Comparing Deep Forest: 2016 Yang Qing Hao Wujin Cang (“Endless Possession”) vs 2012 Yang Qing Hao Ye Gu

This 2016 Yang Qing Hao Wujin Cang ($250.00 for 400g cake or $0.63/g) came as a part of a sampler from Liquid Proust Teas he is currently selling it separate for those who are interested here. Description on site is “Early spring production from old trees in deep forest areas around Yiwu. Limited production with only 1277 cakes produced.”

I was in the mood for a cooling younger type puerh at work and I decided to go for this sample on this unseasonably hot day.  It turned out that this puerh? was straight up fire…

Dry leaves have a sugary creamy odour almost but not quite fruity and a lingering faint storage smell of almost woods.  The odour is changing and hard to pin down.

First infusion starts with a creamy buzzing pungency onset with a soft almost ripe banana taste.  There is a low register pungency which expands in the mouth with a cool pungent sweetness.  The taste is bright and vibrant tasting.  The mouthfeeling is creamy and chalky and reasonably thick for the first shot.  The throat feel is mid to deep.  This is a nice gushu thing I think to myself…

The second infusion has a creamy sweet almost floral quick but smooth and vibrant punch there are some coco tastes that emerge and distant fruity edges there is a light honey nuance as well.  There is a certain fullness of the taste and vibrancy that feel complete and really satisfying.   The taste is quite complex with cream sweetness, coco bitter, strong pungency and long sweetness.  There is a deep throat presence and a nice vibrant enlivening but comforting Qi. 

The third has a thick fast fruity creamy coco bitter onset that feels very full and satisfying and deep.  The mouthfeeling is chalky and fully coats the mouth.  The throat opens to a mid-to-deep depth and lets the significant pungency reverberate in there.  The Qi is strong and pushes me into a sweat there is a strong warming energy in these leaves that is immediately apparent.  The bodyfeel is opening the sternum and making the arms light.  The mind feel alive and I feel an invigorating motivating energy throughout.  The Qi of this “deep forest” puerh is quite nice.  The complexity of the sweet, bitter, pungency and fullness in the mouth and depth of throat make this very satisfying.

The fourth infusion has a slight bitter coco onset with a syrupy sweet woody almost canned apricot syrupy, and malty taste.  There bitterness is moderate and is more integrated with a thick syrupy sweetness and seems to enhance it nicely.  This infusion is not as pungent or sweet and is more balanced with biiter coco, underlying storage woods tastes, lower lingering pungency with some coco almost creamy but muted syrupy sweetness.  The big Qi pushes another warming sweat out… this is not the cooling puerh I sought out…

The fifth infusion has more of a woody integration of syrupy sweetness and bitter.  There is less coco and less creamy or even faint fruity sweetness now.  The thickness of the liquor is keeping this complete and interesting.  This infusion is bitterer and has a lingering underlying ghostly sweetness.  The mouth and throat feeling are natural and simulating not over the top but quite full.  The Qi races the heart and opens the chest.  There is a vibrancy to this Qi I like.

The sixth has a thick creamy insistent sweatness that turns to wood and almost mushroom then a pungency bursts through and there is sweetness that is fruity then pungent creamy.  The thick chalkiness in the mouth is nice.  There is this underlying soupy coco mushroom almost woodiness in the distance that gives it a lot of depth.  It’s weird that this is Yiwu I would have guessed a blend of different regions due to its complexity.  It’s maybe a Yiwu blend?  This deep forest is hard for me to form a reference…

The seventh has a creamy fruity almost banana mushroom taste.  There is a pungency then a long fruity turning to creamy sweetness.  The thickness and leathery taste remind me of Mengku.  The long pungent and creamy sweet fruity of Yiwu.  There is a certain coco bitter in here that’s notable.

The eighth is more bitter a thick full bitter coco in the mouth.   The sweet flavours are pinned under the bitter.

The ninth has a fruity bitter coco vibe with peachy fruits.  The bitterness is moderate not strong in this puerh but offers a nice balance.  The flat coco taste has a mild pungency in the mouth with a coco and slight creamy sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is full but more sandy chalky.  The throat opens to a mid level.  Nice invigorating Qi.

The tenth is much the same with a very robust coco mid-level bitterness with a low pungency and faint creamy sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is more fine sand and less thick oily chalkiness now.  The throat feeling is still deeper but a development of complex flavours can no longer materialize.  Good head buzzing Qi.

Darn ran out of time in a day… will return to it tomorrow…

11^th is creamy and peachy sweet Yiwu. The bitter coco has dropped in the leaves overnight.

The 12^th has a creamy peachy onset with a faint undercurrent of bitter coco and slight woody tastes.  There is still a nice sunny vibrancy to this puerh. 

13^th starts very creamy sweet with a thick chalky presentation.  There is a building bitterness and mouthfeeling now as these leaves keep giving out.  There is a lubricating juiciness in the mouth along with mild coco bitter.  The aftertaste is faint sweet creamy sweet.  The Qi is felt in the chest again as the infusions compound in the body once more. 

14^th has a thick creamy fruity onset with a faint bitter coco woody underneath.  There is like a returning splash of juicy fruit then a faint pungent slight bitter creaminess.  The taste is full and satisfying but I’m not sure if the bitter coco would throw some people off.  When the bitterness is present, it’s a much fuller mouthfeeling and flavor presentation.

15^th has a more flat bitter onset without much of a fruity splash of flavours that follow it.  The Qi expands in the chest, makes the head feel heavy, and sharpens the mind.  Nice Qi here.

This tea also has excellent stamina too.

16^th, 17^th, 18^th… still quite strong bitter coco with fruit to finish.  The base taste is almost leathery.

My impressions of both the 2012 Yang Qing Hao Ye Gu and this 2016 Yang Qing Hao Wujin Cang are very favorable… but the problem is I have no reference point to other “deep forest” puerh… I guess my previous tastings of forest puerh were not deep???  I have no idea, but I find this super interesting and even proof of how deep and complicated the breadth of puerh tea can be.  I would have pegged this in the “wild tea” category if Shah8 hadn’t clued me in that it is something a bit different.  Its amazing that I’ve been drinking puerh for decades now and have tried literally thousands but have not had this or not know it was this in the past… that’s what makes puerh so interesting to me…

Anyway…

This 2016 Yang Qing Hao Wujin Cang deep forest yiwu is like a cheaper and less good 2012 Yang Qing Hao Yehgu.  I think it’s like %60 of the 2012 Yegu better bang for your buck if you are into “Deep Forsest”.  Or maybe you have a 2012 Yegu and want an everyday drinker Deep forest… that would be another reason.  The bitter and coco taste is very much the same as well as the fruit but it’s just not as concentrated or complex or intense or bitter as the 2012 Ye Gu.  The Qi is really a big and very warming thing in both of these which is why I like them both and why they remind me of wild tea.   They both have very good stamina. From my two samples the 2011 Yehgu is much smaller compressed leaf and much more brilliantly purple.  This leaf is less purple, seems larger, and less compressed.  I’m only going off the samples I received so hard to say.  Both share a lot of similarities.  The 2012 Ye Gu was different in that it had much more subtle complexity but the 2016 has a deeper leathery body to it which the 2012 didn’t have.

Overall, this one surprised me.  I am getting to know what “deep forest” means at least to Yang Qing Hao.  I still haven’t purchased a cake of either of these but it’s at least on my radar.  I highly recommend ordering both the 2012 Ye Gu and 2016 Endless possession samples from Liquid Proust Teas together and sampling them next to each other to get an idea of what “deep forest Yiwu” means to Yang.

Shah8’s tasting notes.

Peace