2001 Teas We Like Iron Zhongcha: An Oil Slick of an Aged Puerh!

After completely blind sampling the 2001 Xiaguan 8653 IronCake from Marco this summer I was anxiously anticipating the arrival of the cake at Teas We Like.  It took many months of waiting before it appeared on the site.  It seems like the wait had me eyeing this 2001 Teas We Like Iron Zhongcha ($290.00 for 310g cake or $0.94/g).  This cake was released a few years ago in their second or third wave of releases.  The description claims that it is not an 8653 but that it better or as good with some nice dry Malaysian storage on it… it’s a bit pricy but in the end I went for it… is it ever good…

Dry leaves smell of a faint leafy odour.

First infusion after a 30 sec rinse and 10 minute sitting… at flash has a leaf and medicinal faint onset with a faint kind of powdery almost faint peppery finish.  Nice full sort of tight mouthfeeling and some throat simulating.  Faint powdery finish.

Second infusion has a cherry fruity pop of sweet onset with a woody mahogany taste in a tight stimulating mouth and throat feeling.  The finish is woody powdery cooling mouth then cherry woody returning sweetness.  The mouthfeel is really full and strong for something this humidly stored and for this age- a nice treat.  There is a bit of very faint astringency that I can feel in my guts.

3^rd has a woody cherry oak cask clear taste to it.  A bit tart but almost but not really dry leafy and almost powdery that comes out in the finish.  Nice cool throat and some salivating- cherry powdery sweet finish... a very nice dry stored finish.  Mouthfeel and taste are strong and super enjoyable but the Qi is very mild in the body and mind.  Half of the cup is left to cool and it is more of a creamy sweet powdery taste.  Powdery dry woody aftertaste.  Very mild Qi.

4^th has a woody mahogany cherry sweet taste, a touch creamy sweet, with a leafy dry woody powdery finish.  There is a tart sour cherry woody finish.  The taste is really condensed woody cherry powdery with under currents of faint creamy sweetness over a decent gripping mouthfeeling.

5^th is left to cool and has a woody creamy sweetness that returns more sweet in the mouth creamy cherry mahogany.  There is some woodiness but these cooled down cups are much sweeter and creamier with the warm cups tasting more tart and woody.  Nice Qi with a slight heavy chest sensation nice mild feel good sensation.

6^TH has a creamy sweet onset now with a woody cherry taste that is more distant.  There is some mouth cooling with a nice saliva producing mouth effect.  Nice creamy tart cherry and powdery finish with a bit of an oily mouthfeeling.  It seems like the oily mouthfeeling slowly builds throughout the session.  You can see the thick meniscus with bubbles endlessly suspending in the oily liquor.  Super enjoyable.  Nice relaxing Qi and a heavy chest sensations that is mild.

7^th has a creamy sweet cherry woody initial taste that drops off a bit then becomes more powdery in the aftertaste.  Nice and oily.  There is a menthol camphor type of woody coolness developing now.  Some creamy woody powdery sweet undertones devlop.  Nice relaxing mild feeling.

8^th has a woody creamy even watery taste now.  There is a bit of menthol cooling camphor taste with a sweet dry leaf kind of finish.  This infusion starts to water down.

9^th has a sweet leafy woody not that sweet initial taste.  There is some faint camphor and some p[powdery taste but this infusion shows signs of watering down so I add 10 seconds to the flash steeping…

10^th has a powdery leaf taste. The cool cup has a bit of cherry powdery sweetness but faint compared to the woody leaf profile.  Nice relaxing feeling.

11^th has a woody leaf pile with a bit of mineral powdery finish.  Still gripping mouthfeeling.  I start pushing hard on this one…

12^th is a 40 sec steep.. it has a sweeter woodier note but still generic sweet woody.  Some faint coolness and camphor and sweet woody finish.

I mug steep out the rest…

It is a bit woody, dry leaf, and with a nutty sweetness now.  Not bitter, not astringent.  The nuttiness is pretty enjoyable here.  Nice mellow Qi feeling.

I have had much better sessions of this one over the cold months we’ve been having.  The oily texture, nice dry stored finish and delicious taste is quite satisfying!

Vs 2001 Xiaguan 8653 Iron Cake from Teas We Like.  I got a few of these cakes when offered for $275.00 for 350g cake. They stopped offering them after only a few months likly due to increased prices to restock? These are very different in almost every way except that they are iron pressed cakes.  The contrast is an interesting comparison.  I don’t think I would have guessed the 2001 Iron Zhongcha to be the 8653 iron cake… it lacks some kind of Xiaguan quality… mainly the smoky bitterness and crotchety crankiness… it just really doesn’t feel like it at all.  The 2001 Xiaguan 8653 has a much more rich, condensed, flavourful, complex, and powerful taste.  The 2001 Xiaguan 8653 that Teas We Like sold is still not fully aged out so a bit harsh however achieving a nice balance between maintaining its power, concentration and essence while still moving the aging along.  Still ends very bitter.  This 2001 Iron Zhongcha is dry Malaysian stored, the dry storage is really quite nice on this one and is pretty aged out already with still that initial power in the first few infusions with which could still be built upon.  The taste is more stable across the infusions, its stamina is less and needs harder pushing.  Very nice mild mellow aged Qi in the Zhongcha.  I especially like the Zhongcha’s thick viscus and oily texture.  I’m not sure if I ever had such an oil slick of an aged tea before!

Shah8’s Tasting notes

Peace

Marco’s 2021 Blind Tasting Gamma

I decided to bask in the continuous rain we have been having for the past few days and cycle the long distance to work early in the morning.  When I get there and dry off I decide to open the next sample alphabetically and a warm aged odour greets me… a perfect sample to cozy up to I think…

Dry iron like tight compressed leaves smell of aged humid storage with a distinct dirt peaty odour but also there is a sweetness to it as well.  It kind of smells of dry-ish natural Taiwanese storage.  You can observe the distinct iron pressed straight edge which is a signature of such cakes.  Right away you know we are likely dealing with a Xiaguan 8653 Iron Cake until we can rule out otherwise… I give it a 30 second rinse then 30 minutes of rest in the warm teapot.

First infusion has a sweet hay and grass like taste with a rich creamy sweet woody taste with a returning not to sweet maple syrup subtle sweetness.  The mouthfeel is lubricating and nicely oily.

The second infusion starts with a spicy woody, vaguely smoky, and a sweet hay/grass like sweetness there is a cooling breath and throat then a returning sweet woody, almost spicy/forest, and not that sweet maple syrup finish.  The mouthfeeling is a thin sticky dense fine mossy mouthcoating.  Mild heart racing and energetic feeling but also soothing feeling Qi.  There is a hay kind of sweetness that lingers minutes later.

The third infusion has a slightly syrupy rich hay sweetness with a faint smoky incense mid-body and a sweet dry talc cherry medicinal nuance finish after mild cooling in the mouth.  The mouthfeeling is a bit mossy-dry on the tongue with not much throat involvement.  Nice mild-moderate curbed energetic feeling Qi.

Oh man… my workday got crazy fast and it takes me a few hours before returning the tea table… The fourth infusion has a smoky hay sweet woodsy onset there is a medicinal cooling finish that has a bit of sweetness and woodiness and incense.  The smoke lingers on the breath afterwards.

The 5^th has a sweet hay and smoky onset with a sweet woody incense medicinal finish.  The mouthfeel is thin and mossy and faintly drying.  There is a sweet rich woody taste that appears throughout after a cooling mouth.  Nice mild alerting energy.

The 6^th has a syrupy medicinal woody smoky sweetness that descends into a woody incense taste and returns as a dry leaf and not-so-sweet maple syrup taste.  The taste is really condensed and syrupy here.  The mouthfeel is thin and mossy.  Nice mild alerting energy.

The 7^th has a watery hay woody taste upfront which then slowly transitions to a woody incense after a cooling mouth.  Nice mossy slight dry coating.  Nice mild alerting energy.

The 8^th has a malty hay sweet woody kind of initial taste. There is a cooing medicinal finish to it, a bit sweet.  The thin mossy mouthfeeling seems to harmonize nicely with the aged tastes.  Nice mild alertness is getting me through this day today with a level head.

The 9^th was left to cool and gives off a robust mildly sweet hay and muted maple syrup yet reasonably condensed cool medicinal almost dry woody camphor kind of taste.  The mouthfeeling is mossy.  Qi is softly alerting.

The 10^th has a medicinal woody faint sweet hay onset with a lingering woody incense follow through.  The mossy mouthfeeling supports this all.  Nice harmonizing slightly alerting Qi here.

The 11^th has a rich woody taste to it with a cooling which comes with a woody medicinal finish.  The mouthfeeling is a bit dryer here.  There is an incense like taste left in the mouth, a bit smokier in the finish now.  The wet leaves in the pot smell like delicious raison.

12^th infusion has a mellow sweetness to it of hay and almost bread before turning to cooling and medicinal in the mouth over a thin mossy tongue coating.  There is a lingering sweet woody nuance.

13^th infusion has a woody incense onset that has an underlying sweet woody taste that turns cool and incense medicinal.  There is a soft thin mossy almost drying mouthfeeling. 

14^th is really nice sweet peat woody almost spicy incense woody taste with the main taste being sweet.  The mouthfeel is soft fainter moss here.

The slow release of the iron pressed cake allowed for a hand full of more sweet, rich, woody, incense, tasting infusions.  Then slowly the complexity started to wane and the bitterness started to take over.  The bitter infusions lasted past 20 before it weakened into bitter woody water.  Very nice!

Guess: 2001-2004 Xiaguan 8653 Iron Cake.  It looks like Teas We Like has a lot of these listed on its site here.  The description of the storage matches my experience with this cake- drier natural Taiwanese storage.  I had consumed the 1990s Xiaguan 8653 once in a while in the puerh tea shops in Korea many years ago.  They were much more humidly stored than this sample.  I love the way the session slowly progresses as the compression loosens from these iron bings.  Although talking up the Iron Bing, I don’t own any 8653 and am interested in purchase of this one once I know which one it is.

Peace

2003 CNNP “Small Green Mark Iron Cake” and Steeping Puerh by “Keeping the Root”

Dear Scott Wilson,

I just wanted to thank you for being the powerhouse you are in the Western puerh scene.  I think it would be hard to think of another person who has had greater influence.   Since I started drinking puerh you and Yunnan Sourcing were there and you are still there stronger than ever.  Even though I was away from purchasing puerh for a long time, upon my return I have felt that Yunnan Sourcing still had the same basic philosophy and feel to it despite the obvious rapid pace of change.  This says a lot.  You have stuck to your principles while still managing to evolve to the always changing puerh tastes and fads.  Nowadays, you can virtually find any type of puerh, any type of storage, from any area at Yunnan Sourcing.  Thanks also for your efforts at empowering buyers with as much information as you can pass on about the tea you sell.   I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Matt

I purchased this one from Yunnan Sourcing ($85.00 for 357gcake $0.24/g ) a month or so ago along with the 2005 CNNP “Big Yellow Mark”.  Like the Big Yellow mark, this one has no date stamped on it.  It also has no neifi either.

Dry leaves smell of clean dry wood with a very mild sweet pungent odour.

First infusion is full interesting cherry blossom florals and plumby, mainly sweet, subtly sour cherry.  There are even salt tastes as well as a dry bark wood taste as well.  This tea is a tasty one.  There is slight astringency in the mouth and the tongue.  This first infusion is fragrant and lasting.

The second infusion has more of an oxidized wood taste up front the sweet notes are secondary and linger in the aftertaste and build into a very sweet burst of returning flavor.  The lips and mouthfeel are slightly chalky.  This tea has that cotton candy cottony mouthfeel and lingering sweet aftertaste.  There is not too much depth to ground it.

The third infusion is much the same tastes really.  The plumy, cotton candy returning sweetness is very nice.  The mouthfeel has that light chalky, talc taste and feel which I value in puerh.  Both the sweetness and woodiness are more pronounced in this third infusion as the iron compression slowly comes apart in the pot.

The fourth is much the same with the dry wood bark taste becoming dominant across the profile of this tea.  This flavor is simple but just enough to give it something to anchor the resounding high notes that are much less in this infusion.

The fifth starts off woody, dry bark, slight astringent, kind of sour, almost dry before it traverses to chalky, dry, astringent sweet cotton candy plum.  The dry wood taste and feel is throughout even in the aftertaste now.  The breath is a sweet cherry plum taste.

The sixth infusion has a thinner sharper quality to it with a division of tastes between dry woody in the initial and base, and sweet plumy aftertaste.

The seventh infusion still has a nice progression of taste.  It starts dry wood then slides into that sweeter, barely talc, faint cotton candy-plumy sweetness.  It is less obvious but the progression is still here in the seventh infusion.

The eighth infusion is of almost dry earth and dry wood base tastes there is only a little left in the aftertaste resembling the sweetness and fruitiness in the first infusions.  There is a slightly bitter wood taste throughout.  The mouthfeel isn’t really dry, just sandy slight dry astringency.

The ninth becomes watery and light in its initial taste.  Then it slowly develops a dry woodiness which turns into a sweet barely plum aftertaste.  The tenth infusion is much the same.  It’s still there but faded.

The tenth doesn’t leave that much left to enjoy faint watery tastes, barely there.

Overnight infusions are vibrant and fruit still so I do a few of these and really enjoy them.  The qi of this tea is very light a mild relaxing feeling that’s about it.  You feel the mind relax and the head float just ever so slightly.  In the body you can ever so slightly feel it in the belly.

Bravo for Scott at finding a solid iron bing to offer us.  On the site it states that this was Shanghai stored and is somewhere between wet and dry stored.  I would say it’s much closer to dry stored but that’s just my evaluation.  This puerh is interesting for a few reasons.

First, it offers puerh drinkers in the West a chance to taste fragrant aged dry storage.  I think there are few cakes for sale in the west that offer this.  The reason is because this taste profile is highly valued in China these days and is a sign of both good storage, age and dryness.  As a result, often cakes that display this profile are usually quite expensive and out of the price range of the average buyer in the West.  I think only because this is a generic CNNP without verified date or region can it be offered so cheaply.

Secondly, it offers a nice example of how the higher notes can really age so nicely in the tighter compression of an iron bing.  Although, this iron bing is not really pressed super tight it still offers the best of an iron bing as far as the high notes go.  It isn't a CNNP "Blue Mark" but this CNNP "Small Green Mark" has something to it.

So, I must have stocked up on this cake then right?  While, I am sitting with just one of these and feel OK with that.  It’s quite a simple tasting tea in some ways, really, but it still has enough going on.  It has a certain dry purity that I enjoy but it is not overly complex beyond its incredible fragrant fruity high notes.  I almost feel like the price is almost worth it for these notes themselves and the age.  Yet, even these notes start to fade after the first few infusions.

I sometimes steep teas that fade quickly by “keeping the root”.  It’s a phrase used by teamasters to describe a type of brewing where you always leave a bit of the last infusion in the fair cup.  It can also describe the technique of always leaving a bit of tea in the drinking cup or even in the actual teapot.  I use this technique with puerh that fades or drops off fast to maintain these fleeting notes.  I just leave ½ the tea in the fair cup before steeping the next infusion.  It works amazing for some teas.  This one really benefits from "keeping the root”.

When reviewing puerh on this blog I never do this sort of thing because I want to be more clear on how a tea is actually preforming from infusion to infusion.  However, after this first tasting I’ve been steeping it with the root and enjoying it.

Peace