2004 Biyun Hao Yiwu: Complex Taste +++ Power +++

Got this 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu quarter cake ($170.00 for 95 g or $1.79/g) from Teas We Like in their drop of early Bi Yun Hao productions.

The dry leaves smell both woody and intensely herby also a bit sweet.  There is a slight pondy marshland Taiwanese dry stored smell and lots of depth to the odour.

First infusion has a medicinal root beer like onset with a subtle bitter sweet taste.  There is a nice deep cooling happening here with a silty full mouthfeeling and herbal sweet taste.  The texture is nicely oily with a subtle pondy marshland nuance of the storage.  Nice very complex balance of herbs, woods, sweet almost brown sugars.

Second has a rich woody resin herbal bitter sweetness.  It is classic wood-bitters taste with a resin and herbal edge.  There is a vibrant sweetness of brown sugars taste underneath and on the edges.  The mouthfeel is full and almost drying silty.  The throat is a medium-upper depth cooling.  Complex taste here.  Very root beer like complexity.  The Qi is pretty strong in the chest you can feel the heart go and a euphoria building.

Third infusion is left to cool and has a creamy menthol medicinal herb taste to it there are emerging caramel sweetness and a nice rich depth.  The throat opening and cooling is middle-deep and opening where the mouthfeeling is silty and slightly sticky and faintly drying.  The oily texture sort of just melts over the tongue.  Nice stronger chest beats with an uplifting energy feeling subtle high with stronger body chest feeling that almost wraps around the ribs.

The fourth infusion has a very herbal medicinal deep dark menthol root beer thing happening here.  There are just very faint suggestions of pondy storage but not really and more herbal-bitter-sweet-medicinal tastes.  The taste is deep and dense.  There is this initial splash of tastes that comes up in the mouth a result of a pop of bittersweetness.  Nice chest beats and uplifting Qi with subtle mild high.  There is a creamy sweetness left in the mouth minutes later.  Dense and rich and deep tastes.  Strong Qi.

5^th has an almost turpentine good woody taste with a sweet almost floral taste to it over a caramel.  There is an emerging candy like sweetness in the mid-throat and breath.  There are also layers of herbs, chalky sweetness, and creamy sweetnotes.  There is a bitter sweet taste in there and less of the bitter-sweet woodiness.  Lots going on in this Yiwu blend.  The mouthfeel is chalky slight dry-sticky full in the mouth.  This infusion has that sweet almost candy-like breath… Yummy!

6^th has a deep medicinal syrupy taste with sweet edges but a bitter-sweet woody rich taste and nice oily texture.  There is a deep sweet almost resin and incense.  There is a lingering rich sort of caramel.  Nice strong chest beats and upbeat energy with mild high.

The 7^th has a woody almost bitters that quickly turns to melon fruity Yiwu and lingers in the mouth like this a while before sort of fading into a creamy sweetness, there is some richness there and some woody caramel resin sort of thing, even slight herbs.  Nice chesty bodyfeeling with heart beats and some mild euphoria high building in the body.

8^th has a woody bitters and resin taste with a pop of sweetness underneath it.  There is a creamy sweetness that emerges.  Lots of rich depth to the taste.  Nice Chesty Qi feeling with a bit of uplift and kind of zoning out.  The mouthfeel is a bit of an oily chalky now.

9^th has an incense woody onset with a sweet edge.  There is a bitter sweet pop with some melon tastes also some bland woody tastes starting to emerge now as well.  The mouthfeeling is a dry chalky feeling.  There is an almost melon creamy sweet aftertaste left in the mouth minutes later.  Nice mild building high with chesty feelings.

10^th has a woody varnish with some sweet edges that develop into a melon sweetness that then turns into a creamy sweetness only mild cooling here.  Still rich taste in a way and deep things that are less obvious now but still within grasp. 

11^th has a rich syrupy woody bitters deep like medicinal sweetness.  There is still some oily texture and sticky mouthcoating.  The taste goes toward a long creamy sweetness with medicinal woody base.  Sometimes it tastes almost mushroom.  Nice mild high with chest beats and energy uplift.

12^th has an almost sour bitter woody with touches of coco and flashes of melon tastes.  There is more mouth salivating here than in the infusions before it and it has a sweeter and syrupy and fruitier feel.  Nice uplift and chest beats…. This Qi is pretty steady throughout.

13^th has a rich juicier and thick sweet almost tobacco fruity sweetness that is a bit caramel and flashes of fresh honeydew melon.  The mouthfeeling is very sticky and full the breath is faintly cooling.  Nice high with a bit of pep.

14^th was another complexity of sweetnesses.  With a caramel sweetness creamy sweet with melon tastes and creamy tastes over a sticky mouthfeeling with less intense mouthfeeling and less woody-bitter herbs.  Now is the time for the sweetness to shine.

Mug steepings reveal a mushroom bland woody taste with creamy sweet and almost sweet potato sweetness that you could get out of Gua Feng Zhi.  Nice oily still, still lots of depth and complexity.

The longer overnight steepings pushes out more strong bitterness and woody-bitters with a rootbeer like sweetness at the edges but strongly bitter… there is still lots of bitter bones in this deep complex Yiwu blend.  There are some pond-marshland notes in there as well and herbs… complex…

Overall, this is a pretty intense Yiwu experience.  It feels more like a factory tea trying to make a gushu type of thing than a Taiwanese Boutique production!  It likely represents the historical transformation of factory type gushu productions to more modern type gushu productions that we will see in my next post.  It has still a strong bitter back bone and intense invigorating Qi to it. 

Vs 2004 Nan Qiao Bulang King- It reminds me lots of the 2004 Nan Qiao Bulang King for some strange reason.  I think the dry pondy marshland storage, factory/gushu type production and the general intensity of the Qi are strangely similar.  They both have a sort of herby body to them this 2005 BiYun Hao has more Yiwu sweetness layered in for sure but a lot of other complexity which includes cola, herbs, woods, bitters, creamy, vegetables, melon-candy, mushroom, medicinal… anyways the dry storage and blend gives this one way more complexity than most Yiwu of this age I’ve tried but it has a strength and harshness that could almost be aged out longer and is more of a rugged beauty than an ethereal Yiwu beauty for sure.  It was interesting and intense enough for me to pick up another quarter cake to play with mainly because it left me feeling so good…  but it is pretty pricy to go in for a full cake for me right now…

Vs 2013 BiYun Hao Mahei -This cake also reminds me of my blind tasting of the 2013 BiYun Hao Mahei which almost tricked me into believing it was a Bulang blend, before reflecting that it was actually a Yiwu… this 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu is very much in this stronger BiYun Hao style.

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Peace

Top Recommendation: 2004 ChenYuan Hao Song Pin Hao Commemorative Cake

I publish this in haste because there are still a few samples left to try at Puerh.uk.  I took a risk and got a full cake of this 2004 Chen Yuan Hao Song Pin Hao at approx. $623.00 for 380g cake or $1.64/g… I thank Paolo for bringing this one in for us in advance….

Dry leaves smell of faint distant woody cardboard with a stronger lingering creamy sweetness.

The first infusion has a pure watery woody creamy sweet very Yiwu initial taste with a very fluffy creamy sweet finish.  The pure creamy sweet Yiwu taste pops and expands long in the mouth and deep in the throat.  The mouthfeel is very soft with a mild mouth watering and deep throat feeling.  It is very clear and tasty.  Minutes later there is a subtle brassy metallic taste.  The cooled down cup tastes more woody, salty, and bland vegetal.  Interesting…

Second infusion has a vibrant tangy initial pop of sour cherry that holds in a lubricating saliva inducing mouth.  There is tons of mouthwatering and saliva producing with a strong moving saliva from the deep throat and filling the mouth like biting into a Gushers candy from childhood.  There is some brassy notes, salty notes and woody notes and creamy sweet notes underneath.  The Qi is very pausing/ quieting on the mind.  It’s the Qi that stops the world….  The jaw feels heavy, the eyes clear.

The third infusion has a strong tangy sweet sour cherry plumb onset that makes the mouth strongly water and pulls the saliva up into the mouth.  The movement pushes the strong sweet fruity taste out with great effect.  There are salty, briny, woody and creamy sweet with faint distant incense underneath.  The savoury, sour, sweet, bland combination with the strong saliva producing and vibrant pop of flavor with completely mind stopping and world pausing Qi is a pretty amazing experience.  There is a deep and profound sense of purpose, happiness, and euphoria in this Qi that I would say is at the very highest quality to me.  A heavy jaw but gentle spinal release. Wow!

The fourth infusion has a woody sour fruity cherry plum pop that is more weighted with woody tastes initially and has a long creamy sweetness underneath with salty briny and some faint distant incense.  Nice strong saliva producing but less than the first three infusions.  The taste and mouthfeeling is insanely tasty to me the Qi is this bigger than me feeling.  Pausing me and bringing me into a purposeful euphoria.  Mintues later there is a salty creamy sweet taste in the mouth.  Wow!

The fifth infusion has a strong syrupy oily cherry tart plum with some richer coco and buttery notes layered in with salty savoury notes… so good… the cooled down cup is incense cherry plum with a woody savoury incense taste.  It has a returing candy like sweetness under savoury and woody syrupy tastes.  The world freezes around me but I have this deep ethereal feeling of freedom… so good with a thick saliva producing feeling.

6^th infusion has a syrupy cherry plum thick initial taste with a distinct savory, woody subtle incense underneath.  Thick sweet taste over a tone of saliva producing oils and deep throat sensations.  Enliving and pausing feelings simulatanously.   Very powerful and profound Qi experience here.  Dense thick taste with sweetness, sour, savoury bland, smoke… no bitter at all.

7^th has a syrupy dense sweet plum slight sour cherry with nice vibrancy and thickness to this there is complexity in this blend in its taste, mouthfeeling, and Qi.  I see no weaknesses in this puerh…. Top shelf stuff superior to other Yuanchen Hao I have tired thus far. 

8^th thick oily cherry plumb with deep mysterious smokey woody savoury taste there is a returning sweetness of faint sweet candy underneath.  This infusion is a bit smokier and woodiner now and less sour.  Deep throat sensations and lots of saliva producing.  Beautiful Qi transcending experience here.

9^th has a woody smoke less sweet and more savoury onset with a toasted nut and faint hard to grasp candy sweetness in the aftertaste but more nutty sweetness.  The mouth salivating is less.  The sweetness is much less initially as is the thickness.

10^th has a sour smoke less fruity or sweet onset and more smoky, woody onset with a returning long faint candy and salty taste which makes the mouth salivate.  There is some brassy metallic notes in there and a creamy almost bready note as well.  Complex and interesting tastes.  Nice mouthwatering and deep throat feel with more distinct long candy finish.  Qi is more focusing now with subtle shoulder and jaw heaviness and some heart beasts.

11^th has a watery woody smoke onset with some lesser sweetness underneath.  Some wood, some savoury but not much sweetness anymore.  Not as oily and not as much saliva producing.  Still heavy jaw and arms and shoulders feeling with drowsy happy stillness feeling.

12^th has a fruity smoke onset with some faint sour and woody and savoury.  Qi is still strong in the body and mind.

I put this one into mug steepings….

Smokey savoury deep woody tastes are left here with a faint hard to grasp sweetness on the breath now…

With a strong solid profile thoughout I feel this one is flawless and likely the best full cake I own.  It accomplishes this with strong dense sweet tastes with a layered complex background of woods, smoke, salty/savoury tastes, and candy sweetnesses.  The mouthfeeling is very deep throaty and pushes tones of saliva into the mouth where vibrant and complex tastes are accentuated while there is balance within smoke, savoury, and darker tastes.  The bodyfeeling is also complex with heavy jaw and shoulders and limbs that are at a polarity between an enlivened Heart beating feeling.  In the mind there is a profound feeling like the world is pausing around you, different and more complex than a more common slowing of the mind sensation.  It feels freeing and profoundly rejuvenating and strongly sharpens the senses and the enjoyment of life.  It has all the features that suggest a brilliant puerh and is actually reminiscent or better than the famous old cakes it tries to emulate or commemorate from Yiwu’s famous Song Pin Hao.

I give this puerh the top rating and am left wondering why there is more attention paid to the 2005 ChenYuan Hao Shanzhong ChuanQi and 2003 ChenYuan Hao Tong Qing Hao?  Maybe it is harder to come by???  This puerh is much superior in my mind… with stronger taste than the Tong Qing Hao and stronger Qi than the Shanzhong ChuanQi and better mouthfeeling/throatfeeling than both.

There are a few samples of these left and I couldn’t recommend it enough.

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Peace

2004 Yang Qing Hao Tejipin (Western Dry stored since 2018 vs Yang Stored)

These are another two samples that I picked up last year from Liquid Proust.  I can hardly believe that I have not yet tried this famous and popular puerh yet.  It’s currently sold out.  I drank these samples in back to back days then compared the overnight steepings.  The 2004 Yang Qing Hao Tejipin 3 years North American Stored sample is still available.

First the 3 Years North American stored sample…

Dry leaves smell of very sweet floral candy like odours with faint storage notes in the background.

The first infusion has a very candy floral onset with a creamy sweet returning taste and a subtle woody body.  The mouthfeeling is thin but stimulating.

The second infusion has a woody creamy almost tart cherry sweetness with a rich creamy sweet woody floral mid body and candy like finish.  The mouthfeeling is a thin kind of pucker that makes the cheeks and gums squeaky.  The sweet floral taste trials into the distance.  A sweet bread notes emerges minutes later.  There are some tingling sensations felt on the neck.

The third infusion has a juicy floral sweet taste that turns into a tart cherry creamy sweetness.  There is some saliva producing here that comes when the woody base is revealed.  Nice way above average Yiwu Gushu here.  Nice long candy finish with some bread nuances minutes later.  Some shoulder releasing and nice tingling.  Great Qi in here.  Nice deeper rejuvenating relaxation takes hold as I sigh.

The fourth has a woody creamy candy sweet onset with a subtle cherry nuances and woody base.  Nice oily texture.  The long candy taste reaches throughout.  Long deep candy that turns to bread.  There is a thin slight puckering mouthfeeling and nice saliva returning.  Deep energizing rejuvenation with subtle shoulder, neck, and face sensations.

The fifth infusion has a buttery oily onset with some tart cherry and long creamy candy sweetness with an unimposing base of woodiness.  Long candy sweetness is the game here and it does it flawlessly.  Candy merges with bready sweetness minutes later.  Nice thick full coating with saliva returning and puckering.

6^th has an oily mouthwatering creamy fluffy almost cherry fruit sweetness.  There is nice saliva returning.  With a long sweet candy finish and bread like sweetness that emerges minutes later.  Nice oily texture here.  Very rejuvenating feeling from deep within.  Some very faint tingles and numbness on face and neck.

7^th has a buttery creamy oily sweet candy onset that gets a bit tart cherry then more long creamy candy sweet as oily saliva returns.  There is more of a chalky fluffy feeling in the mouth now.  Rejuvenating Qi.

8^th was left to cool down and is much more creamy and buttery with a fluffy mouthfeeling some faint smoke and a long sweet creamy cooling then bread sweetness.  This cool cup is very creamy sweet.

9^th Has a creamy sweet, a bit watery now with a creamy fluffy mouthfeeling.  Not as oily with less saliva returning.  Some faint woody and smokey nuances.  Mouthfeeling becomes thicker and fuller after the sallow.

10^th is left to cool it gives off a watery fresh bland woody sweetness with some cooling throat.  I put the rest of this in a mug and steep it out…

The brew is a rich woody not as sweet but not bitter either satisfying brew with lots of deep relaxing Qi in there.

This is a satisfying Yiwu and I clearly understand it popularity.  Long sweetness and very nice bodyfeelings in the face and neck and deep rejuvenating feeling- Very nice.

Next is the sample right out of Yang Storage…

2004 Yang Qing Hao Tejipin (Yang Stored)

Dry leaves smell of rich sweet floral with woody earthy smells.

The first infusion has a sour, woody sort of menthol onset with a creamy sweet finish.  The mouthfeel is a full chalky feeling even the throat has a full almost gripping.

The second infusion has a strong sour woody onset with a solid creamy sweetness emerging.  Initially it has a menthol edge to it then at the end its has a sweet and bready taste.  The mouthfeeling is full chalky and a tiny bit tight.  Qi is relaxing and calming.

Third infusion is left to cool and gives off a velvety creamy sweet taste.  There is a cool throat and a long creamy bready sweetness in a full chalky mouthfeeling.  The mouthfeeling is much thicker than the dry Western stored cake.  Nice relaxing Qi.

4^th is left to cool and gives off a smooth velvety almost plum creamy sweet taste in a chalky full mouthfeeling.  A cool throat emerges and pushes out more creamy sweetness.  There is not much for throat stimulation here but some nice saliva returning.  There is a long bready and creamy sweet finish.

5^th has a creamy rich velvety sweet onset with some cooling menthol that pushes out even more sweet creamy taste over a chalky mouthcoating.  There is some saliva returning and also a long bready creamy sweetness.  Nice relaxing and deeply sedating Qi.

6^th has a woody dark rich sweet nuance to it, a bit of sour and plum up front, then a subtle cooling menthol and returning creamy sweetness.  There is a bit of throat tightness.  Nice relaxing and even warming Qi feeling.

7^th is left to cool and is a very sweet raison creamy plum sweetness before a nice cooling camphor.  This infusion has a velvet silky feeling to it. Nice relaxing and warming Qi.  The throat and mouthfeeling is chalky and a bit tight.

8^th is left to cool and is a woody earth soft camphor with a bitter edge to it, a bit smoky.  Not that much sweetness initially but comes out in the aftertaste as a creamy bread fainter sweetness.

9^th has a woody menthol dirt onset with some emerging creamy sweetness. Nice salivating here with a bit of a caramel finish.  Expanding creamy silky sweetness.  Nice relaxing and warming feeling.  A long coco taste in the mouth minutes later.

10^th has a honey woody dirt coco onset taste that gets creamy and sweet in the aftertaste.  There is a dominating coco taste throughout now which is pretty satisfying.

11^th is more delicious bitter coco woody with a bitter chocolate sweetness.  Nice salivating with a slight gripping thin chalky feeling.  Nice warming relaxation.  The stamina and warming qi of the Yang stored version is something the Westren cake lacks.  The Yang Stored version also has a bit better stamina.

I visit the 12^th infusion the next day and it gives off peachy pear creamy sweetness over a woody slight dirt base and a mild brassy creamy sweet, almost coco and a bit smoky aftertaste.

The 13^th has a dirt onset with some woody tastes and not much left as far as depth so I put it into mug steepings…

The mug steeping tastes of a bitter dirt wood with some lesser cherry plum taste and some astringency.  There isn’t much sweetness and a bit of a tight and scratchy throat feeling to it.

The differences of the two different stored cakes are many.

The Top is the overnight steeping of the dry Western stored and bottom is the Yang storage cake.

Drinking the overnight infusions of both ….

The dry stored cake has a vibrant raspberry hue and descends into a creamy, rich milky sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is fluffy and full.  It’s very creamy and rich milky sweetness.  Super insanely delicious here.

The more humid Yang stored cake has a bitter coco creamy bitter coco taste.  There is some deeper fermented dirt like tastes in there.  The mouthfeeling has more pucker and strength to it.

I get a buzzy of focusing energy still from these…

Nice Yiwu Gushu stuff!

Hard to say which one I enjoyed better, depends on my mood I guess.  The Western stored one had much more bodyfeeling in it and overall better pure Qi but the Yang stored one was much warmer which better mouthfeelings… I can see how this one was so popular for the 350-400$ price tag it would be hard for me to not buy a cake after trying it.  Last year I hit the now sold out 2004 Yang Qing Hao Zhencang Chawang hard for $250 which, I agree with both Shah8 and Marco, is comparatively a much better tea in its depth.

James’ (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Steepster Tasting Notes

Cwyn’s Tasting Notes

Marco’s Tasting Notes

Alex’s Tasting Notes

Peace

2004 Xiaguan Toucha: Steady Xiaguan Toucha

Stephane of Teamasters gave me this whole toucha for review a year ago and I’m just getting to sample it now.  It’s a...

2004 Xiaguan ($10.00 for 100g touchaor $0.10/g) …

 don’t you find it super strange that most xiaguan toucha seem to always be 2004?  Hahahha…. I used to own a few very dry stored 2004 purple boxes of Tie Jia over the years and they always seemed to satisfy.  This one is red wrappered… and very cheap… but will it still satisfy…

Dry leaves are slight smokey woody paper faint sweet.

First infusion is a flat tangy smoky woody taste.  The mouthfeeling is a tight slight dryness.  There is a smoky finish in the mouth.

The second infusion has a woody almost cherry taste over a dry mouthfeeling but mainly smoky sweet almost menthol finish.  Qi starting to alert and wake up.

The third infusion has a woody menthol taste with some smoke and dry mouthfeeling.  A tiny sweetness of cherry is pined faintly underneath. Slowly alerting Qi.

The fourth infusion is woody, smoky, with a very slight almost cherry taste.  The mouthfeeling is dry.  The taste simple. The Qi steady.

The fifth infusion is woody, smoky and the cool cup has hints of caramel now. Slightly sandy mouthfeeling with a bit of salivating feeling.  Nice alerting.

The sixth infusion has an almost talc rose under the dominating woody taste with a returning woody smoke caramel taste.  The mouthfeeling is slightly sandy with a bit of salivation with the retuning sweetness.

The seventh infusion has a woody faint smoke with faint cherry then a slight creamy caramel returning sweetness. Salivating returning creamy mild caramel taste.

The eighth infusion has an even longer creamy caramel sweetness to it.  This infusion is the sweetness so far a bit of cherry and then caramel in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is developing a stickiness to it.

The ninth has a woody kind of bitter bland onset that is a bit caramel in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling has become a bit sticky.  Qi is getting me through the day.

The tenth has a smoky berry sweetness then a returning creamy caramel sweetness.  There is some woodiness in there and a bit of faint smoke, still simple but classic Xiaguan tastes.

The 11^th I mug steep out simply because the day gets crazy busy.  It gives off a vegetal woody bark bitter bland not that sweet smoky taste.

(image those typical looking Xiaguan factory chopped up spent wet leaves pictured here)

Simple and reliable Xiaguan toucha that was a perfect harmonizing tea for me on a day that I didn’t want to fuss much and was too busy to over think.  I love the classic simplicity of xiaguan.  It’s never amazing puerh but it always meets expectations- this one did.

Peace

Marco’s Blind Tasting Beta (2004 Teas We Like Twelve Cent Brick)

Dry leaves compressed in a loose brick smell of sweet slight mesquite bbq smoke with an underlying sweetness.

First infusion has a sour pond onset with salty tastes upfront.   There is a mild cooling on the breath and a bland almost mushroom aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is a sticky almost sandy full feeling on the tongue.

The second infusion has a fruity pear sour fruity onset that arrives in a juicy explosion.  There are some salty mid-tastes and moderate smoke.  The cooling rides out pear tastes in the throat.  The liquor has a nice juicy viscus feel and is balanced by a smokey middle.  The mouthfeeling is pretty full and the throat has a faint mid- throat opening feeling.  There is an interesting contrast of sensation and flavours immediately apparent in this puerh.  I can feel the Qi building in the chest.  This feels like Northern puerh to me.

The third infusion has a juicy thick somewhat sour fruity taste with underlying smoke.  There is a vanilla bean and salty mid-taste that is left in the mouth.  The tongue is a fine sandy full stickiness and the throat opens deeply.  There are some sunflower seed tastes, soft smoke, almost a creamy sweet but mainly sour fruity tastes.  There is an interesting balance and mix of tastes in this puerh brick.  A nice chesty Qi is developing.  I like the full and contrasting taste and feel of this puerh a lot.

The fourth infusion has a thick fruity velvety smoky almost sour pear a bit of a creamy but mainly dense smoky kind of apricot sweetness.  There are some salty and smoky tastes.  The presentation is thick in taste and the mouthfeeling is also quite full with a sandy sticky full mouthfeeling and slight open throat.  I feel happy and harmonious sitting with this Qi.

The fifth infusion has a smoky, dense fruity onset with some sour fruit coming out with salty savory flavors.  The effect is salivating and saliva producing in the mouth.  There is some faint coolness in the mid throat and a resulting creamy sweetness that turns into a sour fruitiness all over a thin smoky veil.  The salivating and sweet with slight smoky and sour gives this puerh wide and diverse breadth of taste experience.  It feels really smooth in the body and in the mind.  It has a kind of harmonizing Qi with a very mild and soothing bodyfeeling.  I really like the taste and feel of this puerh.  Its engaging but harmonious and not overly confusing or busy, both simple but complex.  A blend of tastes and energies that works quite well together.

The sixth infusion has a sliky smooth sweetness that develops into a sour fruity taste then to a very mild coco slight bitter nuance.  There is some salty taste that is kicked up.  Then a faint deep pungent pushes out some creamy sweetness, almost caramel, along with smoke.  The taste almost reminds me of smoky salted caramel candy… so tasty. The saliva just fills the mouth and throat and gives this puerh a very full and satisfying mouthfeeling and sensation.  The Qi has faint sensations on the face and scalp and feels very comfortable in the body.  This puerh is very nice.

Seventh infusion has a rich salted caramel sweetness.  There are some dense fruits and creamy sweetness, faint smoke, salty savoriness.  With a strong saliva producing effect.  The taste is extremely good, it’s a brilliant balance of sweet, sour, salty, faint bitter, bland.  There is a longer cool throat pungency with a stronger returning sweetness.  This is the type of smokiness that is mild and only adds to the taste never detracting from it.  The Qi is really harmonious and gives me a nice feeling of wellness and balance and focus.  There are some faint bodyfeelings in the scalp, head, and face a very mild open chest feeling. 

The eighth infusion starts with a creamy fruity taste. The sour taste is almost gone and it leaves a more creamy fruity sweetness.  There is some forsty almost green tastes but this infusion is less salty, sour, bitter and is mainly a creamy fruity almost faint spearmint finish in the throat with a sticky mouthfeeling and tongue coating.  The last few infuisons have a kind of forest freshness, almost spearmint finish to them.  There is less salivation here.  Good happy harmonious Qi in the body and mind.

The ninth infusion has a sour, sweet taste, with a creamy sweet finish and a foresty body.  There is a spearmint coolness with a bit of sweet cream at the end.  The taste and mouthfeeling have really dropped off in the last few infusions leaving simple tastes behind.  The mouthfeel is more watery but there is still lots of faint throat simulation but none of that intense salivating sensation. 

The 10^th has a juicy slightly sour fruity and creamy sweet onset.  There is a forest middle taste then a faint throaty spearmint that expands the creamy sweetness.  The aftertaste of this puerh is weaker here and is mainly just mild creamy sweetness.  Mouthfeel is more of a flat slippery.

The 11^th has a creamy mild flat bitter coco finish.  That coco taste kind of runs into a faint spearmint throatiness and expands into a coco somewhat forest bitter finish.  The salivation effect, fullness in the mouth, and thick mouthfeeling has diminished but the deeper mild throat feeling has held nicely here.

The 12^th has a flat forest bitter not really that coco taste but more bland forest kind of thing.  There is a nice cool spearment that develops in the aftertaste with some barely creamy sweetness.

The 13^th is much the same but a bit more coco.  Even with just the coco bitter onset with spearmint throat and some forest creamy sweet finish.  Some cereal toasted grains show up in the aftertaste.  It’s still decently enjoyable.  I push it with a 20 second beyond flash steeping…

The 14^th has an almost licorice sweetness to it with a woody base taste, slight cooling throat, flat finish… I put this one in the mug to grandpa steep out…

The wet leaves are still greenish and pretty small and tightly rolled…

The mug steepings are quite salty with a bit of bitter and a bit of cooling throat.  There is some veiled sweetness under the bitter but mainly salty and bitter…  Interesting….

The overnight steeping yields very sweet fruity juicy tastes upfront with less bitter and cooling and salt but a more obvious smoke but faint smoke which is a beautiful contrast to the vibrant fruitiness.

This seems like a nice balanced and engaging Jinggu blend to me, could be other Northern area but has a Jinggu feel to it.  This actually reminds me a lot of how the 2020 white2tea Mirage could taste like 6-8 years down the road.  I like this brick a lot.

The fact that this puerh is a young semi-aged, possibly Northern, possibly Jinggu material, or at least blended region with a bit of smoke it might be something that could be had for a reasonable price but hit way above the price especially if this is a white label offering.  I hope that it is and that Teas We Like can bring this in because I really think it’s something that is relatively rare in the Western puerh market and a very enjoyable experience that a lot would enjoy.  On the other hand it has the possibility of being something expensive priced exclusively on the tea experience it offers.  If this happens to be their Twelve Cent Brick and I’m way off on the age assessment, and it is just really dry stored then its value is 2-2.5X more than the price it sells for!

Guess: 5-8 years blended possibly Northern, possibly Jinggu, or multi region blended brick. Twelve Cent brick?

Answer: 2004 Teas We Like Twelve Cent Brick

Peace

2004 Yang Qing Hao Jinhao Chawang: Different

Alright, this is my first evaluative gongfu in a few months.  The order has been lifted here in Saskatchewan and I am back to work with as much Personal Protective Equipment as anyone you would encounter in a hospital…. But I’m back… and to celebrate on this unseasonably warm spring day I choose this 2004 Yang Qing Hao Jinhao Chawang which currently sells for $305.00 for 400g cake or $0.76/g.  Interestingly, very little has been written about this Yang Qing Hao.

I ordered this sample in my first order from Liquid Proust Teas.  I tagged it along with a lower price/less popular Yang Qing Hao sampler.  Don’t think I would ever venture to cake sample these less populars so it was a real treat to simply order for the fun of sampling.  This 2004 Yang Qing Hao Jinhao has a bunch of tippy buds slapped on the outside of the cake.  This was super common back in the day.  For me it was a sure bet that the leaves underneath were usually not as good...  Like putting lipstick on an old car before selling it.  I wonder if this cake will be the first to convince me otherwise?

Dry leaves have a creamy rich sweetness to them over aged puerh odour.

First infusion have a soft almost peachy, creamy sweet approach with a fallen leaves base and back drop.  There is a woody base with a faint pungency and mild rolling cooling creamy sweetness.  The creamy sweetness is long in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is sticky and chalky.  This is a smooth and creamy sweet onset.

The second infusion has a layered creamy tart, woody, and fallen leaf onset the pungency rolls in low and disperses and long distinct creamy sweet aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is sticky and the throat feeling in mainly in the upper throat.  The tea is simple but the feature is the very long creamy sweet finish.

The third infusion has a woodier tart astringent tree bark and medicinal noted onset there is a rich dirt like base taste now and the mouthfeeling is slightly gripping and even drying.  The long cotton candy creamy sweetness arrives under these notes and trails off slowly on the breath.  I can start feeling the Qi in the head.  It’s a bit spacy and a bit mind slowing. 

The fourth has a woody astringent wood bark onset with simple woody fallen leaves and even slight dirt tastes.  The mouthfeeling is puckering and a long creamy sweet finish is found in the upper throat.  The Qi is starting to get me spacy but kind of loopy in the mind, its slowing me down.

The fifth infusion has a tart, fallen leaf, astringent woody onset.  The initial taste is quite astringent and there is significant mouth puckering.  A long creamy sweetness comes out of it on the other end.  This puerh seems very simple and straight forward.  It has a strong fallen leaf taste, strong astringency and the best part is the long creamy sweetness.  The Qi is spacy in the mind a bit of a downer sensation.

The sixth infusion has a palm leaves, dry wood, fallen leaves, astringency then long creamy sweet coolness.  The mouthfeeling is puckering and slight drying.  The throat feeling is manly upper.

The 7^th infusion has a woody, slight astringent woody but creamy sweet finish.  The profile is really simple.  The mouthfeeling has a dry chalkiness.  The sweetness is less long now but still creamy and nice.  There is a soothing feeling now to the qi.  Relaxing.

The 8^th has a woody, much less astringent but almost sourer leaf taste where a creamy sweetness emerges.  There is a slight fruity taste in there now and almost salty too.

The 9^th the initial taste is now becoming more like sour fruit with wood and leaves becoming less.  There is a bit more body with the sour fruit note in there, also a bit of bitterness too.  The creamy sweetness is less long and less distinct in the aftertaste. 

10^th woody sour fruit with fallen leaf nuance.  The sweetness is becoming less in the finish and this puerh is more sour fruit, wood, and leaves.  The sweetness is more faint and in the breath than more tangible now.  The astringency is significant in this aged puerh and is noted here.  Work is pretty crazy because of everything and removing all the PPE to gongfu is a challenge all unto itself.  I group together sessions to make life easier…

11^th , 12^th, 13^th this puerh is changing as the session progresses.  These infusions start to move in a more fruity direction much less astringency and woodiness.  The Qi continues to be pretty relaxing, slowing my mind down…

The 14^th, 15^th, 16^th come into a state of mainly peachy fruity dominating tastes.  Simple and satisfying.  Qi is nice and relaxing.  Still a bit of woody and storage depths some bit of astringency.

This is put into long steeping and pushes out some woody, leafy, and very vibrant peachy notes.  The qi remains light, simple, and relaxing.

Overall, this puerh is simple and its long distinct creamy sweet aftertaste is its highlight which is especially featured in the first handful of infusions.  In the next group of infusions the astringent and woody leafy tastes are more dominant.  In the later infusions distinct simple peachy fruity tastes get more of the attention.  Overall, the taste is simple but changes throughout the session to keep it interesting enough.  The astringency is a bit much during the mid-session even for someone who generally likes a touch of astringency.  It gets a bit puckery in these infusions but it doesn’t last long.  I also think that those who like aged white tea might enjoy the profile has something in it which reminds me a bit of the aged white I have had in the past. 

The Qi is another thing… The Qi is also one I don’t normally go for a downer type of very stopping the mind from working kind of thing.  On my first day back, you can be sure, that it wasn’t very welcome.  This is my fist Yang Qing Hao with a strong slowing down type of Qi.  Overall, the material underneath has quality to it but its just not what I go for in a puerh, at least not at that price.  Overall, I had a strange enjoyment of this puerh because it is really not like any puerh I’ve had before.  A fun one to sample.

Peace

2004 Nan Qiao Bulang King: Strong Qi!

This ($110.00 for 357g cake or $0.31/g) is a drier Taiwanese stored Bulang option sourced by Teas We Like from Nan Qiao’s inaugural year.  Nan Qiao factory is most famous for its Bulang and is also famous for using lots of cleaner and organic certified material.  If you look around, a lot of vendors actually carry puerh from Nan Qiao Factory.  This should be some of the top of the brand, literally the King (Chawang) of Bulang…

The very tight machine pressed dry leaves smell of a very peat mossy type of smell with a very faint incense almost smokiness.

First infusion is a slightly fishy seaweed and incense with a peat fresh wood-chips-like taste.  The taste is kind of unique and finishes with a faint pungent and sour wood finish.  The mouthfeel is tight and the throat feel hasn’t really been activated yet- just mild sensations in the top throat.  There is not really much bitter here surprisingly no smoke.  The first infusion tells me that this was really nicely processed for a Bulang.  I like the tight compression on this one too.

The second infusion has a richer incense almost bitter coco suggestion with a slight pondy fishy nuance in the back ground.  There is a distinct salty taste to this puerh throughout.  There is a very faint pungency on the breath then suppressed coco tastes in the aftertaste along with wood chips and faint pond/ marshland.  A subtle bread-like sweetness is hard to grasp at here.  The Qi starts to build in the mind and I can feel the warmth of this puerh start to generate internally.  This will be strong…

The third infusion starts with a woody incense taste with the fishy pond nuance becoming less here.  There is a long salty base taste then a sour wood taste.  There is a soft pungency that pushes wood chips, faint coco, almost a hard to grasp milky coco taste, wood chips, and incense.  There is a lingering bread like sweetness like raison bread. There is a kind of soft flat bitterness that kind of comes much later after swallowing.  The mouthfeel is nicely full and tight, the throat has a upper-mid level opening.  Saliva is kind of trapped at the top of the throat extending these unusual tastes for quite some time.  The Qi is pretty strong here and makes the head and body wobble and heat is generated at the core.  I can feel my chest start to pound loudly.

The fourth infusion has a bitter incense woody onset the pond/ marshland is almost gone and the initial taste is mild bitter wood chips, incense and coco bitterness.  The full tight mouthfeel tugs at the throat and fills the mouth.  The Qi is very very strong and I am flushed in the face, I feel almost dizzy, like I could faint if I exert myself.  The heart pounds.  This is very strong Qi.  The aftertaste has a bread like sweetness to it that emerges under the bitter.  This infusion is still quite salty underneath.

The fifth infusion starts with incense, slight pond, wood chips, and moderate bitter.  It turns slightly sour and salty then a faint but building pungent coolness.  The aftertaste is bitterer than the initial taste and there is a mix of pond, wood, incense, faint coco and bread sweetness.  There is a lingering metallic taste in the aftertaste as well.  The Qi is big, staggeringly large in the mind.

The sixth infusion starts with a strong bitter taste with wood and coco and incense.  The pondy fishiness is gone.  The aftertaste come after an undulating coolness hits and expands.  The result is long bread and coco bitter sweetnesses.  This infusion hits the spot.  Big Qi along with bitterness slows me down considerably and I consider removing leaf from the pot…

The seventh infusion… Ok I didn’t remove leaf (I will not admit defeat quite yet) just took a 40 min rest… the first has an almost raison and faint coco onset that is balanced bitter and sweet.  The taste is a flat coco with incense, saltiness, woodiness much more background.  The taste here is nice with a lingering coolness and incense and bread sweet type of finish.  The mouth feeling is now chalkier.  The aftertaste is also mineral here.

The eighth infusion starts a nice smooth almost milky sweet onset with bitter less here and incense in there too.  This infusion has a classic Bulang onset.  It stretches into a mineral milky flat bitter.  A pungent coolness then sweet bread. Not much coco here and much less bitterness.  The bitterness is receding.  The Qi races the chest, pounds it hard.  This one really tastes like classic Bulang.

The ninth has a slight creamy milky flat sweet and subtle pond/ marshland.  There are faint suggestions of coco and a nice long creamy sweetness.  The coolness is less and pushes a stronger sweetness out of the flat milk tastes.  There is a faint bit of mineral and even less saltiness now.  Overall this infusion is milky sweet with touches of mild bitter and coco.  The mouthfeeling becomes more chalky and full.  The throat feel is not too deep with this one but it mainly gets stimulated with the intense bitter early in the session.

The tenth is milky sweet initially with a mild woody flat bitter and a mineral taste as well as incense coming out mid profile.  The mouthfeel is a sticky chalky now and bitter-sweet coco comes after a mild coolness.  The qi is still in the chest- like a good Bulang should.  It has less intensity and almost a relaxing effect now.

The 11^th is bitter-sweetness, milky, almost incense and herbaceous tastes.  There is some sour and even some mineral later into the session.  The aftertaste is becoming less.  Still some woods and incense and milk sweetness.  This infusion was more herb tasting.

The 12^th onset is more herbaceous onset with incense and flat milk sweetness.  There is a lessening bitterness as well as full mouthfeeling.  Qi is less and extends into a relaxed feeling with some chest heart palpitations.

The 13^th is an herbaceous incense woodyiness initially with more a faint coco and milk finish.  The profile has leveled out here and it’s pretty easy straight forward drinking.

The 14^th is much more of the same herbaceous, incense, this more has a bit more milky coco swetnesss, faint cooling, woody, pretty tasty stuff with a relaxing feeling now.  These infusions get less bitter as they go, less complex, less sweet.  But still delicious with more of a relaxing Qi after all that stimulation.

I throw in the towel early with this one and put it into overnight steepings which seem to pull out a pretty bitter herby soup.

Overall a nice Bulang.  To me a classic Bulang should have a full bitter peak early in the session with a nice coco taste and milky/creamy sweet balance, there should be earth shattering Qi that must make the heart race, the mouthfeel should be full and stimulating, and there should be some faint smoke in there to indicate the more rudimentary production.  Then after the first handful of steeps the bitter should give way to milky flat sweetness and woodiness.  These are the qualities I look for in a quality classic Bulang.  This 2004 Nan Qiao Chawang Bulang mainly has the earth shattering Qi … but man is it every satisfyingly strong and clear!

This 2004 Nan Qiao Bulang starts a bit unique with some interesting pond tastes that I don’t usually see in Bulang.  I don’t think this is storage taste although that flavor usually indicates off storage- I think it is a part of the profile and where this tea is in the aging.  Plus there is no smoke.  These are not necessarily bad things, they are just things… unique and complex things actually.

This Bulang has a very intense Qi which to me is everything in a Bulang.  It does this part very very well. Its bitterness is strong and creamy/milky sweetness is low-moderate.  It is a very nicely processed, very clean drier Taiwanese storage, with a pure clean feeling in the body.  There is actually a lot of interesting notes in this Bulang which give it a different type of herby, pondy, mineral, and medicial wood-like complexity.  They are just not notes I really like nor are they notes that I am looking for in a Bulang.

I don’t think I will be purchasing another but it is nice to have a good example of a dry stored herbaceous, woody, medicinal Bulang.  From what I have read, most Nan Qiao seem to be low on the sweetness and high on the herbal, woody, medicinal tastes.  I think the price is about right for something like this.  The interesting thing about this Bulang is that it is so powerful and clean and kind of unusual that I caught myself going back for a few more sessions over the last few weeks when I was looking for a power boost and/or for some unusual puerh tastes.

Rating 6.8.

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Peace