I got this sample free for review but 2023 ChenYuan Hao TianMenShan goes for $784.00 for 357g cake or $2.20/g. This is another area that has become crazy expensive lately and to tell you the truth there is this mystique surrounding this area, unlike others, that casts its spell on even quite famous puerh producers. The oldest trees in the area seem to be difficult to obtain and they seem to be marketed in such a way that projects that even the producers feel honoured and maybe lucky to get them.
The only other Tianmenshan Gushu I’ve tried was the 2020 Essence of Tea TianMenShan GaoGan. They said that they will likely not be able to get the leaves again and only got to press this stuff in 2020 because of the lack of foreign travel due to the pandemic shutdown. They have not pressed another. ChenYuan Hao also has a similar scarcity narrative with this 2023. So there is hype with this area.
I guess the price of TianMenShan material might have doubled since 2020 or maybe this ChenYuan Hao is twice as good as the Essence of Tea? Let’s find out…
Dry leaves smell of distant forest almost nutty.
The rinsed leaf smells like forest.
First infusion has a clear woody watery taste with a sweetness that slowly expands into a candy taste. The mouthfeel has a metallic smooth sticky feeling. The qi expands in the chest.
Second infusion has a woody mild bitter almost coco oily taste with a slow strong returning sweetness that transforms slowly but powerfully from clear sugar into strong candy taste. The mouthfeel is slippery and sticky with a pasty feeling. Qi has a chest puffy feeling.
Third has a bitter floral onset with woody grains notes that turn to a mouthwatering returning sugars after taste which slowly and powerfully transforms into candy. Sighing feeling with some body floating body feeling. Mouthfeel is more full gripping now. Chest expansion big chest balloon feeling.
Fouth infusion is a floral woody mild bitter with a sugar returning sweetness that strengthens into an almost carmel then to a candy sweetness. This is a beautiful feature of this puerh the strong and changing transformation of sweet tastes. It has a mouthwatering effect with a mild gripping and slight sticky dryness. Qi feels like mild expanding chest and head.
Fifth infusion has a watery woody onset with a sugary returning sweetness that expands a bit into a caramel sweetness and then predictably into a more mild candy with dry mouth and wood. The mouthfeel is a dry pulling but not overly abrasive. The effect is saliva producing pushing saliva from the deep throat into a candy sweetness. Nice mellow mind with puffy chest feeling.
Sixth infusion has a watery woody grains taste. Sticky slight gripping feeling. There is still some returning sugar into candy but mild now. Mild mellow mind Qi now. Some mild puffy chest.
The seventh is an overnight thermos steeping… the next day it tastes juicy oily fruity taste the oily sweetness fades into the aftertaste. There is a bit slippery then turns to more drying and gripping in the throat. There is some nuttiness in the saliva.
Vs 2020 Essence of Tea TianMenShan GaoGan. The Essence of Tea had much strong and brilliant Qi in the mind and body. I really like the swaying bodyfeeling and the build up of pressure and release feeling. It is really all about the Qi. This 2023 Chen Yuan Hao is all about this transformative, morphing, building sweetness. It does this thing where it starts off sugar, then slowly to carmel, then long candy sweetness. Its like the slow steady piling on of layered sweetnesses with each sip. Really beautiful and refined but it really lacks a complex Qi experience for me. The ChenYuan Hao ChaWangshu and especially the BaiChaYuan offer more for the same price when it comes to the bodyfeel and Qi.
This is my last of these 2023 ChenYuan Hao free samples for review. The quality of these samples is pretty amazing with no flaws in the whole line up. I didn’t get a chance to try some of the crazy expensive stuff but I’m going to try to shake Paolo down a bit (haha) to get these last ones before I conclude with a ranking for commenter Roadie.
Peace
2 comments:
Ah nice, have been waiting for this review! It's an really nice tea I enjoyed a lot but still Tianmenshan will remain a rare region for me because of the price (too much demand as with Baichayuan unfortunately).
Alex,
I think your review was spot on for me. It is also a real treat to try these expensive puerh regions.
Peace
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