2021 Tea Encounter Yi Shan Mo Gushu: Top Shelf Yi Shan Mo!

I was recently informed that much of what was previously Yi Shan Mo is now, considered a state protected forest area or as they say “GuoYouLin”.  This 2021 Tea Encounter Yishanmo Gushu($175.10 for 250g cake or $0.70/g) is Tea Encounter’s first pressing of the Yi Shan Mo area and it really impressed me..

The dry leaf has a deep gamey distinct wild floral sweet odour.  The smell is mysterious and deep but very inviting with that floral.  Pretty compressed and looks like the Bing hole…. Mmmm….

The first infusion has a clear wildflower watery profile almost like a tisane with a faint long cooling breath and woody wildflower finish.  There is not that much sweetness here but some edges in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is a very mild lubricating with an open mid-throat.  The profile is a clear watery pure image.  Minutes later there is a kind of rubbery brackish taste in the mouth.

The second infusion has a woody spicy almost mild bitter and wildflower-like not that sweetness.  The initial taste is condensed and has a chalky cottony mouthfeeling and faint open mid-throat.  The aftertaste has a woody wildflower with a slight creamy sweet edge.  There is a subtle upper throat stimulation that makes it feel like a blob of saliva is caught there.  Nice calm and reflective feeling to the Qi.

The third infusion has a spicy pungent onset with a woody not really bitter nor that sweet distinct wildflower taste.  There is a nice oily and lubricating mouthfeeling and a slow release of strong wildflower finish.  The floral is not that sweet but very floral and expands into the aftertaste with edges of more candy and creamy sweet tastes over a faint cooling throat.  Not much for bodyfeelings but a nice calm reflective energy here.

The fourth infusion has a peachy woody spicy taste with the sweet peach taste coming through here over a thick oily mouthfeeling and open mid-throat.  There is a bit of a saliva gob at the back throat and a faint cooling where peachy woody and wildflower tastes seem to expand and grow in the viscus mouth.  The Qi is a really nice chill vibe with relaxing and easygoing feeling to it.

The fifth infusion has a peachy woody a bit spicy condensed taste onset which pop in the mouth and with a cooling mid-throat and saliva gob in the upper throat produces a full expanding peachy woody wildflower finish in the mouth.  Nice expansive relaxing.  Nice full oily lubricating mouthfeeling.  Clear, simple, condensed taste and oily rich feeling puts me at ease and seems to relax me deeper.

The sixth infusion is a pop of dense peachy woody with wildflower distinct finish over a lubricating mouthfeel and some faint cooling that has a bit of pungency to it and seems to expand the sweet peach but especially the wildflower taste in the mouth.  Nice relaxing chill vibes here. Subtle tingling in the face.

The 7^th is a bit creamy sweet buttercup like floral sweetness there is a very mild spice initially then a cool throat with a dominating wild flower finish with some sweeter and woodier touches.  The mouthfeel is still quite oily and a bit chalky.  The aftertaste just sticks in there.  Nice happy chill feeling to this tea that I’m totally into today as the leaves start to change around me.

8^th has a dense woody buttercup floral faintly peach not that sweet and not really bitter wildflower onset.  There is some throat cooling and a thick oily mouthfeeling then a returning stronger wildflower in the aftertaste.  Strong happy vibes to this puerh as well as this engaging relaxing that is deeply energizing like lying in the sun.

9^th has a peachy woody floral onset with the spice note gone the last few infusions.  The initial condensed woody sweet floral rests on a lubricating mouthfeeling that is subtly mouthwatering but mainly just oily. The aftertaste shows some more clear sweetness but mainly more wildflower taste.  Nice Happy uplifting but not overtly or excessively energizing- a really happy smooth ride here.  There is some Abdominal opening body sensations which are really subtle.

10^th has a condensed woody wildfloral and sort of not that sweet peachy taste.  There is some throat cooling and more of a dry sticky mouthfeeling.  Wildflower notes stick out in the aftertaste with a bit of woody and less sweet.  Nice strong deep happy feel good Qi with some Abdomen and rib spaciousness.

11^th has a woody wildfloral onset there is some cooling throat then an expanding peachy wildflower woody sweetness in the aftertaste.  The thick somewhat lubricating mouthfeeling holds and so does the feel good Qi.

12^th has a woody oily wildflower and almost faint mushroom taste.  The mouthfeeling is still somewhat oily and there is still some saliva producing effect.  The Qi is just really satisfying for me- deeply feel good Qi with some faint bodyfeeling opening lower ribs and abdomen.  Happy.

13^th opens up with a floral almost peachy that ends in a woody taste.  The floral and peach is still quite satisfying to me still.  The mouthfeeeling is chalky.  Qi is feel good with stronger bodyfeelings as the session progresses.

14^th has a similarly strong condensed onset… its weird that this tea seems to get better and better this late into the session.  The taste is almost but not really bitter and has a bit of a mushroom touch to it now.   Feelin’ Good.

15^th has an almost sour fruitiness with woody and floral onset there is some faint mushroom… interesting things are coming out of this one.  The mouthfeel is still quite lube and strong cooling.  Feel good Qi… I’d hate to stop this session.

16^th the next day has a more distinct but sweeter and clear pure floral onset with a melon edge of sweetness.  A brighter and fruitier floral today.  The mouthfeel is softy oily now with an expanding slow fade sweet melon floral.

17^th was left to cool and gives off a woody floral with a more distinct melon sweetness over a chalky sticky mouthfeeling with some oily texture still.  The melon floral taste stretches in the aftertaste becoming the dominant note and devlopling a melon-creamy-sweet taste with floral, for the first time being secondary.  Nice feel good Qi in there today as well.

18^th has a woody almost bitter wildflower onset there is not much coolness here but a retuning creamier sweetness with not much melon taste.  The mouthfeeling starts to become more gripping now.  Nice easy going Qi.

19^th is left to cool but still pounds out very thick viscus and very flavourful taste.  Nice low sweet floral finish.  There are lots of puerh out there that won’t even taste this full, vibrant, and delicious in the first handful of infusions than this 19^th! Infusion.  The stamina is very good and tastes very consistent but slowly and gently evolves throughout the session.

With how much I packed the pot with these leaves I’m convinced they could go on a lot longer at flash infusions… but I decided to mug steep out the rest of the leaves…

Very thick dense forest taste with a thick chalky mouthfeeling, still quite oily, with a distinct strong wildflower finish.  Not a bright sweet floral but more of an almost weedy floral wild flower taste to it. There are glimpses of melon, pear, and creamy sweet nuances as well as subtle mushroom- all notes that appeared in the session underneath.  Mild saliva returning here.  Nice almost euphoric feel good happy feeling.  Very dense and thick and powerful tastes and mouthfeeling and Qi in these longer infusions.  There are also abdomen opening and lower rib opening feelings in the body with some Heart and Chest expansion in these longer stronger infusions.  Super tasty and satisfying to me.

This is the nicest Yishanmo that I have sampled and for those who like this region, I can’t think of a better treat!  It is very condensed and clear in its taste, of note is the distinct wildflower note which usually shares a bit of space with some woody and some lesser fruity/creamy sweetness.  The taste expands nicely in the aftertaste as there is a bit of saliva returning but overall a very sturdy oily lubricating mouthfeeling for the flavours to hang out in.  The Qi is really wonderful here it has this strong happy feel good vibe to it that is a powerful mood enhancer.  There are some bodyfeelings that come out later in the session such as abdomen, lower ribs, and even Heart/Chest feelings.  The slow and steady evolution of narrow but engaging and dense tastes coupled with the buillding Qi and the powerful stamina of these leaves as well as the signature lubricating mouthfeeling make this the best Yishanmo I have yet to try.

Alex’s (Teanotes) Tasting Notes

Peace

2019 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo vs 2018 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo

I was kindly gifted a box of 2019 Tea Encounter puerh goodies for review (many thanks again to Tiago aka Curigane).  I think its quite smart that you can obtain the same sampling set for 12% off the normal sample price. I’m excited to compare some of these 2019 Zheng Si Long to previous years and hope to focus my reviews of these 2019 on comparison sampling.  I’m also excited that Tea Encounter has started purchasing maocha and pressing them into their own Tea Encounter brand puerh cakes (a proper 357g of course).  I hope to also review these here on the blog in the coming weeks…

The following notes are for the 2019 Zheng Si Long Yi ShanMo (400g cake goes for $161.63 or $0.40/g).  I quite enjoyed the solid mouth and throat feeling and solid Qi sensation of the 2018 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo ($167.01 for 400g cake or$0.42/g) and wonder if the 2019 has any of these qualities…

Dry leaves smell of sweet short pops of sugar and fruit.  A light airy sweetness, a creamy sweetness to these over an almost cardboard almost faint barnyard odour maybe distant woody too.  Lots of subtle depth in these dry leaves.

The first has a mild milky onset with a mild tart sharpness.  Almost no flavour comes out here maybe just a distant floral and wood.  The initial taste is like licking a stone then there is a bit of vacuous space than a mild custard finish.  The mouthfeel is slippery and the throat feeling is immediately deep in a vacuous sense.  Opening deeply. There is a faint coolness deep in the throat.

The second infusion carries a mild sour and almost yogurt taste with stone taste then a peachy and floral build up with some subtle cinnamon nuance.  The floral sweet peach really builds nicely as the tea is swallowed and continues to expand in the aftertaste and in the throat minutes later.  The mouthfeel is slippery and the throat has a deep vacuous opening feeling.  Very nice.

The third infusion starts a touch sour, then cinnamon spice, but drops quickly into a long expansive floral and fruit with long and deep throaty pear and peach and apple nuances to in in the aftertaste.  The throatfeelig is nice and deep here.  Creamy sweetness are in there as well.  The Qi is really mild and soft in these first few infusions.  I can feel my forehead get a touch heavy.  The mouthfeeling is slippery with slight faint edges of astringency.

The fourth has a sour fruity almost orange taste now initially, then the throat opens deeply with a very subtle cooling and gives off creamy sweetness, some astringency and wildflower.  The qi is mild and relaxing.  Throatfeeling is deep and hold a long aftertaste of fruity tastes of dragon fruit and pear minutes later.

The fifth infusion is thick and strong from the initial taste where there is slight sour but more sweet dense peachy almost orange like taste.  The mouthfeel is full with a slippery almost chalky and astringent fullness.  The fruit taste is really expansive and very long throughout the session.  The Qi is mild and builds into a relaxing feeling.  The body feels a touch light.  Very long thick deep sweet taste of pear, dragonfruit, wildflower… the tastes is deep and delicious.

The sixth infusion has a very fresh peach and pear like onset with a touch of spice in the distance.  There is a nice long fruity taste now.  The mouthfeel is slippery and a stone taste is there as well.  The fruity taste is very vibrant and long and rests deep in the throat.  The Qi is mild and relaxing.

The seventh comes off very thick and fruity initially nice deep fruity taste with a very mild touch of astringency.  This is a delicious puerh.  The mouthfeel remains sticky and slippery with a deep throat which holds and expands the fruit, floral, honey now, and creamy sweetness. Qi heavy in the head.

The eighth has a milder pear and licking a stone type taste initially then there is a blank stone taste throughout with only mild edges of wild flower and distant sweetness.  The mouthfeel becomes a bit sandy.

The ninth has much the same stone like tastes that are almost metallic then transition to a blank almost pear and almost wildflower nuance.  The mouthfeel and throat feel are slippery and sandy but thinner now.

The tenth starts a bit tart/bitter with a stone like taste the fruitiness comes out as pear, apple, peach in the aftertaste and especially floral.  The mouthfeel is sticky, slight astringent, and sandy now.  The Qi makes the head and brow feel heavy.  The body feels a bit groggy, like moving in syrup.

The 11^th has a bit of a fruity bitter to it like pear peeling, and orange peeling.  The bitterness has an astringency to it which overtakes the aftertaste which just has mild suggestions left in it.

The 12^th infusion starts almost floral with a bitter and stone like taste to it.  There is not much as far as sweetness left in this puerh.

The 13^th has a quick mild drop of pear peeling and wood and stone.  The faint fruit is out muscled by and stone taste and even slight woody taste the aftertaste shows glimpses of pear and wood but is mainly bitter.  The throatfeeling her is more upper throat now and lack the long aftertaste.  The Qi remains heavy in the head and body.

The 14^th is becoming more watery, stone tastes, faint tastes and mouthfeeling slippery. 

The 15^th and 16^th a bit more fruity but mainly stone, mineral tasting almost but not quite floral.  These infusions lack a strong flavor this late in the session.  There is a bit of a bitterness to it and the thoatfeeling is superficial here.

I steep it into a minutes long infusion now… it gives off a strong mineral, wet stone in the mouth taste with a slight dry wood, bitterness, and a subtle floral taste, but no sweetness really.

I had a chance to sample what was left of the 2018 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo yesterday to compare, but these two Yi Shan Mo have really nothing in common. So no point in that really.  However, they each have their charms...

Pictured below is the 2018 wet leaves on the left and the 2019 wet leaves on the right.  Note how the 2018 has just slightly shorter but maybe longer stem leaves where the 2018 has slightly smaller leaves and slightly more buds, slightly...  They are actually quite similar although everything else is quite a different experience.

Peace

2018 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo vs 2018 Zheng Si Long Xiang Chun Lin

This is another Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo from Tea Encounter.  This sample was included free in my last order from Tea Encounter.  For those who care to know the 2018 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo goes for $167.01 for400g cake or  $0.42/g.

The dry leaves smell of hay, straw, wood, and lingering cherry fruit and slight evergreen nuance.

The first infusion delivers candy like cotton candy tastes up front.  The taste is really really sweet almost immediately.  It reminds me of cotton candy ice cream my daughter eats at birthday parties.   Very pure, clean, vibrant sweetness.  There is a nice mouthfeeling, quite sticky and reasonably thick for the first infusion.

The second infusion starts with a reasonably dense thick sweetness, an unperturbed sweetness.  Cotton candy icecream like sweetness over a nice sticky mouthcoating.  The sweetness is not hallow or superficial because the mouthcoating gives it a deeper grounding.  The aftertaste has a touch of green forestlike tastes.

The third infusion starts off with a foresty and woody base with intense sweetness.  There is a touch of sour nuances in there and quite a thick sticky coating on the tongue.  There is a long melon sweetness that stretches on the breath.  The throat stimulation here is quite nice too.  A bubble gum like lingering taste lingers for a while minutes later.

The fourth infusion is quite thick cotton candy and even apple fruit sweetness layered over slight woody and forest base.  The mouthfeel is densely simulated with a sticky astringency and the throat opens deeply.  There is a slightly sour nuance and a deep long sweet taste.  The balance to the sweetness here is quite nice and exploited by the open throat feeling and dense tongue stimulation.  The Qi is relaxing and relieving type of feeling in the mind.  The long sweetness in the aftertaste is that long creamy sweetness.  There is a lot of depth to the sweet taste here.  Very nice.

The fifth and sixth infusions start with a dense and thick fruity/candy/creamy fruit nuance the layer sweetness is pronounced and stimulation in the throat and mouth is strong.  There is a base of hay, slight wood, and forest underneath the dense compact and strong sweet taste.  The Qi brings a strong clarity to the mind.  The sweetness is quite strong even minutes later- it gets lodged deep in the throat.  This gets thicker as it goes.

The seventh infusion delivers a dense layered fruity sweetness right off the initial sip.  There are base tastes of woods and forest underneath which give depth to the taste.

The eighth infusion has lots of deep fruity sweet tastes initially supported by forest, slight hay, and slight dry wood.  A touch of sour seems to trigger such a faint pungent then a very sweet candy taste long on the breath.  The mouthfeel and throatfeeling a deep and simulating.  The Qi is relaxing, soothing, and in the body I feel it in my face dropping and relaxing.  Melting tension in the face.  Happy feeling.  Heart beats slower.

The ninth is more of a sunny, almost tropical and apple type of dense sweetness the sour is a touch more pronounced.  A thick satisfying tongue coating with a long strong lingering sweetness.  The Qi is definitely doing many things here.  The overall effect is happy and relaxed, a bit slowly me down a bit alert and clear.  The puerh is not at all harsh on the body for a young puerh.

The tenth starts vibrant dense fruity sweetness with a very mild touch of sour.  The sweet taste is an apple and orange and pineapple type taste which is quite interesting and delicious.  The Qi is really building, it is pretty strong now.  The sweetness is really interesting and deep and long in the mouth.

11^th thick dense sweetness creamy pungent sweetness, long long sweetness.  Lots and lots of sweetness.

12^th thick dense fruit sweetness, a more wood taste emerging, still stimulating mouth and throatfeeling, juicy fruit taste is long lasting, a dense long juicy sweetness with emerging woody base underneath.  Deep throatfeeling.

13^th  and 14^th become more juicy apple/slight tropical sweetness there is a thinner but still full coating mouthfeel over the tongue.  A slight sour edge and long more faint now sweetness on the breath.  There is still a mild woody under taste.

I push harder with the fifteenth and add 20 seconds to the flash infusions and come up with a more muted juicy fruity initial flavor with a woody, straw and forest nuance that seems to be more pushed with these longer late infusions.

The 16^th I push for about 60 seconds it delivers slightly sour woody forest tastes with a back drop of faint fruity sweetness.

I put this one into the overnight infusion …

Overall, this is a nice puerh.  It is very sweet but with some depth to it to ground it.  The taste is thick in the mouth and presents with dense flavor.  The mouthfeel and throat feeling are really nice.  The tongue coating, in particular is super interesting and engages the sweetness providing depth to the otherwise simple tastes.  The throatfeeling is also quite deep.  As a whole this puerh offers quite a refined experience with sweetness and density and depth that evolves throughout the session but is not overly complex.  The Qi is also pretty good and interesting feeling.

It is interesting to compare this puerh to the 2018 Zheng Si Long Xiang Chun Lin because it’s close proximity to the Yi Shan Mo producing area, same production year, same producer.  The Qi of both of these teas was strikingly similar to me prompting me to sample the 2018 Zheng Si Long Xiang Chun Lin the following day.  The Xiang Chun Lin had much deeper tastes more evergreen, forest, rainforest, and more of a melon fruit taste the Yi Shan Mo had a stronger multifaceted sweetness but less deeper and mid notes.  The Xiang Chun Lin had considerably less stimulating mouthfeeling.  The Qi of both are similar but the Xiang Chun Lin is about 1/3 stronger especially felt in the chest.  Overall they have a similar feel to them.  The Xiang Chun Lin seems to have a bit more stamina especially when put into long and overnight steeps at the end of a session- delicious tastes are still pushed out.  I think the 2018 Zheng Si Long Xiang Chun Lin ($199.99) is a slightly more engaging puerh but for a price that is just a bit more than the 2018 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo ($167.01)… but that mouthfeeling…

Peace

2015 Zheng Si Long Yi Shan Mo

And back to my onslaught of Zheng Si Long samples.  I hope you have been enjoying my current deep plunge into Tea Encounter's puerh catalogue...

This is a new tea area for me although it’s entirely possible I would have tried something like this before… It seems like the Yi Shan Mo area is pretty far off the beaten path.  This is one of two 2015 Zhang Si Long at Tea Encounter this one sells for $156.24 for 400g cake or $0.39 /g.

The dry leaf delivers deep rich pungent dried apricot odours in a heavy whiff of sweetness.

The first infusion has a watery floral, icing sugar- like opening, faint wood, then cooling retuning finish, ending on a melon taste on the tongue.

The second infusion starts on a caramel note transitioning to a slightly pungent dry woody taste.  The cool menthol is noticeable.  The mouthfeel is elegant and flows to the edges of the mouth and tongue.  The mouthfeel is nice and the quaint throat sensation is deep where menthol flows.  Slight melon aftertaste.

The third infusion starts off as a dry woody, fruit melon taste then dry wood fades and the melon swells then menthol arrives.  The mouthfeeling and throatfeeling is very gentle but nice.  There is a long melon and floral sweetness that lingers minutes later.

The fourth starts with significantly pungent, dry woody notes which give way to melon then menthol.  There is a sweet-sour, almost mango-like, taste in there prominent as well.  Long melon and floral note lingers along with wood.

The fifth infusion is much the same as the fourth but much more pronounced.  The mouthfeel becomes thicker and stickier in the mouth.  With no bitterness around, there is almost a cloying melon sweetness while the woody taste is really becoming more pronounced.

The sixth is continuing to build slowly into a slightly syrupy woody melon fruit taste with a long camphor wood cooling finish.  The mouth and throat feel slowly build in the mouth and become a sticky, almost dry.  The finish is long melon and wood.  The aftertaste is quite nice.

The seventh infusion is more menthol and pungent now.  That has to be the dominant falvour.  The pungent taste is throughout, it’s long.  Initial it shares space with woody and slight sweetness.  In the aftertaste with melon, sweetness, slight honey, and floral.

The eighth infusion has an interesting soapy floral taste as the dominant taste now.  Tastes like Thrills gum.  A sticky almost grapy taste in the mouth is there as well.

The ninth shares this interesting taste.  There is woods and florals and sweet melon fruits in there as well.  It has suggestions of a faint cotton candy sweetness under the fruit sweetness.  A nice sticky mouth coating.  The Qi of this tea is very mellow.  It strolls throughout the body without much fuss.

The tenth has a woody melon initial taste with distinct menthol underpinning.  A long floral melon stays along in the aftertaste.  The eleventh has more powerful creamy cotton candy sweetness in there compared to previous infusions.  This taste seems to be the dominant one now.

The twelfth has a more pronounced fruity sweetness thing going on with the cotton candy floss underneath.  Layers of light nuanced sweetness. Faint wood. No bitterness.

The 13th and 14th have ten seconds over flash infusions and offer a dense thicker broth of fruits and thicker florals, a long creamy sweetness, light menthol.  The mouthfeel is nice but not standoffish.  This tea has great stamina of flavor and gives off a lot of depth when pushed a bit more.

I push it a bit harder to 30-90 seconds and it gives off thick fruity creamy menthol wood tastes.  Nice.  I feel a bit bad at stopping this session at 18 infusions because I think it has a lot more to offer- great stamina.  It’s getting late in the afternoon and I have no other choice, least I’ll be up too late.  I put it through a few more days of overnight steeping and the result is very thick fruity tastes.

This puerh has the Yiwu fruity and woody with more of a boarder tea melon almost green tea like taste at times.  The flavours are very nice, this is a flavor tea to me with a certain thickness to it.  This Yi Shan Mo is a slow moving puerh with lots of stamina.  The Qi sensation is very mild in both the body and mind.

Peace