  There is a long vegetal oily floral that fades into the breath.  A nice happy soft feeling qi with substantial lower abdomen warming sensations.

The fourth infusion has a woody vegetal bitterness that moves quickly to oily almost canned peaches floral with a significant vegetal underbelly.  The floral taste is oily and syrupy and expansive in the aftertaste as the mouthfeel becomes a fine sand under oily.  The throat pushes saliva into upper throat.  The astringency of this one is felt here.

The fifth infusion is left to cool and has a peachy, woody, almost perfume edge to it.  It is nicely oily with a saliva blob taste in the mouth.  There is a noticeable mild astringency underneath.  The Qi is happy and bodyfeeling warming in the lower abdomen.

The sixth infusion has an oily buttery astringency to it initially with along floral taste over an oily throat and mouth with a chalky fine sandy underneath.  There is a faint suggestion of canned peach syrup underneath it all.  There is a nice warming in the lower and nice comforting feeling.  Nice Qi.

The seventh infusion has a ash woody mild bitter vegetal quick moving onset that turns to a long floral and oily throat feeling. 

8^th is an almost ash woody mild bitter which has a floral vegetal oily taste with an increasingly sweet banana aftertaste.  Nice warming Qi flushes the face.

9^th the bitterness starts to increase and the sweet taste is much less… I could have kept going with this one but ran out of time.

I mug steep this one out for a few days and am left with some pretty tasting mugs.

Overall,  this puerh is pretty enjoyable for its price.  I enjoyed it quite a bit.  I liked the warming Qi, oily texture, and saliva producing effect... you rarely get these qualities at this price point.  The flavour and aroma is less exciting but preforms better than it should with fruity, floral and vegetal notes contrasting some bitter and astringent suggestions.  Great young puerh for this price! 

Peace

2018 Puerist Wa Long GuoYouLin: Ethereal… yet strong!

Alright this is the one that started it all… I have had my eyes on this one for a while and after a recommendation here I blind caked a few…

This 2018 Puerist Wa Long GuoYouLin goes for $178.00 for200g cake or $0.89/g which is a bit more expensive than the 2020 Tea Encounter WaLong GuoYouLin which really got the conversation going on this one.  I do like the Tea Encounter Wa Long and, in a general sense most Wa Long I have tried so how could this one be any different…

Dry leaves smell of a deep woody, slightly spicy sweetness.

First infusion has a smooth long candy taste from start to finish.  There is a long deep soft pungent coolness.  Overall a very pure candy like start.  With a bit of a juicy and viscus body.  There is a fruity taste in the mouth minutes later that emerges with an icing sugar sweetness.  This breath taste lasts minutes later.

The second infusion has a medicinal woody onset that is almost licorice it pushes a sweetness into the mouth and deeper into the throat of a candy like taste.  The mouthfeeling is full stickiness going on with a deep pungent throat feeling and long candy breath.  The Qi is really nice in the mind making it feel really still and contemplative.  It makes my thoughts run clear on a particularly crazy day at work. 

The third infusion has a big candy onset with a long finish.  There is some mild pungency in there, deep throat opening over a soft sticky full mouthfeeling.  There are some juicy fruity notes that appear in the aftertaste alongside candy.  There is a long sweet onset and finish with a nice alternating fruitier returning sweetness and almost woody base.  This is very nice stereotypical Yiwu GouYouLin that is pure long candy.  Qi has a calming and focusing with an open chest feeling.

The fourth infusion has a honey layered, fruity, and candy like triple sweet presentation.  There is a low pungency but basically just long layered sweetness that extends on the breath.  There is a tinny nudge of sour and wood kind of foresty taste underneath and a full feeling sticky sand mouthfeeling that stimulates the throat.  The Qi is really easy on the body and makes the chest feel softly opening.  The mouthfeel is really full and engaging and pushes the long sweet layered taste really far throughtout the taste profile and on the breath.  This Wa Long tastes much more like a Man Zhuan Gushu much sweeter and more elegant than my experience with Wa Long thus far and closer to my experience with some other Man Zhuan Gushu.  It would top what I’ve tired from Man Zhuan in the past.

The fifth infusion has a quick moving woody medicinal almost licorice onset with layers of honey, icing sugar and generic fruitiness.  There is a woody forest base and long sweet taste over a stimulating throatfeeling and full mouthcoating.  The long candy extends into the breath.  The Qi is focusing the mind and calming it making it still.  It kind of trances me out like in a meditation.

The sixth infusion is long candy like tastes with a bit of light honey as well.  Long sweet tastes with some woody notes. 

The seventh is again long unimpeded candy finishes which is long in the mouth and breath.  The mouthfeeling is a sticky almost tightness that stimulates the deep throat.  The effect is that saliva pools in the throat.  There is a slight mouth puckering feeling and minutes long candy and icing sugar taste.  It has a deep relaxing effect on the mind and body.

The eighth infusion has a bit of a bitterness and coco developing which pushes out fruity tastes.  The mouthfeel is slightly tight sticky and stimulates the throat and candy and coco breath finish is in the works here.  It’s long and sweet and almost woody.  Minutes later a honey taste fills the mouth penetrating the saliva.

The ninth infusion has a honey like onset taste with mild coco bitter and almost fruit developing. There is a long mild coco that doesn’t out due the candy, honey, but kind of mingles with the woody tastes of this puerh.  The profile feels more Wa Long now in the mid-profile with a bit of mild bitter coco in there.  Qi is nicely focusing.

The 10^th infusion has a woody bitter coco onset with some honey and fruit underneath.  The sweet taste is less than the bitter coco woody forest taste.  The mouthfeeling has changed to a chalky slight tight feeling.  The pungent coolness is also stronger here.

The 11^th infusion has a sunny bitter coco onset with nice smooth pungent coolness with hints of honey and fruit.  The candy finish is much less but still quite long.  The mouthfeeling is a stimulating but light tight chalky.  The aftertaste is developing a coco almost floral edge.  There is lots of depth and complexity here in the mid-session.

Things get terribly busy and I left to leave the tea table and step back in tomorrow…

The next day I do anther steeping and the overnight leaves give off a very fruity taste of grape with faint underlying coco.

I throw the rest into a mug and grandpa steep it for a while…

It gives off an oily vegetal icing sugar sweetness with moderate bitterness but less coco taste and a foresty pungent bitter sweetness.  The throat feeling is deep where a deep pungency lies but there is an overarching icing surgar very sweetness.  There is still a lot of stamina and depth left in these leaves that were mugged at the 13^th steeping.

Overall, this is a really nice GuoyouLin for Wa Long.  I think it is priced really nice for what you get.  It changes quite a bit through the session which keeps you engaged.  It starts off as a very typical very high quality Yiwu type of GuoYouLin- very long candy sweetness uninterrupted in its long elegance with a slightly mood altering very calming and still feeling Qi.  I initially thought this was going to be one of those really typical expensive tasting pure long sweet elegant GuoYouLins.  Then it starts to slowly transform into a deeper and bitterer taste profile without fulling losing its long sweet elegance.  It gradually reveals its power while remaining very relaxing and calm.  Overall, this has a distinct Man Zhuan taste and feel and is a type of puerh I have very little of.  The price is quite good being that it kind of preforms a lot like a more expensive Yiwu GouYouLin initially then starts to reveal its power later.  In this way I think it might be nice to age as oppose to some other more one dementional GuoYouLin.  I still have not tapped into what this puerh does in the late sessions.

Vs 2020 Tea Encounter WaLong GuoYouLin.  The Tea Encounter has a more hazey feeling and downer Qi sensation.  It also has more stability over the infusions as well as more up front cherry sweet and bitterness.  In some ways it is stronger than the 2018 Puerist and more obviously WaLong.  The Puerist has much more elegance and evolves nicely throughout the session.  It also has more going on with the mouth and throat feeling is sweeter Man Zhuan through and through.

Peace

2018 Puerist Hua Zhu Liang Zi: High Mountain Qi

This area is gaining in popularity for its pure and wild taste as one of the highest pureh producing areas in Yunnan.  I’ve only had it once before and there are not too many reviews on this region but it has been offered before at Pu-erh.sk as a gushu and xiaoshu and there are some reviews on that 2018 and small Bush 2015 (see here and here).  In many ways puerh this high has different characteristics similar to the way high mountain Mu Shu Cha puerh from Mengku has at least in my limited experience with the area.  This 2018 Puerist Hua Zhu Liang Zi was provided free with my order for review but goes for around $129.00 for 200g ($0.65/g) when I convert back from CND.  Let’s try it!

Dry smell of dense fruity sweet artificial bubble gum grape.

First infusion has a wild tea almost grape unrooted sweetness that is really long in the mouth but yet that integrates with a dry woody nuance.  The sweetness is really distinct and the brooth is really watery.  It’s as if a grape sweet note is dangling at the top with almost nothing to root it down but a thin dry wood bark taste.  The sweetness does beautiful things though by expanding into the aftertaste pretty much untouched over a mouthfeel that is soft and watery.  The sweetness does something deeper with a sour faint astringency at the end of the profile.

The second infusion is a little bit deeper but still very light but now almost velvety grape taste that almost tastes artificial.  It has a Canadian Ice wine like taste to it.  It strings along far into the breath expanding and becoming more candy like.  There is a faint almost tree bark almost decomposing wood almost caramel base that give the light grapey sweet layer some depth but itself being quite thin.  The mouthfeeling is very soft and throat feeling even softer- light a faint sandy silk in the mouth.  This is a very ethereal type of high mountain almost wild varietial puerh similar in a way to the puerh of Mu Sha Cha or Mother Teas of Mengku in many respects.  The Qi is very soft in the mind and body.  My mind feels expansive and creative.  I experience and unusual qi sensation of my hair standing on my arms like a soft tingle in the limbs.  Very interesting.

The third infusion has a richer more oily and velvet onset of woody foresty tastes being even with grape sweetness.  The taste is almost of dry dirt and forest floor.  There is a faint astringency building now along with a very oily viscus liquor and soft faint tongue coating gives interesting layers to a lighter taste profile.  There is some faint cooling on the breath.  The tongue develops a thin mud like texture to it.  The Qi is really soft and soothing in the body and there is a distinct feeling of limb and scalp tingling.

The fourth infusion has a richer, woodier, earthier, foresty onset with sweet grape become more syrupy in taste and now laying underneath.  There is a bit of pucker astringency which pushes the saliva into the mid- throat and stimulating the upper throat.  There is a pungent coolness that develops and with it a long fresh almost dirt grape sweetness.  All of a sudden there is lots of grounding depth in the taste.  There is still oily texture but now a much more stimulating mouth and throat feeling.  Very mellow Qi.  Has a very nice soothing bodyfeeling as if it is light.

The fifth infusion has an oily rich woody foresty dirt forest floor onset with grape syrupy sweetness underneath.  There is a building pucker and astringency with this puerh which has an almost drying effect in the mouth and stimulating effect on the throat.  The arms and face and scalp feel light and almost tingling.  The mind happy.  The aftertaste that comes after a significant coolness is dirt and grape much of the same as the initial tastes but more cooling and pungent which intermingles in there with the aftertastes.

The sixth has a woody almost rubber bitter foresty astringency with a thin stevia and grape sweetness underneath.  The long pungency in the mouth and throat is the key feature here.  The sweet grape is more developed in the aftertaste along with dirt woody forest floor in the aftertaste bolstered by the long pungency.  The bodyfeel is stable with limb, face, and scalp lightness and tingling.  There is a bit of mild Heart pounding.  This inufison is less oily but still noticeable.

The seventh has a splash of fruity sweetness and stevia sweetness with a supporting tree bark and dirt forest floor nuance.  The mouthfeel has become flatter now and the mouthfeeling is still a mild puckering due to a mild astringency almost faint bitterness.

The eighth has that same fruity splash with a faint stevia almost grape finish.  There is a dirt, rubbery, woody taste that overtakes the sweetness now.  The pungent finish brings a bit more focus to the sweeter tastes but is actually more rubbery, forest floor dirt.  A noticeable pucker and almost bitterness throughout.  Nice bodyfeeling and happy Qi continues to delight.

The ninth infusion has a very similar feel as the eighth through and through.

The 10^th infusion has an almost dark berry and grape stevia sweetness that is even with a rubbery-woody- dirt forest floor taste.  There is a quick mild-moderate bitter astringency here.  The pungency is nice and keeps the sweet dirt taste there until it disappears.

The 11^th is a fruity sweet punchy taste up front with much less bitter-astringency and rubbery forest tastes.  This leaves the sweetness to fade into the aftertaste quickly without much support.  The Qi continues to course nicely throughout the body.

The 12^th has a fruity plum and grape taste with mild dirt woody finish.  The throat feeling and tongue coating as well as oily texture has faded now.  Nice Qi throughout. 

13^th has a punchy fruity pep then a dirt woody rubbery forest mild base with a nice long pungency that carries these tastes a bit.  This infusion is more juicy fruity with a bit more mouthcoating.  Happy Qi and tingling bodyfeeling.

14^th has a mild stevia taste with rubber and dry wood base.  The pungency is nice but lessening slowly.  The bitter-astringency drops off in these mid-late infusions.  I feel happy and energized.

15^th has a woody slight woody bark astringency with faint sweetness hard to parse out from woody rubbery forest taste.  The cool pungency pushes out some nice flavours.

16^th has a nice balance of unusual woody forest rubbery base notes and some faint stavia taste with plum and grape sort of.  Nice Qi continues.

17^th has a nice balance of sweet and woody-foresty high mountain taste.  The sweetness is mild but part juicy fruity and part stevia grape-plum.  Flat, slight puckering mouthfeeling.  Dirt-forest and almost grape-plum finish.

This pureh has great stamina and I’m give no choice but to walk away from the table this afternoon with probably more decent infusions a head…

I go back the next day for a few flash steepings…

The 18^th is very creamy and fruity with a creamy sweetness with grape and plum tastes some surgery sweetness.  The sweet tastes are very layered here over a soft mouthfeeling.

The 19^th is much the same with a punchy fruity grape and plum with more stevia tastes and even a bit of bitter astringency.  The mouthfeel is soft with a bit of pucker.

20^th has a creamy peachy, stevia sweet, grape, plum fruitiness to it.  There is some great sweet tastes still layered in here.  These last infusions have more tastes than some other puerh’s peak infusions.  There is a soft and mild pucker mouthfeeling with some astringency.

Overall, this puerh is a very nice Hua Zhu Liang Zi puerh.  It starts as predicted very sweet and ethereal but quickly moves to sweetness with a woody high mountain forest base taste with a long pungent finish.  The middle infusions get a bit astringent and bitter with mild mouth puckering sensation all the while staying true to that thin almost artificial sweet kind of fruity taste with the foresty rubbery woody taste sometimes overtaking the high noted sweetness.  In the later infusions, more sweetness takes over the balance and plum and fruitier notes can be seen still juxtaposed with foresty, rubbery, woody high mountain “Mother Tree” potentially ancient varietal tastes. 

The Qi is the best part of this puerh with a strong building happy Qi with a unique bodyfeeling that leaves the limbs light and tingling.  The Qi is strong in this unique sense.  Like the high mountain Mu Shu Cha “Mother Tree” varietal of Mengku, Hua Zhu Liang Zi is maybe somewhere on a spectrum going towards a wild tea than conventional ancient arbour puerh.  It might be more of an acquired taste like wild puerh but should also be evaluated on its own similar to Mu Shu Cha or maybe even compared to it.

Oh did I mention the stamina of the leaf… I like this puerh.  Maybe the taste I haven’t completely acquired yet but it feels wonderful in the body and mind!

Peace

2018 Puerist YiBang “Ancient Tree”: Best of the West?

After my very first experience with Puerist puerh turned out to be a very Yibangy like Yiwu and excellent experience, I was left no other option to compared to this 2018 Puerist Yibang “Ancient Tree”  ($196.00ish for 200g or $1.00/g).  This was the only sample that I actually purchased whereas the others were provided free for review for readers of this blog.  So how was it… pretty great!

Dry leaf has a rich velvety grape fruity sweetness with deep mild floralness to it.  The richness of the odour suggests a decently humid, likely Xishuangbanna storage.

First infusion has a pondy and floral and almost grape taste nuance initially to it that finishes a long sweet candy floral finish.  It feels very smooth in the mouth and deep and opening in the throat without being simulating or astringent.  The aftertaste is particularly long and smooth.  There is some significant Xishuangbanana storage on this one but very clean.  This Yibang has a very smooth puerh feeling.  A smooth euphoria already starts inching into my mind.

The second infusion has a spicy, grape, floral popping and full taste feeling upfront that is thick, fulfilling, and flavourful.  The taste elongates following a pungent coolness that brings a sweet bread, grape, and vibrant floral taste out.  The aftertaste is really long and flavorful too.  The liquor is decently oily and the mouthfeel soft and slightly sticky.  More importantly there is a deep throat feeling here.

The third infusion has a thick fruity dense taste upfront- grapes, slight sour, decent fruity sweetness with a nice returning very sweet grape, dense floral and subtle bread sweetness.  The aftertaste is long and the liquor has some oily thickness to it.  The mouthfeeling is soft slippery with just faint edges of barely astringency and deep opening throatfeeling.  This is some delicious Yibang.  The Qi is subtle and slight euphoric.

The fourth infusion has a thick dense taste of floral, grapes, and slight sour peach it crashes into a mild cooling pungent then stretches into a long floral bread like sweet taste with some honey sweetness developing minutes later.  The flavours are really full over a soft almost slippery and not really astringent mouthfeeling.  There is a open deep-mid throatiness now with still some oily liquor.  Nice euphoria Qi is building here slight alerting a nice energy on this sunny early Autumn morning…

The fifth infusion has a bready sweet, slight malty and even sour grape and fermenting dried peachy full taste onset.  The result is some nice salivation with a deep throat and long sweet finish.  The mouthfeeling is becoming less oily and stickier as it pulls more saliva from the throat.  A nice deep throat aftertaste here and subtle but powerful Qi with a nice euphoria.  There are some bodyfeelings developing over the last few infusions which feel like an opening in the chest and expanding Abdomen feeling.

The sixth infusion has a thick fruity peach and grape floral onset.  There is a soft mineral taste developing now as well.  The sweet and sour fruity bready taste is long and expands in the throat after the passing cool pungency.  The strength, depth, and length of the sweet taste is really nice complimented with a deep Qi experience that is both rejuvenating and expansive in the mind and body.

The seventh has a really condensed taste of florals, grapes, and peaches bready sweetnesses with an added mineral almost woody mid taste.   The cool pungency brings a candy like sweetness that moves quickly into a floral fruity sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is a bit astringent.  A spacy loosing track of time feeling is upon me.

The eighth has a salty, briny, sour, sweet grape and fruit taste with a mineral woody base developing.  There is a nice euphoria high developing.  Deep throat and long aftertaste.

The ninth infusion has a salty fruity almost nutty bitter chocolate sweetness here initially.  There is a pungent coolness that dives into the bitter coco taste.  The chocolate develops a chocolate cake finish in the mouth which is really tasty here.  The mouthfeeling is slightly sandier here and the throat retains its depth.  There is a chest and heart opening body feel.

The 10^th infusion has a chocolate fruity bitter sweet rich taste which develops initially.  There is a peachy taste that seems to push through retuning with a chocolate cake taste in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling with the bitter chocolate taste over the last few infusions feels stronger and more sandy in the mouth but still with a deeper throat.  There are fruity tastes that manage to push past chocolate cake. 

11^th infusion has a bitter chocolate onset with a fruity strong sweetness under the bitter-sweet coco.  There is some underlying pungency which seems to push more fruity sweet from out under layers of bitter sweet chocolate cake tastes.  There is a subtle woody mineral taste in there as well.  The Qi is more sedating in the mind now.

12^th infusion has an even bitterer onset with chocolate taste being lost in the moderate bitterness and not much fruity sweetness making it out.  There is somewhat of a chocolate finish over a flat sandy sticky mouthcoating.  This infusion also lacks much pungency or deep throat.  A biter sweet coco taste throughout.  Sedating Qi.

13^th infusion has an almost mineral not really woody taste layered into the bitterness and coco.  The pungency is quite mild now without much retuning sweetness but the bitter coco is satisfying enough although quite simple here.

14^th I push for a 15 second beyond flash infusion now which pushes out more grape and fruity tastes over moderate bitter chocolate tastes.  The mouthfeel is now pretty flat and the aftertaste loses its fruitiness and pungency and is just a bitter chocolate taste.  Its actually quite nice in its simplicity.  Qi is really relaxing now.  I can feel my heart race as there is still noticeable effects on the body here.

15^th I push a 20 second infusion out and it gives off a bitter fruity chocolate taste.  The fruitiness comes and goes quickly and there is some mineral and almost pond like taste somewhere in there before a bitter sweet chocolate comes and goes over a flat sandy tongue coating.  Nice relaxing Qi with Chesty sensations now.

16^th 30 seconds has a coco almost foresty pondy taste which is not really sweet anymore over a flat fine sandy mouthcaoting and very little pungency.

17^th is about a minute long steeping… it gives off a bitter barely coco, kind of foresty pondy taste. 

I dump the wet leaf into a mug and steep this over the next few days grandpa style and it still has some decent tastes.  It has great stamina going this far.

Overall, this is a pretty satisfying YiBang!  Great Euphoric Qi, some bodyfeeling. Great taste and engaging mouthfeeling, great stamina.  I like it a lot and wonder if I would have been better to blind buy this one over the Wa Long?  Don’t know yet because haven’t tried the Wa Long but this Yibang is pretty satisfying!  

I wonder if it’s the best Yibang on offer by a Western puerh vendor as well?  I hope to sample Essence of Tea’s 2018 Yibang Gushu (when I get around to an order) and compare the two.  This one is substantially cheaper though, cheaper than the White2Tea Is a Gift productions also.  I should do a comparison with the White2Tea Yibangs but I’ll have to pull them out of deep storage…. Hummm… anyways this Yibang is a real treat might be the best of the West- very nice.

Peace