Blind Storage Guess: 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu from Puerh.uk

Okay I have three ¼ cakes of this 2003 ChenYuan Hao- onefrom Teas We Like, one purchased with the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Youle from Puerh.uk four days after it was released (here) and this quarter cake purchased with the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yibang from Puerh.uk on May 17^th.  I didn’t think that it would have come from a different storage than the first one I purchased.  However Paolo recently clarified in thecomments here that the remaining cakes come from a slightly different Taiwanese storage.  I mused that I no longer know which storage I had received because I didn’t pay much attention to the description when I re-ordered.  Below is a sampling of the second quarter I received in an attempt to uncover which one I had received…

Dry leaves smell like a plum and tobacco leaf odour.

The first infusion has a vibrant perfume floral grape plum onset.  Nice raison/ grape tastes here with a long cooling taste and deep throat opening with a thin full chalky mouthfeeling.  There is a creamy almost talc finish to the puerh.  The main note here is raisin.

The second infusion has a deep plum and perfume floral subtle raisin and talc finish.  The sweet layers come on quickly with a subtle sour note underneath and a creamy almost Rou gui perfume talc finish to it.  The mouthfeel is a sticky mossy chalky full feeling.  The Qi is warming on the face and has a nice focusing feeling to it. 

The third infusion has a raisin woody perfume very deep fruity raisin taste.  Nice oily perfume fruity raison.  Nice strong returning sweet raison plum sweetness.  Has a subtle creamy chalky finish.  This infusion has strong perfume floral raisin.  Nice sustained focused feeling.  Super delicious puerh.

The fourth infusion has a jam kind of plum raison taste initially with an oily returning taste of sweet plum raison and perfume sweetness.  There is a raisin overall taste to it.  Deep throat opening and subtle cooling in the breath subtle creamy talc.  Nice very relaxing feeling takes hold with a warm resigning feeling and nice calm focused feeling as well.  There is a bit of throat gripping and a dry chalky mouthfeeling under the texture.

The fifth infusion has a resin woody incense with fruity plum jam initial taste.  There is a bit of sour fruity splash of sweetness in that initial taste and is goes deep into the throat and leaves a chalky dry feeling that stimulates the upper throat a bit.  My favorite thing about this puerh is this incense floral perfume lingering taste minutes later and kind of finishes like wood resin.  Very nice.  I also love the tension easing and mind focusing to the Qi of this puerh… so good.

6^th has a woody resin plum chalky onset with a perfume resin and raisin finish.  The mouthfeel is left behind the oily tastes with a deep relaxing with heavy limbs sensation. The returning taste sort of comes with a more gripping stimulating top throat sensation that is sort of saliva producing.  Incense perfume finish.  Relaxing tension easing feeling with heavy limbs bodyfeeling.

7^th infusion has a resin incense onset with lesser sweet fruity tastes.  There is a deep throat opening and top throat stimulating sensation with a faint plum and perfume finish.  Dry gripping chalky mouthfeeling.  Nice deep relaxing focusing with heavy shoulders and limbs.

8^th has a sweet bread and woody resin onset with a deep throat opening and upper throat returning gripping feeling.  There is a deep opening feeling in the throat with some faint plum perfume left behind with some bread sweet tastes.  A dry mouthfeeling is becoming more intense and grips at the throat.

9^th is left to cool and gives off a rich coco resin creamy sweet with raisin returning sweetness with creamy and bread sweetness underneath.  Nice mossy dry mouthfeeling with a returning throat stimulating gripping feeling.  There is a coco and incense aftertaste minutes later.

10^th infusion has a fruity coco resin primarily quite sweet onset.  It is almost like a chocolate bar with currents in it- super yummy.  The Qi is mainly focusing and warming.

11^th is less flavourful coco with a raison creamy bready fruity edge.  Surprisingly bitter with a returning or developing gripping mouthfeeling.  There is a resin coco aftertaste that is a bit bland in the mouth.  Nice focusing Qi and warming body and face and heavy shoulders and limbs.

12^th has a fruity coco bland woody resin onset that finishes more incense and resin.  There is interesting movement of the mouthfeeling that reaches deep into the throat then grips the upper throat.  It’s done this throughout.  Has a mainly woody-incense-coco taste where the sweetness is a bitter sweet coco now not fruity nor is there any perfume now….

I mug steep out the rest….

Conclusion:  The old man storage of this cake (Taiwanese hot and dry storage) from Puerh.uk seems to be a bit darker with notes like caramel and prune coming up.  The other Puerh.uk storage( which I believe this quarter cake comes from) has much more noticeable resin taste and a very thick floral perfume taste as well.  There is no caramel or prune taste here and there is no thick floral perfume nor as much resin taste in the old man storage.  Interestingly, the storage is somewhere between Teas We Like storage and the other Puerh.uk storage.  While I was drinking it I was thinking that it might be from the old man storage but looking back at my tasting notes it seems unlikely.

Now, I will wait to see if Paolo can give me his opinion on which storage this second quarter cake could be based on the times I ordered, change in label with “Puerh.uk” stamped on Mylar, whether he completely sold out of the old man storage before refilling with the other storage, and based on my notes???

I mentioned in my sampling of the Teas We Like storage that there seems to be a lot of variability with this 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu session to session.  That coupled with the fact I didn’t have the time to do back to back sessions leaves a bit of room for error.  To make matters most interesting, I like the this sampling better than the old man Puerh.uk and Teas We Like storage options.

Peace

Optimal: 2003 Chen Yuan Hao Yiwu: Puerh.uk Old Man storage vs Teas We Like

I was really over the moon with my purchase of 2004 ChenyuanHao Song Pin Hao Commemorative Cake.  Specifically, I mention how stellar the storage was on it.  Currently, Puerh.uk has two sources for the Chenyuan Hao cakes they bring in.  This one is my preferred storage over both Puerh.uk’s other source and Teas We Like source.  Apparently, it was stored quite warm but also quite dry.  It was enough for me to re-order another one of these after sampling.  This 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu from Teas We Like is winning the speed test of my Chen Yuan Hao quarter cakes… so good enough excuse to pick up another 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu from Puerh.uk (approx $148.00 for 1/4 at $1.72/g)and compare the different storage on the two.  Paolo still had a few of these quarters left at the time of posting…

Dry leaves have a very vibrant sweet current and blackberry notes.  Sweet Fruity delicious.

First infusion has a watery creamy sweet taste that and a talc creamy chalkiness to it.  The taste is really silky and creamy and sweet.  There is some nice salivating as well.   Nice slow silky smooth creamy release deep in the throat.  Chalky sweet creamy tastes and chalky sort of mouth salivating.  Nice focusing feeling.

The second infusion has a creamy chalky woody sweet with a layer of berry blend underneath.  There is this creamy silky mouthfeeling with a deep and slower throat opening and long evolving berry jam tastes.  There is a sort of vegetal woody sort of layer, and jam mixed berries, and a creamy silky sweet as well.  Nice deep relaxing with heavy limbs.

The third infusion has a milky soapy raisin prune sweetness that has this sort of resin like body and creamy slowly expanding sweetness that reaches slowly and deeply into the throat.  There is a faint taste of berries and jam over deeper prunes and raisons.  With a mild relaxing focus and heavy limbs feeling.  Nice long creamy resin sweetness.

The fourth infusion has a brassy fruity vibrancy that is a bit prune and current and a bit fresher berry melon.  Very taste with a caramel layer as well.  It turns into a resin-like taste and has a long deep creamy sweet reach.  Depth of the layered sweetness really expands.  There is a subtle tart taste in there as well.  Nice slow mild saliva release with long creamy sweet fruity caramel aftertaste.  Nice focusing energy with chest and limb heaviness.

The 5^th has a malty brassy sweet raison and prune sweetness to it.  Nice long creamy layered with dry fruits and faint hints of fresher or jam like fruits.  Very subtle deep coolness in the throat.  Nice lubricating mildly oily texture with resin layers.  Nice full and expanding and long resin, caramel, and creamy sweet taste.  Very tasty puerh.  Nice focusing with some Chest and limb heaviness and tingling face. 

The sixth was left to cool and has a deep caramel layered with prunes, currents as well as hints at jam.  There is this full medium thick chalky silky mouthfeeling with deep throat opening.  Just a faint subtle coolness with resin creamy sweetness with hints of currents and prune.  Very delicious slow moving long fade.  Nice mild slow mouthwatering.

7^th is a watery resin creamy evolving sweetness with current and raisin.  The silky chalky feeling is really lovely.  With a nice focusing feeling some chest beats with heavy and open chest and limbs.  Nice long sweet creamy resin current.  Faint jams.  Really nice.

8^th is left to cool and has an oily mouthwatering creamy dried current taste with a faint incense resin.  The mouthfeel is silky in the mouth and the throat opening is deep with a not really noticeable coolness on the breath and long creamy resin taste.  There are pops of fruity tastes as well. Nice focusing energy.

9^th has a resin onset with a faint emerging sugar sweet taste that slowly trails off on the breath.  It combines with a faint breath coolness and develops a creamy sweet edge.  Nice focusing.

10^th is left to cool and has an almost fruity oily resin taste with subtle hints of fruity sweetness.  There is a long slight sweet resin taste with faint cool deep throat. Nice focusing.

11 has an almost spicy resin with faint fruity taste and incense.  The resin like incense notes are becoming stronger but there is no bitterness at all and no astringency so there is still this resin taste but backed by a lingering sweetness still which is quite nice with nice mind focusing, subtle face tingles and heavy chest and limbs.

12 has a fast moving pop of dried current sweetness almost raisin with a stronger incense resin.  Still lots of body to this puerh with a deep throat and slow release creamy sweetness with more resin in there in these later infusions.  The mouthfeeling is a bit chalky now.  Still some oily viscus feeling.  Focused mind and some chest beats with subtle face tingles.

13 has a pop of sweetness and resin and a long deep sweet breath taste with edges of caramel and resin woody.  Still very delicious.  Nice continued focusing mind with chest beast and face tingles.  The mouthfeeling is almost chalky and sticky especially the lips with a deep open throat.

I put the rest of the wet leaves (pictured above)into a long mug infusion and out comes sweet plum and dried currants with a resin base.  Very sweet with a long juicy plum finish deep in the throat.  There are suggestions of incense with a silky chalky mouthfeeling and strong focusing Qi.

VS Teas We Like storage- the Puerh.uk old man storage is much superior with that talc storage nuance and rich vibrant deep sweet rich taste. The resin nuances are much more savored in the Puerh.uk storage here.

Peace

2008 Bi Yun Hao Daqishu: Pure Yiwu

Daqishu is an area of Yiwu and I don’t remember having one from this specific area.  I picked up this sample from Liquid Proust last year…

Dry leaves smell of a very creamy candy floss sweet floral woody odour.

First infusion has a creamy soft candy sweet taste that begins then floats off into the distance.  There is some sweet creamy candy like sweetness that rides out on the breath also an almost carrot/ sweet potato nuance faintly in the distance but mainly this long creamy sweet ethereal uninterrupted taste very Yiwu taste.

The Second infusion has a peachy creamy sweet onset with a long airy clear note of sweet creamy Yiwu that hangs up in the breath a bit.  Very soft mossy full mouthfeeling with a bit of saliva producing but a deep vacuous throat feeling.  Nice floating out of body Qi feeling here with some body wobbling side to side feeling as if bobbing like a buoy in the ocean. 

3^rd has a slightly more woody sharing a balance between sweet creamy and woody dry onset with very clear notes not interrupted by any storage notes- this one is stored quite dry and the result is lots of clarity here.  There is a bit of a juicier peachy nuance here with mainly a long creamy sweetness that uninterrupted rides out in the breath.  Deep breath throat feeling.  Nice mossy full mouthfeeling with a deep subtle open throatfeeling.  Nice spacy Qi with some chest beats.  A bit time slowing Qi here too.

4^th was left to cool down and it gives off a woody watery almost honey sort of floral and ends creamy sweet in the mouth and breath.  Ethereal and airy and pure and light.  There is more of a mossy gripping mouthfeeling now with a slight pull at the throat.  Nice spacy feeling qi with some chest beats.

5^th infusion has a watery almost sweet potato nuance to it over woody with faint suggestions of creamy sweet and maybe peach taste.  Nice chalky mossy and slightly tugging the throat sensations.  Nice spacy Qi feeling.  Some almost candy glimpses in the aftertaste.  Clear taste profile nice spacy qi.

6^th has an oily buttery creamy taste slight woody with a melon and sweet potato there is woody creamy nuances that fade into the breath here.  Nice spacy feeling.

7^th has a melon watery fruity onset with clear taste of Yiwu here.  The cool cup is even clearer sweet potato and melon taste fade out in the breath and less deep in the throat now.  Very straightforward single estate material.

8^th has a woody oily sweet potato and melon onset with a subtle fading out into creamy sweetness.  Very clear and simple single estate gushu brilliantly dry stored.  Nice spacy feeling to the Qi.  In the body there is a loose jaw feeling in the face and some more obvious chest Heart beats.

9^th is cooled down and gives off a sweet woody sort of melon peach with a nice faint fade out.  The mouthfeeling is mossy with a bit of gripping- pretty mild.  Nice floating feeling, spacy, with heart beats.

10^th has an oily peachy woody taste with a nice lubricating texture when left to cool.  Nice soft mossy mouthfeeling.  Simple and clear taste.  Nice mild spacy feeling.

11^th has a woody oily taste with a bit of distant peach not that sweet but absolutely no bitter or astringency either.

I mug steep out the spent leaves and it gives off woody faint onset with a peachy melon taste to it.  The mouthfeel is a full mossy slight gripping feeling.  The peachy taste lingers for mintues later popping in the mouth and saliva then fading only to come back again.  Nice spaced out feeling here.

This is a very simple high quality, straightforward and pure single estate Yiwu Gushu with near perfect storage and processing.  What’s not to like about this?? 

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Peace

2005 BiYun Hao Yiwu: Qi Extraordinaire!

I picked up this 2005 BiYun Hao quarter cake in the second release for $160.00for 95g or $1.68/g.  This is one sold out quickly in the first drop of cakes and quarters and I wonder how it could be better than the 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu I sampled the day before… it turns out its pretty much a completely different Yiwu…

Dry leaves have a sweet hay and distant grape bubble gum candy sweetness.

The onset is woody hay with a fresh creamy candy like sweetness that is light, airy, and watery.  There is a juicy feel to this first infusion with a long expanding air and creamy Yiwu sweetness that returns very strong on the breath.  Very deep throat opening with slow salivating release.  Lots of bubble gum and creamy sweet tastes with no storage tastes or deeper tastes to ground its progression and unraveling.  Nice strong calming peace.  Very high quality, entrenched, and ethereal Yiwu qualities.  Strong deep and gentle tension relief.

The second infusion left to cool and has a creamy cooling sweetness that goes deep in the throat and candy creamy sweetness stretches out on the breath.  There is a woody sort of almost herby undertaste.  But the sweetness is long and evolving and long candy finish.  Soft out of body feeling to the Qi.  Spacy in this regard.  Nice soft chalky mouthfeeling.  Slow release saliva.

3^rd infusion has a woody creamy sweet onset that is a bit dry, a bit sour, but mainly this long evolved creamy almost candy-like sweetness.  More depth here with the drier woodier note but still slow mild saliva release.  Spacy out of body feeling.  Very very nice Yiwu here.

4^th has a melon juicy pop of sweetness with a sort of resin woody base taste.  The sweetness has a sourness to it but slowly expands and returns on the breath.  The mouthfeeling is this soft dry chalky feeling that is similar to the 2004.  The breath taste is way more ethereal and sweet.  The Qi is a spacy out of body feeling.

5^th has a rich sunny fruity onset with a coolness imbedded in the breath which pulls along the returning sweetness which is a creamy sweetness.  There are subtle melon, woody, and cookie, and sour tastes in there.  Nice sweet Yiwu profile with distinct spacy feeling.  The Qi sensation feels a lot like Wan Gong Qi- a high out of body spaciness.  Strong saught after Qi experience here!  Creamy lingering almost candy-like sweetness.

6^th has a sweet juicy and a bit syrupy sweet almost melon like creamy sweet taste pop initially.  There are nuances to the sweetness that reminds me of waffles… don’t know why?  Long sweet taste here.  The thicker richer taste is not really there so it’s just this long progressing sweet taste.  That has a melon edge to it and a fresh light juicy feeling.  Nice spaced out feeling a bit out of body experience with the intensity and deep spiritual Qi and mind floating here.

7^th has a syrupy melon sweetness that is a bit creamy and more syrup-woody tasting.  The mouthfeeling is more dry now.  Strong melon tastes now.  Mildly spacy. Soft mouthfeeling with a touch of dryness.

8^th melon and pie crust and woody sort of sweetness with a more juicy taste overall.  Spaced out tranquility now.  Subtle chest beats.  Nice soft chalky mouthfeeling.  Lesser sweet fade out.

9^th has a syrupy sweetness with distinct long menthol like creamy sweet taste.  There is a slightly dry chalky mouthfeeling.  Still a bit oily texture with an overall juicy sweetness but less obviously fresh melon and more creamy juicy vibrancy.  Nice saliva release.  Strong spacy feeling a bit out of body experiences.

10^th has a woody juicy syrupy creamy sweetness with a juicy and shining taste with a long creamy sweetness over a full slightly dry chalky mouthfeeling.  There is this lingering creamy almost melon sweetness that is really nice and nice spacy feeling.

11^th has a creamy sweet bready taste onset.  A bit of woody underneath but it moves quickly to a creamy and almost melon taste that turns to candy Yiwu sweetness.  Nice space out feeling but still somewhat focused.  Chalky bland breath finish now.

12^th has a creamy almost coco bready taste.  The sweetness is obvious throughout but has a woody bland chalky taste to it underneath with some bitterness emerging there.  Nice spacy relaxing with a bit of Heart beats.  Not too much bodyfeeling in this puerh despite its strong Psychological Qi state.  More of a body disassociation more than anything.  Some Melon and coco on the breath.

13^th infusion has a bland woody coco with some cool breath and faint bready sweetness underneath.  Some bitter chalky blandness emerges now.  Spacy relaxing here.  Cooled down it has a nice coco and creamy sweet taste with some wood and bread over a chalky full mouthfeeling.

14^th has a woody almost medicinal but more creamy sweetnesses and coco.  Still very oily and full mouthfeeling.  Spacy and relaxed.

15^th is left to cool… and gives off a juicy somewhat oily coco creamy bland woody but mainly still expanding sweet taste.  Nice relaxing feel and somewhat out of body but not unfocused. 

Mug steepings of the spent leaves gives off a honey and herbal woody slightly bitter onset with a creamy long sweet milk chocolate nuance.  The taste is still very vibrant and full.  Nice long creamy sweetness is probably the main note here.  A full chalky mouthfeeling with a touch of driness.  Nice relaxing and subtle high feeling.  Nice long aftertaste still.  Nice full feeling with creamy coco breath tastes minutes later.

Vs 2003 ChenYuan Hao (top leaves)- is a very much a feel good Yiwu to me compared to these 2004 & 2005 Yiwu.  The Chen Yuan Hao is not as complex as either of these but is more of a classic Yiwu in its pure taste and Qi.  Again very different than both BiYun below.

Vs 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu (middle leaves) these two are actually very different which is a bit shocking to me… They are both really good but really different.  The 2004 is much rougher, intense, and complex in taste- it is almost like a factory gushu type thing where the 2005 (bottom leaves)is deep, ethereal, elegant, with long expanding sweetness and otherworldly in its Qi experience and feel more like a modern gushu production.  In some ways, the contrast represents the historical shift happening with these productions at the time.  The 2005 has a Qi experience in it that is pretty amazing and harder to come by so it’s noticeably better of the two but my factory leanings have me really enjoying the 2004 for its complexity and power.  If this 2005 becomes available again it’s possible that I might pick another quarter or even a cake-djvbdvbdv.  The price is the main deterrent for both of these Yiwu for me-its probably priced right but it ain’t cheap either.

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

James & Denny’s (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Peace

2004 Biyun Hao Yiwu: Complex Taste +++ Power +++

Got this 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu quarter cake ($170.00 for 95 g or $1.79/g) from Teas We Like in their drop of early Bi Yun Hao productions.

The dry leaves smell both woody and intensely herby also a bit sweet.  There is a slight pondy marshland Taiwanese dry stored smell and lots of depth to the odour.

First infusion has a medicinal root beer like onset with a subtle bitter sweet taste.  There is a nice deep cooling happening here with a silty full mouthfeeling and herbal sweet taste.  The texture is nicely oily with a subtle pondy marshland nuance of the storage.  Nice very complex balance of herbs, woods, sweet almost brown sugars.

Second has a rich woody resin herbal bitter sweetness.  It is classic wood-bitters taste with a resin and herbal edge.  There is a vibrant sweetness of brown sugars taste underneath and on the edges.  The mouthfeel is full and almost drying silty.  The throat is a medium-upper depth cooling.  Complex taste here.  Very root beer like complexity.  The Qi is pretty strong in the chest you can feel the heart go and a euphoria building.

Third infusion is left to cool and has a creamy menthol medicinal herb taste to it there are emerging caramel sweetness and a nice rich depth.  The throat opening and cooling is middle-deep and opening where the mouthfeeling is silty and slightly sticky and faintly drying.  The oily texture sort of just melts over the tongue.  Nice stronger chest beats with an uplifting energy feeling subtle high with stronger body chest feeling that almost wraps around the ribs.

The fourth infusion has a very herbal medicinal deep dark menthol root beer thing happening here.  There are just very faint suggestions of pondy storage but not really and more herbal-bitter-sweet-medicinal tastes.  The taste is deep and dense.  There is this initial splash of tastes that comes up in the mouth a result of a pop of bittersweetness.  Nice chest beats and uplifting Qi with subtle mild high.  There is a creamy sweetness left in the mouth minutes later.  Dense and rich and deep tastes.  Strong Qi.

5^th has an almost turpentine good woody taste with a sweet almost floral taste to it over a caramel.  There is an emerging candy like sweetness in the mid-throat and breath.  There are also layers of herbs, chalky sweetness, and creamy sweetnotes.  There is a bitter sweet taste in there and less of the bitter-sweet woodiness.  Lots going on in this Yiwu blend.  The mouthfeel is chalky slight dry-sticky full in the mouth.  This infusion has that sweet almost candy-like breath… Yummy!

6^th has a deep medicinal syrupy taste with sweet edges but a bitter-sweet woody rich taste and nice oily texture.  There is a deep sweet almost resin and incense.  There is a lingering rich sort of caramel.  Nice strong chest beats and upbeat energy with mild high.

The 7^th has a woody almost bitters that quickly turns to melon fruity Yiwu and lingers in the mouth like this a while before sort of fading into a creamy sweetness, there is some richness there and some woody caramel resin sort of thing, even slight herbs.  Nice chesty bodyfeeling with heart beats and some mild euphoria high building in the body.

8^th has a woody bitters and resin taste with a pop of sweetness underneath it.  There is a creamy sweetness that emerges.  Lots of rich depth to the taste.  Nice Chesty Qi feeling with a bit of uplift and kind of zoning out.  The mouthfeel is a bit of an oily chalky now.

9^th has an incense woody onset with a sweet edge.  There is a bitter sweet pop with some melon tastes also some bland woody tastes starting to emerge now as well.  The mouthfeeling is a dry chalky feeling.  There is an almost melon creamy sweet aftertaste left in the mouth minutes later.  Nice mild building high with chesty feelings.

10^th has a woody varnish with some sweet edges that develop into a melon sweetness that then turns into a creamy sweetness only mild cooling here.  Still rich taste in a way and deep things that are less obvious now but still within grasp. 

11^th has a rich syrupy woody bitters deep like medicinal sweetness.  There is still some oily texture and sticky mouthcoating.  The taste goes toward a long creamy sweetness with medicinal woody base.  Sometimes it tastes almost mushroom.  Nice mild high with chest beats and energy uplift.

12^th has an almost sour bitter woody with touches of coco and flashes of melon tastes.  There is more mouth salivating here than in the infusions before it and it has a sweeter and syrupy and fruitier feel.  Nice uplift and chest beats…. This Qi is pretty steady throughout.

13^th has a rich juicier and thick sweet almost tobacco fruity sweetness that is a bit caramel and flashes of fresh honeydew melon.  The mouthfeeling is very sticky and full the breath is faintly cooling.  Nice high with a bit of pep.

14^th was another complexity of sweetnesses.  With a caramel sweetness creamy sweet with melon tastes and creamy tastes over a sticky mouthfeeling with less intense mouthfeeling and less woody-bitter herbs.  Now is the time for the sweetness to shine.

Mug steepings reveal a mushroom bland woody taste with creamy sweet and almost sweet potato sweetness that you could get out of Gua Feng Zhi.  Nice oily still, still lots of depth and complexity.

The longer overnight steepings pushes out more strong bitterness and woody-bitters with a rootbeer like sweetness at the edges but strongly bitter… there is still lots of bitter bones in this deep complex Yiwu blend.  There are some pond-marshland notes in there as well and herbs… complex…

Overall, this is a pretty intense Yiwu experience.  It feels more like a factory tea trying to make a gushu type of thing than a Taiwanese Boutique production!  It likely represents the historical transformation of factory type gushu productions to more modern type gushu productions that we will see in my next post.  It has still a strong bitter back bone and intense invigorating Qi to it. 

Vs 2004 Nan Qiao Bulang King- It reminds me lots of the 2004 Nan Qiao Bulang King for some strange reason.  I think the dry pondy marshland storage, factory/gushu type production and the general intensity of the Qi are strangely similar.  They both have a sort of herby body to them this 2005 BiYun Hao has more Yiwu sweetness layered in for sure but a lot of other complexity which includes cola, herbs, woods, bitters, creamy, vegetables, melon-candy, mushroom, medicinal… anyways the dry storage and blend gives this one way more complexity than most Yiwu of this age I’ve tried but it has a strength and harshness that could almost be aged out longer and is more of a rugged beauty than an ethereal Yiwu beauty for sure.  It was interesting and intense enough for me to pick up another quarter cake to play with mainly because it left me feeling so good…  but it is pretty pricy to go in for a full cake for me right now…

Vs 2013 BiYun Hao Mahei -This cake also reminds me of my blind tasting of the 2013 BiYun Hao Mahei which almost tricked me into believing it was a Bulang blend, before reflecting that it was actually a Yiwu… this 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu is very much in this stronger BiYun Hao style.

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Peace

1999-2000 Fuhai Yiwu Six Green Leaves= Powerful

This is a bit of a famous cake stored by the more famous and at times controversial Cloud’s Tea House… I got this sample from LiquidProust.  It was a damn cold Spring day with lots of wind and cold and this seemed like a very satisfying drink to warm up to…

Dry leaves smell of cardboard-woody damp paper bag.

First infusion has a soft fluffy onset with some watery humid notes, some dirt notes, then a mild bitter astringency pop and a cooling almost creamy sweet finish.  The mouthfeeling is really gripping and engaging.  There is a tobacco note that appears minutes later.

Second infusion has a rye-whiskey woody onset with a smooth woody creamy sweet transition in the mouth.  There is lots movement in the taste from a woody rye whiskey onset a bit of bitter astringency then returns a creamy sweet almost wine like long finish that sort of merges with cooling.  Then there is a lingering aftertaste minutes later that has a tobacco taste to it.  The mouthfeeling is chalky and tugging and really full.  It reaches down the throat deeply stimulating it.

Third infusion has a strong rich smoke woody rye-whiskey slight dirt with strong mouthfeeling and dry chalky gripping feeling with a strong returning sweetness of cooling menthol with a creamy sweet finish.  The flavours are very strong and distinct. Very intense gripping full mouth and deep gripping throatfeeling.  Long tobacco finish in the mouth many minutes later.  Very subtle warming feeling in the body.  Subtle focusing and relaxing.

The 4^th infusion has a woody wine whiskey vibrant pop of flavours that has a plum taste kind of layered in there.  There is a strong menthol cooling with pops of plum cherries and a long cooling creamy sweetness with long tobacco finish.  Very strong full tugging mouthfeeling and throatfeeling.  This infusion has stronger cherry-plum sweet vibrancy.  The mouthfeeling continues in be quite intense and the Qi is this subtle warming relaxing focusing energy.  You can feel a warmth in the diaphragm. 

5^th has a strong woody whiskey barrel onset with some distant smoke and distant sweet plum there is a strong mouth and throat presence here with a bitter astringency underneath and strong simulating mouth and throatfeeling.  Camphor woody and not as creamy sweet.  Intense mouth and throatfeeling taste centered by very soft warming relaxing Qi and comfortable bodyfeeling.  Have never experienced the extremes of this dichotomy in a tea this old and aged. Qi has a distinct warming heavy sensation in the Stomach and diagram.

6^th infusion has a strong woody whiskey barrel taste with some developing cherry-plum some lesser camphor wood.  Nice tobacco and creamy sweet finish.  Very strong pulling mouth and throatfeeling.  Nice strong warming diaphragm and stomach.  Relaxing focus.

7^th infusion has a creamy sweet woody onset with a touch of bitter astringency.  The mouthfeel is more oily and velvety with a long plum camphor taste.  There is this tobacco finish in this puerh that I just love in Yiwu puerh.  The creamy sweet profile is long throughout the profile. 

8^th has a plum woody whisky barrel onset that is mainly sweet with lesser bitter astringency in the last few infusions.  Nice camphor cooling with a creamy sweetness and some bitter finish in the mouth.  There is a creamy sweet and tobacco with bitterness in the finish.  Strong diagpragm warming feelng. Very full chalky gripping mouthfeeling and deep and strong throat stimulation.  Long cooling in the throat.  Some faint dirt and plum tastes initially.

9^th is left to cool and gives off a subtly smoke, subtle dirt coco bitterness, and soft creamy sweetness initially.  The initial tastes go long in this cooled down cup.    There is more smoke and more dirt taste in this infusions.  The throatfeeling has more tugging strength than the mouthfeeling which is more of a dry chalky.  Nice relaxing focusing with strong warming digapragm and Stomach.  The warming centering Qi is really compforting.

10^th has a silky full mouthfeeling with a stimulating pulling throat feeling with a creamy sweet coco dirt onset with an expanding creamy sweetness.  Longer creamy sweet profile now with lots of creamy coco taste.  Strong warmth in Stomach and diaphragm.

11^th is cooled down and gives off more dirt tastes than creamy sweet coco.  There is this dirt and bitter taste that has a certain brackish taste to it.  This infusion has some faint camphor and barely sweetness but is mainly this bitter dirt taste.  The Qi is still strongly warming and relaxing.

12^th has a bitter dirt with some creamy sweet notes underneath.  The bitter dirt taste pretty much tastes over the taste here.  The mouthfeeling is dry tugging with strong throat stimulation only faint creamy sweet coco tastes now.  Strong relaxing….

I put these same leaves into mug infusions….

The result is a bitter dirt bland strong tasting broth that is not that enjoyable tasting but strong relaxing and warming Qi remains.  Nice warming and relaxing feeling on this slow moving unseasonably cool and windy day.

This is a powerful factory Yiwu puerh with power in its taste and mouth- and throat-feeling.  Yet very warming and relaxing and comfortable in its Qi.  The dichotomy is striking.  The strength and power of the mouth and throatfeel in an aged puerh like this sort of reminds me of the 88 Qing Bing.  It also offers an interesting contrast to the Black Stamp of the same year which is quite refined, smooth, and very tasty fruity taste with high quality body feeling.  Very opposite this Fuhai in almost every way.

Peace

2005 Yiwu Ancient Tree Melon: Craving this Yiwu!

Got this sample from The Essence of Tea after it sold out.  I had just hit the 2004 Yang Qing HaoZhencang Chawang pretty hard for a decent price and couldn’t stomach another few KG of Yiwu… but this one turned out to be pretty good as well…  This 2005 Yiwu Ancient Tree Melon went for$690.00 for 1000g melon or $0.69/g.  There is a terrible spring blizzard here now so I’ve been digging into some oldish samples…  

The dry leaves smell very sweet creamy sweet almost candy-like odours.

The First infusion has a creamy oily sweetness.  The taste as a touch of fleeting fruitiness and a touch of astringent pucker but is mainly this sweet oily liquor.  The aftertaste has this slow creamy sweetness that hides in the throat and is pushes out in gentle spurts of saliva.

The second infusion has a fresh cherry pop of taste that induces saliva in the slightly puckering mouthfeeling and oily texture.  The throat feeling is interesting and feels like there is a slow and sputtering release of saliva from the mid throat to the back of the mouth.  The finish is subtle incense and a slow release creamy sweetness.  There are some bodyfeeling tingles with this one- face, neck, forehead.  Some diaphragm and chest opening feeling.

The third infusion has a cherry fruity pop initially with some pucker tart and saliva producing to follow.  The finish of faint incense and creamy sweetness is stronger here.  The mouthfeeling is becoming more gripping as well.  Strong puckering feeling where a creamy sweetness lingers.  Open belly and chest feeling with some relaxing sighs. 

The 4^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy sweet oily and slightly woody taste that has a chalky incense aftertaste and strong cherry almost sour edge to it.  There is a faint cooling woody but tastes different and fresher than menthol in this cooled down cup.  Nice soft full drying.  Cherry artificial candy like finish.

5^th has a creamy woody sweet taste with some lesser fruit cherries that can’t quite express.  The creamy sweet chalky aftertaste has an almost strawberry cream taste to it.  There is a cool almost menthol but more like a tingling cherry cough candy- really tasty and unique.  Nice numb tingles in the body with a foucs on the tummy and chest feeling open.  Nice calm feeling.

6^th has a creamy woody oily onset with a sweet creamy almost fruity taste.  It develops into a faint incense and creamy strawberry candy sweetness with a bit of cherry cough candy taste.  Nice mild tingles and Chest and Abdomen opening.  There is a long cooling cherry candy creamy woody taste in the back of the throat.  There is an open mid-throat with and slight full dry puckering mouthcoating.  The energy of this puerh isn’t warming but not cooling either. 

7^th is left to cool and has a creamy woody almost sweet fruity initial taste with an almost menthol cherry cough candy finish to it.  The mouthfeeling is puckering and becoming more and drier.  There are glimpses of talc powdery taste.  There is now a gripping feeling in the throat as less saliva is produced.  Nice relaxing and reassuring vibe here with some tingles and Chest and Abdomin opening.

8^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy woody not as sweet initial taste with a menthol cherry cough candy mild finish.  There is a drier gripping mouthfeeling with a mid throat puckering.  Nice opening expanding diparagm and Chest.  Nice calm focus.

9^th infusion has a creamy sweet candy cherry like onset over a chalky slight puckering mouthfeeling.  The sweetness lingers in the aftertaste. 

10^th has a creamy strawberry-like taste with a chalky finish.  With nice chest and abdomen opening and tingles in the face.

11^th is cooled down and is creamy woody talc taste with chalky finish in the mouth.  There is this woody chalky taste primarily.  Nice focusing.

I mug steep out the rest of the wet leaves and it gives off a woody menthol-cherry taste with a touch of astringency and long cool aftertaste with interesting layers of pungency, sweetness, and dryness.  The mouthfeel has a strong gripping taste which translates to a woody cherry pungent astringent dryness.  It doesn’t have that gag feeling though.  Strong mind relaxing and face warming now.

Comparing this Yiwu to some of the Chen Yuan Hao or Yang Qing Hao Yiwu’s I have been consuming late isn’t really a fair comparison as I feel these are a bit better but not that much better.  This Yiwu melon has really nice storage on it better than the Yang Qing Hao and Chen Yuan Hao stuff and a super interesting cherry cooling coughdrop flavor.  It’s really comfortable in the body.  There is some solid bodyfeelnig with the Abdomen and Chest opening and focusing feeling in the mind.  The mouthfeeling is a bit too gripping and puckering at times and the complexity is obvious single estate product.  There was something unique about this one that I can’t put my finger on maybe the cherry cough drop taste ??? which was enjoyable also the fact that it was a bit gripping and astringent but aged enough that it was completely comfortable in the body. I’m not sure if it would have been one that I would want to purchase but I can see myself drinking it regularly.   Another solid tea from The Essence of Tea! 

I’ve been drinking the spent leaves in long infusions for the past few days and I have to say that I really look forward to these steepigns from this puerh.  It has a nice very clean taste, very pure taste, the leaf quality is very and there is no interruption from storage tastes.  In many ways this Yiwu is better that those coming from those famous boutique brands…  This is definitely a puerh I could drink on the regular.

Peace