2024 ChenYuan Hao ChenJun GuaFengLaoZhai: Classic GuaFengZhai

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao ChenJun GuaFengLaoZhai (approx $248.00 for 200g cake or $1.24/g) is the leaf picked from the old part of the town/area.  In my experience in tasting other puerh that were differentiated with “Lao” in their title is that they tend to show more classic characteristics of the area but aren’t necessarily the “best” of the area. 

 Dry leaves have a sweet fruity almost peachy melon.  Nice upfront fruity sweetness.

Rinsed leaf has a more melon forestry but very piercingly heavier sweet odour.

Fist infusion has a watery smooth peachy pear upfront taste creamy smooth fruity sweet with soft mouthfeel some pungent forest develops minutes later on the breath in the mid upper throat.  Feel high spaced out and feeling behind eyes.  The high comes early here. Fruity up front sweet with long sweetness that vilifies with pungent forest. 

Second infusion has a pop of fruity peachy pear sweetness oily juicy and clear upfront fruit.  Cooled down it has a strong pear sweet taste with a woody forest pungent potato taste creamy.  Soft slight silty mouthfeel. Strong basic high spacy feeling focused energy and chest heat beats.

Third infusion has a potato creamy pear with an oily saliva producing mouthfeel sticky fine sandy roof of mouth with deep throat saliva gobs the hold the pear fruity taste deep in the throat.  Lingering sweet oily juicy creamy pear sweetness faint potato and forest.  Spacy high with energy and chest beats… not complex as sone Gua Feng Zhai but the power and feeling is nice. The cooled down infusion has a creamy rich pear very sweet onset.  With long lingering sweet taste with depth coming later so as not to impede on the thick sweet fruity taste.

Fourth has a creamy peach pear juicy viscus onset.  Cooled down it is a creamy pear sweet with a cooling pungent forest that comes out sooner in the profile.  Long creamy sweet taste with chalky mouthfeeling.  High energy spacy feeling with a chesty qi sensation.  Good decent happy high.

Fifth infusion has a creamy pear fruity sweet taste.  Some buttercup floral juicy viscus taste.  Mouthwatering as saliva gobs in the upper throat.  Slight sour sweetness with chalky mouthfeel under viscus with some mild throat stimulation.

Sixth infusion has a creamy sweet fruity sweet onset with a slight grains woody taste emerging.  Sweet long finish with soft chalky mouth feeling. Spacy high feeling. Classic strong characteristic Gua Feng Zhai taste and Qi make this one pretty enjoyable! Left to cool it is very juicy fruity pear with some forest woody mid profile and long sweet fade out finish.  Chalky mouthfeel is never harsh or strong but present and substantial.

Seventh infusion has a potato pear fruity onset with an oily viscus texture and woody finish over a chalky almost sandy mouthfeel. Pop of retuning fruit. With soft sweet finish.  Spacy but energetic big chest opening feeling.

Eighth infusion left to cool is sweet fruity woody more woody taste with a bit of sour taste.  Slight drying sticky feeling.  Some melon, forest, potato wood.  Spacy feeling with big chest feeling and energetic charged up.

 

The long mug infusion of spent leaves is a sweet fruity creamy onset with a dry slight bitter woody finish with tight slight dry mouth.  Big chest qi and energy with spacy mind.  Slight sour and forest taste in there. Days long infusion is a bit spicy bitter woody slight oily wood ashy taste.  Slight dry pucker.

Vs 2024 ChenYuan Hao GuoYouLin GuaFengZhai- this one is lighter with much less sweetness and classic GuaFengZhai taste and feel (Alex highlights that the GuoYouLin is much less sweet also).  The GuoYouLin has a bit more ethereal forest lighter complexity to it but its stamina is a bit weaker.  I like the classic straightforward characteristc GuaFengZhaiLao better myself… call me classic!  But I can deeply appreciate the more ethereal forest feeling of the GuoYouLin.

Alex’s Tea Notes

Peace