Gua Feng Zhai is a pretty famous puerh producing area these
days and to find a full size cake of Spring Gua Feng Zhai puerh, “small bush” (as
they call it these days) or not, for under $100.00 is rare. This sample was provided for review but
goes for $98.32 or $0.28/g. My
experience with Gua Feng Zhai thus far is with the far more pricier medium and
large bush/tree so I wonder if the younger trees will have some of that classic
Gua Feng Zhai taste and Qi?...
Dry leaves smell of very perfume floral and pungent forest
sweetness. They smell quite delicious.
The first infusion has a foresty initial taste with a
sweetness and rainforest and almost spicy pungency to it. It has a soft sandy and chalky
mouthfeeling. There is a slight tingle
and tanginess to it. The taste is muted
and deeper tasting. There is a faint
candy taste in the aftertaste.
The second infusion has a more woody deeper foresty taste
with a long lingering pungent note that slowly unearths slight fruity and candy
and almost zucchini like sweetness. The
mouthfeeling is a nice chalkiness and the throat is mildly stimulated by the
chalk. The aftertaste is long and
meandering with gord and candy and fruit nuances. The Qi is a bit stronger in the chest and
makes the shoulder feel heavy.
The third infusion has a forest deep taste onset with a
lingering sweetness and pungency. The
taste is really layered. There is notes
of carrot, candy, wood, dirt, zucchini, pear, spice. The Qi is pretty strong and I feel it in my
chest and Lungs. My breath relaxes and
my mind sharpens. The mouthfeel is fairly
all coating and has a chalky feeling on the tongue and throat. A candy taste lingers on the breath minutes
later with pumpkin and pear and rainforest.
The profile is layered and slow moving.
The Qi is spacy here too- there is lots going on with the Qi. There is also a warm sensation at my lower
back. Nice Qi in here.
The fourth infusion has an almost sour fruity sweet onset
with rainforest taste and layers of zucchini and woods underneath. The main flavor note here is subtle sweetness
in interesting layers. A candy like
sweetness comes out in the returning sweetness which intertwines with zucchini
and woods. The mouthfeeling is chalky,
so is the throat. The Qi is felt in
upper shoulders, neck, low back, head- a relaxing feeling in the mind and a
sharpness. Good Qi.
The fifth infusion has a soapy, thrills gum nuance, forest
taste, a bland with sweet taste with a pop of initial sour. The low cresting pungency pushes in a long
layered aftertaste of melon, almost candy, forest, and zucchini. The Qi feel like its releasing the shoulders. The chalky mouth and throatfeeling a full and
long-lasting in the mouth.
The sixth infusion starts foresty and sweet zucchini with
pear taste. The taste is layered and
somewhat nuanced. The sweet note is the
most prominent here with a slight bland bitterness and quick moving slight
sour. There is lots going on but in a
layered subtle way with this puerh. A
chalky, almost bitter faint candy sweetness lingers on the tongue. Qi makers me feel really good.
The seventh infusion starts with a nice sweetness going on
with layered depths of forest taste, slight wood, melon, zucchini. The sweet taste is prominent here and long in
the aftertaste with lots of nuance. I
can feel my chest beating and a nice surge of energy.
My session ends unexpectedly and too abruptly. I end up packing the leaves up and long
infusing them in my large 300ML Yixing at home and get a lot of mild deeper
tastes with mild bitterness approaching in longer infusions. The description on the website claims that
this one has nice stamina… I’ll have to try again for a longer gong fu session
with the remainder of the sample.
This is my recommendation out of the first line of Tea
Encounter brand puerh which includes 3 puerh and 1 Yesheng wild tea. It occupies an interesting price bracket
because it’s a full, standard size cake- 357g and it’s apparently Gua Feng
Zhai. But is it really, truly Gua Feng
Zhai for that price???
I believe it is… two things tip me off as being (at the very
least mainly) Gua Feng Zhai material.
First is the taste profile. This
has the typical pumpkin deeper layered sweetness that I associate with Gua Feng
Zhai. Second, is the bigger Qi
sensation. It has both the stoner
relaxed effect going on as well as the body sensations as well. Both of these characteristics are not as
intense as I’ve experienced with other Gua Feng Zhai but for the price… under a
$100… I’m calling this one as hitting above its price. Quite enjoyable!
Peace
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