Friday, July 31, 2020

Marco’s Blind Tasting “Delta” (2015 Biyun Hao Lishan Gongcha)


This was the very first of Marco’s blind samples that I tired.  It is decently hot here in the summers and I felt like a drier stored, maybe younger Gushu type of tea this morning that would give me a bit of energy and focus.  This one looked like it could be just that…

Dry leaves are moderate compressed leaves smell of a very faint floral and grains and almost licorice type aroma.  After rise the wet leaves smell of mild candy and licorice and hay.  The dry leaf looks dry stored and somewhere between young and semi-aged.

First infusion has a honey sweet onset with a vacuous grains base with a faint slow emerging lingering candy on the breath over a soft mouthfeeling.  The candy breath is very long and smooth and mingles with a slight cooling on the breath.  A sticky honey taste is found on the tongue.

The second infusion has a grains candy sweet onset that slowly stretches into a long and smooth candy finish on the breath.  The long and very smooth sweet aftertaste is very very nice and is the feature of this puerh.  There is some honey taste that returns in the mouth and throat minutes later.  This is obvious single estate, simple and quite elegant.  The mouthfeel is quite soft and the throatfeeling is deep but faint.  This is a nice puerh.  Even 10 minutes later this is a long elegant distinct honey and candy bubble gum.

The third infusion has a more forest woody grains candy onset.  There is a bit of a rubbery blank almost licorice mid taste then a long candy breath taste with minutes long returning honey.  The long pure candy and honey sweetness is what makes this puerh quite elegant and beautiful.  The Qi is very mild and quieting in the body and mild.  There is a mild mind slowness and brow softness to the qi. (third infusion pictured).

The fourth infusion has a honey licorice grains woody onset with a rubbery woody mid-taste which leads into a long pure candy taste on the breath.  The returning honey on the breath comes minutes later then the distinct pure and strong candy is left on the breath riding out for minutes there.  There is almost no astringency (which just very mildly appeared in this fourth infusion) and no bitterness in this single estate puerh.  The mouthfeeling is quite soft and slightly sticky now.  The throatfeel is vacuous but mid-deep.  There is honey on the tongue afterward and candy on the breath.  The Qi is very comfortable in the body and mind.  This has the taste and feeling of Lincang/Mengku puerh to me.  The sweet profile, slight licorice, slight astringency, honey taste.  The strong candy and slight woody finish remind me of something more Yiwu, maybe Autumnal Yiwu or Spring Lincang… probably Lincang spring puerh.

The fifth infusion has a deeper woods, honey, grains and licorice onset.  There is more of a pronounced coolness in the throat a faint astringency.  The sweetness is a layered honey taste on the more substantial tongue coating.  I can feel a bit of tingling on the face and cheeks.  A mild and comforting Qi emanates from this puerh.  This infusion really tastes like Northern puerh.  Deep honeys come out of a strong stickier mouthfeeling and more substantial astringency in the throat.  There is a mild camphor taste in the throat.  This infusion has a bit of power to it has the astringency and tongue presence is felt.  You can feel some of that astringency in an empty stomach.

The sixth infusion has a woody, mushroom, licorice sweetness to it initially in a full feeling sticky and somewhat astringent mouthcoating.  The moderate astringency simulates the upper throat.  There is a long honey taste that lingers in the aftertaste and some candy is found in the breath.  This last few infusions have a bit more power to them which is a shift from the very elegant 1-4th infusions to a more tangible and powerful mid-session.  The Qi is starting to have a mild stoning effect on the mild.

The seventh infusion has an almost soapy, mushroom, woody, less licorice taste.  There is a bit of mineral and stone tastes mid-profile and is a faint long candy finish.  The astringency is less here and the candy aftertaste is more.  There is less honey and more candy in this infusion.

The eighth infusion has a soapy woody mushroom faint licorice initial taste with a long candy breath.  The mouthfeeling is a touch astringent and makes the tongue sticky.  There is a slight bland paper taste with candy in the aftertaste.  The qi has a mild-moderate heaviness to it and feels very mildly stoned in the body.  This is a common Mengku Qi sensation.

The ninth infusion has a flat woody almost mushroom onset with a nice candy finish.  The profile is thinning out here but the astringency is keeping things real and the aftertaste of candy long in the throat. 

The tenth has a mushroom and almond like sweetness to it.  The mouthfeel is a sticky almost drying but more astringent feeling.  There is still long candy in the breath with a faint woody taste and a stoned Qi sensation.  There is a slight heart racing and alerting feeling now too.

The 11th infusion has a blank wood onset with faint suggestions of licorice and chicory.  The candy aftertaste is dropping out leaving mainly woody taste over a slightly drying astringent sticky mouthfeel.

12th infusion is a licorice bland paper and woody onset with some candy and still a bit of camphor appearing in the breath.  Heavy brow Qi feeling.  Despite the initial and mid flavor profile dropping out there is still a long candy finish even minutes later.  Sticky astringent mouthfeeling.

13th has a paper tasting bland onset with a faint candy finish in an active and astringent mouthfeeling.  The 14th is much the same and I put this into a mug infusion… With a bit of astringency this puerh is not a great candidate to pushing hard here at the end so I end my session still on flash steepings then to a mug…

The long grandpa mug is a bit fruity almost but still quite bitter/astringent with a pucker astringent mouthfeeling and a bit of candy at the end…

The stamina of this one is a bit poor but the progression of flavor, mouthfeeling, and Qi over the shorter session is somewhat dynamic and changing.  It is elegant for the first 4 infusions with a beautiful very long and accentuated candy and honey sweetness.  This tea is all about the long elegant aftertastes here which is quite beautiful.  The honey and candy take turns at revealing themselves in the aftertaste for a long time which is the highlight of this puerh and makes it of nice quality.  The mid profile becomes more astringent but also mushroom and woody and licorice typical of the Mengku/Lincang producing areas with a familiar Mengku stoned qi sensation. In the end of session you still get the candy finish on some level and the Qi takes a turn to become more stimulating.  In the end I left quite energized from this session!

Guess: A pretty dry stored high quality Menkgu/lincang single estate like gushu approx. 3-7 years old.

Answer: 2015 Biyun Yao Lishan Gongcha from Teas We Like
Peace

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