2011 ChenYuan Hao Qian Jia Zhai Jin Cha: Smooth, Deep, Long

I requested this sample of this 2011 ChenYuan Hao Qian JiaZhai Jin Cha (approx. $100 for 300g mushroom or $0.33/g) from Paolo of Puerh.uk in my last order.  I have been interested in it since seeing it posed on the Teas We Like site.  Jin Cha is not usually of high quality product but this one apparently is.  Also I like the tight compression and tend to enjoy the puerh I’ve sampled from QianJia Zhai in the past.

Dry leaves very very creamy sweet notes it smells like cake almost.

First infusion has a watery floral vegetal peat moss kind of initial taste with a long sweet floral watery finish.  Nice calming mind feeling.

Second infusion has a chalky floral creamy sweet taste with an expanding long floral sweetness that is subtly cooling and long on the breath.  It is really expansive and mouthwatery.  The mouthfeeling makes the lips tight and has a mild puckering feel over a mid-deep opening throat.  Nice long floral sweet taste.

The third infusion is left to cool and gives off a woody floral sweet almost bitter taste the taste is really a nice with a long and sweet floral almost candy-like taste which really expands in the soft oily texture and subtle tight mouthfeeling underneath.  The mouthwatering effect is slow and gradual and gives the feeling of a silky smooth puerh.  The Qi is deeply relaxing and reflective with deep sighs.

The fourth infusion has a creamy floral woody almost peat kind of taste with a nice soft gripping mouthfeeling and throatfeeling with dry lips and a tugging at the back of the throat.  There is some sweet taste and bitter woody-peat.  A faint sugar taste is left in the mouth.  Minutes later there is a distinct coco chocolate taste that lingers on the breath.  Nice deep calming with chest heaviness.  Qi has a strong unwinding feeling that you just sink into.

5^th has a woody bitter oily peat floral less of a sweetness now.  The oily taste is substantial over a tugging tight mouthfeeling.  The returning sweet taste is big and interesting with pops of floral and tart bitter sweet cherries and coco chocolate deeper tastes.  Deep reflective Qi.

6^th infusion has a coco floral onset with nice oily taste with slight gripping tongue long sweet chocolate taste with this one.  Nice slowly building aftertaste and deep heavy chest calming and reflection.  Nice pops of creamy tart bitter cherries but overall and throughout coco.

7^th has a woody cherry bitter tart taste with a long woody kind of peat but with a sweet cherry edge taste.  Nice expansive taste.  Mouthwatering tart-bitter-sweetness with a strong throat simulating effect which pushes saliva in the tongue and mouth.  Deep relaxation and reflection.  Limbs and neck heaviness.

8^th has a cherry berry woody sweet onset with an expanding taste that gets a bit cherry and coco and creamy sweet.  Nice long unveiling of flavor. 

9^th has a creamy cherry sweet woody onset with floral nuances in there.  It ends with this slightly dirt but more of a coco chocolate note.  The flavor slowly evolves over a slightly tight motuhfeeling and nice throat simulating in the mid-upper throat.  Nice relaxing contemplative Qi.

10^th has a cherry-woody-coco onset with a balance of bitter and sweet with a bit of tart flavor initially that stretches into more of a creamy sweet with tart cherry-berry and woody-dirt-coco flavours.  Nice Qi folds over my mind and has a bit of a heavy feeling in the shoulders and arms and face.  Feels deeply reflective.

11^th has a honey woody sweet taste in this cooled down infusion.  There is a long dirt coco taste with creamy sweet honey undertaste.  The Qi has a heavy chest feeling and nice deep relaxing.

12^th has a woody plum coco onset over a tighter mouthfeeling and oily body.  The throat is stimulated mid level and creates a nice long aftertaste of creamy coco slightly bitter-sweet.  Nice deep contemplated Qi.

13^th has a dirt woody bitter coco that is more this bland brackish dirt taste now with lesser sweetness that is more in the aftertaste and almost creamy sweet.  The mouthfeel is becoming tighter here.  Nice strong relaxing Qi.

14^th has a strong creamy bitter sweet coco and brackish dirt taste with a oily slow to develops coolness and creamy sweetness in the aftertaste.  The Qi is this really enjoyable unwinding feeling in the mind while still keeping the alertness and energy stable. 

15^th rich coco taste developing with a nice oily sweetness that slowly comes out in the aftertaste under the dominant coco.  The coco is slightly brackish and dirt there is an evolving almost sweetness.

I got back to the leaves the next day and the flash infusion has a bitter herbs taste to them.

I mug steep out the rest…

Deep dark coco chocolate taste with woody and fruity and bread layers.  Still very deep and complex tasting with a pungent coolness that has a numbing mouth feeling.  Nice oily and rich taste.  Deep dark sweet bitter-sweet coco.  It has that peat-brackish-dirt undertaste to it.

I felt really really good after consuming this puerh.  The Qi is really nice- it is this deep contemplative puerh that doesn’t slow the mind down.  It has some heavy sensations in the body but yet the mind doesn’t feel heavy or bogged down.  I like the slow moving profile and long aftertaste.  There is some really delicious sweet tastes in there and they are nicely balanced with a bit of bitterness that comes out later but not that much astringency.  The throat is nicely stimulated.

I’m unsure what I would compare this one too… but it is really good for its price and I’d like to try the Teas We Like storage before considering a purchase.

Peace

2001 Zhongcha Huang Yin from Teas We Like: Unique Power!!!

On the Teas We Like website ($110.00 for 357g cake or $0.30/g) this puerh is described as true dry Taiwanese storage sourced right from the commissioner.  It is a blended material mainly from the Qianjiazhai area…

Dry leaves have no must or dirt or incense just creamy sweet fruity strawberry-cherry talc undertones.  The pure creamy sweetness of the dry leaves are enchanting.  The storage on this seems very clean-dry Taiwanese storage.

The first infusion has a peat moss with slight bitter onset then a vacuous gap which is filled with mild slight tart sweetness with a full slight tight tongue coating.  There is a faint cooling then long very thin peat moss and almost cherry fruit sweetness.

The second has a peat onset with flat bitter which kind of leaves a long gap in the taste until the tartness reveals a slight cooling with a long lingering, almost cherry, almost creamy fruity, finish.  The flat bitterness is decently strong and comes with a tart, almost sour, nuance.  There is a really long minutes long returning creamy sweetness that lingers for a while.  The creamy sweetness just doesn’t really go away pinned in by the active tartness of the tongue coating and the throat is subtle and deep stimulated by the tart.  The Qi is strong and you really do feel quite warm from the Qi very quickly. 

The third infusion has a nice woody and peat like onset with a quick and creamy development of sweet talc fruity cherry and strawberry.  There is this flat long fairly strong for an aged puerh bitterness that stretches the profile.  The long minutes long aftertaste that follows is a nice creamy talc, almost choke cherry jam, and strawberry cherry nuance.  The Qi is big I feel very warm almost at sweeting.  The chest it races and there is a very strong alerting happening here. Very very nice big Qi.  The smell of the wet leaves are likely Yesheng wild leaf variety.

The fourth infusion starts with a peat-like almost coffee ground bitterness with a swelling tart sour and vibrant long fruity aftertaste.  There is a bit of creamy sweetness that follows the cool pungency.  The mouthfeel is this full coating slightly tight tart.  The minutes long returning breath is cherry jam, creamy talc sweetness.  The long breath minutes long returning fruity aftertaste is another strong sign of some yesheng or wild tea content as is the big Qi, strong alertness even flightiness.

The fifth infusion has a turbid woody bitter coffee ground onset. Then a flat bitter vacuous before very mild cooling and deep tart sourness.  The mouthfeeling is tight and stimulating griping tart but not really puckering.  The Qi is so good wild tea Qi.  Very nice very strong, like a floating and levitating feeling, very very warming thermodynamic Qi.  Long minutes long aftertaste.

The sixth is very bitter and it pretty much dominates the profile start to finish.  The bitterness beats the crap out of my empty stomach.  It’s unique to have a tea so warming yet so bitter.  There is possibly bitter variety wild yesheng material in here but I can’t be certain.  There is peat, coffee ground, very sour tart like choke cherry jam.  Long minutes later sweetness. Big Alerting and heady Qi- an alarm bell sounding in the head!

The 7^th is distinctly sour with a subtle sweet fruit taste.  There is some bitter woody peat tastes then a long subtle lingering aftertaste of choke cherry jam, a creamy sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is concentrated on the roof of the mouth and tongue and gives a tight tart feeling.  The throatfeeling is pretty deep but mainly upper stimulating.  The Qi is very strong pushing past alerting to a stoned feeling now.  This less bitter infusion is less harsh on the digestion.

The 8^th infusion has a sour bitter, slight peat and woody onset of sweet tart cherry.  There is then a vacuous length to the profile that is mainly bitter then creamy almost cherry and slight bitter sour intermingle.  The jaw has a nice releasing bodyfeeling here.  I feel pushed past alert into a spacy out of body feeling.  Strong Qi.

Ninth infusion has a darker peat woody onset with sour sweet tart fruits.  The bitter emerges out of these initial tastes to reach deep across the profile.  Tart fruits, creamy sweet talc and choke cherry like tastes emerge.  Qi is very relaxing and has backed off digestion as it is less bitter now.

10^th has a sour woody peat onset with a flat fruit taste.  There is much less bitterness now and more sour than bitter.  A nice breath taste follows of fruits.

11^th has a brackish sour cherry and wood taste presentation.  Less bitter and sourer tasting. 

12^th has a bitter sour dry dirt woody with tart fruit.  The tongue coating and mouth and throat stimulation are less as the bitter also declines. Qi is more relaxing now.

13^th has a mild bitterness with more of a sour presentation.  The sweetness is also declining and a wood peat and bitterness lingers with a bit of sour.

14^th is woody peat sour almost fruity slight bitter comes quick but then turns vacuous and bland in the mouth.  The aftertaste is pretty much gone and I think I will put this into overnight steepings.

The next morning I am greeted with a very fruity vibrant liquor in a decently bitter base.  I put this into another overnight steeping and get much the same.  I put it in another overnighter-  It steeps out strong fruity tastes a few more days.  Very nice.

I did some comparison tasting with both a Malaysian stored 2003 Shuangjiang Mengku Da Due Shan wild brick from Teapals and a Malaysian stored 2008 Essence of Tea Qianjiazhai wild but there are some similarities between these but also too many differences as well.  So I decided against it.  This 2001, I think is a really unique tea, hard to put in a box.

This 2001 Zhongcha Huangyin is pretty good for its age and price too.  The impressively clean processing and dry storage is quite nice.  Crazy big Qi.  Unique heat inducing and sweating while still being bitter- bitter heat is an unusual presentation.  There might be some yesheng/ wild tea blended in here.  How much, I can’t be certain.  It has enough indications for me that it might be yesheng and should be evaluated more like this.  I would say that possibly bitter yesheng and sweet yesheng might be part of this blend.  I can’t be sure, but it has enough characteristics to make it possible.  It is also something that I don’t think most would crave on a daily drinker basis due to its unique profile.  I think those who like some Lao Man E would appreciate the bitterness.  But man, oh man… great value and big Qi.  A very unique tea for sure.  Would not have ordered this one if I knew it was wild but its nice value and Big Qi that having one of these around won’t bother me a bit.  I wouldn't rule out a re-order if the speed test dictates it.  For those in the mood for something a bit different with a powerful experience look no further.

Best tasting note ever:

"Max's tasting note: Instant sauna, just add water."

So true.

James’ (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Marco's (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Peace

2008 Essence of Tea Qianjiazhai Wild

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