2009 XiziHao Diangu: Orange Blossoms Peachy Floral Heartbeats!

This sample was also acquired from Liquid Proust.  He also used to sell the whole cake on his site as well…

Dry leaves are a sweet creamy talc rose woody odour.

First infusion has an icing sugar with a rose and woody paper taste.  There is a watery creamy kind of fruity finish in the mouth.

Second has a tangy perfume floral cardboard box sweet taste initially.  It has that turnip taste and a sort of dirt and mint taste too.  The coolness in the throat is much more with this than the 2007 or 2008.  There is an almost peach edge to it.  The mouthfeeling is more juicy and lubricating too not the same as the 2007 and 2008 which was more fine sandy slight gripping… it might get there in later infusions…

The third infusion has a peachy fruity rose perfume creamy lubricating sweetness to it.  The coolness goes deep into the throat and expands in a peachy creamy perfume way.  There is some bitterness throughout here now and a flat cardboard taste.  This infusion is a nice balance of sweet, cooling pungent, bitter and bland with sweeter overall.  The Qi is quite strong in the Chest closer to the 2007 than the 2008 in its strong chesty heart beats.  The Qi is more invigorating and energizing than the 2007 and 2008.  The 2007 has more of a deeper profound effect with pronounced bodyfeelings which the others don’t.

The fourth infusion has a medicinal cardboard cherry cough syrup taste that the 2008 definitely had- bitter, sweet, kind of sour and dense.  There is a juicy bitter sour fruity thing with a dose of significant perfume.  The liquid is much thicker and oily than the 2008 and 2007.  There is a peachy, creamy bitter cardboard taste that comes out in the aftertaste.  Nice strong Chest sensations and intense energy.

The fifth infusion has a strong medicinal bitter cherry cough syrup and cardboard taste with edges of turnip.  This infusion is strongly bitter and leaves an oily but underneath fine sandy aftertaste.  Strong Chesty Qi and Heart beats with energy bursts.

The 6^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy bitter cardboard parsnip bitter sweet taste… mainly bitter with a lesser perfume body.  The aftertaste has a perfume and almost sour fruity cardboard taste to it.  This is bitterer than both the 2008 & 2007.  With more dynamic movement between initial taste and aftertaste.

The 7^th has a lubricating Sweettart candy like taste that is both sweet and sour and almost artificially tasting.  This infusion is more sour and less bitter or sweet.  The taste is really delicious and candy like here.  The aftertaste is pretty long but not at long as the 2008 or 2007 which would go even 10-20 min later some infusions.

The 8^th is left to cool and is a bland cardboard bitter woody sour fruity perfume kind of initial taste that extends into the aftertaste.  There is a kind of sour floral orange blossom perfume finish that lingers minutes later.  Decent Heart pounding Qi.

9^th infusion is very peachy pear onset with almost no floral bitter cardboard tastes.  It has a bit of a sour orange peel taste to it with orange blossom.  Nice citrus taste here that is a touch sour and bitter but volatile fragrances and mainly sweet.  The mouthfeeling is a faint fine powdery feeling.  The throat is deeply more cooling than the 2008 and 2007 but the mouthfeeling is less strong or full.

10^th infusion has a peachy pear taste with a subtle cardboard flat woody taste.  There is lesser bitter notes in there and lesser sour and still a floral perfume but not as strong.  The mouthfeeling is a fine sandy feeling that the other years have.  This one has a bitter orange peel and orange blossom finish.  Qi has still some chest action going on with some energetic focusing.

11^th has a bitter woody dirt floral nuance to it with an orange peel blossom bitter woody taste. The dry sandy mouthfeeling feels like the 2008 and 2007 now.  Nice mild energy still uplifting and mildly Heart racing.  Although this is the youngest of the tasting it isn’t at all raw on the stomach like the others can be in a few of the infusions.

12^th has an oily peachy pear fruity onset with not really any bitter or floral or spicy left.  There is an nice oily texture with some cooling deep throat and a bit of sandy undercoating with a mild energy now.

13^th has a strong Asian pear and lesser honey taste, pear peelings, nice sweetness of melon now.  Light fruitier notes are coming out now without any bitterness.  Nice mouthwating sensations.

14^th much of the same peachy, melon, pear tastes that really taste like Yiwu puerh here.  The 2008 and 2007 didn’t have the last handful of infusions that were very fresh and fruity with no bitterness.

Mug steepings of all three spent leaves…

2009 is bitter woody cardboard dirt like taste a faint underlying sweetness of candy melon that barely makes its way through the bitterness.  Big Chest pounding in this long infusion!  On the whole significantly better than the 2008.

2008 is a sweet plummy initial taste with some bitter cardboard underneath taste with a strong cherry cough drop cool pungency.  I think this is that weird minty taste working out.  Overall tastes quite delicious.  Very oily and lubricating. 

2007 is a deep sweet resin incense taste with this very sweet initial pop of flavour.  It’s weird that this mug steeping reminds me lots of the 2001 Naked Yiwu? Strange… but delicious.  More of a deep complex lurking bitterness underneath.  There is this deep penetrating perfume taste that just lingers for a long time on the breath.  2007 is by far the best of the samples mainly due to the strong Qi and bodyfeelings and very intense unique tastes and long stamina.  The Houde storage is significantly better to this year than the Taiwanese storage of the Liquid Proust samples.

These long steepings do much to reveal at its core the differences between these Dianggus!

Peace