2017 Zheng Si Long Wan Gong (famous puerh producing area these days)

Wan gong is an area that is pretty famous these days but one that wasn’t very known when I was heavy into drinking puerh years ago.  My experience is that it is a really light profile riddled with many high notes.  Let’s try this 2017 Zheng Si Long Wan Gong ($219.54 for a 200g cake or$1.10 /g) and see how it goes down….

Dry leaves smell of piercingly sweet fruit pineapples and mango with a soft fresh foresty smell lingering underneath.

The first infusion starts with a beautiful peach and pear fruit flavor.  In a mouthfeel that is very soft and immediately full.  The sweetness of gentle fruits shares a sugar cane returning sweetness.  This tea tastes like the sunrise at the beach.  Soft, subtly energizing.  The throat opens deeply.

The second infusion has a sweet bread initial taste the fruits come mid-profile and there is a creamy fruit cake/ Christmas cake type taste in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is sticky and the thickness of this tea is evident despite any bitterness.  There is almost a nutmeg or subtle cinnamon spice note that work well with the peach and pear nuances.

The third infusion starts with fruit cake type taste with the fruitiness dominating the profile.  The sticky fullness of this tea in the mouth is noted.  The throat opens deeply to let pear, peach, apple taste arrive in a bready like, fresh bun out of the oven depth.

The fourth infusion starts with a more forceful splash of almost tropical mixed with peaches, pears, and apple like tastes.  It has a touch of barely astringency now and displays a green forest base taste.  The bready tastes are subtle and underneath now.

The fifth infusion has a bready onset with a fist full of nuanced fruit tastes.  The mouthfeel is very full but soft the throat feeling is quite deep.  There is a nice banana like flavor that pops mid profile.  Very nice.  The fresh forest taste is the base at which these fruity flavours bounce from.

The sixth infusion has a dominating bread like taste again with fruit at its backdoor.  The fruit is more tropical now and has drifted away from a peach/ pear which is still there but faintly.  Ghostly, lingering menthol behind the sweet fruits returning.  The mouthfeel is notable very full, deep throat.

The seventh infusion reminds me of a second flush Darjeeling minus the muscatel/grape and replaced with pear, peach, even fresh prune plums.  It has a nice bready base and the thick feel hold nicely here.  There is this taste that is quite yummy, like a sourdough raison loaf a local artisan makes.  This lingers long on the breath with very distant menthol.

The eighth infusion is similar with a fruit bread taste.  The fruit/ yeast taste is quite complex.  My tastebuds are shopping in a pastry shop today.  The body feel is in its light neck and should feeling for me.

The ninth and tenth I allow to cool before consuming and I am rewarded with a woody, more classic Yiwu-like base with breads, fruits especially long in the aftertaste.  A mandarin orange aftertaste predominates along with more complicated woody notes.  The Qi of this tea is so happy, it will make you smile, giggle, get giddy- it’s a strong qi but in an uplifting and gentle way.

The eleventh and twelfth retain that fruity woody Yiwu vibe.  The aftertaste is where the fruitiness lingers but it is much less now.

I add 30 seconds to the flash infusion to give it a hefty push.  It pushes out lots more fruits but a measure of astringency and bitterness as well.  Interestingly, there is a strong roasted nutty nuance that appears as well.

I do a few stronger, longer infusions and there is still lots of fruit in there but it is less vibrant and more generic feeling, the woody taste is the more dominant now.  I drink this for the next few days under hour long infusion times.  It has this light fruity full deliciousness in it still...

And I am happy for a good few days...

 Peace