2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Yibang Ma Li Shu: Building Power

I have been sipping away at this semi aged 2013Puerist Ma Li Shu that I purchased last year and wonder how this will compare?  This 2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Ma Li Shu goes for $51.18 for 200g cake or $0.26/g. Thanks Tiago for sending this satisfying sample...

Dry leaf is of a mossy sweet floral woodiness.

First infusion has a watery floral with a soft returning creamy sweetness.  A strong heady Qi seems to be coagulating in the mind.

Second infusion has a soft creamy pear sweetness over a pure clean watery body.  There is a base taste of dry wood.  The taste is pure light and clear.  The mouthfeeling is as soft as the flavor with a sticky lips and mild mossy faint toungcoating with faint lingering cooling in the throat.  Qi is a mild spacy relaxing feeling.  There is an Asian pear aftertaste minutes later.  There is a faint opening below the ribs.

The third infusion there is a woody dense pear taste and orange peel that moves fast to a light pure icing sugar finish.  There is some mouthwatering over a fine clay like taste.  There is long pure sweet pear-sugar aftertaste is really nice minutes later.  Nice relaxing mind stopping Qi.  Slight opening bodyfeeling in ribs and chest.

The fourth infusion has a creamy sweet candy and floral pear like dense high-noted complex light onset which comes with a quick moving bitterness with a faint sugar that bridges the gap.  Very Sticky, almost dry, lips and clay mouthfeeling with this complex sweetness is really nice here.  Light limbs and Open chest sesnsation and mid slowly effects. Very nice infusion with a Qi sensation that is really strong in the mind and pushing me into an extreme spaced out.

The fifth infusion has a peachy banana woody mild bitter pear like onset.  There is a clay puckering monthfeelnig with very dry lips.  The aftertaste is a bit dry woody with a sugary finish, slight candy, Slight more woody.  Big Qi sensation.

6^th has a quick bitter lemon peel with pear and slight floral creamy surgar-honey.  Nice sticky lips and clay thin coating on the tongue.  Faint rubbery woody taste that fades when the sweetness returns into a fading out of pear taste on the breath.  Mind stopping Qi.

7^th Ooops… a good few minutes went by… very dense peachy taste, almost soapy floral peach with dense clay sticky tonguecoating and dry lips.  A bit bitter but not overwhelming so.  Strong floral presence in the accident strong push.  Big Qi is chest and relaxing mind.

8^th is left to cool as work gets a bit busier than I imaged and I’m honestly pretty spaced out from the Qi here… peach-pear with a touch of orange rind and faint slight wood that turns to a fading candy on the breath.

9^th has a peachy woody a bit of bitter orange peel.  Faint cooling at top of throat turns to sugary candy peach woody.   Very satisfying if not that complex right now.

10^th is left to cool and I get a more woody dry bitter balanced with creamsicle tastes.  Big open chest Qi.

11^th has a bitter woody orange peel with an almost creamy sweeter finish with a gripping but dense tonguefeeling and relaxing spacy Qi.

12^th has a bitter dry woody with underlying peachy suggestions.  The mouthfeeling has become quite strong and gripping on the tongue and lips with the upper throat opening as it has throughout the session.

13^th is a bitter orangey floral wood onset that is a balance of flavours with bitter being the strongest.  There is still lots of flavor here.  This puerh has great stamina!  Powerful Qi in the chest and mind but not at all harsh on the body.  The 14^th is much the same with still a strong presence and flavor.

The mug infusions afterward are super flavourful still with a bitter and sweet blend of tastes.

Overall, nice complex light sweet fruity florals a touch of bitter and dry wood.  Nice sticky almost clay faint mouthcovering.  Big spacy Qi in here.  Nice to drink now and space out or just age it out very dry for the powerful Qi experience.  I had a great day with this one.  This is a good value option for those looking for Qi and power and don’t want to break the bank.  It was a busy day but I was so spaced out I didn’t care… hahhahha….

Vs 2020 Tea Encounter Autumn Chawangshu.... these are almost the same price and both Autumn.  The Chawangshu is more complex and Balanced with less stamina as it gets weaker fast.  The Ma Li Shu has a power that builds throughout the session but has less balanced taste that tends to be more varied highnotes throughout most of the first half of the session.  The last half is a nice bitter and sweet balance.  Both nice cheap options with enough elements to enjoy for their price.

Alex’s (Puerh Notes) Tasting Notes

Peace

2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi: Marketing Budget Single Origin Puerh

Okay, I know Tiago and me are both strong believers of the benefits of full size puerh cakes.  But, let’s be honest… there are also many advantages to offering Xiao Bings too.  Maybe one of the biggest advantages is that a cake can be had at a much lower buy in price.

Okay, I know Tiago and me are both strong believers of the benefits of Spring cakes.  But, let’s be honest… there are also many advantages to offering Autumn puerh too.  Maybe one of the biggest advantages is that a cake can be had at a much lower buy in price.

Okay, I know I kind of just repeated myself there.  But you can see where I am going with this right? The combo of xiao bing with Autumn production makes for a really affordable option for those who can’t afford or don’t want to spend the money on fresh puerh these days.  Zheng Si Long offers a solid Yiwu single origin puerh experience for those who wish to explore single regions on the cheap all the while having your very own cake which is kind of fun.

Tiago sent me a complimentary sample for review of one of these autumnal 2019 Zheng Si Long- the 2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi($46.47 for 200g cake or $0.23/g).  I imaged he probably sent this one because he knows I really enjoy the Zheng SiLong Mang Zhi and also because I think the 2016 is a pretty solid Autunal puerhfor the price…

Dry leaves smell of creamy, woody, florally, fruity complex odour that is not particularly strong but complex.

First infusion starts with a pondy woody watery onset with hay notes underneath.  There is a clear vegetal base to this first infusion almost rubbery woody and almost floral.  Not that much sweetness.  The mouthfeel starts to fill up with a rubbery squeaky kind of feeling.

The second infusion starts with a very present woody taste slight rubbery woody and almost a woody floral type of finish.  The mouthfeel is full and squeaky.  There is a puckering full sensation in the mouth with a very faint floral, not that much sweetness.  The cooled cup is a floral orange creamy butter sweetness over a vegetal base.  The Qi comes off pretty relaxing.

The third infusion has a lime fruit sour orange woody floral taste.  There is some complexity coming out in the taste with sour, salty, and not quite sweet notes emerging here.  The taste is both interesting and enjoyable and ends in a faint sugary woody floral cream woody.  The mouthfeeling is a bit sandy and soft not too full with a vacuous throat.  The Qi is relaxing to the point of zoning out chill.

The fourth has a jazzy fruity perfume woody strong condensed initial taste.  The base is woody and vegetal there is a sugar sweetness in the finish with a fruity sweet layering.  The mouthfeeling is chalky with sticky lips.

The fifth infusion has a woody slight bitter juicy condensed fruity perfume onset.  The initial tastes kind of drops leaving a vegetal and woody base and some floral tastes with a faint sugar.  The mouthfeeling is a thick chalky coating not much of anything really goes on in the throat. 

The sixth infusion has a chalky floral orange fruit taste over a vegetal woody base flavor.  The initial taste is a spark of tastes then it fades into a creamy sweet almost orange creamsicle flavor over woody vegetal taste.  The mouthfeeling is thin chalky and the throat is empty.

The seventh infusion has a mild bitter wood with vegetal and faint orange floral underneath.  The mouthfeeling is a chalky thin puckering with a cottony full finish.  It finishes vegetal and almost creamy sweet. There is lots of flavor here for sure just not as much mouthfeeling and absent of much throatfeeeling.  The Qi is quite mild and relaxing almost hazy in the mind.

The eighth infusion has a woody slight bitter onset with sour orange and floral finish.  The dense flavor over stimulating mouthfeeling are enjoyable.  There is also a metallic taste developing in the mouth over a flat sticky dry thin mouthfeeling.  Hazy mild relaxing downer Qi on this overcast day- my mind feels overcast.

The ninth infusion has a bitter woody onset that quickly leaves an orange sour sweetness behind in the tight chalky thin mouthcoating.  There is a vegetal bitter woodiness underneath.  A cool cup is more creamy sweet woody slight orange sour savory taste.  The taste is complex and interesting but has little to root on a thin tight chalky mouthfeeling and empty throatfeeling.   Relaxing.

The 10^th has a woody slight bitter orange not that creamy floral taste.  It’s like all the interesting flavours come at the same time and don’t stick around much but that initial blast is really nice.  Flat tight full coating.

The 11^th infusion has a sour sweet orange woody vegetal taste.  Tight slight chalky full mouthfeeling.  Relaxing Qi.  This puerh is very stable throughout the infusions.  I like the interesting burst of flavours here- bitter, savory, and sour.

`12^th has a watery, vegetal, slight bitter orange taste with some woody almost coco base woody profile.  There is a grain/ hay subtle nuance that pops up in the aftertaste minutes later. 

I mug steep out the rest and it gives off thick olive vegetal slight bitterness with a wood-floral nuance.  The taste is still quite concentrated and give me a calm alert feeling inside.

I overnight steep it and it is actually quite complex in flavor the next day with chalky, woody, creamy sweet, fruity, bitter, lots of tastes in there over a thick full chalkiness.  The fruitiness is quite long in the mouth and lingers for a long time.  It’s interesting that the gongfu had not much aftertaste where the overnight steeping of the spent leaf had lots of aftertaste which tells me that it will grow into its aftertaste as it ages a bit more.

Overall, this Autumn Mang Zhi offers a dense complex burst of varied tastes initially that fade quickly but are quite satisfying and thick when they arrive all at once.  Like a big blast of flavor and then quick fade.  This aspect is nice and enjoyable.  There isn’t much for either length of taste, aftertaste, nor is there much throatfeeling.  The Qi is a relaxing hazy mind effect.  In the end I liked the contrast between flavor bursts and relaxing haze.  I still think a much better Autumal Mang Zhi is the 2016 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi offered at Tea Encounter that was selected by Tiago after a wider sampling of Zheng Si Long Autumal productions over the years.  Still this is a solid autumnal puerh single origin puerh for its 2020 price- if that is what you are looking for.  I enjoyed it.

Peace

2020 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi: Deep Energy Battery

 

Regular readers know that I like the 6 famous puerh producing area of Mang Zhi.  This 2020 Zheng SiLong Mang Zhi ($175.10 for 400g or $0.44/g) turned out to be a nice one…

Dry leaves have a brine, woody, and faint floral nuance.

The first infusion has a juicy woody onset with some subtle warming spice in the mix.  There is a base of really mild bitterness.  There is a subtle fruity bread returning sweetness.  The mouthfeel is stone slippery.

The second infusion has a woody, slight caramel sweetness with a mild bitter underneath.  There is a lingering bread, faint fruity, and almost caramel finish.  The mouthfeeling is soft and stone like slippery in the mouth.

The third infusion has a caramel stone mineral sweetness that has a base of mild bitterness.  There is some forest like notes in there, woody, almost fruity returning bread-like sweetness.  The standout tastes are bitter and caramel.

The fourth infusion has a bitter woody kind of mineral caramel taste.  There is a long lying pungency that has a wild dirt mint kind of taste to it.  This infusion has an interest combo of tastes over a stone like slippery and almost sandy mouthfeeling.  The Qi of this one is slow to come and subtle in the mind- a clear type of alertness.

The fifth infusion has a fruity burst with a quick moving bitterness that gives the feeling of a grapefruit type taste.  There are some woody, floral, mineral nuances as well.  The overall feeling here is fruity yellow kiwi fruit and grapefruity tastes that are closely paired with a mild-moderate bitterness.  There is a cantaloupe melon type aftertaste that turns into mineral.  The Qi has a relaxing feeling to it.

The sixth has a bitter cantaloupe, kiwi fruit, creamy almost banana medicine like sweetness to it.  There is some faint woody mineral base tastes if you look hard enough but the feature here is a long tropical bitter sweetness that is really satisfying to me in this infusion.  I enjoy the moderate bitterness mixed with a nuanced tropical sweetness that is reminiscent of those new style IPAs.  The mouthfeeling has a soft slippery feeling to it and becomes a bit gripping in the mouth.  The throat opens at the top throat.  The teeth feel squeaky from the bitter here.  I like it!

The seventh starts with a delicious caramel floral melon fruity note.  The bitterness is quite mild here and the caramel note reaches past the initial tastes into the aftertaste.  The aftertaste has a honeydew melon and mainly caramel finish over a slippery stone feeling mouhtfeeling and open top throat.  The Qi is a nice powerful alerting but relaxing Qi.  I can feel my heart beat.

The eighth has a dirt mineral woody mineral has a nice caramel finish with a low lying pungent dirt mint which brings a melon fruity finish with notes of apricot.  There is a nice breadth of tastes in here.  The mouthfeeling is slippery and slight sandy with open top throat.  Qi is a bit invigorating, happy feeling.

The ninth infusion has a dirt woody and fruity onset.  There is a splash of fruity tastes over woody bitter backgrounds.  The mouthfeel is sandier and has a faint melon and dirt type taste with some woody dryness.  The Qi continues to alert the mind and slightly relax it.

The tenth has a fruity woody mineral type of taste with a predominating fruit taste.  The fruity taste is long on the breath over a sandy mouth coating.  Nice sunny Qi.  The Qi deeply and slowly builds up over the infusions to give me a nice deep energizing feeling.

The 11^th has a lessened bitter sweet onset with mineral woody mid taste.  There is a slight turbid mint like taste then a nice long mineral fruity taste.

The 12^th has a fruity bland chalky onset with a faint woody mineral taste and not too much returning sweetness- mainly just chalky woody.  Not much sweet or bitter here.

13^th I put it into 20 second steeping… and it pushes out more floral type almost fruity sweetness with woody and mineral underneath.  There is some faint pungency and bitter here that pushes out a bland flat type of sweet aftertaste.

14^th 30 sec has a bitter stone woody taste up front with not much sweetness left…

I put it into a mug and grandpa steep it for a while… It is equally floral as it is bitter.  Strongly floral actually…

Overall, this 2020 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi is all about the Qi.  It doesn’t seem as big as it later feels in the body minutes and even hours later.  A “sneak up on you” Qi for sure.  It really energized me a lot but felt almost relaxing.  In this way it is strong but not completely obvious or is more cumulative in nature.  The other thing about this Mang Zhi is it doesn’t have one obviously strong taste character but rather a lot of subtle tastes.  Obviously, it has a mild-moderate bitter taste but the bitterness and other tastes change quite a bit from infusion to infusion.  I enjoyed the deep strong backbone and complex and changing subtle tastes of this Mang Zhi.

Vs. 2016-2019 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi.  Check out the review of all these Mang Zhi in my 2019 review.  I would say this one is much better than the 2019 Mang Zhi and closer to the 2018/2017 in quality.  There is some deep energy in this puerh despite its weaker taste/ mouthfeeling. Puts it as my 2^rd favorite of the bunch.  Maybe between my favourite (2018) and previous second (2017)?

Alex’s (PuerhBlog) Tasting Notes

Peace

2020 Zheng Si Long Ma Hei: Very Ma Hei-y

I really enjoyed the thick presentation of the 2019 Zheng Si Long Ma Hei and wondered how this 2020 Zheng Si Long Ma Hei ($202.03 for 400gcake or $0.51/g) would compare?

Dry leaves smell of very salty savory and distinct wildflower sweetness.

The first infusion has a mellow watery woody with a faint bitter astringency and finishes with distinct sweet candy icing sugar finish.  There is a mineral almost mossy or pondy base taste that reminds me of Sencha.  There is a mossy aftertaste.

The second infusion has a thick vegetal grassy pondy woody onset that ends in distinct cake icing sugar like sweetness.  It pushes some saliva out of the throat with a mossy soft mouth and throat feeling and mild bitter astringency.  Overall there is a mild oily viscosity in the mouth.  Minutes later there is a nice floral finish. 

Third has a nice thicker floral onset with a bit of depth in a faint woody/ pondy taste that turns quickly to cake icing sugar sweet notes and minutes long florals.  The mouthfeeling is this thicker moss feeling in the mouth and throat.  There is a mild oily feeling to the puerh.  There is a sneaky hypnotic Qi to this puerh that comes on slow, deep, and a bit strong.

Fourth infusion has a pear with almost woody onset that has a bit of juiciness and descends into an icing sugar and pear peel type of taste.  The floral nuances appear on the breath later.  There is a nice mossy mouthfeeling and subtle throatfeeling.  The very mild bitter astringency is gone here.  The Qi is relaxing.

The fifth has a pear and creamy subtle tropical fruit onset with hints of mild bitter.  There is some fresh spearmint bursts in here that are kind of forest/ evergreen menthol but have a strong sweetness to them.  Like a toothpaste taste or mint candy.  However, the sweetness Is not really candy sweet its more fruity and floral sweet.  Soft gentle relaxing Qi.

The sixth infusion has a creamy fruity pear and floral onset with a faint woody almost mineral base.  There is a returning sweet spearmint taste then a not as strong icing sugar with a notable floral finish.  The Qi is relaxing and mellow. 

The seventh has a pondy Sencha grassy woody onset with a blandy woody middle which finishes slightly icing sugar sweet and mainly floral woody.  Nice mild mossy full coating in mouth and a soft mossy stimulation of the upper throat. 

The eighth is left to cool in the cup before imbibing… the result is a pear fruity kind of bitter woody onset with a moderately sweet and more floral finish.   There is a mild fresh pungency and longer bland floral taste now.  The mossy tongue coating holds.

The ninth has a woody, dirt-mineral, and mainly flat fruitiness.  The aftertaste is juicy peach and pear fruits which fades out into the aftertaste.  This infusion is juicy fruity and less floral.  The mossy mouthfeeling is lessening here.  The Qi is relaxing in the body and has a nice smoothness to it.

The tenth has a woody smooth apricot sweet fruity onset that expands in the mouth.  The sweet fruity apricot taste is nice and long with not much interruption over a mossy soft coating.  The relaxing vibe is nice the body feels a bit light.  There is almost a creamy icing sugar cookie like taste in the returning sweetness that overlaps briefly with apricot sweetness.

The 11^th infusion has a creamy woody subtle fruity sweetness. The sweet fruitiness stays for a while over a weakening mossy mouthfeeling. 

The 12^th is still at flash infusion and tastes woody, almost bitter, mineral, faintly floral, and mainly fruity apricot.

The 13^th I add 30seconds to the flash infusions and pull out much creamier and sweeter fruit apricot tastes with woody base.  The mouthfeeling becomes mossier.  Qi still mellow and relaxing. 

14^th is another 30second steeping and gives off watery creamy sweet fruity tastes over wood on a mossy mouthfeeling and empty throatfeeling.  Still nice delicious summertime puerh tastes here.

15^th is a long steeping and mainly just pushes out bitterness with a faint fruity and chalky creamy not that sweet edge.

I put the rest into overnight steeping.

Vs 2019 Zheng Si Long Ma Hei-  The 2020 is much more typical Ma Hei woody fruity sweet tasting comfortable in the body.  This one has a touch of bitterness that can be pushed out under longer infusions to give it some bredth.  Overall a nice smooth relaxing Qi.  There is a reason why Ma Hei puerh is so popular… it’s just really nice to drink.  This 2020 Ma Hei also kind of reminds me a bit of Gedeng in its presentation of some mineral then floral nuance.  Blind guessing this puerh I might have guessed it Gedeng.  Comparing it to the very favorable 2019, the 2019 has a very dense thick coating mouthfeel which makes it really engaging and takes the nice flavours of Ma Hei and really cranks them up.  The 2019 was my favorite of the Zheng Si Long offerings at Tea Encounter last year for this reason.

Peace

2020 Zheng Si Long Gedeng: Delicious!

 Ok.... this review is one that you’ve been waiting for!

Yes the good man that he is and proprietor of Tea Encounter, Tiago (aka Curigane), kindly gifted me most of the 2020 Zheng Si Long line he is offering!  Expect reviews of these in the next week or so.   At the end of this review we are going to compare this 2020 Zheng Si Long Gedeng ($262.64 for 400g cake or $0.66/g) to the 2019-2017 Zheng Si Long Gedeng as well as the 2018 Essence of Tea.  You can see the evolution of sample package marketing at Tea Encounter above- beauty!  Sample marking is a big deal in the Western puerh scene but that’s probably a topic for a different post.... on to this delicious Gedeng...

Dry leaves have a smooth creamy tropical fruity sweetness.

First infusion has a creamy clear soft moss and slight wood taste.  The taste is really pure and the mouthfeel is tingling on the tongue.  There is a really active numbing tongue sensation.  Tropical fruits come out nicely on the aftertaste after a mild sticky stone and almost mint taste almost woody. The mouthfeeling is very sticky and active.

The second infusion has a quick tropical fruity sweet taste with a strong menthol onset that turns into a stone, almost woody, almost seaweed taste.  The taste is mainly this delicious creamy tropical fruit in a very active and full feeling mouthfeeling that is a bit tingling.  The aftertaste is someone woody but mainly an active creamy tropical banana fruitiness.  There is a very mild astringency and bitter that kind of tugs at the tongue. The tongue feels sticky from the effect.  I am starting to feel floaty and a bit high even this early in the session.

The third infusion has a strong stone with mild bitter astringency vegetal and tropical tastes.  There is some woody, almost minty-seaweed, and tropical fruit.  The mouthfeel and tongue coating is stimulating at first sticky then almost drying.  It has a pretty engaging feeling.  The thoat feeling is open with a saliva producing effect in the upper throat. There is a tropical fruity nuance then a chalky powdery aftertaste.  You can see the deeper yellow liquor of a less green, longer processed?, maocha in the picture.

The fourth infusion has a juicy creamy almost tropical and banana fruit taste with a mild bitter astringency over chalky powdery taste and feeling in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is sticky then turns a bit dry and pushes some saliva into the back of the mouth and the throat has a faint mint nuance.  There is an overall chalky stone and powdery feel and taste to this puerh which is interesting.  The finish is almost tropical fruits then turns to a chalky taste.  The stimulation of the mouth, throat and tongue are quite dynamic and changing.  The Qi has a stoned effect.  The body feels light and floaty.

The fifth has a slight caramel, and tropical banana sweetness onset with a mild quick moving bitterness that leaves a flat stone, some candy and tropical banana in the mouth.  There is a chalky and powdery finish along with the banana- it tastes slightly like banana flavoured Penicillin but not bitter.  This infusion is really powdery and stone tasting.  The tongue coating is sticky and the throat has a subtle stimulating in the top throat that almost hold saliva but not quite.  The aftertaste is more stone and banana taste.  Qi is relaxing and has a bit of shoulder release.

The sixth infusion has a thicker fruitier banana and Thai dragon fruit kind of taste to it.  There is a quick moving flat stone bitterness.  The nice part here is that there are more candy nuances that come out here.  An initial candy taste comes out, then it returns stronger on the breath as classic Juicy Fruit brand bubble gum.  The fruity and candy sweetness in this infusion explode and are the dominant tastes with some bitter stone in the base.  The mouthfeeling is a thicker chalkiness that is mainly on the back of the tongue.  The Qi is really relaxing and even has a relaxing effect on the body.  I sigh…

The seventh infusion has a sweet, rich, almost caramel, sweetness to it with some tropical sweetness underneath.  There is a mild stone flat bitterness underneath.  The mouthfeeling has a sticky thickness on the tongue and back of the mouth.  The Qi has a happy feeling to it.  Its relaxing on the body and mind and has a mild uplifting feeling.  Makes me sigh.

The eighth infusion has a watery caramel, creamy sweet almost tropical banana taste that is over a flat mild stone bitterness.  The mouthfeeling is chalky and full and the throat has an empty opening with more stimulation at the back of the mouth and top throat.  The sweet aftertaste is never that long however there is a chalky powdery taste that lingers minutes later and compliments the stone taste.  This infusion is still mainly sweet.  There is an obvious caramel sweetness that starts to develop in the last few infusions here and compliment the separate but less strong now tropical fruity nuances.

The ninth infusion has a mild flat stone bitterness with tropical fruits onset.  The tropical fruitiness is not as strong as the stone bitterness.  The mouthfeeling is more dry and tight chalky and the throat is more tugged from this.  The aftertaste is a powdery chalky not that sweet taste.  The Qi is mellow and relaxing on the body and mind.

The tenth infusion has a watery creamy sweet tropical nuance.  It kind of expands in the mouth.  It has a really nice sweet taste with almost no bitterness here.  Still a nice full chalky mouthfeeling and stimulation at the back of the tongue/mouth.  Relaxing, tension relieving Qi.  Feels good in the body.

11^th has a very sweet taste of expanding tropical nuance over a base of mineral stone.  The sweet tropical taste expands in the mouth and over the tongue.  It releases lots of saliva here and leads to a very creamy sweet tropical aftertaste.  The Qi is really relaxing and mellow and happy.  My body feels a mild floating.  The taste is real nice here.

12^th is a bland almost woody stone taste with a bit of fruity taste.  The mouthfeeling is chalky on the tongue.  The finish is bland stone.

13^th infusion I steep for 20 seconds… It gives off a fruity but bitter bland tasting infusion.  The mouthfeel remains unwaveringly chalky full on the tongue. 

The 14^th I do a 30 second steeping… and it gives off a bland bitter taste with edges of faint fruit…

I mug steep this one out..

And it gives off some stone, creamy sweet, tropical sweet, flat bitter taste.  The taste is still complex here and highlights most of the flavor profile throughout the session.  It also induces a nice deep focused calm.

 

Vs The 2019 Zheng Si Long Gedeng is more green processed than this 2020 and pours out more pale/greenish yellow than the 2020.  The 2019 has more woody notes and a bit more complexity to the taste and more bodyfeeling and Qi overall.  However, the 2020 has just the most brilliant sweetness and layering of sweet tastes and a fuller more juicy presentation.  The 2020 is the sweetest and maybe the best tasting of all the Zheng Si Long Gedeng offered at Tea Encounter.  The 2020 has an interesting mouthfeeling at the back of the throat and a bit of bitterness up front where the 2019 has more astringency and less bitter but less mouthfeeling presence.  The Qi… the Qi of the 2019 is noticeably stronger and is of different nature as the 2020.  The 2019 gives a much stronger high with a strong hypnotic feeling in the mind and has a stronger levitating bodyfeeling.  The 2020 on the other hand doesn’t offer much bodyfeeling and is more of a noticeable happy and tension and relaxing energy to it.  The Qi is still stronger than average and I quite liked it.  In this way the 2020 is very very different than the 2019.

Vs The 2018 Zheng Si Long Gedeng.  The 2018 Gedeng has a much denser and engaging fullness compared to both the 2019 and 2020.  The very full mouthfeeling has a way of presenting a condense and complicated and long taste that is somewhere between and a little bit the best of the overly sweet 2020 and the more woody and savory 2019.  The 2018 has a very distinct bodyfeeling and Qi sensation which pushes it definitely over the top of the 2020 and 2019.  The 2018 also has a deeper aftertaste and throat sensation.  However, the taste of the 2020 is sweeter and just tastier than the 2018.

Vs The 2017 Zheng Si Long Gedeng.  The 2017 has a very similar vibrant delicious taste as this 2020 but the 2017 lack a larger Qi experience.  This makes the 2017 Zheng Si Long Gedeng maybe the most similar to this 2020 in taste.   However, the 2017 lacks a bigger Qi feeling overall which this 2020 has much more of.  In Qi and feeling it is closer to the 2019.

PuerhBlog's Tasting Notes

Edit: Vs The 2018 Essence of Tea Gedeng Guoyoulin.  This one is just powerful Gedeng that lacks some of the nuances that some of the better the Zheng Si Long have.  The power is this one’s beauty which makes it quite nice at a category of the 2018 Zheng Si Long Gedeng.

Peace

2019 Zheng Si Long Ma Hei = Thicc!

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2019 Zheng Si Long Ge Deng: Comparing all the Zheng Si Long Ge Deng

This 2019 Zhang Si Long Ge Deng sample was kindly gifted to me for review (cake goes for $222.24 for 400g cake or $0.56/g).

Dry leaves smell of intense penetrating pungent deep forest odour with a lingering almost rose faint floral.

The first infusion starts with a slippery stone and watery onset.  There is slight suragy notes in there is a faint woodiness and barely tropical fruit in the distant aftertaste…. Hasn’t opened up yet.  The mouthfeel is silky and soft

The second infusion has a woody, almost pine forest taste nuance with slight floral suggestions.   All tastes are mutted still.   The mouthfeel remains silky and soft.  Eligant first infusions.

The third infusion has a woody slight forsty almost mineral onset the mouthfeel is lightly fuzzy and dry.  There is a faint floral lingering barely there in the breath.  The infusion is again very soft and elegant.  I can start to feel the Qi building softy behind the eyes.  My body feels just a touch relaxed here.

The fourth has a sweet floral onset that has a slight mineral nuance almost seaweed tasting underneath.  The mouthfeeling is silky and the throat doesn’t seem to be stimulated at all.  There is this almost creamy, kind of sweet almost soft floral elegant note that skirts throughout the profile.  The head starts feeling this hypnotic qi sensation, like a head wobble. 

The fifth starts with a melon fruit and foresty onset with slight honey taste underneath.  The mild taste is over a mild silky mouthfeeling which is becoming a bit astringent but mildly.  The throat seems to be mainly ignored.  The Qi in the head is slightly hypnotic.

The sixth starts with a sweetness that is almost creamy, kind of mineral and foresty with a distinct floral edge.  The throat receives enough astringency now to push the saliva and trap it in the mid-throat along with creamy sweet notes.  This infusion is filled with this delicious creamy sweet floral nuance.  The Qi in the head is pretty strongly hypnotic.  The Qi in mainly in the mind and the body feel light like it is levitating.

The seventh infusion has a fruity sweet almost nutty and persimmon and melon unique fruit taste for the onset there is foresty notes in there as well.  The mouthfeel is a moderate sticky/silky with faint astringency.  A melon sweetness emerges in the aftertaste.  The throat doesn’t preform like the last infusion but feels a bit more open than the early infusions.  A sweet floral fresh melon essence is through the profile.

The eighth onset is of creamy banana and slight tropical creamy fruits with a fotrest back taste.  The mouthfeeling is sticky and silky.  There are creamy fruity tastes faint in the aftertaste which also carries stone tastes with an almost floral edge.  The aftertaste is mainly rubbery.  The Qi is hypnotic in the mind and relaxing now.  The body feels a bit light.

The ninth infusion start off with a not that sweet sugary almost fruity sweetness with a stone/ mineral taste next to it.  There is a subtle fruity sweetness going on there as well.  The mouthfeeling is a mild/moderate silkiness.  The throat isn’t very stimulated.  There is a flat stone aftertaste with has subtle edges of sweet floral.

The 10^th starts off with a sweetness that is almost surgary but not that sweet which is supported with a stone mineral taste.  The Qi feels real nice, relaxing, hypnotic.  The aftertaste is a bit rubbery almost floral sweet.  The tastes of this puerh are not super strong or overly engaging but the Qi is really nice.  The weakest point is the throatfeeling which doesn engage the taste that much.

The 11^th infusion has a fruity juicy taste to it of melon, pear, it is almost spicy here with a nice foresty back taste.  The mouthfeel is more velvety and sticky in the infusion and the throat is felt this time.  A faint creamy sweet and slightly rubbery aftertaste occurs as the mind relaxes deeply and feels like the mind slows.

The 12^th infusion is faintly sweet like pear or melon but has a distinct stone base taste.  The aftertaste is flat, with a stone and rubbery taste.  The Qi is slightly hyponotic and for surely relaxing.

The 13^th infusion starts stone tasting and as a subtle floral pear tasting nusnace in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is slightly sandy and thin.  The 14^th is even thinner with mainly a monotone stone taste with slight suggestions of floral and sweet over a sandy mouthfeeling.

15^th 30 seconds above flash pushes out more stone taste initially and not much for sweet.  There is a bit more stone but also slightly more barely floral.  The Qi is relaxing here.

16^th I add 60seconds to flash and it pushes out some fruit sweetnesses.  The nice part about a puerh that isn’t so bitter or astringent, at least while drinking young, is that you can push it with longer infusion times.  The taste is mainly fruity an almost peach but more Asian pear tasting sweetness with a background of stone.

The 17^th I go 90 seconds and it pushes fruit out in mineral taste but the fruit is faint in the aftertaste.

I put this one to as long infusion and it comes out mainly stone, mineral and bitter.

The next day I drink the 2018 Zheng Si Long Gedeng as a comparison and I can see the similarities in them but there are also more differences than similarities…

Pictured below is the 2018 on the left with the 2019 on the right.

In order of personal preference of the 2017-2019 Zheng Si Long Gedeng offered at Tea Encounter with price/ value in consideration:

2018 Zheng Si Long Ge Deng- $0.71/g- Sold Out- Big bodyfeel, strong condensed taste, Nice Qi in the head, Classic Gedeng Flavors, engaging bitter astringency with solid mouth and throatfeeling.  This one sold out fast worth much more than initial asking price.

2017 Zheng Si Long Ge Deng- $0.41/g- Sold Out/ Samples Available- This one is only better than the 2019 because it sold for significantly less, it has a very classic Gedeng profile and was super enjoyable to me.  It has a more mellow relaxing Qi.

2019 Zheng Si Long Ge Deng- $0.56/g- This 2019 is better than the 2017 if price isn't a consideration, I think.  It has some milder tight bodyfeel, but more of a moderate hypnotic Qi in the mind.  I like the Qi here.  Qi vaguely resembles the 2018.  Has a weaker throatfeeling in some infusions and the mouthfeel is more approachable but less strength in it.  The taste profile is less distinctly Gedeng but still some nice tastes in there.  Overall, another nice Gedeng.

2016 Zheng Si Long Ge Deng- $0.40/g- Have not sampled-

Overall, these are all nice Gedeng puerh for what they are.

Peace