Yes, I blind caked this 2020 Essence of Tea Tian Men Shan GaoGan ($240.00 for 200g cake or $1.20/g) the day these were released. Let me tell you why….
First of all, this is the first time I actually caked one of
the Essence of Tea brand fresh sheng puerh which is hard for me to even believe
considering I’ve sampled it so widely throughout the years but specifically the
first year they launched as well as recently with their 2017 and 2018 stuff. I tend to buy mainly their aged
and semiaged and the pots. I probably feel
the same as David, a bit defeated in the fact that this is only a 200g cake, a
large sample really but a more accessible large sample than if this was a 400g
cake. On the other hand it makes it
available to others who couldn’t afford a larger cake. Either way, I hoped to throw support behind
some of the puerh vendors I frequent this year and was excited about this
year’s Essence of Tea line up. It was
either sample the whole line up or go right in for a full cake sample.
It was very interesting to me that Shah8 had basically thesame take on this 2020 Essence of Tea Tian Men Shen GaoGan as me even before we
tried it….
First, we both think it is probably underpriced just due to
the fact it’s from Tian Men Shan, an area that has become really famous these
days and usually sells for much much more than this 200g for $240.00.
Second, we therefore both conceded that if the price is true
than it must not be the top of the Tian Men Shan area. I think David and Cathy have established
themselves on their transparency on the location and the fact that their
product was tested for Ago-chemicals- I don’t think you can really argue too
much about that. Their long established
brand identity hinges on these things which they would not put at risk.
I actually put some questions to Cathy and David before
Shah8 published his near identical thoughts on why this would be a good cake to
buy blind.
I basically asked them why the Tian Men Shan was so
reasonable and how it compares to other Tian Men Shan. I think they wouldn’t mind me publishing the
answers here… they basically said that they keep the mark up on their most
expensive cakes low and that they hadn’t tried too much Tian Men Shan area
puerh to compare. They had told me that
they tried unsuccessfully to get some of this tea over the last 2 years but
were unable to do so just as the description of this cake states on the
website.
But now… here we are to sample Tian Men Shan….
The dry leaves smell of deep dense floral mushroom sweet
forest. Yummy…
First infusion has a buttery woody onset and a bit musk
forest taste. The mouthfeeling is full
and almost tight. There is an early tug
at the upper and mid throats. A faint pungent
comes along with plum. The pungent faint
coolness lingers in a musk forest almost wildflower faint breath.
The second infusion has a woody musk foresty onset that has
this faint flat pungency and almost wild flower flat taste with a touch of
faint green astringency that goes on for a while. The cold cups of liquor are a thick caramel. The mouthfeel is a thicker tighter tongue
coating with a upper mid throat mild tugging.
There is some early bodyfeelings in the neck and shoulder like a twitching
buzzing feeling. The face feels
heavy. The mind sedate.
The third infusion has a honey onset with slight bitter and
musk forest taste. There is then a quick
pop of honey wildflower almost overripe cantaloupe taste. There is a low pungent note at the starts at
the onset and mildly touches the throat.
The aftertaste develops a sticky feeling in the mouth and teeth. This is kind of interesting like a changing
mouthfeeling in the profile from something more tight in the initial profile to
something sticky and full even on the mouth roof in the aftertaste. The Qi strongly impacts the head with a
wobbly dizzying feeling like being on a boat rocking back and forth at
sea.
The fourth has a mild-moderate astringent musk and honey
taste onset with a low laying very faint cooling. There is a pop for flat floral caramel honey
before being trapped in the throat. There
is a deep caramel reverberance in the returning taste that pairs with a musk
forest type taste. The aftertaste holds
in the mid throat as saliva is trapped in the mid-deep throat while taking away
and drying the upper throat. I try to
clear this glob of mid-deep throat saliva to moisten the subtle dryness of the
upper throat to no avail. My face feels like
its twitching, it is twitching from the bodyfeeling. The bodyfeeling in the face, head, neck and
shoulders is strong. The Qi in the mind
puts me in a deep daze. My heart and
chest feel a subtle tightness. Strong
Qi.
The fifth infusion has a deep honey, musk, seed, wildflower
onset. There is a pop of something more
highnoted that is quick and comes with a flash of mild bitterness where there
is a low mild slow moving astringency from the onset deep into the
aftertaste. This initial taste is not
highnoted but more rich and deep tasting with suggestions of bogged down
highnotedness but the flavor is quite wide and deep for such a fresh
puerh. The throatfeeling is really
engaging by restricting the upper throat captures a thick feeling in the mid
throat. The Qi makes the face feel like
it has something on it- like a pressure in the face and wet towel on the head
with a deep wobbling dazed feeling. Aftertaste
is trapped in the throat and slowly and intermittently releases a honey taste. Even many minutes later. This is a uniquely engaging puerh.
The sixth infusion has a fruity light hollow onset with heavier
honey base with a pop and fade of caramel sweetness with faint musk rainforest
in the distance. There is some woodiness
and flat floral but the taste is overall deep lower to mid notes. The mouthfeeling is full and slight tight and
in the aftertaste it has a drying effect on the gums, teeth, and roof of
mouth. The upper throat is stimulated to
capture saliva mid throat although that effect is less here in the 6th
infusion. The face feels weird and
simulated. The mind a bit dazed.
The seventh has a slight bitter onset that quickly leaves
buttery honey taste that expands into a honey caramel candy taste. There is a bit more bitter up front which
seems to push the sweetness more here as it turns from honey to caramel to
almost ripe mango or overly ripe cloying melon to honey in the aftertaste. The throat is nicely simulated and the
throatfeeling is entrapping the honey taste.
My face is weird and I’m kind of in a stoned but still really alert
state with mind slowly but visual sharpness.
The Qi does a lot and is pretty strong especially the bodyfeeling. I feel in a weird haze.
The eighth infusion has a pop of highnote floral light
sweetness followed by an almost mild mushroom taste then slowly evolves into a
rich honey caramel and grains taste. The
mouthfeeling is mild tightness and the throatfeeling is mid-throat entrapment. The aftertaste isn’t really long it’s more
like a slight woody almost honey suggestion that isn’t that sweet now. The cool pungency seems to have left. The Qi shakes at the head and compresses the
face and brow.
The ninth has that quick pop of high note floral that moves
quickly into a honey cereal grains taste.
The mouthfeel is mild tight but develops a sticky high pallet, gums, and
teeth. The coolness is gone now and the
sweet aftertaste is also gone with it.
The throat no longer restrains the saliva. There is a overarching dry wood base. The taste profile has really narrowed now to
something less exciting and dynamic. Qi
has put me into this unusual stupor.
With sensations on my face a heaviness of my neck and shoulders.
I go to a 20 second infusion in the 10th here and
a more licorice slight bitter and more caramel sweetness comes at the onset the
low pungent coolness is back and is most obvious mid profile with a lonely
cereal grain taste. The throat
entrapment taste is also back but the sweetness in the aftertaste is truncated
to a cereal grain dry woodiness. The Qi
is like a dizzying feeling and slow moving haze. I feel melty but strangely still functional.
The 11th 30 second infusion has a dry woody onset
with suppressed weak high note trying to come of something before fading
fast. The astringency is more here as is
the bitter and it moves some caramel out in the mid profile that disappears quickly
leaving dry wood. It has a mushroom kind
of woodiness. The throatfeeling is stimulating
but no longer entraps the saliva or any sweetness is returning. Just dry woody and mushroom after taste. The mouthfeeling is dry on the pallet,
tongue, teeth. Big Qi continues to act
on me. Minutes later I taste a sweet
floral in the throat. I get a unusually
surge of energy and giddy talkativeness from the Qi.
12th I go back to 20 second infusions because I’m
basically just drinking for the qi now as the taste is pretty spent. Surprisingly the initial pop of high note
wild floral is back and the taste has a light honey note to it subtle
fruitiness. There is a undisturbed deep
throat vibrancy now with a more sticky mouthfeeling and a touch hiding pungent
coolness.
13th I put it into a 30 second steeping and it
pushes out a pop of initial floral buttery almost mushroom sweetness. The sweet taste is long with the wave of
pungency that can now go uninterrupted deep into the throat. There is a cool menthol breath and floral
mushroom forest base taste. The Qi how
starts to race the heart and give me an invigorating energy. I can feel it more in the limbs and chest
now. Long floral aftertaste with pungent
deep throat slight mushroom. Face pressure
and tingling.
14th infusion is at 30 seconds again but comes
out a floral mushroom woody taste with some underneath honey moss taste. There is a long cool pungent now which pushes
light florals and mushroom across the breath and deep into the throat. The Qi makes me want to go out and do
something different an inspiring feeling.
15th at 30 second pushes out a bit of a flat
bitter woody taste with a underlying honey taste. There is a subtle nudge to floral high note
early on but is muted by the bitter tart.
The aftertaste is also mushroom woody faint cooling almost light honey
taste. Motivating Qi here.
16th infusion 40 sec infusion but when I get back
to it its cold cup and tastes like woody mushroom floral with a honey
aftertaste and faint cooling. The throat
is still open faint but mid-deep and the tongue sticky-dry.
17th infusion is 50 seconds it leaves us with a
flat floral mushroom buttery taste with some coolness and floral sweetness
trying to push through. The mouthfeeling
is thin dry that transforms to stickier roof of mouth and gums. The Qi feels calming and motivating now. Less intense bodyfeeling and more mellow in
body/ relaxing muscles feeling.
18th is a few mintues long infusion done by
accident… the result is a bitter dry wood initial taste with some mushroom
floral finish after subtle cooling. The
taste of these last 3 infusions is pretty mellow. Still some faint returning florals.
I decide to throw in the towel with this one and let it mug
steep for a long time…
Overall, this is a pretty interesting single origin Gushu
puerh. It has a unique taste profile
that changes quite a bit throughout the session. The mouthfeeling also evolves as you swallow
which is also interesting. The
throatfeeling is stimulating as well.
The big reason why this puerh is really good is its big Qi sensation particularly
the moderate intense body feeling and changing mental state which this puerh
induces. The experience is overall a
very engaging one. For that reason I
really like the complex experience this puerh provides and feel that it would
be quite difficult to experience anything similar for a lower price. I understand that $1.20/g is not cheap but I
feel that the experience that it offers is worth much more.
I’m just going to try to attempt to explain what it is that
the Qi does with this puerh and why it is pretty phenomenal…
First of all, strange and strong body sensation come on very
quickly causing twitching, pressure, and release through the face, neck, and
shoulders. Then the next infusions have
a sensation of being rocked around, like you are shaking, and a pressure kind
of starts to mount in your body. The whole
experience is kind of disorienting but strangely focusing. Like you are in a daze but your brain has a clarity
on a different wave. So as this happens
there is increasing sensory overstimulation but concurrent deep
relaxation. This pressure in the body
and mind slowly and deeply builds then somewhere around the middle of the
session (see 13th infusion above) there is like this enormous release
and freedom and the pressure, heaviness, and twitching is gone. Like a sudden lifting from sensory
disorganization and pressure valve release comes deep relaxing rejuvenation in
the body and motivational energy…
All this for $240.00 for 200g…
After my first sampling of this blind cake sample, I go on
to the Essence of Tea website and order a few more.
Recommended. Thanks David and Kathy for pressing this one for us.
Peace
Sounds like an interesting tea. Maybe we should organize a blind cross-tasting? shipping within Canada seems to be working OK, we could send each other some blind samples... what do you think?
ReplyDeleteMarco
Marco,
DeleteLet’s do that. I’ll shoot you an email and we will arrange something.
Peace
There is no producer, no quality safe. So this is a doubted product!
ReplyDeleteapuertea,
DeleteThe taste, feel, and Qi speak for itself. I’ve known David for 11 years and he has built his brand on trust. But in the end it doesn’t mater if you have a quality safe seal, or big name producer on the label it should always pass the test of your own senses.
This one passes with flying colours!
I do find it interesting though that The Essence of Tea doesn’t use a Neifi but with the complexity of their wrappers and hand signed label their is at least some built in security.
Peace