2008 Bi Yun Hao Daqishu: Pure Yiwu

Daqishu is an area of Yiwu and I don’t remember having one from this specific area.  I picked up this sample from Liquid Proust last year…

Dry leaves smell of a very creamy candy floss sweet floral woody odour.

First infusion has a creamy soft candy sweet taste that begins then floats off into the distance.  There is some sweet creamy candy like sweetness that rides out on the breath also an almost carrot/ sweet potato nuance faintly in the distance but mainly this long creamy sweet ethereal uninterrupted taste very Yiwu taste.

The Second infusion has a peachy creamy sweet onset with a long airy clear note of sweet creamy Yiwu that hangs up in the breath a bit.  Very soft mossy full mouthfeeling with a bit of saliva producing but a deep vacuous throat feeling.  Nice floating out of body Qi feeling here with some body wobbling side to side feeling as if bobbing like a buoy in the ocean. 

3^rd has a slightly more woody sharing a balance between sweet creamy and woody dry onset with very clear notes not interrupted by any storage notes- this one is stored quite dry and the result is lots of clarity here.  There is a bit of a juicier peachy nuance here with mainly a long creamy sweetness that uninterrupted rides out in the breath.  Deep breath throat feeling.  Nice mossy full mouthfeeling with a deep subtle open throatfeeling.  Nice spacy Qi with some chest beats.  A bit time slowing Qi here too.

4^th was left to cool down and it gives off a woody watery almost honey sort of floral and ends creamy sweet in the mouth and breath.  Ethereal and airy and pure and light.  There is more of a mossy gripping mouthfeeling now with a slight pull at the throat.  Nice spacy feeling qi with some chest beats.

5^th infusion has a watery almost sweet potato nuance to it over woody with faint suggestions of creamy sweet and maybe peach taste.  Nice chalky mossy and slightly tugging the throat sensations.  Nice spacy Qi feeling.  Some almost candy glimpses in the aftertaste.  Clear taste profile nice spacy qi.

6^th has an oily buttery creamy taste slight woody with a melon and sweet potato there is woody creamy nuances that fade into the breath here.  Nice spacy feeling.

7^th has a melon watery fruity onset with clear taste of Yiwu here.  The cool cup is even clearer sweet potato and melon taste fade out in the breath and less deep in the throat now.  Very straightforward single estate material.

8^th has a woody oily sweet potato and melon onset with a subtle fading out into creamy sweetness.  Very clear and simple single estate gushu brilliantly dry stored.  Nice spacy feeling to the Qi.  In the body there is a loose jaw feeling in the face and some more obvious chest Heart beats.

9^th is cooled down and gives off a sweet woody sort of melon peach with a nice faint fade out.  The mouthfeeling is mossy with a bit of gripping- pretty mild.  Nice floating feeling, spacy, with heart beats.

10^th has an oily peachy woody taste with a nice lubricating texture when left to cool.  Nice soft mossy mouthfeeling.  Simple and clear taste.  Nice mild spacy feeling.

11^th has a woody oily taste with a bit of distant peach not that sweet but absolutely no bitter or astringency either.

I mug steep out the spent leaves and it gives off woody faint onset with a peachy melon taste to it.  The mouthfeel is a full mossy slight gripping feeling.  The peachy taste lingers for mintues later popping in the mouth and saliva then fading only to come back again.  Nice spaced out feeling here.

This is a very simple high quality, straightforward and pure single estate Yiwu Gushu with near perfect storage and processing.  What’s not to like about this?? 

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Peace

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

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

BiYun Hao: Where Art Thou????

Where has Biyun Hao been all these years?

I think, I remember first seeing it for sale, a 2007? Byunhao Yiwu at Puerhshop of all places!  Then you really didn’t see any Biyun Hao at all really but you knew it was going to be pretty good because James of TeaDB got a hold of the better older BiYun Hao cakes a while ago and it was my guess at the time that someone gave him a hot tip… and you would hear some mummers by the Tea Illuminati that Bi Yun Hao has some pretty good mid-aged older boutique stuff… but nothing really appeared until Teas We Like decided to take it on.

I think it has been, since its earliest formation, one of the missions of Teas We Like to give us a deep and thorough introduction to Bi Yun Hao.  Biyun Hao is a Taiwanese boutique brand of puerh that has never had the attention nor the appreciation in the English speaking world that has afforded Yang Qing Hao (thanks to Emmett) and Zhi Zi Hao (Thanks to Houde).  I think the choice of which cakes to offer from the BiYun Hao catalogue was a very deliberate decision by TeasWeLike .  They have kindly given us a slow, easy and controlled intro to BiYun Hao.  First with some newer and better priced (less expensive) gushu stuff that is both stronger blended materials such as the Mahei blends they offer (such as this 2013 BiYun Hao Mahei) as well as the more elegant Yuwu Gushu stuff such as the Yibi Gushus (including this 2015 Yibi Gushu) and even the 2015 Lishan Gongcha and the brand new 2020 and 2021 BiYun Hao Longdui productions (here and here ).

However, the main attraction, as far as I could gather, has always been these older Biyun Hao productions…

They are finally letting these out of the gate with both quarter cakes and full cakes.  The slow release of the other productions over the years has put me, I think, in a greater position to appreciate them on a different and deeper level.  So I very much appreciate their care in releasing them.

I managed to get a few of these before they sold out and will post them here with a few other BiYun Hao that they will likely focus on in the coming years which they haven’t released (2008-2010).

Peace

Marco’s 2021 Blind Tasting Beta

I know it is common practice or etiquette to sample the younger, cooler energy puerh before the older aged warmer energy puerh.  However, after the sauna which was Marco’s blind “Alpha” sample I needed something cooler in energy to bring my sweating-overheated-self back into harmony.  In fact it is common that I will drink a super warming puerh in the cool of early morning then cool things down in the afternoon with something younger.  There isn’t anything wrong with that- its called “listening to your body”.  So I thought to squeeze in another blind sampling on this first rainy cool day in a few months of drought.   So I started on the next sample alphabetically and I opened the package labeled “beta”.  It looked and smelt pretty young so I just went for it in the afternoon of a long but leisurely day at work…

Dry leaves are younger looking with a thin white hairy fur presentation they smell sweet- an orange floral kind of odour.  Rinsed leaves smell of sweet mineral, coco and piercing pungent sweetness.

The first infusion is a very creamy creamy almost custard sweetness that transverses to a creamy coolness.  The profile is very clear, pure and young maybe 2020 material here?  The creaminess is long in the aftertaste.  Lots of cooling sweetness on the inhale.  Thin oily soft light creamy tongue coating.  Spacy Qi sensation here.  The wet leaves smell of a pungent gamey- mushroom odour that reminds me a bit of Yiwu regions far south and a bit of even close to border tea territory.

The second infusion has a creamy buttery cup vibrant fruity taste with subtle mushroom-gamey-forest-almost smoky nuance but mainly a strong clear pure sweetness.  Very clear pure long sweetness.  The throat sensation is deep with a very creamy sweetness returning.  There is a subtle barn yard like taste to it to give it depth.  The aftertaste is deep and long.  Spacy Qi.

The third infusion has a licorice creamy peach vibrant sweetness to it with a forest taste underneath that faintly appears and disappears as well.  Nice peachy light creamy sweetness, a long pure sweetness.  Somewhat reminds me of Lincang here but more likely Yiwu.

The fourth infusion has a creamy peachy gushu sweetness.  The taste is pure and long.  This puerh kind of reminds me of the 2015 BiYunHao Lishan Gongcha.  In its long pure sweetness and is starting to finish slightly coco chocolate.  The effect is very nice.  Not sure if it’s just because it’s coming from Marco but it seems like it has a Biyun Hao production taste and feel to it… Maybe 2019 Lishan Gongcha?  Nice spacy Qi.

The fifth infusion has a nice coco chocolate onset with a creamy sweet bready taste creamy and smooth.  The chocolate subtle nutty taste is more creamy than bitter and the sweet taste is very long.  Nice vibrant pure tastes here reminiscent of Biyun Hao productions.  Nice spacy Qi sensations.  Very deliciously tasty.  Has an almost medicinal sweet mushroom aftertaste.  Yummy!

The sixth infusion has a vibrant fruity melon and peachy pop of an onset with an emerging and supportive chocolate base that expands long in the long run uninterrupted aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is velvety and soft.  The throat feeling is a deep opening feeling.  Vibrant and clear taste with a nutty choco body to it and a vibrant long sweet bread taste.  The taste has a pop to it that is really very much Biyunhao.  Nice euphoria Qi.

The 7^th has a creamy coco biter chocolate tasting very delicious thing.  A long cool chocolate tasting thing.  Has a nutty almost bitter dirt like taste to it something here reminds me of Banzhong.  Long cool sweet chocolate profile.  Nice spacy feeling.  Oily soft mouthfeeling.

The 8^th has a creamy coco sweetness with a sweet nutty taste to it.  Really long profile aftertaste over an oily soft faintly gripping mouthfeeling.  Nice euphoric Qi.  Not much for body feelings.

9^th has a watery fruity coco chocolate taste that has a deep faint coolness which carries a long undisrupted sweet creamy coco aftertaste.  Nice euphoria.  Soft velvety mouthfeeling with an oily feeling.

10^th infusion has a watery coco nutty roasted creamy sweetness.  The moderate euphoria of the qi is starting to make me feel ungrounded and a bit stoned.  Nice velvety mouthfeeling. 

11^th has a bit of a carrot dirt taste that reminds me of Nannou (Shah8 would say) area puerh it mingles with coco and has a different roasted hazelnut dirt coco carrot taste to it.  There is an interesting saliva gob building with a faint creamy sweet finish that is somewhat vegetal.  I’m getting some Heart palpitations now from the Qi.

12^th is a watery dirt kind of taste with some nutty tastes, coco bitter tastes and creamy sweet tastes emerging.  The taste has flattened out a bit and became a bit more bitter.  The mouthfeel and throatfeel are moderately gripping now.

Next day…

The 13^th tastes pretty watery a bit of sweet watery celery and some floral faint watery tastes.  Still faint cool throat with a flat thin mouthfeeling.  Pear fruity aftertaste.

14^th is still at flash steeping and has a watery chocolate taste with a sweet pear fruity returning taste.  Long cool sweetness, almost sugary here.  Sweet taste is really long and ethereal, pure and unimpeded.  Still has a mild euphoria.  Nice long sweetness…

15^th has a more watery mushroom-dirt-coco watery taste… not much taste… but what is there is long the coco turns to coolness and long faint fading sweetness….

I put this one into mug steepings…

The result is a moderately bitter slight vegetal coco tasting thing with a long cool breath finish.  The mug steeping is quite nice and full feeling.  A nice euphoric Qi is still there to be enjoyed.

Guess: 2019/2020, Yiwu, BiYun Hao.  This is likely a BiYun Hao production as it has that taste and feel and processing and, well, it came from Marco, which biases me leaning toward BiYun Hao.  It tastes like a Southern Yiwu area Gushu puerh to me.  This sample really reminds me a lot of the 2015 BiYun Hao LiShan Gongcha and I think it might be the 2019 Bi Yun HaoLiShan Gongcha or at least some of the individual components that go into this blend like this or this?  It has the really long ethereal super stretched out sweetness that the 2015 LiShanGongCha has.  There are licorice like sweet tastes to it and an almost Lincang like feel to it.  Then as the session goes it develops this bitterness to it.  In this way this sample has a similar feel to my blind tasting of the 2015 last Summer.  But looking back on my notes they are only roughly similar…

Peace

Comparing Biyun Hao Medium Aged productions from Teas We Like

I happen to drink 2015 Biyun Hao Yibi Gushu, 2015 Biyun Hao Li Shan Gongcha, and 2012 Biyun Hao Ma Hei all within a few days of eachother in an attempt to decide whether I would want to purchase any of them and to delve deeper into the Biyun Hao brand/house style on offer at Teas We Like…

The similarity between all of the productions is the steadiness of the processing.  They all seem to be processed in the same way that is a balance between “green” and “longer” processing.  Some could easily concede that this is the ideal.  The other thing I noticed is that they all have a long lingering aftertaste and vibrant Qi.  These are great positives right off the bat!

After trying all three, I think I liked the 2015 Biyun HaoLi Shan Gongcha (pictured Right)($200.00 for 360g cake or $0.56/g) best especially considering it is a bit cheaper than the others.  In some ways it is a bit of a one trick pony and it is short lived but the trick is glorious!  It’s that very pure, elegant, and long fluffy candy sweetness.  I have aged puerh out like this in the past and usually when it gets to 8-10 years the elegance seems to age out a bit.  Its maybe more for drinking now but should age alright.

The 2015 Biyun Hao Yibi Tedagushu ($255.00 for 360g cake or $0.71/g- sold out) has the best most rounded overall performance of the three.  Interestingly it is the only out of the three that is not blended.  In some ways I think this one is the best full package out of the three and it is the only one I caked (blindly).  In many ways this is the best material of the three by far.

The 20 13 Biyun Hao Ma Hai (pictured Left) $220.00 for 360g cake or $0.61/g) has the most raw power and strength (much like the quick power dump of a Bulang) although this power is short lived and its tastes sometimes feel looser and less cohesive overall.  It has more age and seemingly more humid storage out of the others.  If you were looking for power in an elegant blend this one is for you.

Peace

 

Revisit: 2015 Biyun Lishan Gongcha

This was a pretty straightforward and very enjoyable puerh when I  tried it blind in the summer.  I’m sampling it again a day after re-visiting the 2013 Biyun Hao Mahei and 2 days after 2015 Biyun Hao Yibi Tedagushu with hopes of a nice comparison coming next post. 

Dry leaves have a faint sweet cereal odour.  Lots of subtle honey sweetness with expansive and long fluffy candy sweetness in the aftertaste.  Very pure and elegant with soft full light chalky fluffy aftertaste with a light oily lubricating feeling.  Very elegant in the body as well with some Heart thumping and focused relaxation.  A big stoner Qi develops with this one over long elegant long breath honey and candy sweetnesses.  The downside to this puerh is weaker stamina but it is actually quite common for puerh that is this highnoted and subtle.  The infusions in the later infusions turn to woody and somewhat astringent slight bitter.  

Overall I really like this elegant and Qi heavy puerh.  I knew what to expect this time and felt the energy of this puerh really put me in a good spot today!  I think this session turned out better than the first blind tasting.  The very long elegant finish is something spellbinding!

Peace

Revisit: 2013 Biyun Hao Mahei

I revisited this puerh because it was my favorite of the blind sessions by Marco (which happened to include many puerh from Teas We Like) and I am considering an order.  When I tried this one blind I actually had just finished a full blind tasting sessionof the 2015 Biyun Hao Lishan Gongcha and felt quite relaxed and stoned but was hoping for an energy boost.  I never sample two teas for review back to back or side by side.  You simply can’t get a really clear read on the Qi as the first tea can often interact with the second.  I wondered if that effect happened when I last sampled this one?...

Dry leaves smell of sweet floral woody odours.  Nice long leaves. Initial taste is quite floral with a full chalky mouthcoating and full long lingering candy fullness and perfume floral over a mild bitter-astringency woody base with hints of cherry and coco.  The taste is obviously gushu but has a certain intensity to it.  There is strength in both the mouthfeeling, flavor, and qi yet elegance.  Strong intense bodyfeeling of Heart racing and racing euphoria that builds up in the mind.  Although the taste is strong it is not a dense or deeply layered taste but rather pure and clear and gushu layers of taste.  Sometimes I feel like this puerh has too much space in the taste. 

I think the weakness of this puerh is twofold… 1- The taste is not super deep or dense but presents rather like a bunch of superficial but super delicious and quite complimentary tastes.  The tastes work really well together but they don’t give you a certain satisfying depth. 2- the active phase of this puerh is somewhat short- especially for the Qi which really blows your socks off early but drops off fast in the midsession the kind of way a Bulang will often present.  Also the Qi was strong but maybe not as strong as my initial appraisal and I think it was piggy backing some of the subtle power of the 2015 Biyun Hao Li Shan Gong Cha.  I think my most interesting observation about the blind sampling was my attempt to blindly price something like this which I said “it could be priced higher than the 2005 Nanqiao Double Lion Bulang.”  This goes for $220 and the double lion for $237.  So I guess it’s probably priced a bit lower but either way it doesn’t present with such value that I feel so strongly enough to put an order through at a time when I’m buying much less puerh.  Definitely enjoyable and still on my radar… but maybe just not yet…

Peace

2015 Biyun Hao Yibi Tedagushu: Lovely!

I remember when Teas We Like offered the now sold out BiyunHao Vertical Tasting of Yibi.  I was definitely curious.  I remember Marco being fond of the processing and care and overall experience of this Yiwu area which Biyun Hao has a long history.  But I also would have just preferred to simply know what the best Yibi is.  This 2015 Biyan Hao Tedagushu ($255.00 for 360g or $0.71/g cake) was a limited release and sold out fast.  It was billed by Teas We Like as their favorite of all the available Biyun Hao Yibi Gushu productions.

Dry leaves have a woody, almost licorice, and candy odour.

First infusion has a buttery woody creamy almost licorice sweet approach.  The mouthfeel is soft and full fluffy feeling.  The throat opens to an upper-mid depth which causes a bit of salivation in the mouth.  There is a long lingering licorice almost mushroom wood aftertaste.  This is a nice smooth puerh.  The Qi is a very reassuring calm with a bit of Chest sensations.

The second infusion is a creamy sweet woody kind of caramel licorice in a nice oily broth.  The oil leaves and the tongue and what is left a soft chalky sand with saliva pooling in the upper-mid throat.  The aftertaste of almost candy but mainly woody mushroom that is mainly sweet and oily.  The sweet candy lingers on the breath.  The Qi is immediately apparent in the head even a heavy head sensation is left there with deep breaths in the belly and open chest feeling.  There is a fresh coolness in the inhales and exhales along with candy in the upper-mid throat.

The third infusion has a richer woody sweet onset with a slight sandy mouthcoating with an oily broth.  There are notes of licorice and even metallic notes in the initial taste.  You can sense some almost unnoticeable incense tastes as the upper-mid throat is stimulated and an almost woody, mushroom, caramel sweetness is left behind.  The Qi is pretty strong in the mind and makes me feel like I am a bit heavy and hazy here.  Nice mild but quite noticeable body feeling of heavy shoulders and head, open diaphragm and chest.

The fourth infusion has a rich woody almost caramel sweetness the taste is real pure and clear and comes in a somewhat oily broth and as it recedes leaves a fine slight sandy mouthcoating and lips dryness.  The throat is stimulated a bit deeper in the mid throat here where a woody, mushroom, licorice and faint candy really linger.  The sweet woody mushroom long aftertaste is real nice.  So is the Qi that is both strong but relaxing on the body.  It leaves me feeling great with a nice opening body sensation in the Abdomen and Heart with slight heavy shoulder and head.

The 5^th has an almost pear sweeter candy almost caramel initial splash of taste in a mildly oily broth.  There is a sweet candy that overarches the whole profile and is really nice.  The sweetness hangs out in the mid-throat and is long on the breath.  The taste is nice like a mushroom woody a predominately sweet taste.  The mouthfeeling is a sandy, lip drying, feeling that is revealed when the oily broth recedes.  The Qi is nice and happy and deeply refreshing in the mind with opening and heavy mild sensations in the body.

The 6^th has a smooth creamy sweet almost caramel with mushroom and woody complexity to the sweet that is overarching and long.  The tastes really are quite long and stretch deep into the breath.  The taste is really yummy, expansive and long.  Very gushu but also very East Yiwu.  The Qi is really nice with a deep feeling good strong mind feeling with a very harmonious, soothing, strong bodyfeeling of heavy shoulders and limbs with opening chest and Lungs.

The 7^th has a woody mushroom onset with a candy like taste that comes out and expands in the throat.  The liquor here is not really oily anymore so it just coats the mouth in a sandy, lip drying coating and simulates the upper-mid throat a tiny bit enough for a long candy like and mushroom-wood taste.  Again the taste profile is really clear and pure with the same tastes coming out in different measures.  The Qi is happy and soothing in the mind and obvious but harmonious in the body.

The 8^th infusion has a more fruity pear taste upfront with woody-mushroom in the distance- the tastes go long in the profile and make themselves known in different areas like the mouth, throat, breath- a sign of a nice single estate gushu taste for me.  The Qi is deeply penetrating but harmonious and relaxing.  Long almost caramel mushroom woody sweetness is left on the breath.

The 9^th has a nice woody mushroom subtle sweetness over a full fine sandy dry lips mouthfeeling.  There is a soft cool almost mushroomy caramel sweetness.  Long candy finish.  The taste is starting to weaken although it maintains its breadth.  Almost fruity finish on the breath now.  Nice relaxing uplifting Qi.  Good harmonizing bodyfeeling.

The 10^th infusion has a bit of dry woody astringency now with more of a subtle sweetness.  The woody taste is dominant now with the sweetness reduced and mainly on the breath with a bit of fresh coolness.  The mouthfeeling is drier even into a dry upper throat.  Nice Qi.

The 11^th has a woody dry initial taste with a subtle sweetness.  The oiliness is gone in the liquor leaving lots of sandy dryness as a mouthcoating with no polarity to level it out.  The throat is a bit dry here too with a subtle candy breath taste.

12^th is much more watery and woody and fruity.  There is a distinct mild dryness about the mouthfeeling and throatfeeling with edges of candy in the aftertaste.  Nice relaxing Qi with a bit of heavy shoulders body feeling left.

13^th has a watery muted fruitiness over a dry mouth, lips, and throat.

I mug steep the rest out…

These long mug steeps push out a chalky, woody, almost savory mushroom, slight dirt taste with very faint coolness on the breath with ghostly almost unrecognizable candy sweetness.  Solid tastes are left in these long infusions.

This is a nice gushu puerh with very clear single origin taste (of woody mushroom, sweet candy finish, some caramel and occasional pear), mouthfeeling (full sandy almost drying lips and mid deep throat simulation with an oily liquor in the first half of the session), and qi (nice bodyfeeling of open chest and abdomen with very happy and harmonious qi feeling.  Great Qi and bodyfeeling!  It is strange that the taste, mouthfeeling, and Qi reminds me of the 2020 EoT TianMenShan!  They might possibly be similar in production, tree age, and location.  The Tianmenshan is definitely stronger and less smooth gushu and has a more interesting but kind of similar flavour.  This lovely Yibi is nearly twice as cheap per gram though.

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Peace