2009 XiziHao Diangu: Orange Blossoms Peachy Floral Heartbeats!

This sample was also acquired from Liquid Proust.  He also used to sell the whole cake on his site as well…

Dry leaves are a sweet creamy talc rose woody odour.

First infusion has an icing sugar with a rose and woody paper taste.  There is a watery creamy kind of fruity finish in the mouth.

Second has a tangy perfume floral cardboard box sweet taste initially.  It has that turnip taste and a sort of dirt and mint taste too.  The coolness in the throat is much more with this than the 2007 or 2008.  There is an almost peach edge to it.  The mouthfeeling is more juicy and lubricating too not the same as the 2007 and 2008 which was more fine sandy slight gripping… it might get there in later infusions…

The third infusion has a peachy fruity rose perfume creamy lubricating sweetness to it.  The coolness goes deep into the throat and expands in a peachy creamy perfume way.  There is some bitterness throughout here now and a flat cardboard taste.  This infusion is a nice balance of sweet, cooling pungent, bitter and bland with sweeter overall.  The Qi is quite strong in the Chest closer to the 2007 than the 2008 in its strong chesty heart beats.  The Qi is more invigorating and energizing than the 2007 and 2008.  The 2007 has more of a deeper profound effect with pronounced bodyfeelings which the others don’t.

The fourth infusion has a medicinal cardboard cherry cough syrup taste that the 2008 definitely had- bitter, sweet, kind of sour and dense.  There is a juicy bitter sour fruity thing with a dose of significant perfume.  The liquid is much thicker and oily than the 2008 and 2007.  There is a peachy, creamy bitter cardboard taste that comes out in the aftertaste.  Nice strong Chest sensations and intense energy.

The fifth infusion has a strong medicinal bitter cherry cough syrup and cardboard taste with edges of turnip.  This infusion is strongly bitter and leaves an oily but underneath fine sandy aftertaste.  Strong Chesty Qi and Heart beats with energy bursts.

The 6^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy bitter cardboard parsnip bitter sweet taste… mainly bitter with a lesser perfume body.  The aftertaste has a perfume and almost sour fruity cardboard taste to it.  This is bitterer than both the 2008 & 2007.  With more dynamic movement between initial taste and aftertaste.

The 7^th has a lubricating Sweettart candy like taste that is both sweet and sour and almost artificially tasting.  This infusion is more sour and less bitter or sweet.  The taste is really delicious and candy like here.  The aftertaste is pretty long but not at long as the 2008 or 2007 which would go even 10-20 min later some infusions.

The 8^th is left to cool and is a bland cardboard bitter woody sour fruity perfume kind of initial taste that extends into the aftertaste.  There is a kind of sour floral orange blossom perfume finish that lingers minutes later.  Decent Heart pounding Qi.

9^th infusion is very peachy pear onset with almost no floral bitter cardboard tastes.  It has a bit of a sour orange peel taste to it with orange blossom.  Nice citrus taste here that is a touch sour and bitter but volatile fragrances and mainly sweet.  The mouthfeeling is a faint fine powdery feeling.  The throat is deeply more cooling than the 2008 and 2007 but the mouthfeeling is less strong or full.

10^th infusion has a peachy pear taste with a subtle cardboard flat woody taste.  There is lesser bitter notes in there and lesser sour and still a floral perfume but not as strong.  The mouthfeeling is a fine sandy feeling that the other years have.  This one has a bitter orange peel and orange blossom finish.  Qi has still some chest action going on with some energetic focusing.

11^th has a bitter woody dirt floral nuance to it with an orange peel blossom bitter woody taste. The dry sandy mouthfeeling feels like the 2008 and 2007 now.  Nice mild energy still uplifting and mildly Heart racing.  Although this is the youngest of the tasting it isn’t at all raw on the stomach like the others can be in a few of the infusions.

12^th has an oily peachy pear fruity onset with not really any bitter or floral or spicy left.  There is an nice oily texture with some cooling deep throat and a bit of sandy undercoating with a mild energy now.

13^th has a strong Asian pear and lesser honey taste, pear peelings, nice sweetness of melon now.  Light fruitier notes are coming out now without any bitterness.  Nice mouthwating sensations.

14^th much of the same peachy, melon, pear tastes that really taste like Yiwu puerh here.  The 2008 and 2007 didn’t have the last handful of infusions that were very fresh and fruity with no bitterness.

Mug steepings of all three spent leaves…

2009 is bitter woody cardboard dirt like taste a faint underlying sweetness of candy melon that barely makes its way through the bitterness.  Big Chest pounding in this long infusion!  On the whole significantly better than the 2008.

2008 is a sweet plummy initial taste with some bitter cardboard underneath taste with a strong cherry cough drop cool pungency.  I think this is that weird minty taste working out.  Overall tastes quite delicious.  Very oily and lubricating. 

2007 is a deep sweet resin incense taste with this very sweet initial pop of flavour.  It’s weird that this mug steeping reminds me lots of the 2001 Naked Yiwu? Strange… but delicious.  More of a deep complex lurking bitterness underneath.  There is this deep penetrating perfume taste that just lingers for a long time on the breath.  2007 is by far the best of the samples mainly due to the strong Qi and bodyfeelings and very intense unique tastes and long stamina.  The Houde storage is significantly better to this year than the Taiwanese storage of the Liquid Proust samples.

These long steepings do much to reveal at its core the differences between these Dianggus!

Peace

2008 Xizi Hao Diangu: Minty Cardboard Perfume Heartbeats!

I picked up this 2008 Xizi Hao Diangu sample at Liquid Proust last year.  I think it was a comparative set along with the 2009.  He has done lots of options with Diangu on his site over the years including offering this full iron cake version.

Dry leaves smell of cardboard and a sweet creamy woody odour.  Not any piercing nectar like the Houde 2007 but same cardboard like odour which is interesting because I thought it was a storage odour and maybe it comes from the same collector and is…

First infusion has a woody, cardboard onset cherry and turnip earthy tastes.  It’s a smooth and a bit watery with a thin full sandy mouth and unique hints of fruit I can’t describe.

The second infusion has a perfume onset with notes of tart rosehips and almost grapefruit pith fruity bitterness.  There is a movement to a creamy berry sweet taste that slowly emerges and expands in the aftertaste.  There is a sweet tart perfume taste in the mouth even minutes later.  The lingering aftertaste is long.  Qi is focusing and happy with a bit of chest Qi.

The third infusion has a woody perfume cardboard bitters onset.  There is a subtle hong cha note and an emerging minty perfume taste in the aftertaste.  Tastes a bit soapy floral almost creamy.  It has a soft thin sandy but full feeling in the mouth.  Spacy and floating Qi takes hold of my mind with some Heart beats.

4^th has a woody bitter cardboard with a soapy floral perfume note that is a bitter minty taste.  Not as condensed, perfume, or bitter as the drier stored 2007 from Houde.  Strong initial presentation of flavour then develops a bit more cardboard minty taste.  Long aftertaste of initial flavours.  Steady strength from the Qi totally spaces me out while I can feel strong Chest pounding.  The cooled cup has a more tart woody cardboard fruitiness, less bitter-mint, and nice long creamy and smoother sweetness.  A touch harsh on the digestion from being a bit young maybe.

5^th has a medicinal cherry cough syrup onset with that minty bitter edge to it.  It has an emerging creamy sweet note in there that comes out as the more bitter notes recede.  Soft full thin sandy mouthfeeling.  Nice Chest Qi sensation with floating mind.

6^th infusion has a sour rose hip and cardboard taste.  There is some bitter floral tastes a touch woody and sort of minty.  The fine full soft sandy mouthfeeling is prominent.  Nice relaxing floating Qi.  Vs   2007 this one is much less condensed, powerful in taste, aroma, and Qi.  Its maybe 1/2 as good.

7^th has a root turnip, floral perfume, carboard onset with a carrot creamy sweet finish.  Nice soft full fine sandy mouthfeeling.  This infusion has more of a root veggie taste which did not appear in the 2007.

8^th has a bitter metallic woody body floral cardboard and sandy mouthfeeling.  Cooled it is more creamy sweet and minty with lesser bitter cardboard wood.  Nice lingering sweet floral breath.

9^th has a cardboard woody floral taste to it.  There is a bit of minty almost root veggies edges to it.  Still lots of medium bitterness that comes with a woody flat taste.  Nice decent chest expanding and uplifting spacy feeling.

10^th infusion has a bitter woody root veggies floral taste initially then has a metallic like finish along with woody bitterness.  This infusion has much less sweetness.  More of a flat taste in the mouth.

12^th is a more creamy woody cardboard floral onset that ends more sweet that woody.  The 2008 is way less perfume.  Nice thin full fine sandy mouthfeeling.  Nice uplifting Qi.

13^th has a woody almost watery bitter flat woody taste with edges of sweetness.  Mouthfeeling is a bit more gripping and has not much sweetness, a bit of perfume.  Nice Chest pounding and uplifting more energizing Qi than the 2007s stupefying Qi.

14^th has a woody cardboard root veggie kind of flat taste with not really any sweetness left.  A flat dry puckering mouthfeeling.  Uplifting Qi.

Although this 2008 is still pretty enjoyable, the quality gap between the 2007 from Houde and this 2008 is very significant.

Peace

2007 Xizi Hao Diangu: Drinking Power Perfume !?!

This past week I took 3 days to sample through Xizi Hao’s Diangu offerings 2007, 2008, and 2009. Due to my always way too long tasting notes I will break them into separate posts with the 2009 post having a bit of an overview.  It ended up being a crazy life altering week… because Diangu is kinda like that…

The first is my last sample from Houde.  It’s a 100% Houde Houston stored cake.  The 2007 Zixi Hao Diangu sold out last yearfor $495.00 for 450g large cake.  It is a much talked about and beloved cake of Shah8 so, it’s something we’ve all read about for years…

Dry leaves have a strong cardboard odour with a piercing nectar odour.

The first infusion has a vibrant powdery talc and perfume floral odour to it with a base of hongcha nuance similar but not exactly what you could taste from Tea Urchin’s storage perhaps? There is a metallic almost bitterness underneath and some nutty tastes.  The creamy sweetness is fluffy and cotton candy tasting thing.  Long creamy sweetness with a tight full and loosely salivating sensation.  Complex full dump of taste in its brilliant dry storage.  Nice focusing energy.

The second infusion has a very thick perfume talc and woody presentation.  The mouthfeeling is strong and puckering fine sand.  There is this floral talc cherry very perfume presentation.  This is a very unique tasting and feeling puerh. There is a strong heavy chest bodyfeeling and a wandering, unhinged mind feeling.  Nice wood perfume and floral finish over a talc and creamy sweet base.  Strong deflating balloon bodyfeeling.

The third infusion has a metallic perfume dense and thick layered woody presentation with heavy, essential oil based, perfume fragrances, flower shop taste.  There is a bitter base taste and a woody vegetal base.  Strong Qi makes me feel like I’m leaving my body.  This is a really strong tea that needs more aging still.  It’s a bit rough on the Stomach still.  There is a bitter woody floral talc taste in the mouth many minutes later.  Strong Chest heaviness and Heart racing with out of body feeling.

The 4^th infusion is left to cool… it gives off a very dry woody, kind of weedy bitter, but heavy perfume-floral finish.  There is a cooling almost minty rosehips and woody base.  That minty woody taste extends into the aftertaste.  This is a very unique and unusual tasting puerh.  The mouthfeeling is a sticky fine sandy pucker.  The Qi is full of strong bodyfeelings in the Chest and Heart and a floating mind, unhinged feeling. Powerful Qi.

The 5^th has a strong woody minty onset with a heavy thick perfume presence.  There is a heavy bitter minty woody perfume dense onset that keeps its form even through the aftertaste.  There is almost an overly soapy perfume taste to it like eating a bar or perfume bar soap.  Strong Chesty Qi bodyfeeling and some face sensations too- very strong. 

6^th is left to cool… it has a strong red tea note with woody minty bitterness.  The mouthfeeling is gripping.  There is less perfume but still quite a bit.  A tingling tongue sensation is very nice.  Long profile throughout.

7^th has a woody sour rosehips perfume woody bitter onset.  The taste comes at once initially then just stays long on the breath without returning, changing too much.  Like being hit by one big wave of flavour.  Qi in Chest and Heart.  Nice floating mind feeling.

8^th has a cherry perfume woody bitter vegetal onset there are some faint spicy notes in there a bit this infusion.  A flat wave of dense flavour that goes straight to the aftertaste.  No returning sweetness or ebb and flow to it, just a wall of tastes.  Soapy perfume nuances as well.  Dry full mild gripping mouthfeeing.  Flat single note with no separation of initial tastes, secondary tastes, coolness then returning sweetness.  That along with the insanely strong Qi feels maybe more like a wild tea or Mu Shu Cha type or varietal than standard puerh type of thing to me.

9^th has a woody almost medicinal minty bitters woody perfume taste.  The dense taste holds into the aftertaste. 

10^th is left to cool and gives off a medicinal minty soap- floral bitter heavy perfume wood taste.  There is some red tea note in there.  The mouthfeeling is flattening out and is a dry slight puckering slight fine sandy feeling.  The Qi is still in the Chest and floats the mind but less strong now.  The Qi has now pretty much rendered me useless and staring at the walls… stupefying Qi knocks me out hard…

11^th is left to cool and offers a woody bitter floral experience.  The taste of this puerh is dense but narrow and steadfast in its consistency and shows its single origin pedigree.  Nice flat full thin sandy slightly gripping mouthfeelng.  Nice spacy Qi now.

12^th has a more perfume taste with less bitter woodiness.  There is a more floral feel to it here with some orange peel tastes in there as well.  Nice floating feeling.

13^th has a bitter woody floral perfume onset.  Nice full, flat fine sandy slight gripping mouthfeeling.  Some minty medicinal tastes in there as well.  Nice floating.  Nice full fine sandy slightly gripping mouthfeeling.  There is a more vegetal type of bitterness in here.  This tea has good stamina and feels like it could just go on forever like this…

14^th has a rich bitter woods floral perfume taste.  There is a bit more richness in this infusion … bitter woody perfume floral … so consistent and still very intense… strong Chest Qi here.

Wow… a really good start to the tasting…

Peace

2006 Xi Zhi Hao Lao Ban Zhang “Yin” (aka “Black Wrapper”) & Sharing Laobanzhang

I know it’s really hard to believe now but it used to be common to give and receive Lao Ban Zhang from other puerh drinkers and vendors both online and around tea tables.  Back in the day Laobanzhang was not as crazy expensive as it is now.  Relatively speaking it was still expensive- a hundred or two for a cake at a time of $10-$30 cakes but it was at least attainable for most.  At the very least it was impressive for a vendor to have some, it offered them a bit of validity and prestige.  Laobanzhang was all the craze and at that time you were a part of it.  Around the tea tables they would often bring it out at the end of a late session or after a few impressive teas.  Other tea drinkers and online vendors would also post small samples of Laobanzhang in early times.  As a result, I had become inadvertently acquainted with Laobanzhang despite my refusal to spend that much money on a cake.  It goes without saying that it has been a long time since anyone has sent me or shared with me some Laobanzhang and I haven’t any to enjoy out of my own stash… so it’s been a while…

Although I have some experience with fresh younger Lao Ban Zhang from drinking it back in the day nobody was handing out 90s 14 year aged Lao Ban Zhang at that time.  So I actually have very little experience with semiaged/aged Lao Ban Zhang.  This sample of 2006 Xi Zhi Hao black wrapper ( $595.00 for 400g  or $1.49/g) which soldout in classic Houde lightspeed will be a treat …

Dry leaves smell of faint mineral almost floral odour with a very faint lingering of icing sugar sweetness.  The leaves look quite large with big stems.

The first infusion has a very creamy reverberatingly sweet creamy candy full taste in the mouth.  It has a layered fluffy cloud like icing sugar sweetness in the mouth with a faint touch of astringency that pushes the saliva over the flat almost fine course tinging tongue feeling.  The aftertaste is a bit sweet and tart apple with candy and sticky throat sensations.  This looks and tastes like a nice dry Taiwanese storage that still retains a lot of nuanced sweetness and has that classic incense base taste.

The second infusion has a woody, sweet cherry-apple taste with candy layers, there is a strong incense taste and odour.  The taste is very layered fluffy candy like sweetness that is layered into a sweet and almost tart cherry-apple fruit taste with a strong incense base taste.  It has a tingling face body feeling with a clear acuity sharpening energy.  The mouthfeeling has a soft, almost sandy dry texture which some thin layer of saliva spills over and sensation open into the mid throat.

The third infusion has a floral candy fruity cherry-apple deep layered and rich sweetness with strong incense onset.  There is a building astringent bitterness that is still quite mild.  This liquor has a nice oily texture over a soft but full almost granular tongue coating and a mid-deep throat opening that pushes saliva into the upper throat.  The aftertaste is a sweet incense taste with a layer of candy and cherry sweetness hiding underneath.  The Qi is strong and is pushing my mind into a spaced out and stoned state.  There is a strong body feeling developing with Heart pumping and face tingling.  The aftertaste leaves a mineral, kind of incense, barely sweet lingering.

The fourth infusion has a moderate bitter-astringency presenting first with some tart cherry like sweetnotes and candy.  This infusion the astringent bitter onset is the dominating taste with layers of cherry, wood, incense over a silty tongue feeling and oily textured liquor on top which seems to pour out the top throat as the mid throat is stimulated.  Stronger bitter astringent taste, strong excellent mouthfeeling and throatfeeling, and, yes, strong Qi sensation of intense mind stimulation mixed with stoned feeling and stupor.  The bodyfeeling consists of warming heart sensation as well and tingling.

The fifth infusion has a more rich layered sweetness that is more of a woody-cherry sweetness over a candy like sweetness.  There is a faint coolness, very faint as the astringent bitterness and incense overtake the more sweetness again.  The throat and mouthfeeling continue to do what they have been doing above and are quite strong and stimulating.  There is a mineral like taste left in the mouth minutes later with incense.  The Qi is really intense and has a strong bodyfeeling- stoned, alerted, detached, HT opening/slight warming with dizziness.

The sixth infusion has a rich cherry and candy presentation now.  The sweetness is shared with bitter-astringency.  The candy aftertaste is more apparent now and the incense base is less overwhelming.  There are almost peach-cherry notes appearing in the aftertaste.  Wow the Qi is so strong and intense.  It really shakes me up.  This infusion has a much more intense saliva producing effect in my mouth that seems to hold the sweet tastes much longer especially the candy-cherry sweetness.  Best infusion so far.  Still very strong.

The seventh infusion has a fruity tart apple incense wood not as candy sweet onset that has a nice full layered richness to it.  The candy more comes out in the aftertaste as the incense woody notes builds up.  The sweetness starts at onset and stretches out more uninterrupted by astringent-bitterness like it did in the last handful of infusions now.  The Qi is alerting yet calming.  The tongue feels a full soft almost chalky fine sand with an oily liquor.  The throat is less astringent-simulated but more softly stimulated like an opening in the mid throat where saliva pools up in the upper throat and mouth.

The 8^th infusion has an almost soapy floral onset which is the most distinct of the flavours here.  There is a bit of candy but very faint now and some woody incense which is still significant.  The bitter-astringency has dropped down over the last few infusions to something more mild-moderate.  The mouthfeeling and throat feeling is much the same as last infusion with a waning oily texture but with a fluffy stimulation of the throat and saliva producing effect.  Nice euphoric relaxation now with stimulating acuity and Heart sensations.

The 9^th has a buttery-creamy candy sweet onset with a strong incense backbone.  There is a nice silty mouthfeeling with a distinct incense and candy finish with a stronger mineral chalky taste in the finish minutes later.  The bitter and astringency is very mild here leaving more of a long candy with incense taste.  Nice euphoria and feel good Qi.

The 10^th infusion has a nice creamy candy sweet taste with mineral finish the viscosity is going down here.  A nice thinner full fine sandy coating.  The taste and mouthfeeling and texture is declining here but the Qi is still pretty strong- it’s more euphoric and in the mind and less in the body though.

11^th has a mainly incense wood not with an interesting clear pear taste upfront.  The taste has become much simpler here but still quite satisfying and decently long.  There is a chalky almost mineral aftertaste now not much sweetness.

12^th has a incense note up front there is not much for other tastes other than some faint mineral, faint wood, very faint candy, very faint pear with that being said it is not insipid because the strong incense taste is stable and long throughout with still some full but thinning mouthcoating but much less throat feeling now.  Nice calming Qi.

13^th has an almost candy sweet and incense onset.  The incense taste is the dominant one throughout the profile with some hints at candy sweetness underneath. The mouthfeel continues to wane as does the throatfeeling.  There is a mineral, incense stickiness in the mouth afterwards.

I decided to push this one a bit with longer steepings…

I use a 15 second over flash infusion for the 14^th … it pushes a stronger incense taste out with a bit more mineral and faint sweetness.  The result is a bit longer and faintly sweeter but mainly just incense finish.  There is also a deeper throat taste than the last handful of infusions too.  The Qi is a bit euphoric and relaxing and has a strong headiness type of dizziness happening.

The 15^th I do a 25 second steeping… it is mainly just a strong woody incense note with much more floral notes coming out now.  There is a mineral finish with not really any sweetness and a bit of floral.  The mouthfeeling is stickier on the lips and tongue with a bit of throat mid- stimulation which seems to attract a floral mixed with incense aftertaste.

16^th is a 40 seconds steeping and has a creamy almost candy woody incense taste that feels chalky and full with suggestions of candy, minerals, and almost pear tastes.  Calm focused and happy energy prevails.

17^th is 60 seconds and is still quite strong and condensed woody incense with subtle suggestions of mineral, candy, pear over a flat sticky mouthfeeling.

18^th is a minutes long steeping the liquor is then left to cool and it tastes so delicious… like Lucky Charms marshmallow cereal with a long sweet candy body and still significant full incense taste. 

The mug steepings keep giving off great tastes long strong marshmallow candy like sweetness with a substantive incense base taste.

This is a nice LaoBanzhang for the price and those that jumped on this one fast were rewarded with some really nice dry storage as well that really accentuates the long strong sweet candy tastes.  Houde’s dry storage has done this cake very well and those that took the plunge on this one might have near optimal storage.  Good job!

Peace