2023 Tea Encounter Guafengzhai: Heavy Qi

 This 2023 Tea Encounter Guafengzhai ( $65.00 for 250g cake or $0.26/g) a frequent Xiaoshu production from Tea Encounter and is always a treat.

Dry leaves have a familiar odour …

First infusion has a clear watery almost peachy almost sweet potato taste.  There is a forestry woody feel to it with cooling breath.  Lubricating mouthfeeling and some nice throat opening feeling.  Feel it in the back of my skull and nape of my neck.  Time slows a bit.

Second infusion has a woody soupy sweet potato taste.  With a slow emerging cooling on the breath a candy like creamy sweetness with a chalky mouthfeel and good throat stimulation and opening.  I break into a sweat.  Heaviness at the back of the skull with a bit of time and senses slowing down.

Third infusion has a warm chest opening with heavy skull qi.  Slows the mind down.  The taste is a sweet woody melon and sweet potato.  The chalky full mouthfeel is really nice. Spacy and slow.

The fourth infusion has a woody bland potato taste with a soupy almost salty edge.  Chalky full mouthfeeling with some open throat stimulating.   Qi is strong with a spacy slow push and heavy head sensation. 

 Interesting to contrast with the body feeling of the 2023 TE Douyishu which has equally strong head qi.  The DouyiShu gives the feeling of a floating light head and an ascending energizing feeling while this Guafengzhai gives the feeling of a heavy head and a descending slowing feeling.  

The fifth infusion is left to cool and gives off a woody sweet melon taste with an open throat and cooling sweet melon candy breath.  Nice chalky full mouth feeling.  Mind slowing Qi.

Sixth infusion has a woody sweet taste and full chalky mouthfeel and nice throat stimulation.  Cool throat and faint candy over woody dense taste.  There is a bit of bitterness and astringency but mild… some mild pucker.  Mind slowing Qi really halts my day.

Seventh has a woodsy sweet potato bland taste with not much sweetness left but more bitterness and astringency.  More pucker cool but not much sweet aftertaste.

Eighth infusion is put into a long thermos steeping overnight and is a bittersweet oily melon and potato.  Oily thick mouthfeel that coats the mouth with a long cool oily melon finish.  Thick oily melon potato soup.  Nice mellow qi.

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I am drinking 2021 Tea Encounter Guafengzhai to compare and contrast.  In my mind they are quite similar.  It’s lost it’s green and tastes I like a somewhat woody potato melon with a creamy cool finish in the mouth. Nice mild chalky mouthfeel. Happy qi with some chest beats.  Qi is less heavy.

Peace