2024 Laos Chawang Single Extra Tall Ancient Tree #5

I was most excited about this 2024 Laos Single Extra Tall Tree(approx $300.00 for 200g cake or $1.50/g) sample having never tried a single tree sample from Laos before despite travelling there to the tea growing region.  It was not a preferable method of tea drinking back then large trees were always combined together ...

Dry leaves have a very sweet candy almost slight pungent but deeply sweet Yiwu odour. 

First infusion has a light watery creamy sweet fluffy soft mouthfeel. There is a movement towards returning sweet taste. Sugar to creamy sweet to melon. Soft sticky feeling left on the tongue. Some tingling out of body mild feeling developing.

Second infusion has a soft sweet onset with a gentle curved sweet evolution.  There is sugar, creamy sweet and a pop and trailing off of melon.  Silty smooth mouthfeel.  Mild body floating feeling. Tingling face. Deep sigh.

Third has a creamy very soft sweetness that melts into a slight pungent creamy sweetness.  Watery soft with an easy transition through some soft smooth sweet tastes.  Some tingling in the scalp and head.  

Fourth infusion has a watery pungent sweet taste onset with a slight sandy mouthfeel and sandy roof of mouth.  Some cool throat.  Face tingling is the most pronounced bodyfeeling along with a nice diaphragm releasing sigh.  Melon aftertaste on the roof of the mouth.

Fifth is left to cool and is a sweet oily soft creamy melon light flufffy airy very very smooth profile that weaves in and out of sweetness, coolness, pungency but mainly a soft sweetness.   Mouthwatering honeydew melon taste sums prominent.

Sixth has a watery woody dry bark onset with a soft emerging sweet melon creamy taste building. Peaceful sighing energy.  Face tingling. 

Seventh is woody sweet gentle with cool breath and creamy sweet soft reveal.  Cool pungent is very gentle and end and flows within soft honeydew melon taste. Refreshing vibes.  Soft body with face tingling a bit stronger. Chest unraveling.

Eighth is felt to cool and is a cooling pungent creamy sweet smooth soft sweetness with face tingling.  Open chest with deep sigh relaxing.

long mug steeping and it has a pungent cooling forest taste with long deeper cooling breath a menthol woody Forest taste almost bitter woody is in there too.  Open chest with tingles.

Days long infusion is a pungent forest oily ashy with a light sweet underbelly.

Peace 

2024 Puerh.uk TianMenShan Single Extra Tall Ancient Tree #5

These were early samples so I’m unsure if this sample was this 2024 Puerh.uk TianManShan Extra Tall Ancient Tree or this 2024 Puerh.uk TianManShan Single Big Extra Tall Ancient Tree…. Was a nice experience…

Dry leaves have a deep rich cloying floral sweet candy odour.

Rinsed leaf has a sweet spicy candy odour.

First infusion has a sweet candy melon oily sweet taste.  There is a mid throat gob of saliva and return of a chalky creamy sweet taste.  Chest expanding feelings.  Brow and face warming.

Second infusion has a sweet oily fruity woody with amid throatiness.  Pear and peach family linger minutes later on the breath.  Deep to mid deep throat sensation and flavour trap.  Sticky slight tight mouthfeel.  Subtle high feeling. Face warmth.  Nice emerging pear taste.

Third has a pungent soapy floral sweet chalky onset sticky slight tight mouthfeel with squeaky roof and gums.  Lingering sort of floral woody sweet on the breath and in the throat.  Some mild face sensations. Heavy shoulders release feeling is nice and reminds me of the nice bodyfeeling of 2006 YQH Shenpin Chawang  ….Some gentle high feeling. Slow expanding chest feeling. Nice body feel very nice!

Fourth has a woody slight sweet floral taste.  There is a mild bitter woody sweet finish.  Lingering faint candy in the aftertaste.  Some mild mid throat stimulation. Peaceful feeling with some face sensations. Cooled down it has a sugary watery pear taste with creamy sugar finish.

Fifth infusion has a mild woody sweet fruit taste.  Slight woody edges with chalky slight sandy sticky mouthfeel.  Deep cooling throat.  Lingering sweetness.  Mild peaceful feel. Cooled down it is a sweet woody chalky taste that turns into creamy sweet taste with cool breath.  

Sixth infusion has a woody sweet honey taste.  There is a sweet sort of wildflower honey sweet finish.  Peaceful slightly dleepy feeling Qi.

Seventh has a woody sweet onset with a honey wildflower finish.  Subtle fast moving bitterness.  Peaceful sleepy Qi feeling.  Heavy shoulders.  Sweet almost melon finish minutes later.

Eighth has a bitter woody onset with a quick moving bitter to soapy wildflower not much sweetness now and a slight tight drier mouthfeel m. Long cool breath. Some shoulder Qi feelings and chest opening with sleepy peace feeling.  Faint bready melon sweet taste minutes later.

Ninth infusion is left to cool and is a sweet woody onset with mid profile quick moving bitterness that turns to honey and wildflowers and ends cooling in the throat and slightly creamy sweet.

Long mug steeping has a bitter woody onset with a slight honey finish.  Sweet melon in the aftertaste. Peaceful sleepy qi feeling.

Days long infusion has a bitter drying slight floral slightly sweet almost fruity taste.  Pop of honeydew melon. Chalky full feeling. Chest beats strong with face tingling.

Peace

2024 Puerh.uk YiWu Long Tan Qing

This 2024 Puerh.uk YiWu Long Tan Qing goes for Approx $253.00 for 200g cake or $1.27/g.

Dry leaves have a pungent evergreen sweet lingering odour.  

First infusion has a light creamy sweet taste.  Long uninterrupted creamy sugar.  Cooled down is icing sugar sweet pure taste.  Soft mouthfeel with creamy sweet sugar returns.  Creamy…. 

Second is oily sweet creamy pure soft oily mouthfeel pop of creamy return.  Smooth soft feeling in body. Peaceful clear mind.

Third infusion has a sweet grains soft mouthfeel with sweet grain finish.  Soft edges sticky mouthfeel. Peaceful easy bodyfeeling.  Some arms lightness. Cooled down is clear sweet sugar melon taste.  Sweet returns as icing sugar.  

Fourth has a viscus sweet taste with a sweet icing sugar return.  Soft mouthfeel.  Cooled down it comes off as sweet watery icing sugar with soft cool feeling.  Peaceful Qi mild in the mind with light limbs.

Fifth has a watery gentle sweet taste.  Cooled down it has a more melon sweet taste.  Sticky edges.  Faint cooling breath. Gentle and peaceful.

Sixth infusion has a watery woody faintly sweet taste.  Grains wood with background sweetness now.  Peaceful vibes gentle bodyfeeling.  Cooled down is a watery sweet sugar.

Seventh is left to cool for hours and is a watery clear sweet creamy taste with woody background slight grains taste.  Cool breath.  Peaceful gentle feeling. Sweet lingering melon sweetness minutes later.

The long mug infusion has a bitter soapy woody sort of muted floral with sticky mouthfeel.  Faint long woody sweet taste.  Peaceful waves of energy with chest opening feeling.

The days long infusion of spent leaves is a smooth trying to be creamy smooth sweet.  Icing sugar cool breath.  Sweeet icing sugar taste. 

Peace

2021Puerh.uk SanChaQing Single Extra Tall Ancient Tree #1

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2024 Puerh.uk Benchmark Ancient Trees Lineup (the First One!)

After steady aged and semi aged offerings for years now Puerh.uk has thrown its hat into the ring with sourcing some fresh puerh.  This is pretty standard practice about this point in the game and I think it’s great that they started offering fresh for those who seek out such youth in puerh.  I was kindly offered a handful of some of these new puerh free for review.

The lineup called “Benchmark Ancient Trees” as far as I can tell is focused on Danshu or Single tree often Pole trees and most certainly Ancient trees.  I have most of my experience with such things from Puerist where I have sample a handful of single selected ancient trees.  Usually these are the oldest in a tea garden or forest.  Interestingly I was told by mark Turner of Puerist that single trees often will develop a character that is slightly different than the typical character of a tea production area.  This is because the blending of a whole gardens flush removes and rounds out the taste whereas a single tree can have some less typical and unique individual nuance.

I had a good time with Puerh.uk single tree samples which are reviewed in the next week or so here on the blog…

Congrats Paolo and Una on your new foray into the fresh stuff!

Peace

2024 ChenYuan Hao Lao Ban Zhang: Gentle/ Strong when Pushed!

Save the best for last simply because LaoBanZhang is the king of puerh!  This 2024 ChenYuan Hao LaiBanZhang goes for approx $545.00 for 100g cake or $5.45/g which is most definitely the most expensive fresh puerh I have ever sampled!

Dry leaves have a sweet odour faint almost grape/ berry.

Rinsed leaves have an almost roasty sweet forest odour.

First infusion has a woody watery onset with slight barnyard gamey edges.  There is a very faint sugar pure sweetness that emerges late with cool breath and deep throat opening. It leaves gentle sugary edges behind.  An evolving returning sugary pure sweet taste. Subtle body tingling and face and scalp tingle.  Mild spacy uplift early here.

Second infusion has a watery clear woody onset with some pungent faint barnyard.  Sticky mouthfeel with cooling breath and open deep throat.  Sugary faint return and expanding in the deep throat.  Cool edges give way to long sweet faint taste.  Tingling body and head and scalp. Spacy chest floating out of body feeling with a mild high/ happy feeling.

Third infusion is left to cool and has a fruity woody sweet taste with sticky slight right at the edges mouthfeel.  Deep cooling throat and deep opening.  Lingering sugar sweet finish that expands from the returning sweetness.  Sweet almost candy gum faint minutes later coming from the throat. Tingling body.  Chest expanding floating. Scalp and head sensations.  High relaxing. 

Fourth infusion has a sweet pure watery entry- sugar and lesser wood.  Clear taste with sugar sweet mild return and expanding.  Cool mild deep thrust opening. Soft sticky mouthfeel. Cool expanding sugar clear aftertaste.  Tingling arms and head and face with chest rising up bodyfeeling. 

Fifth has a sugar slight fruity mild sweet taste.  The sugar sweetness returns with faint fruity and stretches into the aftertaste.  Sticky oily texture.  Mild pop of fruity sweet return and stretching into aftertaste.  Tingling arms and elbows. Face and head.  

Sixth has a bitter fruity woody taste with purfume musky floral almost grape with gripping slight dry feeling and cool deep thrust opening. Chest floating done tingles in face head. Spacy peace.

Seventh is a watery clear sweet sugar fruity with faint woody.  Deep throat opening.  Mild flavours but expanding faint evolving sweet sugar taste. Sticky mouthfeel. Tingling and spacy feelings. Spacy relaxing.  Cooled down it’s has a more fruity sweet oily onset with returning cool breath mild sweet sugars.  Mild taste. Quality moderate bodyfeels and mild spacy Qi.  This is a really gentle Lao Ban Zhang.

Eighth has a sugar woody onset- more woody now with a dry tighter mouthfeel.  Not much sweetness returns in the cool deeper throat that feels tighter now. Spacy tingling with chest floating bodyfeeling.

Days Long mug infusion has that classic bitter fast moving onset with oily sweetness sugar candy fruity to follow.  The cold drink is bitter with a fruity floral almost sweet chalky sticky mouthfeel.  Lots of strength in here still.  Needs to be pushed harder. Really enjoying this long steep… could have went a few more infusions for sure.

I put it for a few more days steeping and it is oily with an almost grape woody sugar sweet taste still very faint bitter to sweetness.

This Lao Ban Zhang is all about the tingling body feels and chest floating mild unique feeling.  The deep throat coolness and mild expanding pure sugar sweet is also nice and delicate.  When push hard you get that classic Lao Ban Zhang bitter to sweetness characteristic profile. 

Alex’s Tea Notes

Peace

2024 ChenYuan Hao YiBang: Relaxing Airy Vibes

 

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao YiBang goes for approx $189.00 or $0.95/g.  Last years 2023 ChenYuan Hao YiBang was a more of a clear pure not quite but closer to ethereal type of YiBang with just a touch of astringency but not much for bitterness…. I changed my perspective of YiBang being less strong and more light and pure.  It seems that this one is also of that vein probably from the same garden…

Dry leaves very a sweet grapes odour.

The rises leaf is even more sweet sugar grape forest sweet… yummy!

First infusion has a watery clear grape sweet oily sugar. Melts over mouth sweetness.  Oily sweet pop of grape sugars. 

Second infusion has a sweet pungent cooling sugar grape fruity silky sweet taste. Nice silky evolving mild sweetnesses. Sweet finish in the mouth soft mouthfeeling .  Airy Qi feeling with some chest beats. Cooled down it has a sweet forest cool sugar ghostly grape sweet taste.  Long sugar cooling taste.  Airy feeling limbs and slow chest beats.

Third infusion has a sugar watery sweet onset.  Oily soft mouthfeel with lingering sugar taste.  Smooth and airy Qi with some chest Qi building up. Spacy upbeat relaxing feeling. 

Fourth infusion has a fruity pear sugar taste almost spice wood mid infusion with faint edges of bitterness.  Bitter woods with sandy slight pulling in the back of the throat.  Spacy relaxing feeling with airy limbs.

Fifth infusion has a sweet fruit taste with sugar layer.  Simple sweet with an airly feeling and chest beats in the body.  Cooled down is smooth oily sort of faint banana sugar faint sweet taste.   Not really any bitterness for Yibang feels unusual to me but very smooth airy and relaxing.  Contains very little characteristic Yibang but so interestingly smooth and soft. Unique in this respect.

Sixth is left to cool and has an oily smooth sweet onset that turns into soft grape sweet taste.  Woody sticky finish.  Relaxing airy vibes limbs light mild Qi experience.  Smooth. 

7th is left to cool and has a sweet light banana sugar sweet taste with nice long stretching out of mild banana sugar fruity taste.  Smooth chalky mouthfeel.  Nice fruity return but long sweet taste.   Relaxing calming with limbs mildly airy. Long creamy cooling banana fruity sugar taste.

8th has a creamy sweet sugar onset with oily mild texture and soft sweet finish. Some faint woody. Relaxing mild feeling.  

The long mug infusion has a lesser sweet grape sugar sort of bitter musky pungent.  Sticky mouthfeel that is almost pucker tight but not really.  Cool breath.  Mainly bitter woody musky sort of perfume pungent than sweet here.

Peace

2024 ChenYuan Hao ChenYi (YiWuchaWang): Sweet Pop Mind Stop!

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao ChenYi (YiWu ChaWang) goes for approx $248.00 for 200g cake or $1.24/g.  I tried this one after the similarity priced 2024 ChenYuan Hao WanGong but liked this one a lot more…

Dry leaves are very creamy sweet Yiwu with a soapy purfume odour.

Rinsed leaf is very sweet fruity pungent forest odour.  Layers of sweet fruit smells delicious!

First infusion has a very creamy fluffy sweetness with sweet fruit finish.  Pure clear watery with a quick fade out of flavours.  Subtle high building.

Second infusion has a sweet fruity peachy pear sugar creamy sweet onset soft fluffy mouthfeel.  Big burst of sweet flavours clear and pure then a fade out of flavours..  spacy feeling with heavy mind slight sleepy. Cooled down it becomes a denser creamier peachier sweetness almost syrup-like.  Heavy body and slowing mind with faint Heart flutter.  Reminds me a bit of a good Mahei area.

Third infusion has a peachy creamy sweet taste.  Big peach fruity flavour up front!  Creamy peachy sugar!  It fades pretty fast with a grains taste left behind and a fuzzy head/ heavy head Qi feeling.  Cool it is very more juicy creamy peachy.

Fourth has a juicy peachy sugar taste with watery pure feeling some faint cereal / woody appears here.  Cooled down it is a juicy pear oily viscus sweet with woody faint in the distance.  Heavy head feeling with some mind slow and spacy feeling. Heavy body slowness.

Fifth has an oily pear sugar taste.  Oily fruits juicy taste and texture. Sone faint cooling breath faint woody.  Mainly this onset upfront pear fruity sweetness.  Heavy and mind flowing Qi is decently strong… I am pretty groggy!

Sixth has an oily pear woody sweet taste pop.  Oily pure tastes but with each infusion gets less sweet very little aftertaste which is more cereal/ woods than sweet. Mind slowly sleepiness. Soft oily mouthfeel so far.

Seventh has a woody pear sweet peachy onset.  Has a bit more sandy mouthfeel now.  Heavy sensations slow me down nicely.  Cooled down cup has a mainly cereals taste to it with less sweetness.

Eighth infusion has a woody cereal onset with subtle pear sugar return.  Clear pure tastes throughout the session.  Heavy body and slow mind.  Sleepy.

Ninth infusion has a woody oily cereal taste and oily texture some sandy mouthfeel underneath.  Sleepy relaxation with heavy head.

Long mug infusion is a woody mildly bitter with oily texture and faint sweet breath.  Days long infusion is a sweet almost licorice sugar sweet with melon layers in there as well in an oily broth.  Mouthwatering effect and chancy silty mouthfeel.

This Yiwu is all about the strong onset of sweetness and heavy body feels sleepy Qi and slow mind effects!  It doesn’t do much more than this but surely this is remarkable enough?  It was a very nice day I had under the influence of the Qi here.  This has to be top 3-5ish of the puerh I sampled out of these 2024 ChenYuan Hao… nice quality Yiwu!

Alex’s Tea Notes

Peace

2024 ChenYuan Hao WanGong: Expanding, Floating , Out of Body

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao WanGong goes for approx $248.00 for 200g cake or $1.24/g. 

Dry leaves have a sweet candy odour with faint forest in the background.  

Rinsed leaves are a very sweet vegital with deep forest odour.

First infusion has a watery oily sweet pop of vibrant taste there is a watery clear sweet almost candy expression that returns.  Subtle cereal notes watery and clear sweetness.  Soft fluffy mouthfeel.  Body leaving its self feeling. Spacy floating.  Cooled down it is really delicate and sweet with watery uninterrupted sweetness that evolves from sort of melon to candy. 

Second infusion is really clear sugar watery pure melon.  Light airy fluffy subtle oily texture.  Watery clear taste.  It returns as a pop of candy sweetness then fades fast.  Subtle spacy out of body feeling.   Really nice puer ethereal sweetness.  Throat and chest subtle feelings.

Third infusions has a more buttery oily almost floral onset with a return of sweet tastes.  There is a sweetness that develops like surgery light syrup and background of grains cereal and almond.  There is deep throat saliva trapped and a sticky mild roof of the mouth. Spacy shoulders and head floating with sort of mild out of body feeling.  Subtle throat and chest feelings.

Fourth infusion has an oily sweet taste with a candy sweet return.  Sort of just oily viscous woody seed onset and a sweet taste that comes out on return.  Sticky mouthfeel but mainly oily textured.  Spacy floating head and shoulders. Viscus almost nutty oily olive oil taste with some sweet in the finish. Faint chest and throat feelings.

Fifth is left to cool and is an oily sort of bland pure sweetness that really comes out in the returning sweetness.  Deeper throat opening and saliva.  Floating bodyfeeling.  Chest and throat sensations.  Spacy out expanding body.

Sixth infusion has an oily sweet almost floral pure taste. Expanding chest feeling with floating sensation and spaced out feeling.  Not as much sweet return now but a very clean pure taste.

Seventh infusion has an oily sweet pure honey taste.  There is this nice oily texture pudding textured mouthfeel throughout the session.  Finished with a sweet sort of melon taste.  Chest expanding feeling with floating head and shoulders.  Chalky fluffy mouthfeel.

Eighth has a woody oily sort of olive oil bitterness and oily texture pure tasting with deep throat saliva textures.  Spacy floating with expanding chest feeling and shoulders sensation.  Cooled down infusions have an oily sweet with cooling sweet finish. Spaced out high feeling with body floating.

9th is left to cool and has a pure oily viscus onset not much sweetness or flavour but mainly textures and throat opening.

Long mug infusion has a woody sweet oily onset very viscus and like olive oil and some edges of sweet taste. Big chest opening and quivering chest feeling with floating head and shoulders. Spaced out body floating sensation.  Cooled down hours later it is sugary sweet upfront with oily texture.

Peace

Recommend: 2024 ChenYuan Hao TianMenShan

 Last year I was a bit disappointed in the 2023 ChenYuan Hao TianMenShan… yes it had lots of amazing aspects of taste but disappointingly weaker Qi.  I favoured the 2020 Essence of Tea TianMenShan which was a more powerful qi experience but lacked a more nuanced and complex taste.  Why can’t there be a TianMenShan( such as this 2024 ChenYuan Hao TianMenShan that goes for $220.00 for 100g or $2.20/g) that does both??? Oh but there is….

Dry leaves have a deep lingering creamy sweet pure odour.  Faint florals and forest add a light airy sweet creamy depth.

Rinsed leaves have a creamy sweet sort of melon very Guafengzhai odour. Very engaging to me as GuaFengZhai odours tend to be for me…

First infusion has a very clear pure sweet sugar with faint ghostly florals in the distance.  Clear pure but expanding sweet taste.  Sticky edges feeling with deep throst opening and lingering faint candy pear clear pure watery feeling.  Qi tingling in scalp and head floating.  Soft slow mild saliva inducing.  Like a slow motion elovlution of delicate and wonderful taste, mouthfeel, and Qi.

Second infusion has a sweet sugar onset that melts and expands in the mouth.  Sugar to almost melon to bready with florals in the distance that expresses them selves a candy sweet lingering finish. Its like something that slowly comes into focus. Deep throat faint opening and slow mild saliva with sticky edges.  Spacy deep feeling of floating and mild bliss feelings.  Euphoria uplift.  Cooled down cup is creamy pear sweetness with a melting into strong sweet candy almost caramel sweetness.  Face tingling chest opening feeling.  Long lingering caramel.

Third infusion has a vibrant creamy sweet oily buttercup floral with mild fast moving bitter.  Pops and melts of candy sweet with faint floral weeds.  Juicing sweet tastes like Juicy Fruit gum.  Long deep sweet jess and deep throat opening with floating euphoria feeling.  Dense flavourful pops. Tingling bodyfeeling/ floating a bit. Chest  qi slows the heart minutes later. Scalp and face sensations.  Cooled down cup is a very sweet candy floral. Qi does a bunch of stuff to the face and scalp.  But an interesting bodyfeel is this slow buildup then slowing of the chest and heart beats.  This Puerh really melts over me nicely!  Probably the best TianMenShan I’ve tried and much better than the 2023!

Fourth infusion has a buttery sweet sugar buttercup onset with a building up to a pear melon floral with candy breath and deep throat opening.  Expanding evolving sweet taste with cooling breath that leaves a sweet candy taste in the mouth.  Uplifting euphoria with this slowing Herst chest build up feeling in the chest.  Lingering sweet candy chalky feeling.

Fifth has a sweet oily lime onset it ends in candy finishes.  Sweet sugar layers with oily mouth pop candy long sweet melt over mouth with some cooling and deep throat.  Happy euphoria uplift.

Sixth has a sweet buttercup layered sweet that evolves and in the end melts into candy very nice oily mouthfeel with deep throat.  Melting washing over sweetnesses.  Chest Qi with evolution chest feelings and head and face feeling.  Long candy sweet finish.

Seventh has a bittersweet onset with buttery floral with a slow melting sweet candy finish.  Cooled down cup is vibrant candy sugar sweetness pop with cooling breath and deep throat opening.  Melt in the mouth sweetness with candy finish.  Mild sticky feeling.  Happy euphoria uplift.

Eighth infusion is a sweet buttercup sugar that melts into a candy sweet finish.  There is still a very bright taste and feel the mouthfeel is oily and slight chalky sticky in the finish.  Cool breath deep throat opening.  The cooled down cup is creamy almost potato woody melon with faint candy breath.

Ninth cooled down has a smooth sweet sugar oily melon expanding sweet taste. More sticky with deep throat.  Euphoria uplift.  Cooled down.  It’s a pop of sweet sugar buttery it melts into a melon candy slight woody taste.  More sticky and less deep throat.

10 th has a woody oily sweetness still nice and bright pops with cool breath with sweetness melting to candy.  Sticky mouthfeel not dry.  Deep energy charge with mild euphoria. Cooled down it has an oily woody with melt in sweet sugar buttercup to candy. So good lots of stamina…

Long mug steeping is pungent cooling forest with layers of sugar and buttercup melting and expanding.  Wow!! Strong layers of sweetness with even that characteristic toffee/ caramel characteristic of the other good TianMenShan I’ve tried.  Big Qi evolutions and movements in the chest that end in calm slow Heart  beats… transformative deep energy boost with uplifting surge of euphoric bliss state!!!  Best TianMenShan I’ve tried! Guess I won’t be sleeping tonight!

Peace 

2024 ChenYuan Hao ManXiu: Viscus Purfume Sweetness

Close in proximity to MaHei I sampled the day before and needing a little kick I went for the 2024 ChenYuan Hao ManXiu (approx $189.00 for 200g or $0.95/g).  Last year’s 2023 ChenYuan ManXiu changed the way I see high quality ManXiu with a really light and more ethereal ManXiu… I wonder if this one will be lore ethereal like last year or stronger in body like my common experience of ManXiu???

Dry leaves have a pungent sweet deeper forest odour.

Rinsed leaves have a floral ripe fruity almost mango/ banana odour.

First infusion has a pungent forest creamy sweet oily blast of taste.  The taste is a dense forest sweet purfume pungent taste.  Some cooling breath and long sweet berries taste.  A perfume cherry finish with a soft silty mouthfeel.  Spacy mind feeel.

Second infusion has a forest sweet chalky sweet taste with a deeper forest almost bitter chalky sweet taste.  Mouthfeel is chalky.  Deep dense taste that is a bit salty bitter and sweet with a dense forest taste cool throat and lingering cherry perfume sugar taste.  Subtle body floating.

Third infusion has a buttery sweet oily sugar with a perfume forest taste underneath.  The oily chalky viscus mouthfeel hold a bit of lingering sweet aftertaste and ripe banana mango taste.  Spacy mind and warming face with light libs and jaw.  Chalky fruity taste lingers minutes later.  

Fourth infusion has a slight fast moving bitter oily chalky sweet taste.  Oily buttery viscosity is big in this puerh.  The mouthfeel is an oil slick!  It leaves a fruity sweet creamy oily sweetness behind even minute later. Space out mind and light limbs and jaw.  Very delicious and satisfying with the long oily taste. Some chest opening.

Fifth has an oily woody slightly fast bitter floral sweet taste.  With oily viscous textures and sticky mouthfeel underneath.  There is some cooling then woody butter florals.  Space out with warming face jaw and chest.  Long lingering floral sweet fruit minutes later.

Sixth has an oily fruity onset with a quick bitterness and floral woody finish with slight drying sticky mouth. Lingering floral woody not as sweet taste.  Spaced out.  With jaw and chest bodyfeeling.

Seventh has a buttery creamy fruity mild quick moving bitter.  Oily chalky mouthfeel long lingering creamy slight bitter woody floral sweet finish.  Cooled down it gives off a sweet creamy fruity cooling pungent sweet taste.  Spacy Qi with chest and jaw sensations.  

8th is a watery oily sort of background sweet taste with faint floral buttery slight sweet finish… less flavours here… spacy feeling with chest tight and jaw is loose bodyfeel.

The long mug infusion has a buttery oily sweet taste.  Some quick moving bitterness.  There is some floral and sweetness in the finish.  The texture is really nice and oily thick.  Face sweats and warmth as well as chest expanding and jaw light feeling.  

Peace

2024 ChenYuan Hao MaHei: Happy MaHei Monday!

 

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao MaHei goes for approx $189.00 for 200g cake or $0.95/g.  I selected this sample out of the remaining 2024 ChenYuan Hao samples Monday morning this week after sampling the two Chawangshu and two GuaFengZhai the week before because I was in the mood for a characteristic happy fruity floral MaHei… this one did not disappoint!

Dry leaves have a deeper sweet floral creamy sweetness.

Rinsed leaf has a deeper fruity odour with light sugary edges.

First infusion has a sugary sweetness upfront that returns as a candy cherry taste. Mouthwatering and melts over the mouth.  A nice clear delicious mouthwatering sweet transformation and build up.  Cooling breath mouthwatering finish. Soft cottony mouthfeel.

Second is left to cool and has a very sweet oily juicy viscus sort of deeper fruity taste with a bready cherry sort of floral layer.  Oily viscus mouthfeel.  Sweet layers with a deep sweet feeling.  Some coolness and candy sweet taste returning.  Mild happy feeling soft bodyfeel.

Third infusion is left to cool and has a sweet spicy taste watery sugar fruity underneath almost bready with an almost candy returning sweet aftertaste. Cereal/ hay tastes.   fluffy mouthfeel with sticky edges.  

Fourth has a sugar soft spice woody hey cereal.  Less sweet with mild body feeling and happy vibe. Some cooling but candy sweetness doesn’t breath throat.  Slight sandy sticky mouth edges. Happy calm vibe.

Fifth has a watery creamy fruity sugar banana onset with soft fluffy mouthfeel with sticky edges.  Long sweet sugar finish.  There is faint pops of grape candy in the finish.  Peaceful happy feeling.  Soft soothing body feeling.

Sixth has a creamy sugar woody almost sour almost banana taste that has a viscus feel with sticky edges.  This infusion is less sweet and more dry sticky gripping cereal woody. Happy feeling with mild bodyfeel some Heart feeling. 

Seventh has a woody sour slight dry gripping with a stronger happy feeling.  Chest swelling with throat fullness bodyfeeling.  Mild happy vibes.

Eighth has a woody sweet dry sticky edges with dry tongue tip.  Slight almost candy but really not much sweetness left.  A happy vibe with bubbling chest and throat bodyfeeling. Sticky tongue mouthfeel is a bit unique.  Not much sweetness here anymore.

The long mug infusion is a sweet sugar with some floral lingering and following a nice sugar taste.  There is a dry sticky almost sharp tongue feeling.  Sugar and floral and woody.  Bubbling open chest feeling with chest expanding and strong happy feel goods- I really felt like a tea like this today so I went with this MaHai feeling it would be this vibe and it never failed.  It’s got that happy vibe MaHai Qi feeling that I was looking for.  Nothing overwhelming strong or too crazy complex ( but nice complexity nonetheless) here but mainly good vibes on a Monday!

Peace

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

2024 ChenYuan Hao GuoYouLin Gua FengZhai: Qi Comes Quickly!

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao GuoYouLin GuaFengZhai goes for approx $298.00 for 100g cake or $2.98/g.  I’m always a lover of the GuaFengZhai can’t wait to try …

Dry leaves have a sweet forest pungent vegital odour.

Rinsed leaves a a sugary sweet almost melon odour with is really mouthwatering….

First infusion has a sweet sugar pop burst with a wet oily fade out like sugar melting over the mouth and tongue so delicious… feel a bubbling chest Qi and. Mind lift.  Sort of like melon ghostly in the background almost roasted not really mainly a strong sugar melt in the mouth.  Strong Spacy happy uplift with a building chesty Qi feeling face sensations.

Second infusion has a sweet sugar melon forest pop of vibrant sweetness.   There is a bit of roasted hay grains and sticky chalky feeling with deep throat opening and simulation with some saliva producing. Big Qi hits with a spacy happy it cones like a wave overtaking you and finishes happy with some mild face sensations and big chesty feeling building up.  Rejuvenating feelings.  Strong qi.

Third infusion has a creamy melon potato pop of vibrant taste with a bit of faint pucker that follows and throat stimulation a lime melon finish with chalky sticky feeling faint bubble gum tries to breath through in the aftertaste with a somewhat pucker finish,  overall sweet melon mild pucker.l almost floral.   Spacy strong high with limbs light face sensations big opening expanding chest.  Face sweats.

Fouth infusion has a floral soapy sweet taste oily with a melon floral potato forest finish. Sweet through with a lingering light pure sugar taste and sone first finish.  Slight pucker.  Strong spaced out Qi with face sensations.  Airy limbs and big opening chest feeling.

Fifth infusion has a sour sweet melon lime onset there is a forest slight pucker to it more watery and less sweet.  Long cool breath with lingering almost sugar sweetness on breath but a dry mild woodiness develops.  Space out with warming face.

Sixth has a wet watery melon sugar not as sweet taste.  Lingering melon sugar aftertaste with soft silty mouthfeel.  Qi has also dropped off a bit with a mild spacy high and warming face.  Silty fine sandy feeling.

Seventh has a woody watery less sweet sort of bland woody bitterness sandy mouthfeel. Warming face and bit spacy with warming chest.  This has much less stamina especially compared to the two different 2024 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu options.  Big Qi comes quickly with flavours but fades early. 

I put the spent leaves into a long mug infusion and it has a bland woody almost floral taste in a sandy mouthfeel.  As it cools it’s more of a melon sugar bitter woody taste. Days infusion is a sweet pop of taste sweet with an oily slight woody pungent forest taste.  There is a bit more deeper forest taste in here in this long infusion than I would have thought….

Alex’s Tasting Notes

Peace 

2024 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu: Characteristic ChaWangShu && Warming Qi!

 

Last year I declared the 2023 ChenYuan Hao Chawangshu as “top tier Chawangshu”!  I tried this 2024 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu which goes for $220.00 for 100g cake or $2.20/g after sampling the 2024 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan Chawangshu of the same price. I will compare this and the 2024 Essence of Tea following the notes.

Dry leaves have a cooling pungent almost evergreen forest odour under sweet creamy forest odours.

Rinsed leaves have a bready sweet pungent odour.

First infusion has a watery creamy melon oily viscous feeling and long cool breath with return of almost candy sweet melon.  Lots of candy sweet finish!

Second infusion is a bitter sweet pop of sweet melon with a forest cooling long taste.  Strong cooling pungent with a return of melon candy.  Mouthfeel is faintly puckering/ gripping.  Oily viscus feeling with sweet candy coming out.  Open unraveling chest feeling warm chest expansion with done face tingling and stronger heavy spacy a bit slowing.

Third infusion is a pungent spice woody onset with bitter sweet and slight pucker griping mouth.  Heavy and slowing in the body also quite warming in the face and chest.  Astringent pucker is building early with candy melon finish and cooling throat. Long sweet candy in the cooled off cup.

Fourth has a butter cup creamy sweet onset the cooled down cup is really smooth melon creamy sweet buttercup. Oily viscous mouthfeel cooling breath and finish and heavy slowing qi.  Sweet almost lime melon candy finish.  Warming Qi. Smooth visuals sweet cohesiveness.

Fifth has a watery creamy buttercup.  There is a melon creamy sweetness throughout with a mouthwatering candy melon finish.  Heavy spaced out feeling.  Slight dry sticky roof of mouth.  Chest heart beats with warming chest and face.

Sixth has a creamy buttercup woody melon viscus sweet taste.  Slight sour melon with cooling breath and throat.  Creamy smooth melon candy with slowing warming heavy qi feeling.

Seventh is a sweet melon sour creamy candy mouthwatering feeling sticky roof but not dry or gripping.  Cooling throat and lingering candywoody.  Heavy space out with warming chest opening and face warming.

Eighth is a sweet oily viscus watery feeling… warming qi spacy but loosing power.  Woodsy melon sweetness still cool breath. Candy melon creamy fade out in the cooled cup .  Warming face and chest spacy feeling slight mild high.

I put the spent leaf into a long mug infusion and it comes out like bland woody with slight tight mouthfeel and faint lingering sweet taste in mouth. As it cools it mainly turns into bitter wood. Overnight it is more viscous faint sweet melon woody. 

Vs 2024 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan Chawangshu-  the Huangshan has more complex and opposing features of taste and Qi.  The HuangShan has much better stamina but it could indicate a wider blend.  I enjoyed the strength and complexity of the HuangShan more.  The Chawangshu featured here is more of a classic Chawangshu taste and feel with the unique feature being its strong warming energy which I really enjoyed!  

Vs 2024 Essence of Tea Chawangshu - My favourite of the bunch might actually be 2024 Essence of Tea ChaWangShu - like this 2023 ChenYuan Hao Chawangshu it has a very classic taste and feel of Chawangshu but it’s Qi is very strongly euphoric! I enjoyed the 2024 ChenYuan HuangShan Almost as much.  All of these Chawangshu are actually of very high quality but it depends what you are looking for.  I believe from this sampling that the 2024 Chawangshu growing season is better than the 2023. So amazing!!!!

Peace

Tops! 2024 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan Cha Wang Shu

This is the first sample I tried from the complimentary 2024 Yuan Chen Hao samples I recently received!  I sampled the 2023 version of this one last year.  The 2023 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan ChaWangShu came a bit later than the initial group of 2023 ChenYuan Hao samples I did end up sampling it but unfortunately I lost the notes and didn’t post it on the blog.  I remember it was similar to but enjoyed it maybe a bit more than the 2023 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu which I had sampled months earlier.  

This 2024 ChenYuan Hao HuangShan ChaWangShu goes for $220.00 for 100g cake or $2.20/g.  So far it is my favourite out of the 2024 ChenYuan Hao samples I’ve tried this week…

Dry leaves are very sweet creamy melon potato… mouthwatering delicious.  Vs the 2024 ChenYuan Hao ChaWangShu which is more pungent sweet the HuangShan is more sweet smelling and less pungent.

Rinsed leaves have a sweet forest pungent odour.

First infusion has a clear watery sweet onset with a pungent forest almost woody faint gamey taste.  Sweet faint long return.  Cooling faint sweeet breath.  Relaxing peace. Some shoulder lightness.

Second infusion has a banana creamy sweet onset with oily mouthwatering feeling in mouth.  Lots of deep throat opening with salivating return of sweet taste.  Chest opening feeling with light shoulders and jaw.  Peaceful spacy feeling with some head bobbling and mind floating away.

3rd has a mild bitter sweet onset with a lingering banana melon woody taste. Slight dry roof of mouth less oily texture.  Deep throat opening.  Jaw and face numb with shoulders light.  Open bubbly chest feeling.  Energetic calm with mind focused but slight spacy floating.

4th has a quick bitter sweetness with a floral soapy melon potato taste.  Pop of complex sweet floral tastes with a sandy mouthfeel and deep throat opening.  Sticky sandy mouthfeeling. Spacy focusing floating feeling with jaw, shoulders light and chest opening.  Spacy tingling feeling while body buzz!

5th juicy fruity burst with mild bitter sweetness.  Oily texture with sticky sand underneath.  Oliy sweet juicy pop then sandy sticky coating left behind.  Spacy coating mind with sharp focusing energy is contrasting but works the effect is a strong qi experience.  Melon sweet taste is left on the breath.  The body is tingling and airy with limbs and shoulders face and jaw open chest feeling. Vibrating feeling!

6th has a bitter sweet woody oily potato melon type of sweet taste the sticky almost dry sandy feeling really coats the mouth and is exposed after the oily sweetness recedes.   chest expanding and bubbling is strong with energetic spacy focus. Body and face tingling with airy floating libs and lots of shoulder things. Buzzy calm is contradictory 

7th has a sweet dry woody potato melon onset.  Strong spacy energetic high.  Body vibration and light softness airy limbs and big expanding chest opening.  Spaced out with strong focusing.  Strong contradicting Qi in body and mind is not disorienting but rather adds to a deeper Qi experience.  The oily/ dry sticky sand mouthfeel and bitter/ sweetness deepens the contrasting feeling that some how works well and adds complexity to this puerh.

8th has a watery woody onset with oily melon sweet return fine sandy mouthfeel.  Sweetness fades as mouth becomes slowly sandy.  Spacy energetic high with all the body things happening!  Tingling high art floating hyper space out.

9th has a sweet buttercup floral with slight melon finish.  Nice floral sweet balance oily.  The compounded qi feeling sends me up, up, and away….  Big chest feeling grounds me in my tingly body.

10th infusion is a melon woody floral oily mouthwatering thing. Cool breath and deep throat faint opening with mild saliva build up there.  Spacy high.  Mouthwatering floral sweet freshness with cooling finish.  Spaced out high with energy!

11th watery woody floral oily sweet with sticky lips.  Mouthwatering deep throat saliva build up.  Great transition through the session and stamina! Very enjoyable mid session to later session!  Very high feeling!  Good stamina in this one!

The long mug infusion of spent leaf is pungent spice and layered sweetness with an oily chalky texture and sticky roof of mouth.  Long deep sweetness sort of floral purfume in throat and breath,  ends in a candy melon taste.

This is an excellent ChaWangShu with complex opposing features and qualities of taste and Qi that make this a treasure to explore in its depths… it has great stamina as well! I liked this one a lot! As it cools it is more floral maybe with a sort of tingling mouthfeel.

Peace

 

2024 ChenYuan Hao Release!!!

 Okay, here we go!!!! Paolo of Puerh.uk facilitated a sampling of the fresh 2023 ChenYuan Hao line up last year and was it ever a treat… so many very high quality Gushu productions for so many of the famous areas in Yiwu.  It offered me a glimpse into what high end boutique Gushu scene was like these days.

I thought the samples for review was a one off thing to launch the new English ChenYuan Hao site… I was surprised that Paolo offered me the 2024 lineup for review again!

I look forward to sampling some that I had missed in 2023 also to compare with Alex’s Tea Notes as he has already started to post some of his….

Peace

2020 Fu Shun Gao Legacy (The Beast): Blended Bulang Beats!

I received this 2020 Fu Shun Gao Legacy “the Beast” (approx $670.00 for 357g cake or $1.88/g) as a free sample with my last purchase from Puerh.uk.  It is another high quality blend of 2015 aged maocha from the same producer as the 2016 Puerh.uk Ethereal which I sampled back-to-back days. 

Dry leaves are a smoky bitter smelling thing…. Very delicious too me!

Rinsed leaves have a very subtle bbq smoke that someone could miss.

First infusion has a watery woody creamy bittersweet.  There is a vegital woody taste.  Creamy sweet no fruity tastes here. Maybe orange peel?  Soft creamy orange finish.  Strong heart beats developing.

Second infusion has a vegital bitter creamy sugar bittersweetness.  Oily mouthwatering with fluffy soft mouthfeeling.  Almost sugar candy hard to grasp sweet return.  Sweetness is left in the mouth. Strong chest beats with spacy mind. Subtle bbq some that is barely there.

Third infusion has a watery creamy sugar sweetness.  There is a vegital woody bitterness with creamy finish.  Spacy mind happy feeling.  This tastes and feels like Bulang material to me.  Fluffy mouthfeel with some bitterness gripping.  Happy strong heart beats and sighs and spaced out feeling.  Energizing boost!

Fourth infusion has a watery melon vegital bitter sweetnes! Chest expanding creamy chalky sweet finish.  Long creamy sweet finish return subtle smoke bbq and vegital bitterness with strong energetic feeling building with strong chest beats and overwhelming strength building.  There is done melon taste in there.  It’s Bulang material here. Vegital bitterness is left in the mouth minutes later.

5th is left to cool and is a slight smoke melon fruity but mainly sweet creamy mild bitter vegital taste.  Faint smoke sweetness very faint smoke with more melon creamy sugar sweet than smoke.  Spacy relaxing feeling now. Rises leaves have that bitter smoke Bulang odour.  Either a Bulang blend or wider blend maybe but not very Lao Ban Zhang even though you can imagine some in here.

6th has a sweet melon creamy sweet taste with a mild bitter finish.  Oily mouthfeel with a slight almost banana returning.  Big chest beats but Turing relaxing.  Sweet mouth finish with not really much smoke.

7th has a sweet oily woody bitter vegital is mild and bitter woody with some cool and creamy sweet return.  Spacy with relaxing feeling now.

8th has a oily fruity sweet with a vegetal bitter taste.  Sweet slight faint smoke.  Very much Bulang but more refined than rugged!

The long mug steeping… has a smoke bitter vegetal with an oily mouthfeeling.  Some woody smoke with underlying sweetness and cool breath.  Spacy relaxing floating vibes with chesty Qi feeling and some jaw tingling.

Overnight infusion of spent leaf is a vegital bitter with oily sweet bright fruity undertones.  Big chest opening energies with deep sighs and energetic feeling.

Big deep energetics with great Qi sensations again!  This source from Puerh.uk is my favourite after ChenYuan Hao and Old Man/ Daniel… of course these two samples were both expensive examples (pictured top is the 2020 Beast, bottom is 2016 Ethereal).

Alex’s Tea Notesb

Peace