Blind Storage Guess: 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu from Puerh.uk

Okay I have three ¼ cakes of this 2003 ChenYuan Hao- onefrom Teas We Like, one purchased with the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Youle from Puerh.uk four days after it was released (here) and this quarter cake purchased with the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yibang from Puerh.uk on May 17^th.  I didn’t think that it would have come from a different storage than the first one I purchased.  However Paolo recently clarified in thecomments here that the remaining cakes come from a slightly different Taiwanese storage.  I mused that I no longer know which storage I had received because I didn’t pay much attention to the description when I re-ordered.  Below is a sampling of the second quarter I received in an attempt to uncover which one I had received…

Dry leaves smell like a plum and tobacco leaf odour.

The first infusion has a vibrant perfume floral grape plum onset.  Nice raison/ grape tastes here with a long cooling taste and deep throat opening with a thin full chalky mouthfeeling.  There is a creamy almost talc finish to the puerh.  The main note here is raisin.

The second infusion has a deep plum and perfume floral subtle raisin and talc finish.  The sweet layers come on quickly with a subtle sour note underneath and a creamy almost Rou gui perfume talc finish to it.  The mouthfeel is a sticky mossy chalky full feeling.  The Qi is warming on the face and has a nice focusing feeling to it. 

The third infusion has a raisin woody perfume very deep fruity raisin taste.  Nice oily perfume fruity raison.  Nice strong returning sweet raison plum sweetness.  Has a subtle creamy chalky finish.  This infusion has strong perfume floral raisin.  Nice sustained focused feeling.  Super delicious puerh.

The fourth infusion has a jam kind of plum raison taste initially with an oily returning taste of sweet plum raison and perfume sweetness.  There is a raisin overall taste to it.  Deep throat opening and subtle cooling in the breath subtle creamy talc.  Nice very relaxing feeling takes hold with a warm resigning feeling and nice calm focused feeling as well.  There is a bit of throat gripping and a dry chalky mouthfeeling under the texture.

The fifth infusion has a resin woody incense with fruity plum jam initial taste.  There is a bit of sour fruity splash of sweetness in that initial taste and is goes deep into the throat and leaves a chalky dry feeling that stimulates the upper throat a bit.  My favorite thing about this puerh is this incense floral perfume lingering taste minutes later and kind of finishes like wood resin.  Very nice.  I also love the tension easing and mind focusing to the Qi of this puerh… so good.

6^th has a woody resin plum chalky onset with a perfume resin and raisin finish.  The mouthfeel is left behind the oily tastes with a deep relaxing with heavy limbs sensation. The returning taste sort of comes with a more gripping stimulating top throat sensation that is sort of saliva producing.  Incense perfume finish.  Relaxing tension easing feeling with heavy limbs bodyfeeling.

7^th infusion has a resin incense onset with lesser sweet fruity tastes.  There is a deep throat opening and top throat stimulating sensation with a faint plum and perfume finish.  Dry gripping chalky mouthfeeling.  Nice deep relaxing focusing with heavy shoulders and limbs.

8^th has a sweet bread and woody resin onset with a deep throat opening and upper throat returning gripping feeling.  There is a deep opening feeling in the throat with some faint plum perfume left behind with some bread sweet tastes.  A dry mouthfeeling is becoming more intense and grips at the throat.

9^th is left to cool and gives off a rich coco resin creamy sweet with raisin returning sweetness with creamy and bread sweetness underneath.  Nice mossy dry mouthfeeling with a returning throat stimulating gripping feeling.  There is a coco and incense aftertaste minutes later.

10^th infusion has a fruity coco resin primarily quite sweet onset.  It is almost like a chocolate bar with currents in it- super yummy.  The Qi is mainly focusing and warming.

11^th is less flavourful coco with a raison creamy bready fruity edge.  Surprisingly bitter with a returning or developing gripping mouthfeeling.  There is a resin coco aftertaste that is a bit bland in the mouth.  Nice focusing Qi and warming body and face and heavy shoulders and limbs.

12^th has a fruity coco bland woody resin onset that finishes more incense and resin.  There is interesting movement of the mouthfeeling that reaches deep into the throat then grips the upper throat.  It’s done this throughout.  Has a mainly woody-incense-coco taste where the sweetness is a bitter sweet coco now not fruity nor is there any perfume now….

I mug steep out the rest….

Conclusion:  The old man storage of this cake (Taiwanese hot and dry storage) from Puerh.uk seems to be a bit darker with notes like caramel and prune coming up.  The other Puerh.uk storage( which I believe this quarter cake comes from) has much more noticeable resin taste and a very thick floral perfume taste as well.  There is no caramel or prune taste here and there is no thick floral perfume nor as much resin taste in the old man storage.  Interestingly, the storage is somewhere between Teas We Like storage and the other Puerh.uk storage.  While I was drinking it I was thinking that it might be from the old man storage but looking back at my tasting notes it seems unlikely.

Now, I will wait to see if Paolo can give me his opinion on which storage this second quarter cake could be based on the times I ordered, change in label with “Puerh.uk” stamped on Mylar, whether he completely sold out of the old man storage before refilling with the other storage, and based on my notes???

I mentioned in my sampling of the Teas We Like storage that there seems to be a lot of variability with this 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu session to session.  That coupled with the fact I didn’t have the time to do back to back sessions leaves a bit of room for error.  To make matters most interesting, I like the this sampling better than the old man Puerh.uk and Teas We Like storage options.

Peace

2003 ChenYuan Hao Yibang: More Classic, More Mellow

Apparently, this 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yibang (approx. $541.00for 357g cake or $1.52/g) is less commonly put for sale.  It had the same old man hot and dry Taiwanese storage as the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu (which is now sold out of this storage) and 2004 ChenYuan Hao Song Pin Hao sold at Puerh.uk.  Picked up a ¼ cake due to my preference for Yibang and this type of storage.  Currently it is completely sold out at Puerh.uk and it has not yet been offered by Teas We Like.

Dry leaves smell of flat wood and piercing sugar with faint sweet plum.

First infusion has a woody-wine-like taste initially with an oily liquor and a faint distant plum astringency.  There is a faint coolness in the breath with a sweet sugar-wood finish.  The mouthfeeling is a bit grainy.  Faint cooling sugar on the breath a bit of plum.

The second infusion has an initial splash of sugar and plum and a bit of astringency with a plum sugar and bitter woody finish.  The cooled down cup has an oily and more plum taste with a movement to mild astringency and plum and sugar.  There is a sandy and subtle mouth puckering mouthfeeling.  The tea give me a mild off putting itch and allergy feeling.

The third infusion has a rich bubble gum and rum and wine like initial taste that has a vibrant rich sweetness.  There is a mild puckering mouthfeeling with a sugary plum woody almost grape candy like very Yibang fruity taste.  The texture is oily and provides a contrasted balance to the mild gripping mouthfeeling and top throat simulation. 

4^th infusion is left to cool and gives off a rich syrupy sweet sugar-plum-caramel pop of sweetness.  There is an oily texture that comes then a cool plum sugar aftertaste with slight woody-astringency pucker in mouth that stimulates the top of the throat.  A dry fine sandy puckering feeling is left in the mouth.  Nice mild euphoria with mild itching-allergy feeling on arms and face.  Last time I had an itchy reaction like this was to the 2007 Yang Qing Hao Lingya!

5^th has a creamier sugar pop of sweetness that is a bit oily and melts into a cooling mouth that is a touch dry sandy chalky.  There is an almost bready sugar grapy-fruity-plum taste in the aftertaste.  Nice mild faint euphoria with some faint spacy relaxing feeling. 

6^th has a vibrant rich pop of grapey-sugary-plum astringent sweetness there is some coolness that comes and upper throat stimulation.  Itchy arms and face allergy feeling.  Nice stimulation in the mouth with oily textures and faint chalky gripping feeling.  Long grape-plum aftertaste that lingers on the top throat and comes out when swallowing.  Mild Qi euphoria with mild faint itch.

7^th has a fruity grapey sugary astringent pop of initial sweetness in an oily textured chalky silty mouthfeeling.  Nice sugary bready grape-plum finish after a breath coolness and some upper throat stimulation.  Nice mild euphoria. Some faint face itch.

8^th has a syrupy grape sugar sweetness with some hints of wood astringency pop of sweetness.  There is a slight puckering silty dry sandy stimulating mouthfeeling.  Nice bready sweet sugar and almost floral grape finish with some mild astringency.  Face tingling and itch with mild euphoria.

9^th was a cup that was left sitting for hours as my day became quite busy… it is a sugary sweet woody pop with some cooling mouth and an oily texture that turns into a sweet full caramel.  After the oily texture recedes it leaves behind a fine sandy chalky feeling.  Mild relaxing type Qi.

I have no choice but to revisit this puerh the next day…

10^th has a fruity almost grape-melon taste initially with a woody mild astringency and mild chalky gripping puckering mouthfeeling.  I’m still getting some arms and face itchiness.  Sort of a flat sweet finish.

11^th has a grape woody astringent pop of initial vibrant sweetness a clear sugar with a full juicy grape taste minutes later.  The upper throat is stimulated and the taste holds for a while there.  Itchy limbs aren’t my favorite experience that’s for sure…  There are fruity sweet and astringent tastes minutes later.

12^th has a rich thick sweet woody sugar taste almost grape and plum but not really.  Very full puckering silty feeling in the mouth with a stimulated upper throat and less thickness now but strong and active upper throat stimulation from the astringency that sustains the woody-grapey taste.

13 is left to cool and gives off a sugary-woody- astringent pop of sweetness that splashes up in the mouth.  It finishes this woody-cool-caramel taste.  Still limb itch…. Mild relaxations.  Long caramel returning from the stimulating astringency.  The taste and mouthfeeling is really nice and look at the stamina here- very nice…. But the itch….

14^th infusion has a fruity grape-melon taste initially with less astringency and woody but also less mouth presence and throat stimulation.  Nice mild relaxing with mild easy to ignore itch.

15^th has a woody caramel sugar astringent pop of sweetness that turns into more of a grape-plum and cooling on the returning sweetness.  Nice mild pucker with upper throat stimulations which keep the taste going.

16 has a sweet sugar onset with a bit of plum in the finish. 

I mug steep out the rest…

Overall, this Yibang had lots of stamina and delicious classic grapey-sugar-plum astringent punch.  It’s a good semiaged example of the Yibang profile.  I was most surprised at how mellow the Qi was- not typically Yiwu in Qi and made this one less enjoyable for me.  I got that damn itch as well from this cake! Darn!  Good thing I didn’t blind cake it!  Although I am a big Yibang area fan I didn’t enjoy this one as much as some of the other 2003 ChenYuan Hao for the reasons stated.

Peace

Optimal: 2003 Chen Yuan Hao Yiwu: Puerh.uk Old Man storage vs Teas We Like

I was really over the moon with my purchase of 2004 ChenyuanHao Song Pin Hao Commemorative Cake.  Specifically, I mention how stellar the storage was on it.  Currently, Puerh.uk has two sources for the Chenyuan Hao cakes they bring in.  This one is my preferred storage over both Puerh.uk’s other source and Teas We Like source.  Apparently, it was stored quite warm but also quite dry.  It was enough for me to re-order another one of these after sampling.  This 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu from Teas We Like is winning the speed test of my Chen Yuan Hao quarter cakes… so good enough excuse to pick up another 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu from Puerh.uk (approx $148.00 for 1/4 at $1.72/g)and compare the different storage on the two.  Paolo still had a few of these quarters left at the time of posting…

Dry leaves have a very vibrant sweet current and blackberry notes.  Sweet Fruity delicious.

First infusion has a watery creamy sweet taste that and a talc creamy chalkiness to it.  The taste is really silky and creamy and sweet.  There is some nice salivating as well.   Nice slow silky smooth creamy release deep in the throat.  Chalky sweet creamy tastes and chalky sort of mouth salivating.  Nice focusing feeling.

The second infusion has a creamy chalky woody sweet with a layer of berry blend underneath.  There is this creamy silky mouthfeeling with a deep and slower throat opening and long evolving berry jam tastes.  There is a sort of vegetal woody sort of layer, and jam mixed berries, and a creamy silky sweet as well.  Nice deep relaxing with heavy limbs.

The third infusion has a milky soapy raisin prune sweetness that has this sort of resin like body and creamy slowly expanding sweetness that reaches slowly and deeply into the throat.  There is a faint taste of berries and jam over deeper prunes and raisons.  With a mild relaxing focus and heavy limbs feeling.  Nice long creamy resin sweetness.

The fourth infusion has a brassy fruity vibrancy that is a bit prune and current and a bit fresher berry melon.  Very taste with a caramel layer as well.  It turns into a resin-like taste and has a long deep creamy sweet reach.  Depth of the layered sweetness really expands.  There is a subtle tart taste in there as well.  Nice slow mild saliva release with long creamy sweet fruity caramel aftertaste.  Nice focusing energy with chest and limb heaviness.

The 5^th has a malty brassy sweet raison and prune sweetness to it.  Nice long creamy layered with dry fruits and faint hints of fresher or jam like fruits.  Very subtle deep coolness in the throat.  Nice lubricating mildly oily texture with resin layers.  Nice full and expanding and long resin, caramel, and creamy sweet taste.  Very tasty puerh.  Nice focusing with some Chest and limb heaviness and tingling face. 

The sixth was left to cool and has a deep caramel layered with prunes, currents as well as hints at jam.  There is this full medium thick chalky silky mouthfeeling with deep throat opening.  Just a faint subtle coolness with resin creamy sweetness with hints of currents and prune.  Very delicious slow moving long fade.  Nice mild slow mouthwatering.

7^th is a watery resin creamy evolving sweetness with current and raisin.  The silky chalky feeling is really lovely.  With a nice focusing feeling some chest beats with heavy and open chest and limbs.  Nice long sweet creamy resin current.  Faint jams.  Really nice.

8^th is left to cool and has an oily mouthwatering creamy dried current taste with a faint incense resin.  The mouthfeel is silky in the mouth and the throat opening is deep with a not really noticeable coolness on the breath and long creamy resin taste.  There are pops of fruity tastes as well. Nice focusing energy.

9^th has a resin onset with a faint emerging sugar sweet taste that slowly trails off on the breath.  It combines with a faint breath coolness and develops a creamy sweet edge.  Nice focusing.

10^th is left to cool and has an almost fruity oily resin taste with subtle hints of fruity sweetness.  There is a long slight sweet resin taste with faint cool deep throat. Nice focusing.

11 has an almost spicy resin with faint fruity taste and incense.  The resin like incense notes are becoming stronger but there is no bitterness at all and no astringency so there is still this resin taste but backed by a lingering sweetness still which is quite nice with nice mind focusing, subtle face tingles and heavy chest and limbs.

12 has a fast moving pop of dried current sweetness almost raisin with a stronger incense resin.  Still lots of body to this puerh with a deep throat and slow release creamy sweetness with more resin in there in these later infusions.  The mouthfeeling is a bit chalky now.  Still some oily viscus feeling.  Focused mind and some chest beats with subtle face tingles.

13 has a pop of sweetness and resin and a long deep sweet breath taste with edges of caramel and resin woody.  Still very delicious.  Nice continued focusing mind with chest beast and face tingles.  The mouthfeeling is almost chalky and sticky especially the lips with a deep open throat.

I put the rest of the wet leaves (pictured above)into a long mug infusion and out comes sweet plum and dried currants with a resin base.  Very sweet with a long juicy plum finish deep in the throat.  There are suggestions of incense with a silky chalky mouthfeeling and strong focusing Qi.

VS Teas We Like storage- the Puerh.uk old man storage is much superior with that talc storage nuance and rich vibrant deep sweet rich taste. The resin nuances are much more savored in the Puerh.uk storage here.

Peace

2003 Chen Yuan Hao Manzhuan Puerh.uk vs Teas We Like

I got this 2003 Chen Yuan Hao Manzhuan free sample fromPuerh.uk in my last order and intended to compare to the Teas We Like stored cake.  The Teas We Like storage wasfavorable to this Manzhuan and its really a great example of Manzhuan… it passed the wife test easily… I wonder how this storage compares…

Dry leaves were a muted woody faint herbal sweet.

First infusion has a woody sweet herby onset that has a thick oily feel with a soft oily mouhfeeling.  The sweet taste expands in the mouth.  There is a creaminess to the sweetness as well as a melon fruity taste.  The tastes are really clear in this first infusion.

The second infusion has a woody oak dry woody with creamy oily sweetness onset.  There are layers of tastes there.  The mouthfeeling is a bit sandy full sticky with a creamy milky chocolate taste left in the aftertaste.  There is a vegetal base taste in there as well that lots of Manzhuang area puerh will have and I have a hard time explaining it.  Nice warming chest feeling with relaxing laid back vibes.

The third infusion has a woody vegetal taste with evolving and expanding oily sweetness.  There is a pop of melon fruity taste then vegetal base with woody then it snowballs into a chocolate nuance then fruity melon pops of sweetness.  Milky creamy sweet fruity evolutions.  The oily thick liquor with layered sweetness and levels of taste combine to a complicated and pointedly sweet deep and thick experience.  This is a particularly tasty experience with a nice relaxing calming feeling- slight dreamy.

4^th has a woody creamy sweet almost coco but then pops into a melon sweetness.  There is an undercurrent of choclatlely coco throughout the whole profile from onset to late aftertaste.  The oily texture and subtle sandy tongue coating underneath is a very enjoyable feeling.  Relaxing easy going vibes.  Cooled down it presents with a more vegetal woodiness subtle cooling menthol initially with a fade into creamy almost bready sweetness.

5^th has an oily sweet creamy woody expanding bready and evolving melon taste.  The flavours are intertwined with a vegetal base taste and over a soft sandy mouthfeeling.  There is an oliy thick evolution of sweet tastes.  There is less coco chocolate in this infusion and more creamy expanding sweet tastes.  Nice relaxing vibe.  Time sort of disappears under the Qi of this puerh.  Nice sweet oily tastes stick around a while.

6^th has a woody vegetal almost bitter edge to it with a more gripping mouthfeeling that is a bit drying and gripping.  There is a bit of sour and bitter and vegetal taste and bread and creamy sweetness.  A bit more biting that other infusions so far. 

7^th is left to cool and gives off a woody vegetal onset with some juicier fruity tastes under a bland wood veil with distant coco lingering on the breath.  The mouthfeeling is a bit dry and gripping.

8^th has a watery woody coco bland-vegital onset with not really any obvious sweetness there.  More of a lingering fruity sweetness on the breath.  Nice super laid back lazy feeling to this Qi.  There is a bit more sort of fruity coco taste in the cooled down cup.  Chalky dry mouthfeeling.

9^th infusion is more bland vegetal woody taste with little sweetness left.  Drier woody tastes with distant harder to grasp at fruity sweetness.

Mug steepings are a bitter woody bland vegetal sort of taste with not much sweet left in there.  There are edges of fruity tastes but not really… mainly just this bland bitter woody taste.

Vs Teas We Like storage- The Teas We Like storage is much thicker and fuller without the bitter-bland takeover at the end of the session.  I like it quite a bit more than the Puerh.uk storage which feels more complex in flavor for a few earlier infusions but too bland and thin in the later infusions, still obviously, not bad at all.  I would say that this cake has the biggest difference in preference between the two storage comparison tastings that I have done so far in favour of Teas We Like.  The other strong difference was the 2003 Chenyuan Hao Tong Qing Hao Commemmorative in favour of Teas We Like.  On the other hand the 2005 Chenyuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi is much preferred with the Puerh.uk storage.  Thank you to Paolo for the gift of this comparison (and the others as well).

Peace

2003 Chen Yuan Hao Youle: Puerh.uk vs Teas We Like

In my exploration of earlier Chenyuan Hao from the above two vendors the 2003 Chenyuan Hao Youle is one of my favorites after this reallynice session from Teas We Like.  I like the strong gushu Youle presentation, particularly the strong happy mood altering effect that often lasts a few days for me.  It’s a strong exaggeration of the typical Qi one would get from the Youle producing area.  It’s got to be one of the better examples of the Youle area with this much age on it.  I mentioned in the Teas We Like review that I’m considering purchasing a cake or maybe at least another quarter.  

I purchased this 2003 Chen Yuan Hao (approx. $492.00for 357g cake or $1.38/g) storage version from Puerh.uk.  I have tried this same storage in other Chenyuan Hao which include this 2005 Chen Yuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi cake as well as samples of the 2011 Chenyuan Hao Qian Jia Zhai Jincha and 2003 Chen Yuan HaoTong Qing Hao.  The Taiwanese storage is a bit drier than Teas We Like and tends to have more sweetness and higher notes exaggerated as well as more bitter and astringency but sometimes less depth.  For some cakes I prefer the Teas We Like storage and for some I prefer the Puerh.uk storage.  Let’s sample this one and see how it compares…

The dry leaves have a pine tree, slight grain and prune/raison odour.

The first infusion has a woody sort of creamy flat menthol taste.  It finishes a watery prune taste that has a flat almost tight watery mouthfeeling.  There is a nice mid-profile of peachy prune that comes and goes.  The mouthfeeling is a very thin almost watery but full reaching pucker.  There is a lingering coolness in the breath minutes later with a bread-like sweetness to it.  Lots going on early with this one.

The second infusion has a sweet prune almost woody menthol with a dazzling pop of sweetness initially there is a strong puckering astringent mouthfeeling that is less gagging in the throat and more on the cheeks and tongue.  This induces lots of saliva to push out of the throat and into the mouth.  There is a long cooling in the breath and long sort of menthol taste.  The Qi is very happy euphoria with a mind slowing feature with a chest pressure.  Strong Qi sensation.  There is an almost woody menthol and bready taste lingering in the mouth.  Strong warming in the face and chest and body.

The third infusion has a woody almost cherry tart menthol sweet astringent onset.  The woodiness is more prominent here as is the astringency.  Strong puckering mouthfeeling with sweetness and woody and menthol punching through.  The tongue and mouth is a full dry pucker with the throat opening deeply to push some saliva out and greet a lingering cool bready sweet woody menthol.  This Puerh.uk version seems more astringent and puckering and less layered and deep than the Teas We Like version.  There is some sort of peachy/prune sweetness lingering at the end.  Nice time slowing and happy euphoria Qi sensation.  The profile has 4 sort of phases: the initial sweet and astringency, woody menthol puckering, deep throat cooling and flavours, lingering sweet prune/peachy.  Qi is equally layered and complex with slowing properties to the mind, chest beats, and happy euphoria feelings.

The 4^th has an almost sour tart tangerine woody taste initially.  The astringency is less as is the menthol.  The mouthfeeling is almost a grainy sandy feeling here with a chalkiness to it.  There is some throat cooling and bready tastes in the finish.  A bland chalky taste lingers.

5^th infusion has a woody bland chalky very slightly sweet tart cherries onset.  There is a dry bland woody taste that comes after then a woody faint tart cherry finish. This infusion has a bland chalky woody taste that dominates even in the aftertaste.  There is less of a deeper aftertaste now.  Minutes later a bland chalky taste is left in the mouth.  Warming feeling mild happy euphoria with Chest heaviness and openness.

6^th is left to cool and gives off a bland woody creamy sweet peachy taste with less astringency and more bland with a cooling almost but not really menthol finish.  This cool infusion has a long bland chalky taste to it.  Faint bread in the aftertaste and a lingering sweetness with not as much astringency and pucker and chalkier mouthfeeling than pucker and bland woody chalky taste throughout.

7^th has a fruity fresh fruity sort of melon peach type of taste over a bland chalky woody taste.  The astringency becomes less here and is just very mild now in these flash infusions.  There is a creamy bready sweetness in the finish.  Nice calm mind, less slowing now but still nice happy vibe with chest opening and beating.

8^th has a fresh but muted by woody bland tasting fruity melon/peach.  No astringency in these flash steepings.  It has a deep open slight cooling with creamy sweet woody bready sweet aftertastes.  This infusion is less astringent and less bland chalky than previous.  Nice mind slow focus juxtaposed with a happy vibe with a slight euphoria.  Long creamy chalky sweetness many minutes later.

9^th as a more vibrant peachy sweet onset with a mild oily texture.  There are woody almost incense notes underneath.  With an open mid-deep throat there are lingering bread and creamy tastes with dry woody lingering.  Nice chest beats.

10^th has a more woody than peachy fresh onset that is a bit oily and put together and full.  Nice slow emerging creamy sweet over woody with lesser bready notes.  Nice heat beats and warming feeling in the body with stronger euphoria and happy feeling.  Deep creamy woody lingering taste sort of resin but not really not really incense but satisfying.

11^th infusion is left to cool and gives off a creamy woody chalky taste.  There is a deep throat faint cooling creamy sweetness that lingers.  The flavours are less now but the Qi has pushed me into a very happy-go-lucky state of mind which this Youle always manages to do.

12 has a woody bland sort of but not really sweet taste.  There is suggestions of peachy tastes but barely now with more of a grains cereal nuance with bland tastes- some faint breads.

I mug steep out the rest and it gives off a woody bitter with just edges of faint sweetness with a long strong deep coolness in the deep throat and strong Heart beats and vibrant happy mood feeling.  The Qi of this puerh is just great- the best of Youle!

Vs Teas We Like storage Overall, the Teas We Like storage on this is maybe a bit more preferable.  This Puerh.uk storage version, I don’t think has the depth of the Teas We Like storage other than its interesting pine woody resin taste and dry leaf odour which I really loved… actually there was lots of complexity here. The Teas We Like storage has a deeper resin ashy quality that gives it depth without being as astringent.  The layers of this kind of thing appeals to me bit more but it lacks the complexity the Puerh.uk version has lots more dynamic complexity in the first few infusions.

Oh man… still can’t decide on if I’m going to get more of this Youle or just back away with the two quarter cakes here…. Both storage options here are are good in their own way…

Peace

2003 ChenYuan Hao Manzhuan: Fruit Bomb!

This 2003 Chen Yuan Hao Manzhuan came from my order of Chen Yuan Hao Quarter cakes at Teas We Like which goes for $155.00 for 90g or $1.72/g.  Teas We Like sold the full cake for a few years on their site before offering the Quarter cake option…

Dry leaves smell of a creamy woody odour that is maybe a bit sweet but piercing.

First infusion was left to cool and gives off a pungent vegetal creamy sweetness that is over an oily broth.  There is a long pungent coolness throughout.  It appears in the aftertaste as a very sweet layered creamy fruity taste appears.  This first infusion has lots of flavor and minutes later a creamy pungent fruity taste is left in the mouth.  There is a reassuring calmness to the first infusion.

The second infusion has a brassy vegetal almost but not really bitterness upfront that has a juicy fruity underlying sweetness to it which quickly follows.  Lots of layers of tastes and a nice complex aftertaste of juicy fruity layers breads, vegetal tastes, almost bitters, creamy sweentesses.  There is an overall layered sweetness that is nicely pushes out with an open throat feeling and a pungent coolness lingering in there with a slightly chalky slight oily mouthfeeling.  Nice calm and reassuring mind. 

Third infusion has a creamy flat vegetal not really bitterness then dives into a creamy fruity layered sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is a bit tight under a softer chalky and slightly oily texture.  There is some nice pungent coolness throughtout and an aftertaste of creamy tastes with fruity layers.   The taste is really nice.  There is an open throat feeling and some saliva producing there as well.  Nice calming mind.  Although single origin, it seems to complex and with such nice breadth would likely be produced from blending many sources in Manzhuan area.  So nice.

The fourth infusion has an oily thick fruity layering in a watery vegetal sort of taste.  The layers of oily fruit are reminiscent of Tuiti-fruity tastes.  Nice open throat feeling with a faint lingering pungent now.  Nice super relaxing vibe with a few face tingles.  Less complex this infusion.

The fifth infusion has a pungent cooling vegetal vibrant almost bitter onset with fruity sweet tastes pushed out of here.  The mouthfeel is a bit tight with an oily texture on top.  Nice faint cooling produces some creamy and bread sweetness but mostly a tuiti fruity tastes.  Even minutes later.  The fruity sweet taste is substantial.

The sixth infusion is left to cool and gives off a watery vegetal woody initial taste with lesser creamy sweet notes.  There is a fainter profile now with a watery woody and fruity notes with some cooling.  The texture of the liquor is much less oily now with more of a tight tongue feeling.  Nice calm feeling Qi with some mild face tingling.

The 7^th is also left to cool and gives off a woody vegetal bland initial taste with an underlying bitterness now.  There is faint under taste that comes out in the aftertaste such as wood, vegetal leaves, bland paper, fruit.  Nice mind calming.  Cooling breath and some sweetness appear minutes later.

8^th ooops left the hot water on the leaves for a good minute…  has a strong woody tongue gripping and puckering feel with some initial sweetness with a bread woody mid-profile and woody sour cherry pop that quickly comes and goes in the puckering mouthfeeling.  Stronger mind melting power- stronger than just relaxed now.  Face tingling and almost a sleepiness to the Qi here.

9^th 20 second steep… and left to cool… has a woody fruity taste with a bitter vegetal woody body there is some faint cooling then brief creamy sweetness.  Nice chalky mouthfeeling and a lingering creamy sweetness in the slightly tjight puckering underbelly.  Spacy and sleepy Qi now.

10^th has a nice fruity chalky woody vegetal bitterness to it.  There is still some sweetness but not as strong and a strong sleepy and spacy Qi. 

11^th is a 30 second infusion has a bit of fruity woody vegetal bitterness.

I push it hard into mug infusions now with lots of available complex depth available to explore with soapy floral tastes, woody bitters, darker woods, deeper fruity notes and sweet tastes, bland woody vegetal tastes.  Nice deep profile in this Manzhuan.

A few days later I push it with another long mug steeping…

It pushes out lots of clear candy sweetness with a long tropical candy fruity taste.  There is not really any bitterness or astringency or that much woody taste but the sweet candy taste is strong and long and satisfying.  It has that Rockets Candy like sweetness.  Yummy. The taste lingers with thick saliva gobs forming in the mouth and deep throat… this is by far the best example of ManZhuan I have tried…

Very sweet, very nice clear Manzhuan profile.  The layered sweet fruity tastes in the first handful of infusions are amazing and leave me wondering if a bunch of Manzhuan areas have been blended in here because it’s deep in its sweet fruitiness like the Tuiti-fruity flavor.  Open throat with oily texture that drops off after the first handful of infusions which is typical of my experience with Manzhuan.  Qi is at first relaxing then descends into a stronger sleepy and spacy feeling.  It really slowed me down today!  Very tasty.

Peace

2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu: Complex Yiwu Layers

This is from the drop of early 2000s ChenYuan Hao Quarter cakes that TeasWe Like sold and this one goes for $155.00 for 90g or $1.72/g.  I had a few sessions with this one but none were nearly as good as this first session which I really stuffed the pot…

Dry leaves smell of a woody smoky BBQ odour.

First infusion has a creamy sweet very classic Yiwu with a long returning creamy sweetness.  Tastes almost like Yang Qing Hao Yiwus sort of.  Nice smoke underlying but creamy and quite sweet with a bit of woody.  Nice classic balance of Yiwu flavours.  Nice mild oily mouthfeeling with deeper-mid throat simulation with some saliva.  Tastes immediately like a solid Yiwu… very satisfying and delicious to me.

The second is a woody creamy sweet with smoky taste with a faint fruity almost floral nuance in there as well.  There is nice subtle coolness with a juicy almost woody fruity sweet retuning taste.  The mouthfeel is a flat sandy gritty.  There are nuances of sweet fresh melon that appear minutes later in the saliva.  Nice uplifting feeling to the Qi with some Heart beats and chest opening feeling, some face tingling.

The third infusion has a woody fruity smoke oily presentation that tastes a lot like Yang Qing Hao to me.  There is a cooling and retuning saliva with a deep to mid deep throat sensation with saliva producing.  The long base taste is a subtle smoky woody taste.  There is a nice balance of old school smoke with woody fruity Yiwu.  There is some sourness throughout and overall a woody smoky sweet taste.  Some fresh melon faintly appears in the aftertaste along with a creamy almost sweet bread taste.  Nice Heart beats and nice warming Qi feeling. With brow moistening and heavy limbs.  Nice bodyfeeling here with a uplifting spirit.

The 4^th has a fruity-woody-smoke kind of oily single thick note of taste then there is some returning sweetness with sweet bread taste and even some faint glimpses of melon and fresh fruity tastes faintly in there as well.  The oily fruity-woody-smoke taste kind of hold from initial taste to aftertaste with another wave of coolness and returning sweetness underneath.  Very nice uplifting and now almost euphoric feeling.  Nice oily deep throat simulation with saliva producing.  The body has a numbing tingling feeling overall.  Especially in the face and jaw.  Nice creamy chalky sweet finish with bread sweetness in mouth.

5^th has a sour woody oily sort of fruity sweet initial taste with a retuning bready sweetness that has more creaminess to it.  There is this happy uplifting feeling with some heart beats and chest opening.  Nice feels.

6^th has a sour creamy sweet woody fruity sweet onset that is less smoky now.  There is a nice oily taste with a bit more sour and mild astringency in the throat.  Nice long bread sweetness with some creamy and even fresher melon tastes.  Uplifting feeling with chest open and Heart beats.

7^th is left to cool and has a fruity sweet melon taste nice and vibrant fresh fruity taste.  Very vibrantly fresh fruity, very tasty.  Nice silty soft mouthfeeling with deeper throat sensations and uplifting qi with heart beats.

8^th cooled down is a very creamy rich oily woody taste with fresh fruity notes in the finish with bread and creamy tastes as well.  A very nice straightforward and classic Yiwu with great sweet taste, some fresh fruitiness and deep throat with nice uplifting Qi and significant bodyfeeling.  Very nice.  Very Yiwu.

9^th has an oily sweet fresh fruity tastes with a bready creamy layer in the retuning sweetnes.   Nice slity mouthfeeling.  Nice uplifdting Qi with deeper open throat feeling with subtle faint cooling but lots of sweetness.

10^th is left to cool and has a woody papery taste initially with some lesser fruity woody sweetness.  Nice silty mouthfeeling with a fresh fruity melon tastes.  Less thickness and depth now but still nice long sweet fruity and creamy sweet retuning sweetness.

11^th has a woody papery onset with some creamy barely fruity sweetness underneath.

12^th has a creamy sweet woody onset with a silty a bit dry mouth feeling and less of a deeper throatfeeling now.  Makes me feel a touch euphoric but mainly a nice uplifting vibe.  There is a bit of cooling and nice clear icing sugar sweetness.

13^th & 14^th have a woody not as sweet taste with a dry mouthfeeling. There is still some creamy sweetness in the aftertaste even some fresher melon tastes as well over a nice chalky mouthfeeling and mid-deep throaty depth.  Relaxing feeling.

I mug steep out the spent leaves a few days later…

Strong vibrant plum fruit flavours with a bitter underbelly.  There is a deep long coolness and pops of tart fresher fruity tastes in the aftertaste.  Thick, rich, fruity, and delicious.  The taste is really oily and delicious with lots of layers of sweet tastes stuck in there.  Lots of saliva producing and long substaitive aftertaste with fruity sweet and even bitter tastes.  Nice thick satisfying Yiwu gushu!  Thick chalky mouthfeeling.  I devour the mug steeping and steep again!

I have had this puerh a few more times some are more flat, or grassy or less vibrant but still quite satisfying.  Every session seems to be a bit different suggesting a blend of the area, I believe.

 Vs Yang Qing Hao- this 2003 ChenYuan Hao reminds me lots of some of the Yiwu productions from Yang Qing Hao.  Even its natural storage is close to Yang’s storage being a natural Taiwanese type storage.  The storage/production? on these cakes is a bit better than Yang’s storage though because they still retain some fresh fruitier nuances and complexities that are washed over in Yangs storage even among the 2006 productions.

Peace

2003 Chenyuan Hao Youle: Uplifting Happy Aged Gushu Energy!

I got this 2003 Chenyuan Hao Youle ¼ cake ($155.00 for 90gor $1.72/g) from Teas We Like.  I’m in a bit of a Chenyuan Hao study right now and really enjoyed this one…

Strongly compressed dry leaves smell of faintly creamy woody more humid odours.

First infusion has a creamy metallic onset with a strong mouthwatering effect over an oily creamy texture.  There is this buttery creamy almost metallic type of sweetness that pops in the mouth initially then expands in the thick saliva.  It’s an almost floral buttery creamy metallic taste.  The oily and saliva producing is really nice with a long thick feeling in the mouth.  There is some mild spacy mind slowing even right away.

The second infusion has a vibrant pop of sweet tangy buttery creamy sweet taste that lingers around in thick oily and mouthwatering places.  There is a vibrancy to it with some sour fruity sweet tastes being featured here it kind of reminds me of a fruit punch blend with sour mango of old dehydrated fruit leathers.  Nice mind slowly with some face tingling.

The third infusion has a floral fruity juicy oily tangy pop of vibrant dried fruity punch/ mango sweetness that hold long in the saliva and mouthwatering oily mouthfeeling.  There is some element of brassy metallic but not really.  There is just the faintest pulling sensation in the mouth but no astringency.  The saliva and oily effect in the mouth is pretty interesting.  There is not really any cooling throat or retuning sweetness just sort of one long oil slick playing out of vibrant flavours.  Nice mind slowing features.  I sigh as relaxation takes hold…

The 4^th infusion has a vibrant sour fruity buttery sweet pop of taste that wallows in saliva and oily mouthfeeling as it stretches its legs.  This infusion shows some interesting florals that kind of taste like sour flowers if that makes any sense.  No bitter or astringency here. Everything has this nice flow to it like floating in the sea, nice happy relaxing feeling.

5^th has a sour thick dried fruity punch dehydrated fruit leather pop of taste that hold nicely in the thick oily texture there is a subtle bready-woody storage taste but overall this is a very clean tasting storage that is doing this Youle surprisingly well.  The initial taste is almost like a sour flowered sweetness.  Nice happy feeling Qi with some deep sighs relaxing effect and mind clarifying slowness.  Very nice package overall.

6^th infusion has a sour dried fruit punch dried fruit dehydrated vibrant pop of a taste then it wallows along in an oily.  Long lingering buttery floral fruity taste.  Very vibrant taste.  Nice happy feeling.

7^th has a creamier and more floral sweet pop of taste.  The taste, mouthfeeling and Qi really line up with this one the storage is really nice and seems to give the vibrancy inherent in the Youle lots of cushion.  Long sweet floral sour like tastes.  Very satisfying package with this Youle gushu.  The cool cup is even fruitier.  Nice happy stress relief with subtle diaphragm release and some sighing.

8^th has a pop of vibrant sour fruity kind of floral-sour like taste that is mainly a balance of sour and sweet with sweetnessess wining out.  Very nice icing sugar on the tongue feeling the last few infusions.

9^th has a woody varnish subtle icing sugar sweet only a bit creamy, floral, sour or fruity now but a long icing sugar that turns to creamy sweetness in the mouth in the cooled down cup.

10^th has a sour dry wood-bark icing sugar taste over a tighter mouthfeeling with less oiliness and a thin woody and icing sugar finish.  Nice happy feelings.

11^th has a woody almost medicinal floral sweet icing sugar taste.  There is surprisingly more cooling in the profile here and more medicinal taste which wasn’t really a thing in the first infusions.  The icing sugar taste lingers in the mouth minutes later.  Nice happy feeling some subtle face tingles but more of just a relaxed body and muscles feeling.

12^th has a strong peachy fruity fruit punch dried fruity taste.  This puerh is really delicious to me.  There is this bready base taste that is really satisfying to me.  Long icing sugar minutes later.  Nice chalky mouthfeeling now with a saliva gob in the throat minutes later.  Deeply happy and tension busting feeling.

13^th has a fruity sweet pop of saliva producing oily sweetness.  The infusions are getting fruitier and icing sugar as the go and the mouthfeeling is becoming chalkier.  The throat is really opening up deeply and holding some saliva deep in the throat.

14^th has a long woody taste with a bit of sweetness and floral and even a bit of very faint incense…

I mug steep out the rest… and it gives off a woody taste with background fruity sweetness.  Strong relaxing Qi and tension easing feelings.  Strong woody brackish dirt with a faint bitterness and strong underlying backbone of fruity sweetness and floral-ness.  There is some faint cooling but hardly.  Lots of strong flavours- woody, almost metallic, sour, fruity, icing sugars.  Lots of power in this top notch Youle.  Strong euphoria and deep body relaxing when pushed hard like this.  I break into a big sweat… wow… what a feeling… I think I’d cake this if the price was right… or maybe another Quarter cake.  So far it seems to be winning the speed test among all my ChenYuan Hao… I like its energy.

Peace