2014 ChengShunHao / ZiZaiXi Gui: Dense Savoury Sweet Power!

 



This 2014 ChengShun Hao/ Zizai XiGui (approx $390.00 for 250g cake or $1.56/g) was one of the three cakes offered exclusively for those who bought into Puerh.uk TCE2 Hunter Package the days before Black Friday.  I still can’t believe I did that!  There was another 2014 ChengShun Hao / ZiZai which I was less interested in and did not purchase a cake it was a 400g ManZhuan Gushu for approx $310.00 or $0.78/g.  Paolo mentioned that the processing is maybe similar to Tea Urchin cakes on these ChengShun Hao/ ZiZai .  All three cakes were favourably stored by” Old Man” aka Daniel which is a hot/dry storage.  I was curious about this one as more of an expensive tuition cake on the XiGui producing area one of the most famous puerh producing areas which I still have very little experience with…. This one turned into being a real treat…

Dry leaves have a sweet subtle smoky grains odour.  

Rinsed wet leaf smells like woody percing sweet caramel reminds me of the odour of a good Bangdong area puerh.

First has a watery caramel sweet woody grains with a watery slight stickiness in the roof and tongue.  Some faint fruity bangdong vibe with a touch of super faint astringency.  Faint cooling breath.  Was told that this has a processing and feel similar to Tea Urchin and it’s spot on would have thought 100% this is from Tea Urchin.  Cooled down it really tastes like a sweet caramel Bangdong with slight woody astringency.  A little spacy mind feeling.

Second is a woody incense caramel sweet with cool throat.  There is that sticky almost dry lips and tongue feeling.  Some moderate throat stimulation.  Some moderate astringency.  There is almost a metallic taste in the initial but that is not really how to describe it.  Also a slight salty nuance in the aftertaste. Spacey qi sensation.  Some chest Heart beats with strong deep energy building in the chest and Lungs.  Qi has a spacy warm strong transformational quality to it.  This really tastes like a 2012 Tea Urchin stored Bangdong Gushu cake I have and will review next post but with much stronger Qi! The strong Qi and astringency makes this one hard to enjoy on an empty stomach.

Third infusion has a woody sort of metallic flat taste with sweet creamy returning taste over a chalky full mouthfeeling.  The astringency is building as the Qi completely melts my mind and the chest beats strongly.  I cower under the power of this tea.  The cooled down infusion has a creamy sweet almost metallic and a bit salty taste with strong salivating returning feeling with long chalky creamy sweetness and astringency that comes close to gagging.  I need to eat here….  The sweet woody caramel is caught in the saliva.  This is a pretty strong puerh and does better when a bit less leaf is used…

Fourth infusion is a smooth woody chalky creamy sweetness with some salty savoury taste it has a mouthwatering effect and long sweet creamy salty chalky returning sweetness.  Strong Qi makes the heart beat strongly and pushes the mind into a bit of a frenzied mindset.

5th infusion has a creamy sweet watery almost salty taste.  There is some almost metallic taste with a salty woody creamy sweetnesss returning that makes the mouthwater.  Much less astringency now makes it enjoyable especially with the mouthwatering sweetness.  The energetic pushes me to an overwhelming sigh.

6th is left to cool and has a creamy fluffy/chalky sweetness with a salty balance.  Smooth sweet salty mouthwatering.  Oily mouthwatering feel with some mild throat stimulation but not any astringency any more. Nice energetic calm (after the storm).

7th is put into an overnight thermos steeping…. I dip into it an hour or so later and get a really nice dense creamy sugar with a salty savoury taste and full chalky mouthfeel.  Really delicious savoury and sweet dense presentation is really unique.  Strong deep high feeling here too… next day it is quite sweet with a creamy sugary sweetness that pops in the mouth there is a thicker chalky mouthfeel with nuances of custard and almost fruit berries.  Super delicious this next morning with a full mouthfeel.

I keep wanting to go back and try this puerh again which says something. This puerh is a bit interesting and unique for the things I’ve tried before.  Something a bit different with the really strong presentation, strong Qi and dense complex flavours and solid chalky full mouthfeel.  The best part is the salty sweet dense mouthwatering taste.  I’m not sure if this is a characteristic of XiGui area puerh or not? If it is I can see why it is so valued.  My only other experience with Xigui area also had a notable dense sweet taste as well as some savoury almost vegetable notes and a full chalky mouthfeel.

Anyone out there have any experience with the XiGui area and want to give me their personal take on it? 

Peace