2005 Bi Yun Hao Manzhuan: Smoke& Stregth & Fruit!

This 2005 BiYun Hao Manzhuan was one of three Biyun HaoQuarter cakes I picked up at Teas We Like for $160.00 for 115g or $1.40/g.  There is still one sample for sale on the site at the time of writing…

Dry leaves smell of smoky BBQ and rainforesty woody odours… really unique…

First infusion has a sweet smoky onset with a watery sweet bbq mesquite thing happening.  There is a nice mouthwatering and soft light mouthcoating.  Light almost flower water taste with mesquite BBQ nuances.

The second infusion has a spicy woody sweet bready onset with a smoky sweet mesquite BBQ layer.  The taste has a sweet pop of fresh fruity taste initially with a chalky soft full mouthfeeling and moderately oily returning saliva.  Relaxing slightly spacing me out Qi.

Third infusion has a syrupy dried fruity thick onset with a bready sweetness and a BBQ sweetness that emerges underneath the dominant syrupy thick sweet.  Nice oily sweetness here.  The cooled infusion is really delicious with that hinting at tropical fruity sweetness with a mesquite mild under taste and oily saliva producing thickness… Real nice there is a bready sweet taste that finishes in the mouth. 

4^th has a juicy fruity sweet onset with nice mesquite under taste which adds a bit of depth.  Nice sweet bread tastes cap off the finish here.  Creamy smoky and mysterious depth perfectly counterbalance this oily fresh tropical hints of sweet taste.  Nice sugary sweet bread finish.  Lots of oily saliva feeling in the mouth.  Nice numb bodyfeeling and slight space feeling.

5^th has a woody sweet bready less fruity sweet and more sweet bready oily syrupy sweet onset.  The silky feeling and oily coating with a bit of lip drying and grasping feeling is quite nice with a strong sweet profile through and through!   Oily sweet bready sugar and almost milky chocolate taste.  Nice chocolate taste left in the mouth minutes later from the oily texture and nice slow saliva release.

6^th infusion has a sweetness that is sort of a bread and sugar and not really fruity anymore but slightly there is also a faint floral edge to it.  It ends with a bubble gum taste on the breath.  The feeling in the mouth includes an oily texture with a silty and sticky lips feeling.  Nice relaxed bodyfeeling with a heavy base-of-skull feeling. 

7^th starts with an oily sweet and bbq fruity onset with a more surgary, bready-sweet, and smoke finish.  Very nice tastes here.  Thick oily mouthfeeling.  The oily texture is meet with a stickier lip drying sensation in the mouth which is really nice.  The smoke or BBQ nuance is never overwhelming.  Nice strong relaxing but now uplifting and energizing feeling with strong heart beats. 

8^th has an oily peachy fruity thick bready onset.  Nice thick layering of taste.  The cool infusion sort of has a cooling menthol foresty taste there with lots of peachy tropical fruity sweetness that turns to sugar and bread sweetness.  The smoke is less in the cold cup it seems like.

9^th left to cool is an oily thick full taste of bread and coco like sweetness that turns more coco in the breath.  Full delicious tastes in a thick oily texture is nice in this cooled down infusion. 

10^th infusion has a more fruity sweet taste upfront with a more bread and coco finish.  Nice thick and oily feeling in the mouth the smoke is pretty much gone now.  Nice focused feeling.

11^th is an oily bready coco sort of thick dense taste with oily texture.  Chest beats give me a surge of energy with a backdrop of spacy relaxation.  Mouthfeeling is a soft gripping silkiness with oily textures.  Nice minutes later coco on the breath.  Very good tasting.

12 oops left the water in the kettle for 2 minutes!  Strong thick syrupy tastes with a mild smoke incense under the woody bitter-sweet chocolate taste.  Stronger dry gripping here and more of a fruity blob caught in the throat.  Strong sweat with chest beats now.  Invigorating feeling that makes me want to get out there and get something down.

13 infusion has cooled down but gives off a thick oily coco and woody taste with a bit of bitterness lingering with coco – a bitter-sweet coco taste.  Nice salivation effect still. 

14^th is cooled down but gives off a fruity onset that is less thick but still substantial with coco and woody finish.  Nice slow salivation still. 

15^th has a flat woody onset that quickly shows some sweet fruity then coco that rides out on the breath. 

The mugs steepings are terribly sweet and delicious… thick syrupy sweet taste with a cool pungent woody underbelly and intense thick sweet bready creamy sweet finish.  Thick syrupy layers that finish coco chocolate in the mouth. Very oily still lots of salvia producing dry lips and subtle silky chalky full feeling.  Nice chest beats and energetic focusing.  There are grape and date like tastes that emerge in the initial thick taste as well.  Overall tones of thickness and sweetness and oily tastes.

Vs 2003 ChenYuan Hao Manzhuan…(pictured top wet leaves) I’m drinking these back to back and they are both very good Manzhuan… but the 2005 BiYun Hao is logically better but it has not fully intergrated its flavours and feels a bit young compared to the 2003 ChenYuan Hao.  The high points for me are due to the bbq nuances which are super interesting juxtaposed with the thick layers of sweet Manzhuan.  I feel like the BiYun Hao has a bit more depth and variety to the sweet layers and also has a more invorogating energetic effect.  It also is a tinny bit astringent when pushed hard and still a bit younger and not the dense and thick package of the 2003 Chen Yuan Hao.    

Overall, I definitely crave the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Manzhuan over this 2005 BiYun Hao.  For sure some of these earlier BiYun Hao have a bit of old school factory style influencing them before the move to more gushu modern style this is especially evident by the smoke and BBQ nuances.

I need to sample the 2004, and 2006 to get a better read on the Biyun Hao Manzhuan… but this one was a good introduction.

Peace

2005 BiYun Hao Yiwu: Qi Extraordinaire!

I picked up this 2005 BiYun Hao quarter cake in the second release for $160.00for 95g or $1.68/g.  This is one sold out quickly in the first drop of cakes and quarters and I wonder how it could be better than the 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu I sampled the day before… it turns out its pretty much a completely different Yiwu…

Dry leaves have a sweet hay and distant grape bubble gum candy sweetness.

The onset is woody hay with a fresh creamy candy like sweetness that is light, airy, and watery.  There is a juicy feel to this first infusion with a long expanding air and creamy Yiwu sweetness that returns very strong on the breath.  Very deep throat opening with slow salivating release.  Lots of bubble gum and creamy sweet tastes with no storage tastes or deeper tastes to ground its progression and unraveling.  Nice strong calming peace.  Very high quality, entrenched, and ethereal Yiwu qualities.  Strong deep and gentle tension relief.

The second infusion left to cool and has a creamy cooling sweetness that goes deep in the throat and candy creamy sweetness stretches out on the breath.  There is a woody sort of almost herby undertaste.  But the sweetness is long and evolving and long candy finish.  Soft out of body feeling to the Qi.  Spacy in this regard.  Nice soft chalky mouthfeeling.  Slow release saliva.

3^rd infusion has a woody creamy sweet onset that is a bit dry, a bit sour, but mainly this long evolved creamy almost candy-like sweetness.  More depth here with the drier woodier note but still slow mild saliva release.  Spacy out of body feeling.  Very very nice Yiwu here.

4^th has a melon juicy pop of sweetness with a sort of resin woody base taste.  The sweetness has a sourness to it but slowly expands and returns on the breath.  The mouthfeeling is this soft dry chalky feeling that is similar to the 2004.  The breath taste is way more ethereal and sweet.  The Qi is a spacy out of body feeling.

5^th has a rich sunny fruity onset with a coolness imbedded in the breath which pulls along the returning sweetness which is a creamy sweetness.  There are subtle melon, woody, and cookie, and sour tastes in there.  Nice sweet Yiwu profile with distinct spacy feeling.  The Qi sensation feels a lot like Wan Gong Qi- a high out of body spaciness.  Strong saught after Qi experience here!  Creamy lingering almost candy-like sweetness.

6^th has a sweet juicy and a bit syrupy sweet almost melon like creamy sweet taste pop initially.  There are nuances to the sweetness that reminds me of waffles… don’t know why?  Long sweet taste here.  The thicker richer taste is not really there so it’s just this long progressing sweet taste.  That has a melon edge to it and a fresh light juicy feeling.  Nice spaced out feeling a bit out of body experience with the intensity and deep spiritual Qi and mind floating here.

7^th has a syrupy melon sweetness that is a bit creamy and more syrup-woody tasting.  The mouthfeeling is more dry now.  Strong melon tastes now.  Mildly spacy. Soft mouthfeeling with a touch of dryness.

8^th melon and pie crust and woody sort of sweetness with a more juicy taste overall.  Spaced out tranquility now.  Subtle chest beats.  Nice soft chalky mouthfeeling.  Lesser sweet fade out.

9^th has a syrupy sweetness with distinct long menthol like creamy sweet taste.  There is a slightly dry chalky mouthfeeling.  Still a bit oily texture with an overall juicy sweetness but less obviously fresh melon and more creamy juicy vibrancy.  Nice saliva release.  Strong spacy feeling a bit out of body experiences.

10^th has a woody juicy syrupy creamy sweetness with a juicy and shining taste with a long creamy sweetness over a full slightly dry chalky mouthfeeling.  There is this lingering creamy almost melon sweetness that is really nice and nice spacy feeling.

11^th has a creamy sweet bready taste onset.  A bit of woody underneath but it moves quickly to a creamy and almost melon taste that turns to candy Yiwu sweetness.  Nice space out feeling but still somewhat focused.  Chalky bland breath finish now.

12^th has a creamy almost coco bready taste.  The sweetness is obvious throughout but has a woody bland chalky taste to it underneath with some bitterness emerging there.  Nice spacy relaxing with a bit of Heart beats.  Not too much bodyfeeling in this puerh despite its strong Psychological Qi state.  More of a body disassociation more than anything.  Some Melon and coco on the breath.

13^th infusion has a bland woody coco with some cool breath and faint bready sweetness underneath.  Some bitter chalky blandness emerges now.  Spacy relaxing here.  Cooled down it has a nice coco and creamy sweet taste with some wood and bread over a chalky full mouthfeeling.

14^th has a woody almost medicinal but more creamy sweetnesses and coco.  Still very oily and full mouthfeeling.  Spacy and relaxed.

15^th is left to cool… and gives off a juicy somewhat oily coco creamy bland woody but mainly still expanding sweet taste.  Nice relaxing feel and somewhat out of body but not unfocused. 

Mug steepings of the spent leaves gives off a honey and herbal woody slightly bitter onset with a creamy long sweet milk chocolate nuance.  The taste is still very vibrant and full.  Nice long creamy sweetness is probably the main note here.  A full chalky mouthfeeling with a touch of driness.  Nice relaxing and subtle high feeling.  Nice long aftertaste still.  Nice full feeling with creamy coco breath tastes minutes later.

Vs 2003 ChenYuan Hao (top leaves)- is a very much a feel good Yiwu to me compared to these 2004 & 2005 Yiwu.  The Chen Yuan Hao is not as complex as either of these but is more of a classic Yiwu in its pure taste and Qi.  Again very different than both BiYun below.

Vs 2004 BiYun Hao Yiwu (middle leaves) these two are actually very different which is a bit shocking to me… They are both really good but really different.  The 2004 is much rougher, intense, and complex in taste- it is almost like a factory gushu type thing where the 2005 (bottom leaves)is deep, ethereal, elegant, with long expanding sweetness and otherworldly in its Qi experience and feel more like a modern gushu production.  In some ways, the contrast represents the historical shift happening with these productions at the time.  The 2005 has a Qi experience in it that is pretty amazing and harder to come by so it’s noticeably better of the two but my factory leanings have me really enjoying the 2004 for its complexity and power.  If this 2005 becomes available again it’s possible that I might pick another quarter or even a cake-djvbdvbdv.  The price is the main deterrent for both of these Yiwu for me-its probably priced right but it ain’t cheap either.

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

James & Denny’s (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Peace

2005 Yiwu Ancient Tree Melon: Craving this Yiwu!

Got this sample from The Essence of Tea after it sold out.  I had just hit the 2004 Yang Qing HaoZhencang Chawang pretty hard for a decent price and couldn’t stomach another few KG of Yiwu… but this one turned out to be pretty good as well…  This 2005 Yiwu Ancient Tree Melon went for$690.00 for 1000g melon or $0.69/g.  There is a terrible spring blizzard here now so I’ve been digging into some oldish samples…  

The dry leaves smell very sweet creamy sweet almost candy-like odours.

The First infusion has a creamy oily sweetness.  The taste as a touch of fleeting fruitiness and a touch of astringent pucker but is mainly this sweet oily liquor.  The aftertaste has this slow creamy sweetness that hides in the throat and is pushes out in gentle spurts of saliva.

The second infusion has a fresh cherry pop of taste that induces saliva in the slightly puckering mouthfeeling and oily texture.  The throat feeling is interesting and feels like there is a slow and sputtering release of saliva from the mid throat to the back of the mouth.  The finish is subtle incense and a slow release creamy sweetness.  There are some bodyfeeling tingles with this one- face, neck, forehead.  Some diaphragm and chest opening feeling.

The third infusion has a cherry fruity pop initially with some pucker tart and saliva producing to follow.  The finish of faint incense and creamy sweetness is stronger here.  The mouthfeeling is becoming more gripping as well.  Strong puckering feeling where a creamy sweetness lingers.  Open belly and chest feeling with some relaxing sighs. 

The 4^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy sweet oily and slightly woody taste that has a chalky incense aftertaste and strong cherry almost sour edge to it.  There is a faint cooling woody but tastes different and fresher than menthol in this cooled down cup.  Nice soft full drying.  Cherry artificial candy like finish.

5^th has a creamy woody sweet taste with some lesser fruit cherries that can’t quite express.  The creamy sweet chalky aftertaste has an almost strawberry cream taste to it.  There is a cool almost menthol but more like a tingling cherry cough candy- really tasty and unique.  Nice numb tingles in the body with a foucs on the tummy and chest feeling open.  Nice calm feeling.

6^th has a creamy woody oily onset with a sweet creamy almost fruity taste.  It develops into a faint incense and creamy strawberry candy sweetness with a bit of cherry cough candy taste.  Nice mild tingles and Chest and Abdomen opening.  There is a long cooling cherry candy creamy woody taste in the back of the throat.  There is an open mid-throat with and slight full dry puckering mouthcoating.  The energy of this puerh isn’t warming but not cooling either. 

7^th is left to cool and has a creamy woody almost sweet fruity initial taste with an almost menthol cherry cough candy finish to it.  The mouthfeeling is puckering and becoming more and drier.  There are glimpses of talc powdery taste.  There is now a gripping feeling in the throat as less saliva is produced.  Nice relaxing and reassuring vibe here with some tingles and Chest and Abdomin opening.

8^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy woody not as sweet initial taste with a menthol cherry cough candy mild finish.  There is a drier gripping mouthfeeling with a mid throat puckering.  Nice opening expanding diparagm and Chest.  Nice calm focus.

9^th infusion has a creamy sweet candy cherry like onset over a chalky slight puckering mouthfeeling.  The sweetness lingers in the aftertaste. 

10^th has a creamy strawberry-like taste with a chalky finish.  With nice chest and abdomen opening and tingles in the face.

11^th is cooled down and is creamy woody talc taste with chalky finish in the mouth.  There is this woody chalky taste primarily.  Nice focusing.

I mug steep out the rest of the wet leaves and it gives off a woody menthol-cherry taste with a touch of astringency and long cool aftertaste with interesting layers of pungency, sweetness, and dryness.  The mouthfeel has a strong gripping taste which translates to a woody cherry pungent astringent dryness.  It doesn’t have that gag feeling though.  Strong mind relaxing and face warming now.

Comparing this Yiwu to some of the Chen Yuan Hao or Yang Qing Hao Yiwu’s I have been consuming late isn’t really a fair comparison as I feel these are a bit better but not that much better.  This Yiwu melon has really nice storage on it better than the Yang Qing Hao and Chen Yuan Hao stuff and a super interesting cherry cooling coughdrop flavor.  It’s really comfortable in the body.  There is some solid bodyfeelnig with the Abdomen and Chest opening and focusing feeling in the mind.  The mouthfeeling is a bit too gripping and puckering at times and the complexity is obvious single estate product.  There was something unique about this one that I can’t put my finger on maybe the cherry cough drop taste ??? which was enjoyable also the fact that it was a bit gripping and astringent but aged enough that it was completely comfortable in the body. I’m not sure if it would have been one that I would want to purchase but I can see myself drinking it regularly.   Another solid tea from The Essence of Tea! 

I’ve been drinking the spent leaves in long infusions for the past few days and I have to say that I really look forward to these steepigns from this puerh.  It has a nice very clean taste, very pure taste, the leaf quality is very and there is no interruption from storage tastes.  In many ways this Yiwu is better that those coming from those famous boutique brands…  This is definitely a puerh I could drink on the regular.

Peace

2005 Chenyuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi TeasWeLike vs Puerh.uk

I picked up a cake of the 2005 ChenYuan Hao ShanzhongChuanqi from Puerh.uk. and posted a review on this cake here.  I picked up a few quarter cakes of 2005ChenYuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi from Teas We Like to compare the storage and to enjoy.  These notes are from Teas We Like storage.  This is going to be awesome…

I picked up a Dry leaves smell of dark woody odours.

First infusion has a woody icing sugar taste there is a strong nutty finish in the mouth with layers of wood and a few layers of sweet icing sugar.  The mouthfeeling is silky.

The second infusion has a layers sweet nutty then almost cherry taste with pops of sweet cherry and icing sugar layers over a base of deep dark woody tastes.  It makes the mouth salivate.  Nice euphoria feeling early in the session.  The cooled down cup of tea is darker woodier layers with nutty sweetness first then fait cooling and some icing sugar layers.  Nice silky feeling with distant not really bitterness.

The third infusion has a sour woody layered onset with a nutty woody chestnut type of taste there are fainter cherry tastes and some faint coco tastes a well.  There is faint cooling and a returning creamy icing sugar and cherry finish.  Nice lubricating oily feeling with some faint dry coating underneath.  A slow to appear very distant bitterness lingers at the end.  The coco taste lingers in the mouth along with a intermittently appearing cherry and some background icing sugar.  Nice mild euphoria feeling.

The fourth infusion was left to cool and has a nutty hazelnut sweetness with layers of darker woods.  There is a bit of cooling then some dark cherry taste mixed with coco with some returning saliva producing.  The taste has a nice richness to it with nutty tastes, woody tastes, fruity and surgar tastes.  Moderately oily texture with some dryness underneath .  Mild happy euphoria is building up.  Lingering background faint bitterness.

6^th is left to cool and has this nutty, dark layered woody with emerging coco and faint dark cherry with some lesser cooling as the tighter mouthfeeling reveals itself and the mid-throat opens.  A long icing sugar sweetness lingers with hints at sour fruit faint coco woods.  Layered and complex taste with a strong wave of stupefying Qi building now with warming feeling- face warm.  Nice tidal wave of Qi hits hard and the chest expands and heart races. There’s the sneak attack, right there!

7^th is left to cool and gives off a sweet sugar and woody coco taste with distant bitterness.  There is a nice oilier feeling and slight tugging mouthfeeling with mid-deep throat feeling underneath.

8^th has a woody fruity a bit sour and turns a bit bitter coco.  Has a long sugary taste, nice oily texture, nice chocolate darker woody taste to it.  Has a woody tree almost vegetal taste in there now.  Nice saliva producing.  I am in a bit of a slowed useless stupor with chest sensations, Heart beats, and heavy arms/limbs.  Nice long sugar sweet aftertaste with woody coco subtle bitterness.

9^th is left to cool and is brown sugars woody layers and almost chocolate cocos.  Nice faint coolness and nice sweet sugared layering.  Nice mild uselessness and Heart beats.

10^th is more woody almost vegetal woody underneath but with a flat bitterness throughout.  There is some oily almost fruity notes.  A flat bitter bland vegetal note lingers in the breath with very faint hard to pull out sweetness.  Nice spacy relaxation now.

11^th has a bland woody vegetal almost coco woody not that really sweet.  I would say a bland woody coco taste is now the dominant. Some incense notes are noticeable now.  Less oily texture and more tight tongue feeling.

12^th has a vegetal woody incense bland taste with brown sugary sweet underneath.  Has mainly a woody bland vegetal incense mild bitter taste now with almost no sweetness.  Nice slowly relaxation with still some arms and chest feelings…

Not as nuanced and as obviously complex as the puerh.uk but heavier on the deeper beefier notes.  The Puerh.uk version has much more vibrancy and higher fruitier notes where the Teas We Like version has more deep mysterious notes.  I think I like the Puerh.uk storage a bit better- its doing a bit better on the speed test, if that says anything.  Fun to compare!

Peace

2005 Banzhang Macau Hualian Small Buds: Powerful Tiny Buds!

This was sample of Lao Ban Zhang from Paolo’s personal journey has not yet been offered on puerh.uk…

Dry leaves are very sweet and fruity smelling pure dry stored smells much younger than 2005.

First infusion has a creamy malty sweet almost caramel and sort of licorice sweetness.  It’s a bit thick and rich already in a sweet and oily broth.  Sweet tastes dominate with a layering and thickness to them.  There is a cooling slightly in the throat.  Tastes like 10-13 years material.

The second infusion has a rich caramel woody oily sweet dense taste.  Mouth salivating.  The cup cools down and there is a dense rich sweet creamy caramel that has a dense sweet presentation almost licorice finish.  The layers of sweet taste remind me of a Lincang.

The third infusion has a caramel dense oily sweetness with a soft cooling throat.  The cool cup is really very sweet and layered.  Licorice and caramel very sweet finish.

The fourth infusion has a thick dense caramel, licorice taste, faint bitterness, nice full mouthfeeling with a coating that makes the gums and roof of the mouthfeel squeaky when the tongue runs across it.  Qi is very enlivening and very happy feeling.  A burst of happy energy.  There is some faint face tingles.

The fifth is densely caramel sweet.  The flavor comes all at one in one thick sip but underneath is a subtle bitter woody taste that is barely discernable under the thick sweetness a faint almost metallic taste in there as well.  Very delicious tasting tippy leaves with no astringency and feels really nice in the body but without any crazy bodyfeelings.  Nice enlivening Qi.

6^th has a caramel dense sweetness with slight metallic tones and subtle menthol like taste that lingers in the mouth. 

7^th has is still caramel but is becoming more metallic bitter menthol as well.  The menthol bitter sweetness stretches into the aftertaste.  Nice strong uplifting and enlivening feeling.  The mouthfeel is a full unwavering slight dry feeling that feels really nice with this sort of tea giving it something for the sweet tastes to grab on to.

8^th pot clogged! Must have been in there for a good minute… stronger infusion… strong menthol with caramel and lesser bitter full strong taste. 

9^th is more strong caramel menthol with faint bitterness.  This is a pretty satisfying tippy puerh!

10^th is a bitter woody a bit menthol in the finish with a sweet underlying caramel throughout.

Obvious single origin likely plantation material.  Changes slowly from sweet to more bitter over the course of the session.  Strong taste and decent mouthfeel throughout.  Not much bodyfeeling at all really but nice uplifting plantation feel to it.  Seems younger than 2005 likely 2010 ish… dry storage which feels like Kunming.  I really like the experience with this one.

Peace

2005 Greatful Tea Factory Zhengshan Banzhang: Very Laobanzhang!

 

Dry leaves smell of vibrant smooth creamy sweet fruity odours.

The first infusion has a blank watery dry almost pond and peat drier natural Taiwanese storage taste onset with a bit of wood that finishes very very faintly creamy fruity sweet that trails on the breath.  Right off the bat it is believably 2005 aged material.  As the liquid cools there is a more significant long creamy sweetness left behind.

Second infusion has a blank almost faint pond/ marsh taste with a returning throat coolness and creamy sweetness.  The creamy sweetness has a sugar sweet edge to it as well and comes with some nice saliva returning in the mouth.  There is some lesser woody, bark, and even sour notes.  Nice tingling sensation in the limbs and scalp and some relaxing qi.

The third infusion has a faint pondy marsh onset with sour, woody, fruity notes that have a nice saliva producing with a returning coolness with creamy sweet bready aftertaste.  Some fuzzy head Qi sensations.

The fourth infusion has a slight bitter woody and lesser fruity taste.  There is some cooling with a creamy sweet returning taste with a bit of coco in the finish.  Tastier infusion here.  Stronger stuffy head feeling now.

The fifth infusion is a bit bitter coco woody onset with some creamy sugar sweetness that comes after a soft cooling.  The mouthfeeling is really soft so I hadn’t really mentioned it.  There is some sort of peat and creamy sweetness in the aftertaste.  Some nice salivating.  Stuffy strong heady Qi.  Heavy head feeling.  The cooled down cup of tea tastes like a bit bitter wine coco woody with a faint coolness and returning creamy sweetness.  This infusion has an unmistakably Lao Ban Zhang taste and feeling to it.

The sixth infusion has a bitter woody wine onset with some creamy sweet and coco in the finish.  Strong stuffy head Qi.  Some saliva producing.  Nice taste her.

The seventh infusion has a soft velvety mouthfeeling with watery wine woody onset and some cooling in the mouth then a creamy sugar finish.  Nice sugar sweetness in the mouth a few minutes later.

The eighth infusion is left to cool… it gives off creamy sweet almost but not quite banana sweetness with woody sugar sweetness.  It tastes pretty good with stuffy head Qi.

My day gets too busy and I’m let with no choice but to abandon my tea session…

I resume the next day…

And more deliciousness gets pushes out… really yummy and obvious Lao Ban Zhang Taste and Qi with this one.  It has that classic bitter-wine-coco then creamy sweet taste that I highly value and is very Lao Ban Zhang.  I push the spent leaves hard in the mug and these tastes and feelings have lots of depth and stamina in them.  This has enough of the Laobanzhang character in it that it has me interested…

This 2005 Greatful Tea Factory Ban Zhang Zhongshan was initially only offered in the In Search of Real Lao Ban Zhang tasting set but has since been offered at Puerh.uk in quarter cakes and full cakes at approx. $470.00 for 357 g cake or $1.34/g.

Peace

2005 Lao Banzhang Sheng Tai Tuo Cha: Old School, Clear Storage, LaoBanZhang

This is the first in a series of free Laobanzhang samples giftedfrom Paolo of Puerh.uk in my first order and offered for review.  Some of these are from the “In Search of RealLao Ban Zhang” series that he offers.  Its kind of a cool idea that has been overlooked by Western vendors as of late.  Its name implies that maybe they are not 100% or pure LaoBanZhang but some kind of search or journey with some LaoBanZhang-ness to them…. Sounds pretty fun… most of these samples are for sale at Puerh.uk but others are not yet offered.  I sampled these without reading the descriptions… after finishing them I will put a ranking together…

Dry leaves smell of smoky meaty BBQ odours.

First infusion has a light buttery clear and clean floral taste with some very faint smoky mesquite BBQ nose in the finish.  Elegant and clear with nice mind focusing energy right off the bat.  There is a subtle creamy sweetness.  Nice oily mouthwatering effect.

Second infusion has a pure creamy floral taste that builds the oils in the mouth it has a super faint BBQ finish but is primarily elegant and pure creamy sweetness with a very soft mild velvety texture.  Nice soft velvet-chalky fine feeling in the mouth.  Deep mild mind euphoria… this type of Qi certainly feels a bit like Lao Banzhang to me.

The third infusion is left to cool and gives off a pure sweet creamy oily taste that is really clear and nice.  There is a fine full velvety-chalky mouthfeeling.  Nice floral almost tropical fruity taste.  Creamy oily sweet taste.  Nice dry storage on this one gives the tastes a clear pure feeling.  The oily saliva returning taste holds the creamy sweetness in the aftertaste.  Very faint fleeting background smoke.

The 4^th has a very very faint smoke and watery creamy sweet taste upfront.  It is subtle and elegant and pairs nicely with the oily expanding textures of creamy sweet pure tastes.  Strong-ish deep euphoria type of Qi that you would expect from Laobanzhang.  Deep sighs and good uplifting.

The 5^th infusion has a watery juicy creamy sweet onset with an oily mouthfeeling there is a subtle smokiness to it in the aftertaste.  Nice saliva returning creamy sweetness.  Nice pure taste and feeling overall with some faint face, jaw sensations.

6^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy sweet subtle faint smoke creamy oily sweetness.  There is a nice saliva returning. 

7^th has a creamy lubricating oily simple sweet onset with a background late emerging smoke.  The Qi is becoming less strong and has more of a mind slowing relaxation now.

8^th has a buttery creamy taste with faint smoke.  Still oily and saliva returning but less so and coarser mouthfeeling.  Relaxing more than euphoric Qi now.

9^th has a longer 30 second infusion and is a subtle caramel creaminess still really nice clean pure tastes the smoke seems to fade as the infusions go on.  Nice creamy solid sweetness with still nice oily textures.  Pretty satisfying with the subtle faint background smoke.

10^th 60 second infusion then left to cool is a bit smoke, a bit bitter, a bit woody, a bit melon rind but mainly smoky in this longer infusion.  Not much sweetness left.

11^th is a long few minutes long infusion but is mainly just watery smoke now with lesser sweetness coming out in the aftertaste.

It’s a pure and even simple feeling puerh but has nice elements of clear pure taste with the creamy sweetness and subtle background smoke with a decent oily mouth salivating and lingering oily creamy buttery sweetness.  Its Qi has a bit of euphoria to it but not much at all of the Lao Ban Zhang bodyfeeling.  By the sixth infusion the Qi is more of a generic relaxation with a bit of euphoria.  Tastes like an older school processed factory tea at its core.  I like this tea for what it is… I wonder about the price?  Might be just paying for the location here.  Dry storage is nice on this and does it well.  I would have guessed this to be 2007-2009 Kunming or other drier storage… still possibly 2005 but a longer shot for me.

Peace

2005 Chen Yuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi: “Sneak Up On You Qi”… Six Mountains Style!

I am really not sure who first coined the phrase “sneak up on you Qi”?  I do know that I had not seen it in use to describe the chaqi of puerh until I came back to buying puerh around 2017.  I also know that it has been quickly adopted by many Western facing vendors to describe and market their product including the most famous vendors- white2tea, Yunnan Sourcing, and the Essence of Tea.  Did it originate in China, some other puerh drinking nation or in the West?  I don’t know… but what I do know is that this 2005 Chen Yuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi ($599.00 for 400g cake or $1.50/g) is one of the best examples of this type of Qi… and I haven’t even seen anyone mention this before- vendor nor customer!  Around the 4-5th infusion it just runs you over with the car, steals your soul, then drives away… every time, without fail!

I purchased this one from Paolo of puerh.uk at $600, last year it was for sale at TeasWeLike for $490.  They both seem to be natural Taiwanese stored but from different sources.  This seemed to kick off a bit of controversy in this post here but overall, and on a personal level, I am quite happy I had another crack at this one.  After trying the 2003 Chen Yuan Hao TongQingHao Commemorative Cake offered at TeasWeLike I was pretty impressed and was ultra-curious about this 2005 Chen Yuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi.  I will undoubtedly get into some of this controversy later but hope to focus this post on this beautiful puerh….

 Dry leaves have a deep rich woodier musty smell similar but not exactly like Yang storage smells but not as strong…

First infusion has a woody creamy expanding and creamy pop of taste.  Tastes very active and almost tingling in the mouth.  Has overall a woody, earth, and creamy rich taste- a nice balance of tastes but expands to a creamy earth taste in the mouth.  Taste creamy with a chalky mouthfeeling. There is a bit of dried fruit on the breath minutes later.  Somewhat of a deep expanding throatfeeling.

Second infusion has a sweet pop of flavor initially like a creamy kind of fruity pop.  The feeling is oily and creamy in the mouth.  It tastes really active and has a nice floral fruity creamy layered sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is really full chalky feeling a dense feeling where layers of dried fruit like apricot, longan, cherries reside.  There is a really vibrant taste and mouthfeeling to this puerh and they kind of work together to give you a really active taste and feeling.  There is a nice deep throat opening feeling as well.  Nice chest opening and feel good energy so far.  Nice taste, mouthfeeling/throatfeeling and Qi.  Really tasty.

The third infusion has an oily creamy sweet onset with a nice full lubricating mouthfeeling.  There are imprints of dried sweet cherries, plum, longan.  The sweetness expands in the mouth and out into the aftertaste.  It feels deeply opening in the throat.  There is this juicy sweetness even minutes later.  This infusion has a bit more tightness and maybe underlying bitter structure to it giving it a deeper feeling.  Nice open and expanding chest feeling with an overall feel good energy to it.  A little bit of thought slowing and kind of slows the breaths down.

The fourth infusion has an oily dense kind of woody taste with less sweet dried fruits and more deep underlying mild bitterness.  Full tighter mouthfeeling and throatfeeling that pools saliva in the mid-throat.  This infusion has a woody medicial taste to it that fades into a bitter fruity sweetness in the aftertaste.  Stronger chest sensations building.  A bit of astringency that pushes out fruity tastes in the aftertaste.  Starting to feel more bodyfeelings with floppy arms and heavy shoulders sensations.  The mind is starting to slow strongly now with a slowed down feeling.  My chest starts racing and I break into a big sweet… this exerts a very strong effect on the body… Oh baby…

The 5^th has an oily fruity even a nutty onset with a long nutty oily hazelnut taste.  There is some bitterness and dried fruity sweetness in there.  This cup was left to cool and nutty tastes result which kind of surprised me.. yum.  Nice oily mouthfeeling and deeper open throat with saliva producing effect.

The 6^th infusion has an oily buttery onset that is a bit woody and nutty and fruity but nothing too strong, more subtle but overall sweet and lubricating in the mouth.  The mouthfeeling undernieth the oily texture is full and a bit gripping, the throat is open and some saliva producing mid-throat.  Overall, less intense bodyfeelng and Qi but a deeper chest feeling in the body.  Nice feel good and a bit of mind slowly.

The 7^th has an oily creamy sweet almost melon fruity sweetness with vibrant quick pops of dried cherry and longan.  The cooled down cup has more of a nutty earthy woody sweet taste.  Nice oily texture.  Creamy sweet finish.  Chest sensations, feel good Qi.

8^th has a sweet creamy fruity oily onset.  There is some lesser nutty or woody tastes but overall just a nice oily sweet taste with some fruity tastes that pop in the mouth.  Thick chalky coating. Nice pops of fruity sweet taste in the initial tastes and minutes later in the aftertaste.  Deeper open throat and feel feeling in mouth.

9^th has a woody-earth sort of sweet taste onset its watery here with a bit of sweet taste in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is a very full slight chalky puckering feeling.  There is a subtle deep throat cooliness.  Nice slowing feeling in the mind now with some chest opening.

10^th has a woody cherry oily sweet taste.   There is a faint underlying bitter astringency that is hard to grasp.  The mouthfeeling remains full and the taste is a watery, not too oily sweetness mainly.

11^th is steeped 30 seconds past flash steeping and gives off a deeper woodier taste still not much sweetness but a bit more bitterness is pushed out giving the mouthfeeling a more puckering feeling. Nice slowing energy now.

The rest goes into longer mug steepings…

They are a earthy oily mainly dried fruity bland taste with not that much bitter.  The texture is still quite oily almost coco tastes as it cools down and it seems to get more bitter than sweet now.

Overall, this is a powerful puerh that packs a Qi sucker punch... sneak up on you Qi!  It has a lot of nuance to it with a full delicious taste, stronger mouthfeeling and open deep saliva producing throat.  There is lots of change from infusion to infusion to keep you engaged. It’s a nice one but its stamina is not as good.  The power of this puerh also comes in quick like a big wave then recedes relatively quickly.  A powerful example of the “sneak-up-on-you” Qi.

Vs 2003 Chen Yuan Hao TongQingHao Commemorative Cake- these both have a certain older school factory production feeling to them without being overtly old-school.  I’m not too sure exactly what it is, maybe a tighter rolling in production?… I’m not really sure but compared to say Yang Qing Hao they seem to better honour the old way of producting puerh.. althought both this 2005 and the 2003 are very different cakes.  The 2003 Chen Yuan Hao Tong Qing Hao Commemorative Cake is all about the delicious flavor… so delicious but not much Qi in the mind… the bodyfeeling of the 2003, although subtle, is of a very high quality that is actually quite similar to the 1999 Black Stamp I tired within days of this.  This puerh is so different than the 2005 Shanzhong Chuanqi which is all about complexity and big Qi.

Vs 2006 Yang Qing Hao QiXiang- this comparison is much better and shares some qualities being both a Six Famous Tea Mountains blend of gushu materials and both being stronger teas.  The 2005 CYH Shanzhong Chuanqi has that very specific high quality Qi that sneaks up whereas the 2006 YQH Qixiang has that super deep relaxing Qi that is still deeply alerting and revitalizing.  Qixiang has less bodyfeeling for sure and doesn’t generate the intense nervous system reaction but is almost the opposite.  With the Shanzhong Chuanqi you get ran over by the car but with the Qixiang you ARE the car… and it kind of takes you somewhere.  The 2005 CYH has lots lots more complexity of flavor and much more interesting change infusion to infusion.  However, I find that session to session it isn’t as dynamic as the 2006 YQH Qixiang.  With the 2006 YQH Qixiang you get lots of variability session to session sometimes it tastes more like Gedeng, sometimes Yiwu, sometimes slightly Manzhuan-ish or a bit Mangzhi sometimes it is a bit more smokey, sometimes a bit unpleasantly astringent.  Oh the 2005 CYH is also more bitter than astringent where the 2006 YQH is more astringent than bitter… the 2005 CYH never feels harsh on the body but occasionally the astringency in the 2006 Qixiang can.  The huge price difference reflects this.

Marco's Tasting Notes

Paolo's Tasting Notes

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