Ranking of Xiaguan 2001s: 2001 Xiaguan Green Mark King Bing

I was relieved that Teas We Like offered this one in a Quarter cake because I really wanted to sample this one but yet couldn’t fully commit to a full $450 g Qing bing.  That’s right- this 2001 Xiaguan Green Mark King Bing is a big 450g cake that goes for$1.00 g!  The description of this cake describes it has the same commissionaire as the 2001 Green Sun cake that I quite enjoyed!  At the end of the notes I will rank all 2001 Xiaguan productions which I sampled over the last year or so…

Dry leaves smell of peat and subtle incense and dry grass.  I go right into flash steepings after a 10 second rinse.

First infusion has woody peat onset with a watery feeling and dry grass sweetness.  Has a bit of tongue tight tingling.  Slight pond-marshland storage taste.  Still too tight in the pot…

Second infusion has a smoky fruity woody onset with a vibrant oily sweet fruity glimpse.  Nice vibrant oily smoky and slight sweet fruit taste.  Tingling mouthfeeling especially on the tongue.  Subtle marshy peat storage taste.

Third infusion has a sweet peat woody grassy onset with a resin incense body to it.  Overall the taste is sweet but it’s hard for me to explain the sweetness- not quite fruity, not really pastry, more like a sweet grass taste.  The mouthfeeling is oily with a mild tingling sandy feeling on the tongue.  Nice relaxing focusing feeling Qi. 

4^th has a caramel sweet onset with an oily woody resin like taste.  The sweetness returns on a long faint cool throaty breath.  There is this resin woody oily almost fruity taste.  The sweetness dominates but not overly so with a balance of resin-woody, and incense.  The mouthfeeling is really nice with a tingling numb tongue feeling with a subtle gritty sandy mouthfeeling with a very faint going into the throat happening.  There are some relaxing sighs and spacy focusing feelings.  Face and shoulder feel floating.

5^th has a fruity tingling sweet pop with resin incense to follow.  The texture is both a bit oily with the contrast of a tingling tongue feeling.  The cooled cup is more caramel resin incense taste.  There is definitely smoke in there.  The Qi is a relaxing wavy bodyfeeling like I’m in a boat bobbing back and forth.  The cooled down cup of tea is a smoke and caramel taste with an oily body and some resin and incense in the finish.  Nice rocking bodyfeeling and spacy focusing.  Minutes later there is an interesting taffy taste in the distance.

6^th has a resin sweet woody oily taste with a smoke incense finish.  The tingling feeling on the tongue and oily texture is an interesting contrast as is the oily sweet onset and smoky incense finish.  There is a sweet subtle returning that is a bit like taffy and a bit fruity- it lingers minutes later.  Nice Face and shoulder have a numbing floating feeling. 

7^th infusion has an oily resin sweetness with a smoke incense resin mid-profile with a faint breath cooling that is hard to feel but brings out nice taffy sweet taste.  Nice relaxing feeling.  Nice taffy taste minutes later in the mouth which is really tasty and pretty unique.  Face and shoulder Qi feeling.

8^th the liquid is left to cool and then it gives off a caramel with a candy taffy finish.  This candy finish is a nice dry stored feature that is really sought after.  Nice face and shoulder floating Qi with a relaxed feeling.

9^th has a bland woody with a fruity edge less smoke and resin here.  The mouthfeeling is really good with a tingling tongue.  Long taffy sweet finish in the mouth.  Nice relaxing focusing feeling.  Shoulder and face bodyfeelng of floating.

10^th has a resin smoke and subtle emerging sweet taste.  The texture is an oily but a bit rough and dry smoke underneath.  Nice relaxing feeling with face and shoulder sensations.  It’s thinning out a bit here.

11^th has a smooth sweet onset with a thin woody almost smoke mid-profile.  Somewhat oily onset with edges of fruit sweetness and a dry gritty tongue and mouthfeeling that makes the mouth pucker.  Nice focusing energy- shoulder come up and face feels heavy.

12^th has a woody sweet onset with a smoke mid-profile and some faint returning candy like sweetness in the distance.  Nice numb tongue and faint candy but also gripping and puckering strong mouth and upper-mid-throat feeling. 

13^th has a woody smoke taste upfront with some cooling breath and sweetness that tries to come through.  A bit rough in smoke and dry and puckering mouthfeeling.

I mug steep out the rest and get a nice rich resin smoke taste with any sweetness left.  The mouthfeeling is a bit harsh dry pucker.  It almost reminds me of watered down coffee and has a nice soothing Qi feeling now with face and shoulder Qi sensations.

Longer mug steepings have a medical bitter woody taste there is a bit of sweetness underneath but the bitter-astringency is just so overwhelming here and with the smoke taste doesn’t come off too enjoyable.

The overnight infusion of spent leaves gives off a very deep sweet plum taste with a deep mysterious fruity taste and not much else.  This gives you an idea of how durable these leaves are.  There is almost like a black berry and coco taste to it.  Its very rich and sweet and deep.  Nice rich sweet taste here almost brown sugar at times as well.  This one will continue to age well…

Overall, this is a nice oily sweet resinous tea with a nice smoke and amazing tingling tongue mouthfeeling.  The Qi is really nice too with great bodyfeeling in the shoulders and face and a nice relaxing Qi.  As the session progresses the harsher smoke and dry astringency shows itself which suggests it’s not quite ready to drink to full enjoy.

Ranking of 2001 Xiaguan and Xiaguan-like productions

1-      2001 Xiaguan 8653 Huang Yin- ($1.00/g) (wet leaves pictured above) This one spent its life in Houde’s epic Huston storage.  I had this one before drinking the strong 2001 Green mark and it is significantly better in my mind mainly because it is strong but not harsh where the Green mark is a bit rough and harsh.  This one is just crazy insane powerful!  Much stronger that the Green Mark.  It has an insane strong alerting and really overwhelming energy to it, as well as a strong bitterness but not any astringency really.  I use only ¼ to ½ of the dry leaves I normally use and its still insanely strong.  Love it.  Easily drank through my sample.  I passed on a cake a few years ago but obviously would have been pretty happy with one.

2-      2001 Iron Zhongcha- ($1.00/g) This one is the outlier of the group, its storage is also a nice drier Malaysian giving it a much richer aged feel.  Material seems better than the rest.  It is basically an oily tasty lubricating cherry fruity puerh with satisfying well aged taste and it’s something I could easily drink through really fast!  Nice relaxing Qi with a heavy chest bodyfeeling.

3-      2001 Xiaguan 8653 Iron cake- ($0.79)  This one was purchased from Teas We Like and has Taiwanese storage on it which leaves it both powerful and a bit harsh but also complex dense and a bit aged.  The result is stunning and the old factory puerh nerd in my lost my shit over this storage in a completely blind tasting here.  I ended up picking up two cakes when it was available.  Probably not truly as good as this Green mark but as far as just a really good and satisfying example of the classic 8653 Iron- it is better.

4-      2001 Xiaguan Green Mark King Bing- ($1.00/g)- maybe the roughest of the bunch.  Storage similar to the 8653 above.  Not as powerful as the Huang Yin.  Has the best bodyfeeling of the bunch with its floating face, shoulders, body levitation.  Could easily be at the top of the list for some other people.

 

All pretty amazing 21 year aged Xiaguan productions!  I had a really awesome experience with tasting these!  Thanks to Teas We Like for curating these!

 

Peace

2001 Xiaguan Jingua Tuocha Shu

Stephane of Teamsters sent a 2001 Xiaguan Jingua Toucha Shu freesample a few years ago.  Usually this 450g melon goes for $210.00 or $0.47/g.  As a part of my 2001 Xiaguan study and to compare to the “1960s Loose Leaf” and because it was damn cold this day and to warm me up…. I decided to crack this sample of a very classic traditional style of Shu.  It turns out I know very little about what is going on with Shu puerh these days but I know a good classic shu when I come across one and this was pretty satisfying… thanks in advance Stephane!

Dry leaves smell still of fermentation storage like smells like pretty drier stored shu.

First infusion smells of dank mushroomy old factory shu to me…. And tastes milky, watery mushroom, woody taste, with some faint coolness and empty mouth sweet taste left behind.

Second infusion has a deep chocolate onset that has rich milky layers, a hazelnut taste along with chocolate gives a Nutella like taste over an oily mouthfeeling.  Rich and chocolate nutty tastes. 

Third infusion has thick rich oily chocolate nutty hazelnut taste it has some woody mushroom taste underneath but mainly this thick oily chocolate hazelnutty taste.  Nice mild calming mind and relaxing sighs.  Nice deeply spacy relaxing feeling.

The 4^th has an oily milky sweet taste upfront then turns into a nutty mushroom taste, oily thick. With a woody-mushroom chocolate finish.  Nice oily full mouth and full throat oily feeling.  Nice deeply spacy and relaxing feeling.

5^th has an oily rich coco chocolate taste with a subtle mushroom woody taste under the thick oily coco taste. 

6^th is left to cool and has a creamy milky taste with a flat oily mouthfeeling and faint distant cooling and a woody straw like coco finish.  Nice oily throat and saliva.  Very relaxing vibe.

7^th has a milky flat woody taste.  Very consistent from infusion to infusion but really delicious and great Qi.  There is definitely a straw grains finish in the last few infusions now with lessening amounts of chocolate and sweetness.  Still very nice relaxing qi sensations.

8^th is a more woody coco creamy sweetness with the woody and coco and milky sort of presenting together.  The result is nice with a touch of cooling that brings out some creamy taste. The mouthfeel is now moving towards becoming slightly dry.  I feel energized with the energy- it bumps me up but then again is a bit relaxing.  The cumulative effect is energizing though.

9^th has a dryer woodiness to it and less of a smooth oily milky or coco taste.  The energy is strongly alerting now as the liquor accumulates in the body.  Strong alerting now.

10^th was left in the pot for a good minute and has a woody coco less milky sweetness.  The alerting energy in here reminds us that this is a strong Xiaguan!  Heart beats now..

I flash steep out of the pot the next day with woody hay coco oily tastes.  Still very tasty and mild alerting energy. 

I push the spent leaves in the mug for a few days and am satisfied with the result of coco taste.  Super enjoyable shu,classic, no nonsense.

Peace

2001 Teas We Like Iron Zhongcha: An Oil Slick of an Aged Puerh!

After completely blind sampling the 2001 Xiaguan 8653 IronCake from Marco this summer I was anxiously anticipating the arrival of the cake at Teas We Like.  It took many months of waiting before it appeared on the site.  It seems like the wait had me eyeing this 2001 Teas We Like Iron Zhongcha ($290.00 for 310g cake or $0.94/g).  This cake was released a few years ago in their second or third wave of releases.  The description claims that it is not an 8653 but that it better or as good with some nice dry Malaysian storage on it… it’s a bit pricy but in the end I went for it… is it ever good…

Dry leaves smell of a faint leafy odour.

First infusion after a 30 sec rinse and 10 minute sitting… at flash has a leaf and medicinal faint onset with a faint kind of powdery almost faint peppery finish.  Nice full sort of tight mouthfeeling and some throat simulating.  Faint powdery finish.

Second infusion has a cherry fruity pop of sweet onset with a woody mahogany taste in a tight stimulating mouth and throat feeling.  The finish is woody powdery cooling mouth then cherry woody returning sweetness.  The mouthfeel is really full and strong for something this humidly stored and for this age- a nice treat.  There is a bit of very faint astringency that I can feel in my guts.

3^rd has a woody cherry oak cask clear taste to it.  A bit tart but almost but not really dry leafy and almost powdery that comes out in the finish.  Nice cool throat and some salivating- cherry powdery sweet finish... a very nice dry stored finish.  Mouthfeel and taste are strong and super enjoyable but the Qi is very mild in the body and mind.  Half of the cup is left to cool and it is more of a creamy sweet powdery taste.  Powdery dry woody aftertaste.  Very mild Qi.

4^th has a woody mahogany cherry sweet taste, a touch creamy sweet, with a leafy dry woody powdery finish.  There is a tart sour cherry woody finish.  The taste is really condensed woody cherry powdery with under currents of faint creamy sweetness over a decent gripping mouthfeeling.

5^th is left to cool and has a woody creamy sweetness that returns more sweet in the mouth creamy cherry mahogany.  There is some woodiness but these cooled down cups are much sweeter and creamier with the warm cups tasting more tart and woody.  Nice Qi with a slight heavy chest sensation nice mild feel good sensation.

6^TH has a creamy sweet onset now with a woody cherry taste that is more distant.  There is some mouth cooling with a nice saliva producing mouth effect.  Nice creamy tart cherry and powdery finish with a bit of an oily mouthfeeling.  It seems like the oily mouthfeeling slowly builds throughout the session.  You can see the thick meniscus with bubbles endlessly suspending in the oily liquor.  Super enjoyable.  Nice relaxing Qi and a heavy chest sensations that is mild.

7^th has a creamy sweet cherry woody initial taste that drops off a bit then becomes more powdery in the aftertaste.  Nice and oily.  There is a menthol camphor type of woody coolness developing now.  Some creamy woody powdery sweet undertones devlop.  Nice relaxing mild feeling.

8^th has a woody creamy even watery taste now.  There is a bit of menthol cooling camphor taste with a sweet dry leaf kind of finish.  This infusion starts to water down.

9^th has a sweet leafy woody not that sweet initial taste.  There is some faint camphor and some p[powdery taste but this infusion shows signs of watering down so I add 10 seconds to the flash steeping…

10^th has a powdery leaf taste. The cool cup has a bit of cherry powdery sweetness but faint compared to the woody leaf profile.  Nice relaxing feeling.

11^th has a woody leaf pile with a bit of mineral powdery finish.  Still gripping mouthfeeling.  I start pushing hard on this one…

12^th is a 40 sec steep.. it has a sweeter woodier note but still generic sweet woody.  Some faint coolness and camphor and sweet woody finish.

I mug steep out the rest…

It is a bit woody, dry leaf, and with a nutty sweetness now.  Not bitter, not astringent.  The nuttiness is pretty enjoyable here.  Nice mellow Qi feeling.

I have had much better sessions of this one over the cold months we’ve been having.  The oily texture, nice dry stored finish and delicious taste is quite satisfying!

Vs 2001 Xiaguan 8653 Iron Cake from Teas We Like.  I got a few of these cakes when offered for $275.00 for 350g cake. They stopped offering them after only a few months likly due to increased prices to restock? These are very different in almost every way except that they are iron pressed cakes.  The contrast is an interesting comparison.  I don’t think I would have guessed the 2001 Iron Zhongcha to be the 8653 iron cake… it lacks some kind of Xiaguan quality… mainly the smoky bitterness and crotchety crankiness… it just really doesn’t feel like it at all.  The 2001 Xiaguan 8653 has a much more rich, condensed, flavourful, complex, and powerful taste.  The 2001 Xiaguan 8653 that Teas We Like sold is still not fully aged out so a bit harsh however achieving a nice balance between maintaining its power, concentration and essence while still moving the aging along.  Still ends very bitter.  This 2001 Iron Zhongcha is dry Malaysian stored, the dry storage is really quite nice on this one and is pretty aged out already with still that initial power in the first few infusions with which could still be built upon.  The taste is more stable across the infusions, its stamina is less and needs harder pushing.  Very nice mild mellow aged Qi in the Zhongcha.  I especially like the Zhongcha’s thick viscus and oily texture.  I’m not sure if I ever had such an oil slick of an aged tea before!

Shah8’s Tasting notes

Peace

2001 Red Ribbon Natural Malaysian Storage: Aged Malaysian Storage

I picked up a cake ($185.00 for 357g or $0.52/g) of this in my last order from Teas We Like.  It is the same cake but different storage as the 2001 Red Ribbon Traditional Hongkong Storage cake that is currently sold out.  This promises to be an cheapish aged drinker experience, I think… and in the Winter cold, I’m hoping its exactly what I need to get me through…

Dry leaves have a woody faintly spicy and mainly dry peaty odour.

The first infusion has a honey and oak taste to it with a very faint creamy candy finish.  There is a full and kind of tight mouthfeeling.  Nice cooling throat.  There is a nice woody dry peat kind of taste to it, almost nutty.  The cooled down cup is significantly nuttier.

The 2^nd has a woody kind of creamy sweetness with a nuttiness that kind of comes out more in the aftertaste.  There is some coolness and some faint candy sweet finish.  The mouthfeel is a nice chalky tightness.  Nice mild energy feeling and some warming.

3^rd has a woody teak oily taste with a nutty finish.  The oily mouthwatering texture is really nice as is the classic teak woody Malaysian storage notes turn to a rich nuttiness after a faint creamy subtle candy note.  Nice oily and salivating texture over a slight tight underbelly.  Nice energizing Qi.

4^th is left to cool and has a woody plummy taste overall.  Nice oily texture with a slight dry tightness underneath.  Nice moderate energy in the mind.

5^th is left to cool… and gives off a creamy oily sort woody and peaty but with a nice sweet creamy almost but not really candy creamy sweetness.  Nice oily texture and slight tight underneath mouthfeeling.  Nice unobtrusive energy boost.

6^th is left to cool and is a plummy oily taste with some cooling breath and a creamy almost talc candy sweet but not really that strong more of a creamy woody sweet breath.  Nice harmonizing and feeling good feeling.

7^th has a woody plum with a creamy sweet faint candy breath.  Still a bit oily chalky but also dry slight tight powdery mouthfeeling.  Nice moderate and leveling energy.

8^th has an oily sweet wooody oily creamy sweet onset.  There is some faint cooling and a candy breath.  Nice slight dry chalking mouthfeeling with still some viscosity left in it.

9^th cooled down cup has a nice coco chocolate woody taste up front.  Nice coco and wood aged taste here.  With still a nice thick viscus feeling in the mouth.  Nice thick mouthfeeling too. Nice energy feeling that is a bit warm.

10^th has a nice coco chololate woody taste to it.  There are some nice woody oily notes in there with edges of a creamy sweet candy still.  Nice energy mild and warming mild.

11^th has a woody oily taste now with a faint smoke incense barely even noticeable here.  This infusion is less oily and flavourful.  Nice energy not too much but feels good.

12^th has a woody teak woody with a dry tight mouthfeeling with a bit of oily saliva producing in the back of the mouth.  Drier than other infusions with a bit of cool throat but not much flavor anymore.

My first time I tried this one I thought less of it.  I’ve had a chance to try this one a few more times and it actually does much better pushed pretty hard with longer infusion times.  This is often the case with aged puerh and I would say that this one fits that description.  When steeped like this it really brings out the richer and plum tastes and feels oilier overall.  Overall, this puerh is all about showcasing a nice pure and almost typical good Malaysian Storage on a cake that is a solid familiar example of a factory style puerh of this age.  It also serves a purpose of acting as a nice comparison to the same cake that had Hongkong traditional storage previouslyoffered at Teas We Like.

Peace

Good Fake or Bad Fake?: Fake Houde 2001 7542 Menghai Tea Factory “Simplified Yun”

This is basically a continuation of timely posts on this blog that look at the theme of faking puerh cakes that are for sale by western vendors.  Specifically they look at the most commonly faked puerh factory- Menghai Tea Factory (now known as Dayi), how they infiltrate even trusted Western puerh vendors, the risks you take when purchasing such cakes, vendor bias, and the misinformation that can spread as a result.

I suggest you read these post and the comments that follow before continuing:

 

2001 Menghai Factory 7542 “Simplified Yun”: Perfect HongkongStorage

… It Might Be A Fake …

2006 Yang Qing Hao Chawangshu: A Failure of Yang Storage

 

Okay, the first thing I want to say about this cake is that I was almost certain it was a fake when I bought it.  First of all, there is the semi disclosure/ wink-wink nudge nudge that Guang wrote into the description of this re-release.  When a vendor does this- this is a disclosure that it is fake.  Secondly, the photograph on the site of the cake doesn’t really look like any Menghai Tea Factory official production.  You don’t even have to look closely on the site to see this if you have even a very general familiarity to what wrappers look like from Menghai Tea Factory from this era.  The paper is that super super thin transparent cotton-like paper that rips when you touch it, the shape of the cake itself seems too fat, the ink on the paper is neither faded nor distinct and it doesn’t fit on the cake properly.  This is a pretty good site and has good pictures on what a real Red Dayishould look like in its wrapper.  Specifically, look at how the back of the unopened cake is wrapped- nothing like this one.  You can gather much from the look of a cake if you know what to look for.  Cwyn, who has always brought a more keen observation of the wrapper as well as wet and dry leaves to the puerh blogging world, made this point in this post here.

So, I guess the question is… why would you then want to knowingly buy a fake? 

For me there are a few reasons but one of them is simple…  If the material used for the fake is 2001 and it is made in a similar factory style to the original then even if it was half as good as the original, it would be a good deal.  If it happens to be this, an old school factory style 20 years aged cake from 2001, it would fit my tastes nicely.  The pictures themselves look like nice material anyways.

The second thing that convinced me to take the risk was that I seemed to remember Shah8’s glowing review of this cake.  Specifically, was his comment “Frankly, its what a factory tea should be (and what you generally find in the 80s or earlier)” and he has also repeated claims that he believes it will age well.  I am very fond of this old-school-ness and have pretty much drank through all of my 80s/90s puerh of this style.  What I failed to remember was his other frank assessments that this is fake and other reviewer’s bad reviews of this fake.  I understand the risk of Shah8’s bias towards vigorously defending his own purchases and vendors he grew up with.  I also will give Houde some trust that they would not sell a garbage puerh.  The combination was enough for me to buy.

I guess something else that should be mentioned is the price.  In 2011 Houde sold this fake for $150.00 for 357g cake which would be scandalously overpriced for a fake at this time.  I give them the benefit of the doubt that they were unaware that it was a fake back then but they apparently sold some other faked famous cakes including the famous 88’ Qingbing for $1000.00… that’s real crazy and I appreciate Marco’s very subtle, timely, and polite reminder that there are definitely some risk in blind caking offerings from places that have a history of either knowingly or unknowingly selling fakes as the real thing.  The re-release of this cake sold out in a few hours for $350.00 for 357g cake and although it is more than double the price 10 years ago, it is essentially a white wrapper cake with no authenticity to collect or re-sell nor any market price to reference.  It also represents the smallest price rise of all the re-releases from Houde.  For me, whether it is worth it or not always comes down to the taste and feel of a puerh, this no doubt comes from my experience of drinking old puerh which were likely most often fakes.  Taste and feel are the end all of puerh and not much else… tea is for drinking no?

The material in keeping with the old school vintage of this cake has lots of randomness.  In prying off my first sample I find 2 small pebbles, some hay, and lots of leaf variability some bigger leaves and mainly lots of small whole and chopped leaves.

The dry leaves smell of hay, grains, and a faint almost mineral-woody-leaves sweetness.  After, the rise the leaves have a strong spicy pungent vibrant smell to them.

The first infusion has a syrupy honey straw incense with a long creamy sweet almost marshmallow talc cherry finish.  The mouthfeel has a fine powdery finish on it and coats the mouth.  There is a strong talc, cherry incence mineral powdery taste to it up front but not too much for aftertaste.  There is a pond like finish on the breath.  This first infusion indicates that it is very dry stored, even if early notes indicate that it was more humid stored early it definitely tastes very dry stored now.  The pond and straw kind of remind me of Bulang and Bada.

The second infusion has a strong honey, straw, incense, and kind of briney woody taste that comes strong initially with a more faint talc marshmellow cherry incense sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is an almost tight powdery sensation with suggestions of cherry talc.  The throatfeeling is kind of empty but a mid-upper throat coolness lingers there.  There is a faint throat scatchy driness.  A deep warming energy sweeps over my body and my mind has a resounding clearity.  There is a nice big Qi sensation to greet me.  A Good bodyfeeling of floating limbs.  The aftertaste is a pondy kind of taste.

The third infusion has a stronger syrupy incense onset with some talc, cherry, almost a mushroom hay like taste.  The incense taste dominates here.  The mouthfeel is a tight powdery and unfortunately there is a bit of scratchy throat sensation going on.  The Qi is really big and pushes me into a warming euphoria with a strong high floating sensation.  Very strong stoner Qi here.  Warming chest.  Clarity to details.  Damn scratchy throat- often a sign of rogue humidifying early on.  Pondy finish in the mouth.

The fourth infusion has a strong incence taste with a bit of mineral and faint talc cherry.  This infusion the complexity of taste bows out to a stronger incence taste.  The Qi of this one is really really nice big Qi sensation with strong bodyfeeling.  Wow! Its kind of a Bulang experience to me.  Pond mouth breath. Throat scratch with fine powdery almost tight full mouthcoating.  There is a nice caramel sweet incense taste in the cooled down infusion.  Big Qi for me in the body as if my arms have fallen off my torso and I’m kind of floating with heart pounding.

The fifth infusion has a hay and incense taste with an emerging cherry talc marshmellow dry storage taste.  There is a kind of oak barrel wiskey taste here and a smooth faint caramel.  There is not any throat scratching either.  More of a full powdery mouthcoating.  Pond/marsh finish in the mouth.  Big Qi here.

The sixth infusion has a richer oaky barrel wiskey incense taste.  It seems the throat scratch is gone now. And a smooth inscence complex taste is left behind with the faint talc marshmellow cherry sweetness almost gone here as well. A bit of woody leaves and mineral with not really caramel tastes.  Intense warming Qi breaks me into a sweat.  Floating limbs.  Feels really clean in the body.

The seventh infusion is a strong incense chalky talc mineral taste.  The flavor has dropped off quickly, the mouthfeeling is less intense and the taste is mainly a flat mineral taste with a strong warming Qi sensation.

The eighth is much the same mainly just mineral and incense.  Little bit chaky coarser mouthfeeling on the tongue.  A flat mineral barely pond aftertaste with a flat bitterness undernieth.  Qi is warming and breaks me into a sweat.

The ninth is kind of just a brackish bitter bland tasting thing with warming Qi and some intensity left over…

I put the spent leaves in a mug and grandpa steep them out and it is quite bitter, with some incense and root beer tastes.  You can see in the picture the spent leaves are pretty random with even some weeds in there and some tippy 2 leaves and a bud with larger intact leaves but mainly factory chopped some tea seed pods.  I think this is going to be a pretty diverse blend to put it nicely.

This is believable 2001-2004 material but it doesn’t taste at all like Menghai Factory.  To me it tastes and mainly feels like Bulang area and with it comes insanely good Qi sensation and bodyfeeling which drops off quickly.  There is also interesting complex flavours in the first handful of infusions.  Some of the flavours are a bit weird like a strange hay but others are quite tasty.  Some of these hay tastes kind of remind me of Bada area.  There are also nice signs of good dry storage aging of a marshmallow, cherry talc taste.  Something old school factory like this that is also dry stored gives it some inherent value as it would be rarer to find.  It would be much more brilliant but maybe too intense if it didn’t undergo some humidity early on in the storage but it is minor and is on the whole a dry stored old school blended fake.  The negatives of this puerh is that there is not much complex aftertaste or interesting throatfeeling.  In fact, a big negative would be the throat scratchy sensation during the active phase of the profile.

*Today is my second shot with this puerh and I’m drinking this in a larger yixing with harder water and there is absolutely no scratchy throat so I hope this was a bad sampling.  The Qi is similarly strong.  The flavours are more bitter coffee and less sweet and complex today.

Compare to these…

This puerh would contrast well to the 2001 Naked Yiwu in that they have a similar storage, and aged incense profile and strong Qi and complexity but are from very different regions and do very different things.  This also has a similar feel and storage to 2004 Nanqiao Bulang King ($125.00) in that they are both likely bulang with a long period of dry storage and some resulting complexity.  In some ways it would also compare to the 2006 Rustic Zhongcha from TeasWeLike with a similar old school processing and randomness but I think the Rustic Zhongcha is much much better in storage, flavor, and mouthfeeling but maybe not in Qi.  This fake has great Qi.  Of course, the I think its price should be closer to the 2001 Naked Yiwu ($168.00)or 2006 Rustic Zhongcha ($174) than the $350 that I paid but it seems that all of the re-releases from Houde are a bit overpriced so this fits.  It also is not as smooth or rounded as the 2000 Hai Lang Hao Bulang Mushroom that Yunnan Sourcing was selling either.  I would also rate this lower in both value and enjoyment to some of the other re-releases at Houde.  But I don’t think any have the wonderful Qi and bodyfeel of this unusual old school fake.

So was it a Good Fake or a Bad Fake?  I suppose it was neither a bad fake nor a good fake overall… but this is coming from someone who enjoys the old school if you were expecting Menghai Factory quality you would be really disappointed with this one.

Peace

2001 Xiaguan 8653 Huang Yin: Best of Xiaguan

This one is billed as the King of Xiaguan!  This fully Huston dry stored cake of 2001 Xiaguan 8653 Huang Yi Special Order comes in at $450.00 for 450g or (clearly $1.00/g) Qing Bing!

Dry leaves smell of hay and cardboard with a bit of creamy sweet smell.

The first infusion is of watery almost metallic almost bitter straw.  The taste has a flat straw bitter taste to it.  With a tiny bit of tongue feeling.  There is an almost strawberry fruity taste underneath that comes out on the tongue.

The second infusion has a strawberry fruity complex dirt, metal, creamy sweet bitter onset.  There is a lot of complexity in the initial taste that dumps all at once.  The mouthfeeling is flat and sandy but stimulating on the tongue.  I feel a bit of heart racing and warming in the chest and stomach.  There is a mild strawberry aftertaste.  The bitterness and harshness of this puerh can still be felt in the digestive system.

The third infusion has a strawberry/ berry with bitter onset.  There are notes of hay, metal, mineral, but mainly a bitterness is developing in the mouth.  With a flat sandy finish on the tongue.

The fourth is a woody slight smoky papery almost fruity and more caramel sweetness with the long sweet caramel finish.  There is also minerals and almost metallic taste but less bitter.  This infusion has a returning aftertaste of sweet tastes over a sandy tongue coating and faint upper throat opening.  Feel the Heart stimulated and racing.  Get a strong mind invigorating Qi.

The fifth infusion has a strong incense smoky note with some dried date and strawberry nuances with a significant bitterness underneath.  It conjures up a juicy fruity taste in the aftertaste with a bit of bitterness and smoke.  There is also lots of complexity in the background- mineral, paper, wood, almost metal, caramel.  Nice engaging mouthfeeling on the tongue with throat stimulation that traps the saliva in the upper throat.  Strong powerfully alerting Qi.  Still has the harshness of a young sheng on the digestion.

The sixth infusion has a syrupy sweet smoky slightly bitter but mainly smoky caramel type long sweetness in the mouth.  There are nuances of metal, paper, fruits, incense.  The thick sweetness paired with bitterness and nice returning caramel with slight cooling throat is really nice.  This is probably the best Xiaguan I have tried.  Very nice.  Strong - still too strong to drink and needs more age… but very good Xiaguan.

The seventh infusion a thick syrupy sweetness with underlying bitterness.  Very thick fruity and caramel sweetness balanced with mild-moderate bitterness and smoke.  Brilliant.  There are some mineral and metallic and wood in the distance but is not that pronounced as that strong syrupy sweetness with a backbone of bitterness and smoke.  Strong heart pumping Qi.

The eighth infusion has cooled a bit and gives off a juicy fruity syrupy smoky mineral taste.  The mouthfeel is a bit sandy but there is also saliva producing in the throat.  The aftertaste isn’t as long or vibrant but still nice.  The underlying complexity continues to wane.  The power of this factory puerh is strong.

The 9^th has a menthol woody onset that lasts long in the mouth with a papery aftertaste and secondary sweetness.  There is a smooth woody incense taste in there primarily.  Still strong Qi.  Incense and fruity and smoky and tasty.

The 10^th has a fruity woody menthol in the breath and throat with a strong incense base taste. 

The 11th is a fruity sweet cherry with a nice long smoke that is not off putting.  The complexity is gone and all that is left is smoky fruity taste with a subtle bitterness.  These last infusions have not been so hard on the stomach.  By mid-session it feels almost warming on the digestion instead of bitter cold.

The 12^th is much the same but become more smoky and less sweet and fruity now…. Still strong Qi… still a bit of a pungent cooling with creamy sweet returning under smoke.

The 13^th is more incense as the dominant taste with a strong smoke and lessening sweetness initially and a bit in the return now.

The 14^th has a woody incense taste with a menthol breath.  Late in the session the taste is not that sweet with incense smoke and retuning menthol.  Still strong powerful alerting Qi.

The 15^th mainly smoky now with not that much sweetness.

Overall, this is a really good dry stored Xiaguan probably the best I have ever sampled from that classic factory.  It is powerful, and tasty syrupy thick sweetness, sometimes too harsh on the digestive system.  Strong Heart pumping Qi.  For $1.00/g of the very best I’ve tired of Xiaguan I definitely pondered a purchase.  I still can’t get my mind around spending that kind of money on Xiaguan so just couldn’t pull the trigger on this one.  Those who did have a real gem on their hands!

Peace

… It Might Be A Fake…

It turns out my last post on the famous 2001 Menghai TeaFactory 7542 “Simplified Yun” has generated quite a buzz.  It has been drawn to my attention that it is possible that it is a fake.  I was sent an email by someone who knows quite a bit about aged puerh but who wishes to remain anonymous and is by no means an authority on the issue.  He told me that there is a discussion doing on somewhere on the internet (which I generally stay away from but which has amassed an unusually large amounts of views) weather the cake is instead a CNNP or private label and not in fact a true Menghai Tea Factory.  He said that there are a few things that would lead to his suspicion although he could not draw a definite conclusion:

1-      This is a commonly fakes cake because of its market value

2-      It is missing a niefi

I pulled up Marco’s post on this batch and also noticed that my bing hole is centered where his is not.  Also the inside of my binghole is really slanted and uneven and jagged.  You can also see in his phots that his neifi is not tightly attached to the cake- its just hanging in by a few errant dry leaves.  Its possible that mine fell out at some point before making its way to me.  The loose or barely hanging in there neifi is not that uncommon for a cake but it also can indicate a fake.

In the original post I draw on some of my experience with some other famous 7542 recipes such as the 88’ Qingbing to link this 2001 7542 to others as I can see a commonality between them.  Also I had admitted that it is by far the best Hong Kong stored cake I have tried to date.  These things I know for sure as they are based on my own experiences.  My notes also sound somewhat similar to Marco’s assessment of his cake.  Although I find these irregularities odd, I myself have not jumped to the end conclusion that this is a fake although the likelihood that it might be a fake is more likely.   Or if it is a fake, it has satisfied me sufficiently for the price I have paid for it.  I mean of course it might have cost me a few hundred dollars less if it was a CNNP or well done fake. Therefore, I have not contacted Teas We Like for a refund.  Why?

I have been around long enough to know that the questioning of the providence of aged puerh in the West is nothing new.  It is much easier to spot a fake in a fresh puerh.  However, as puerh ages, it changes so much that it begins to become harder to authenticate.  The changes from different aging can also add to the confusion and can make two of the same cakes almost unrecognizable from each other.  I trust the Teas We Like brand which is confirmed by my own blind tastings of a handful of their puerh.  In the end you have to both trust your own experience, trust the vendor, and be open to the opinions of others or the possibility that it could be a fake.  This is just the reality of buying older expensive puerh.

In the end I am also thankful that Teas We Like offered this cake in the first place.  There are fewer and fewer reputable Western vendors who offer such things to the public anymore.  Scott at Yunnan Sourcing breaks down the many reasons why in this comment here on TeaDB.  One of the reasons is that it is difficult and time consuming to reassure anxious and paranoid customers and to provide them with impeccable pedigree.  I am not one of these.  I know it would have been a difficult decision to offer an expensive cake like this 2001 Menghai Tea Factory 7542 Simplified Yun on their site when their main brand and concept is to bring the puerh community together with very good value options that most people can access.  However, I feel like this 2001 Menghai Tea Factory is a special cake and I hope they have the courage to offer more like this once in a blue moon.

Peace