2013 Tea Urchin Wan Gong vs 2013 Biyun Hao Mahei & Tea Urchin Wangong Comparison

(I sampled this one this month as I tried to get through some Tea Urchin samples before the price increase)

This 2013 Tea Urchin Wan Gong goes for $182.00 for 357g cake or $0.51/g.

Dry leaves smell of complex sweet odours.  There is a woody odour where subtle fruity smells start to linger with a honey orchid odour.

The first infusion has a watery woody pungent warming spice floral taste to it that turns into a woody honey like taste.  There is a very soft mouthfeeling but a very deep throat coolness where a honey and restrained floral note lingers in the mouth.  There is a lot of oily saliva that appears on the tongue as the aftertaste fades.

The second infusion has a strong honey woody warm spice onset with nice honey like taste.  There is a rice note as well as a floral note that plays with flavours there.  A complex sweetness plays out and the tongue becomes slick with saliva.  The Qi is spacey and I can feel a flow down the arms making them feel heavy.  There is a heavy chest sensation as well here.

The third infusion has a incence warming spice onset with a honey like floral woody development in the mouth with oily saliva tongue.  I am left wondering if I have ever felt this oily tongue saliva feeling in the mouth before and I’m unsure if I have.  The effect is more of a Baohetang or Yi Shan Mo which I wonder if it was blended in.  The effect works brilliantly here.  Long floral taste plays out in the mouth.  The Qi is really quite strong and spaces me out, beats my Heart strongly, has a heavy body feeling and powerful alerting to the mind.  The effect is strong.

The fourth infusion has incense and floral notes transform into a rich woody honey sweetness with thick oily tongue coating.  The tongue is very wet and oily and the throat is deep and pungent.  The Qi is overwhelming and transformative.  There is no astringency or bitterness but the tea is very complex and thick and engaging.  The energy flow in the body is strong and the mind escapes…

The fifth infusion has an incense onset with a very floral finish there is a berry fruity finish as well.  Nice thick saliva oily tongue and deep cool throat.  With strong bodyfeeling and Qi. 

The sixth is left to cool and gives off a thick syrupy berry oily and very viscus feeling.  There is a thick oil in the mouth and tongue where floral, berries, sugar, and wood.  The taste is kind of jam like.  The Qi in the body and mind is very strong.  Transcendent with very distinct and strong bodyfeeling of heavy limbs, face, chest, energy flow surge.  The deep cool throat and thick oily mouth only add to the effect.

The seventh infusion has a black tea note onset with oily saliva wet tongue with a strong berry taste coming from it along with a deep cool throat.  Very strong body and mind feeling has me levitating across the room and I break into a sweet.  Long candy cool throat faint aftertaste almost perfume.

The 8^th infusion is left to cool.  It gives off a woody cool pungent with a slippery oily coating there is some berry notes.  The active period for this tea is pretty short.  It kind of comes all at once then recides.

The 9^th is much the same eventhough it is hot with berry woody notes kind of floral nuance the mouthfeeling is becoming a bit sandy and less oily and slick but its presence is still big.  The Qi is less strong but still exerts a strong effect on the body and mind.

10^th is a 20second steeping… has a woody berry cool oily taste with a wet tongue coating and deep subtle cool throat.  Spacy transcendent Qi here.

11^th I long steep again for 30 seconds… it has a tobacco leaf almost berry woody taste to it with oily tongue coating.  Tingling tongue coating effect.

12^th infusion is at a minute or two infusion time and gives off a thick woody berry tobacco leaf oily textured.  Spaced out Qi with flowing body energy.

Mug steeping of the spent leaves are bitter coco, berry fruity, and tobacco leaf, slight woody, with still a very oily mouthfeeling and deep faint cool throat.  Big Qi pounds the Heart, overwhelms the spirit, energy shoots from the limbs… oh baby!

Overall, this one is obvious Wangong but it has some interesting other stuff in there… can I say that it is Bing Dao and Lao Ban Zhang like the vendor site says? No I can’t say for sure but what is in there is deliberately Qi heavy and kind of compounds and balances the effect of Wangong energy.  Also the thickness and oily feeling is more like Yi Shan Mo or Bao He Tang than 100% Wangong which boarder the territory and are famous in their own right.  Wangong does have a nice thickness to it but this one seems, maybe more thick.  There is also lots of chopped and broken leaf material in there as well.  The blend itself is questionable but the end product is brilliant.  Likely whatever they used to blend it- likely areas near Wangong really enhance the end product.  The result is a brilliant masterpiece of taste, mouth and thoatfeeling and especially Qi!

This tea actually reminds me a lot of another I really like that is also a Wangong blend and also from 2013 as well it has a similarly strong energy to it but maybe not this powerful- the 2013 Biyunhao Mahei.  The Mahai has that same cherry berry flavor, a nice oily taste and a powerful energy.  The Mahei has a more compartmentalized taste and a distinct coco bitter note.  The Mahei is more obviously gushu.  This Tea Urchin Wangong has stronger Qi and bodyfeeling as well as a thicker oily texture and not really any bitterness at all.  Both seem to drop off relatively fast.  I think the Tea Urchin is the better of the two with a greater percentage of Wangong it’s also cheaper of the two. I actually like them both but still on the fence about caking either.

Vs the other Tea Urchin brand Wangongs- the 2012 is the lightest and airiest of the 3.  I sampled this one when it first was released and I’m just going off my memory of it because it left a powerful impression on me – faint floral taste, very pure but almost hard to grasp at with a powerfully spaced out Qi.  The 2013 is the most complex and is blended for power and to give it depth which it does brilliantly.  The 2014 is a nice fruity and juicy example with a nice thickness to it, a bit sweeter than the others.

Steepster Tasting Notes

Peace