2003 ChenYuan Hao Yibang: More Classic, More Mellow

Apparently, this 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yibang (approx. $541.00for 357g cake or $1.52/g) is less commonly put for sale.  It had the same old man hot and dry Taiwanese storage as the 2003 ChenYuan Hao Yiwu (which is now sold out of this storage) and 2004 ChenYuan Hao Song Pin Hao sold at Puerh.uk.  Picked up a ¼ cake due to my preference for Yibang and this type of storage.  Currently it is completely sold out at Puerh.uk and it has not yet been offered by Teas We Like.

Dry leaves smell of flat wood and piercing sugar with faint sweet plum.

First infusion has a woody-wine-like taste initially with an oily liquor and a faint distant plum astringency.  There is a faint coolness in the breath with a sweet sugar-wood finish.  The mouthfeeling is a bit grainy.  Faint cooling sugar on the breath a bit of plum.

The second infusion has an initial splash of sugar and plum and a bit of astringency with a plum sugar and bitter woody finish.  The cooled down cup has an oily and more plum taste with a movement to mild astringency and plum and sugar.  There is a sandy and subtle mouth puckering mouthfeeling.  The tea give me a mild off putting itch and allergy feeling.

The third infusion has a rich bubble gum and rum and wine like initial taste that has a vibrant rich sweetness.  There is a mild puckering mouthfeeling with a sugary plum woody almost grape candy like very Yibang fruity taste.  The texture is oily and provides a contrasted balance to the mild gripping mouthfeeling and top throat simulation. 

4^th infusion is left to cool and gives off a rich syrupy sweet sugar-plum-caramel pop of sweetness.  There is an oily texture that comes then a cool plum sugar aftertaste with slight woody-astringency pucker in mouth that stimulates the top of the throat.  A dry fine sandy puckering feeling is left in the mouth.  Nice mild euphoria with mild itching-allergy feeling on arms and face.  Last time I had an itchy reaction like this was to the 2007 Yang Qing Hao Lingya!

5^th has a creamier sugar pop of sweetness that is a bit oily and melts into a cooling mouth that is a touch dry sandy chalky.  There is an almost bready sugar grapy-fruity-plum taste in the aftertaste.  Nice mild faint euphoria with some faint spacy relaxing feeling. 

6^th has a vibrant rich pop of grapey-sugary-plum astringent sweetness there is some coolness that comes and upper throat stimulation.  Itchy arms and face allergy feeling.  Nice stimulation in the mouth with oily textures and faint chalky gripping feeling.  Long grape-plum aftertaste that lingers on the top throat and comes out when swallowing.  Mild Qi euphoria with mild faint itch.

7^th has a fruity grapey sugary astringent pop of initial sweetness in an oily textured chalky silty mouthfeeling.  Nice sugary bready grape-plum finish after a breath coolness and some upper throat stimulation.  Nice mild euphoria. Some faint face itch.

8^th has a syrupy grape sugar sweetness with some hints of wood astringency pop of sweetness.  There is a slight puckering silty dry sandy stimulating mouthfeeling.  Nice bready sweet sugar and almost floral grape finish with some mild astringency.  Face tingling and itch with mild euphoria.

9^th was a cup that was left sitting for hours as my day became quite busy… it is a sugary sweet woody pop with some cooling mouth and an oily texture that turns into a sweet full caramel.  After the oily texture recedes it leaves behind a fine sandy chalky feeling.  Mild relaxing type Qi.

I have no choice but to revisit this puerh the next day…

10^th has a fruity almost grape-melon taste initially with a woody mild astringency and mild chalky gripping puckering mouthfeeling.  I’m still getting some arms and face itchiness.  Sort of a flat sweet finish.

11^th has a grape woody astringent pop of initial vibrant sweetness a clear sugar with a full juicy grape taste minutes later.  The upper throat is stimulated and the taste holds for a while there.  Itchy limbs aren’t my favorite experience that’s for sure…  There are fruity sweet and astringent tastes minutes later.

12^th has a rich thick sweet woody sugar taste almost grape and plum but not really.  Very full puckering silty feeling in the mouth with a stimulated upper throat and less thickness now but strong and active upper throat stimulation from the astringency that sustains the woody-grapey taste.

13 is left to cool and gives off a sugary-woody- astringent pop of sweetness that splashes up in the mouth.  It finishes this woody-cool-caramel taste.  Still limb itch…. Mild relaxations.  Long caramel returning from the stimulating astringency.  The taste and mouthfeeling is really nice and look at the stamina here- very nice…. But the itch….

14^th infusion has a fruity grape-melon taste initially with less astringency and woody but also less mouth presence and throat stimulation.  Nice mild relaxing with mild easy to ignore itch.

15^th has a woody caramel sugar astringent pop of sweetness that turns into more of a grape-plum and cooling on the returning sweetness.  Nice mild pucker with upper throat stimulations which keep the taste going.

16 has a sweet sugar onset with a bit of plum in the finish. 

I mug steep out the rest…

Overall, this Yibang had lots of stamina and delicious classic grapey-sugar-plum astringent punch.  It’s a good semiaged example of the Yibang profile.  I was most surprised at how mellow the Qi was- not typically Yiwu in Qi and made this one less enjoyable for me.  I got that damn itch as well from this cake! Darn!  Good thing I didn’t blind cake it!  Although I am a big Yibang area fan I didn’t enjoy this one as much as some of the other 2003 ChenYuan Hao for the reasons stated.

Peace

2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Yibang Ma Li Shu: Building Power

I have been sipping away at this semi aged 2013Puerist Ma Li Shu that I purchased last year and wonder how this will compare?  This 2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Ma Li Shu goes for $51.18 for 200g cake or $0.26/g. Thanks Tiago for sending this satisfying sample...

Dry leaf is of a mossy sweet floral woodiness.

First infusion has a watery floral with a soft returning creamy sweetness.  A strong heady Qi seems to be coagulating in the mind.

Second infusion has a soft creamy pear sweetness over a pure clean watery body.  There is a base taste of dry wood.  The taste is pure light and clear.  The mouthfeeling is as soft as the flavor with a sticky lips and mild mossy faint toungcoating with faint lingering cooling in the throat.  Qi is a mild spacy relaxing feeling.  There is an Asian pear aftertaste minutes later.  There is a faint opening below the ribs.

The third infusion there is a woody dense pear taste and orange peel that moves fast to a light pure icing sugar finish.  There is some mouthwatering over a fine clay like taste.  There is long pure sweet pear-sugar aftertaste is really nice minutes later.  Nice relaxing mind stopping Qi.  Slight opening bodyfeeling in ribs and chest.

The fourth infusion has a creamy sweet candy and floral pear like dense high-noted complex light onset which comes with a quick moving bitterness with a faint sugar that bridges the gap.  Very Sticky, almost dry, lips and clay mouthfeeling with this complex sweetness is really nice here.  Light limbs and Open chest sesnsation and mid slowly effects. Very nice infusion with a Qi sensation that is really strong in the mind and pushing me into an extreme spaced out.

The fifth infusion has a peachy banana woody mild bitter pear like onset.  There is a clay puckering monthfeelnig with very dry lips.  The aftertaste is a bit dry woody with a sugary finish, slight candy, Slight more woody.  Big Qi sensation.

6^th has a quick bitter lemon peel with pear and slight floral creamy surgar-honey.  Nice sticky lips and clay thin coating on the tongue.  Faint rubbery woody taste that fades when the sweetness returns into a fading out of pear taste on the breath.  Mind stopping Qi.

7^th Ooops… a good few minutes went by… very dense peachy taste, almost soapy floral peach with dense clay sticky tonguecoating and dry lips.  A bit bitter but not overwhelming so.  Strong floral presence in the accident strong push.  Big Qi is chest and relaxing mind.

8^th is left to cool as work gets a bit busier than I imaged and I’m honestly pretty spaced out from the Qi here… peach-pear with a touch of orange rind and faint slight wood that turns to a fading candy on the breath.

9^th has a peachy woody a bit of bitter orange peel.  Faint cooling at top of throat turns to sugary candy peach woody.   Very satisfying if not that complex right now.

10^th is left to cool and I get a more woody dry bitter balanced with creamsicle tastes.  Big open chest Qi.

11^th has a bitter woody orange peel with an almost creamy sweeter finish with a gripping but dense tonguefeeling and relaxing spacy Qi.

12^th has a bitter dry woody with underlying peachy suggestions.  The mouthfeeling has become quite strong and gripping on the tongue and lips with the upper throat opening as it has throughout the session.

13^th is a bitter orangey floral wood onset that is a balance of flavours with bitter being the strongest.  There is still lots of flavor here.  This puerh has great stamina!  Powerful Qi in the chest and mind but not at all harsh on the body.  The 14^th is much the same with still a strong presence and flavor.

The mug infusions afterward are super flavourful still with a bitter and sweet blend of tastes.

Overall, nice complex light sweet fruity florals a touch of bitter and dry wood.  Nice sticky almost clay faint mouthcovering.  Big spacy Qi in here.  Nice to drink now and space out or just age it out very dry for the powerful Qi experience.  I had a great day with this one.  This is a good value option for those looking for Qi and power and don’t want to break the bank.  It was a busy day but I was so spaced out I didn’t care… hahhahha….

Vs 2020 Tea Encounter Autumn Chawangshu.... these are almost the same price and both Autumn.  The Chawangshu is more complex and Balanced with less stamina as it gets weaker fast.  The Ma Li Shu has a power that builds throughout the session but has less balanced taste that tends to be more varied highnotes throughout most of the first half of the session.  The last half is a nice bitter and sweet balance.  Both nice cheap options with enough elements to enjoy for their price.

Alex’s (Puerh Notes) Tasting Notes

Peace

2013 Puerist Ma Li Shu: East vs West Yibang

Where is Ma Li Shu?  I’ve heard of the place before… but where?  I think Yiwu?  But where in Yiwu…  Not sure… I will do a bit of research after sampling so this one is kind of blind sampling as far as the region goes.  This puerh is also no longer offered on the Puerist site…

Dry leaves smell of paper, woody, maple syrup and brown sugar… Smells delicious with some Xishuangbanna storage being likely here.

The first infusion has a woody maple syrup with a soft low pungency over a fuzzy full tingling mouthcoating.  There is a nice low laying and low cool pungent breath.  There is a nice fullness to the woody and sweet maple syrup tastes.  Part of this is an immediate deeper throat opening.

The second infusion has a more distinct and richer creamy woody sweetness.  There is a rich fullness to it and is accentuated by a long developing pungency and long sweet brown sugar finish that shares room with a distinct long candy finish.  The Qi in the body is really nice and smooth and has a penetrating euphoric effect on the mind.  This is a really nice puerh.

The third infusion has a slight sour astringent woody creamy brown surgar and maple syrup onset.  A cool pungency develops and pushes out candy and brown sugar and autumn woods tastes.  There is a sweet candy like finish that skirts through the long aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is really full soft and chalky tight and the throat pungency is mid-deep.  The overall package of this puerh is really full and satisfying and deeply penetrating.  The Qi and purity of this puerh is notable.  It feels so light and airy in the body and euphoric, soft and happy in the mind.

The fourth infusion has a rich maple syrup brown sugar sweetness with a certain autumn woodiness.  The coating in the mouth and throat is really full cottony thick almost silky oil.  There is a low deep pungency to the puerh that pushes a candy sweet taste long in the aftertaste.  The flavours are really thick and the profile nice and long.  Woody maple syrup.

The fifth is more sugar and candy with woody autumnal leaves.  There is that cool pungent underneath a full feeling taste and feel where a thicker cottony fullness is.  Long finish with sweet tastes.

The 6^th has a creamy fruity sweetness at the onset now with layers of woods and mainly brown sugar sweetness.  The mouthfeel and throatfeeling is cottony full.  The long sweet taste is notable.  Long candy layered with brown sugar sweetness.  The Qi is deep penetrating and is becoming quite powerful in the mind pushing me into a high talkative euphoria.

7^th is a woody brown sugar taste with just a touch of sour and emerging pungency that pushes a long candy with brown sugar on the breath.  The aftertaste is developing some spicy almost cinnamon notes in the brown sugar.  Very tasty.  Qi is very deep.  A full cottony mouthfeeling.

8^th infusion has an almost ghostly fruity taste and almost vegetal taste within brown sugar and wood tastes.  The cooling pushes out layered sweetness deeper in the throat.  The Qi is active strong and euphoric but quite warming in the Chest.

9^th infusion has a woody almost fruity sweetness and an almost vegetal taste.  There is an almost brown sugar cinnamon pungency in the long aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling has a tingle to it.  Alerting and euphoric Qi sensation.

10^th infusion has an almost fruity taste over a woody and almost vegetal almost sugar base taste.  The mouthfeel is flattening out a bit. 

11^th is a 10 second added to flash steeping… and gives off a vegetal almost fruity flat kind of sugar sweetness with a vegetal woody base.  The cool pungency is diminished now.

12^th is a cool cup and give off some creamy almost fruity vegetal sweetness with a longer cooling slow moving sweetness that is more creamy candy sweet but mild.  Qi is more relaxing focused euphoria.

13^th has a fruity vegetal onset with a flat sugar taste over a sandy flat tongue coating.  There is still a mild but longer pungent coolness with faint long creamy fruity finish.

14^th has a candy vegetal mild onset with a low long pungency and a sticker mouthcoating.  Nice tingling tongue coating.

I mug steep out the rest…. And it gives off bitter vegetal woody bark tastes with a tight mouthfeeling.  There is a bitter sweet long slight pungent dominating and aftertaste.  Very nice stong Qi still here.

Okay… so I google to see where exactly Ma Li Shu is… ahhh… Yibang… I can see that now.  Especially the Qi is classic euphoric Yibang powerhouse and small leaf.  This puerh has a wonderful feature of a long candy maple syrup aftertaste that lingers deep in the throat as well.  This is very good Gushu puerh.  In some ways this is more woody and layered sweet but with less astringency that typically comes with Yibang puerh.

To be more specific, Ma Li Shu is actually from West Yibang.  Mark Turner had mentioned to me that many believe that the quality of tea in general from West Yibang is better than East Yibang these days.  Although, he says, places with the best quality in East Yibang command astronomical prices.  Interesting thoughts from someone who really knows his puerh!

Peace

2018 Puerist YiBang “Ancient Tree”: Best of the West?

After my very first experience with Puerist puerh turned out to be a very Yibangy like Yiwu and excellent experience, I was left no other option to compared to this 2018 Puerist Yibang “Ancient Tree”  ($196.00ish for 200g or $1.00/g).  This was the only sample that I actually purchased whereas the others were provided free for review for readers of this blog.  So how was it… pretty great!

Dry leaf has a rich velvety grape fruity sweetness with deep mild floralness to it.  The richness of the odour suggests a decently humid, likely Xishuangbanna storage.

First infusion has a pondy and floral and almost grape taste nuance initially to it that finishes a long sweet candy floral finish.  It feels very smooth in the mouth and deep and opening in the throat without being simulating or astringent.  The aftertaste is particularly long and smooth.  There is some significant Xishuangbanana storage on this one but very clean.  This Yibang has a very smooth puerh feeling.  A smooth euphoria already starts inching into my mind.

The second infusion has a spicy, grape, floral popping and full taste feeling upfront that is thick, fulfilling, and flavourful.  The taste elongates following a pungent coolness that brings a sweet bread, grape, and vibrant floral taste out.  The aftertaste is really long and flavorful too.  The liquor is decently oily and the mouthfeel soft and slightly sticky.  More importantly there is a deep throat feeling here.

The third infusion has a thick fruity dense taste upfront- grapes, slight sour, decent fruity sweetness with a nice returning very sweet grape, dense floral and subtle bread sweetness.  The aftertaste is long and the liquor has some oily thickness to it.  The mouthfeeling is soft slippery with just faint edges of barely astringency and deep opening throatfeeling.  This is some delicious Yibang.  The Qi is subtle and slight euphoric.

The fourth infusion has a thick dense taste of floral, grapes, and slight sour peach it crashes into a mild cooling pungent then stretches into a long floral bread like sweet taste with some honey sweetness developing minutes later.  The flavours are really full over a soft almost slippery and not really astringent mouthfeeling.  There is a open deep-mid throatiness now with still some oily liquor.  Nice euphoria Qi is building here slight alerting a nice energy on this sunny early Autumn morning…

The fifth infusion has a bready sweet, slight malty and even sour grape and fermenting dried peachy full taste onset.  The result is some nice salivation with a deep throat and long sweet finish.  The mouthfeeling is becoming less oily and stickier as it pulls more saliva from the throat.  A nice deep throat aftertaste here and subtle but powerful Qi with a nice euphoria.  There are some bodyfeelings developing over the last few infusions which feel like an opening in the chest and expanding Abdomen feeling.

The sixth infusion has a thick fruity peach and grape floral onset.  There is a soft mineral taste developing now as well.  The sweet and sour fruity bready taste is long and expands in the throat after the passing cool pungency.  The strength, depth, and length of the sweet taste is really nice complimented with a deep Qi experience that is both rejuvenating and expansive in the mind and body.

The seventh has a really condensed taste of florals, grapes, and peaches bready sweetnesses with an added mineral almost woody mid taste.   The cool pungency brings a candy like sweetness that moves quickly into a floral fruity sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is a bit astringent.  A spacy loosing track of time feeling is upon me.

The eighth has a salty, briny, sour, sweet grape and fruit taste with a mineral woody base developing.  There is a nice euphoria high developing.  Deep throat and long aftertaste.

The ninth infusion has a salty fruity almost nutty bitter chocolate sweetness here initially.  There is a pungent coolness that dives into the bitter coco taste.  The chocolate develops a chocolate cake finish in the mouth which is really tasty here.  The mouthfeeling is slightly sandier here and the throat retains its depth.  There is a chest and heart opening body feel.

The 10^th infusion has a chocolate fruity bitter sweet rich taste which develops initially.  There is a peachy taste that seems to push through retuning with a chocolate cake taste in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling with the bitter chocolate taste over the last few infusions feels stronger and more sandy in the mouth but still with a deeper throat.  There are fruity tastes that manage to push past chocolate cake. 

11^th infusion has a bitter chocolate onset with a fruity strong sweetness under the bitter-sweet coco.  There is some underlying pungency which seems to push more fruity sweet from out under layers of bitter sweet chocolate cake tastes.  There is a subtle woody mineral taste in there as well.  The Qi is more sedating in the mind now.

12^th infusion has an even bitterer onset with chocolate taste being lost in the moderate bitterness and not much fruity sweetness making it out.  There is somewhat of a chocolate finish over a flat sandy sticky mouthcoating.  This infusion also lacks much pungency or deep throat.  A biter sweet coco taste throughout.  Sedating Qi.

13^th infusion has an almost mineral not really woody taste layered into the bitterness and coco.  The pungency is quite mild now without much retuning sweetness but the bitter coco is satisfying enough although quite simple here.

14^th I push for a 15 second beyond flash infusion now which pushes out more grape and fruity tastes over moderate bitter chocolate tastes.  The mouthfeel is now pretty flat and the aftertaste loses its fruitiness and pungency and is just a bitter chocolate taste.  Its actually quite nice in its simplicity.  Qi is really relaxing now.  I can feel my heart race as there is still noticeable effects on the body here.

15^th I push a 20 second infusion out and it gives off a bitter fruity chocolate taste.  The fruitiness comes and goes quickly and there is some mineral and almost pond like taste somewhere in there before a bitter sweet chocolate comes and goes over a flat sandy tongue coating.  Nice relaxing Qi with Chesty sensations now.

16^th 30 seconds has a coco almost foresty pondy taste which is not really sweet anymore over a flat fine sandy mouthcaoting and very little pungency.

17^th is about a minute long steeping… it gives off a bitter barely coco, kind of foresty pondy taste. 

I dump the wet leaf into a mug and steep this over the next few days grandpa style and it still has some decent tastes.  It has great stamina going this far.

Overall, this is a pretty satisfying YiBang!  Great Euphoric Qi, some bodyfeeling. Great taste and engaging mouthfeeling, great stamina.  I like it a lot and wonder if I would have been better to blind buy this one over the Wa Long?  Don’t know yet because haven’t tried the Wa Long but this Yibang is pretty satisfying!  

I wonder if it’s the best Yibang on offer by a Western puerh vendor as well?  I hope to sample Essence of Tea’s 2018 Yibang Gushu (when I get around to an order) and compare the two.  This one is substantially cheaper though, cheaper than the White2Tea Is a Gift productions also.  I should do a comparison with the White2Tea Yibangs but I’ll have to pull them out of deep storage…. Hummm… anyways this Yibang is a real treat might be the best of the West- very nice.

Peace

 

2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 Maocha: Excellent Yibangy Thingy!

 

This is pretty much a blind sampling from Puerist.  I received this sample free for review and know almost nothing about it nor is it on sale at Puerist’s Etsy site.  It’s a 2020 sample so I wanted to try it while the weather is kind of warm so it will be the first Purist puerh I’ve sampled.  Just as Mark Turner offeredEugene and Belle puerh blindly and had them form their own opinions about it, I too have chosen to drink my first sample he sent me blind (Yiwu #8 is not a real area) in this same spirit…

Super very small and delicate dry leaves smell of marshmallow sweetness and delicate icing sugar nuances.  Looks like very early spring flush possible small leaf variety.

First infusion has a soft almost soapy floral thickness that expands in the mouth.  The mouthfeeling is cottony smooth with edges of very faint astringency.  It ends a bit citrus, soapy perfume floral with a faint bitterness.  This puerh is very green tea like, very green processed.  Could be Mansa or likely Yibang.  You can feel a deep heady Qi developing.

The second infusion has a citrusy very perfume floral onset with a touch of mild astringency and bitterness.  It leaves the mouthfeel very full and cottony and almost fine chalky.  The taste is so pure and smooth.  Very refined producing here.  Long pure floral aftertaste with edges of honey dew melon.  A very smooth, delicate, yet thick delivery.  Very nice.

The third infusion has a bitter buttercup like bitter astringency.  With a melon and soapy floral finish in an oily broth.  Very smooth, it has a nice oily viscosity and thick feeling in the mouth.  Nice heady euphoria developing.  Very comfortable in the body.  Melon perfume finish.  Very soapy floral.  Think it’s a very nice Yibang here.  That’s my guess.

The fourth infusion has a very thick juicy fruity oily mild bitter astringent floral onset.  The quick moving mild bitter let the juicy flavours really pop.  The mouthfeeling is really nice the liquor is oily but the mouthfeeling is a fine chalky with slight tightness.  It faintly simulates the mid throat trapping some saliva there.  This puerh reminds me much of 2019 W2T Is A Gift but more refined and not as bitter or green and the Qi is not as powerful. It’s a really good quality Yibang or comparable character from a different area.

The fifth infusion has a quick almost citrus mild bitter melon to soapy floral onset.  Mildly oily in texture and full in the mouth with a saliva mid throat stimulation.  Overall this puerh straddles the line of fined and elegant yet powerful.  The finish is melon fruity sweetness, almost woody but with a distinct perfume floral.  The Qi can be felt in the body under the sternum slightly and has a euphoria in the mind.

Sixth has a woodier, juicy thick fruity, slight bitter astringent floral taste here.  There is a long bitter floral melon aftertaste stuck in a mid- throat feeling.  The oily texture is starting to thin here.  The Qi has a relaxing deep euphoria.

The seventh has a brothy fruity floral to it.  Some woody mid-profile but slight mild astringency which gives the finish a slight melon, floral, and almost grape fruit peel taste.  The mouthfeel and oily texture is waning here.

The eighth infusion is a bitter floral type of taste over a thinner fruity nuance.  The aftertaste sticks on the tongue on its slight puckering fine chalky coating.  The lips feel a bit chalky and the mind a bit euphoric.

The ninth infusion has a bitter orange peel floral taste to it.  The bitterness is a moderate type that carries all the way to the aftertaste and leaves a woody floral nuance there.  Nice relaxing mind.

The 11^th has a floral bitter onset that holds throughout with fine sandy less chalky mouthcoating.  The bitterness really starts to take hold here with sweet tastes all but gone.

Surprisingly this maocha has lots of kick and stamina and I run out of time in my day to see how this session will go down…

I put these leaves into a mug and grandpa steep these leaves over a few days.  They still have lots of punch left in them.  A strong bitter, floral and surprisingly sweet fruity taste.  I must have steeped this out over a good 3 days like this and this maocha still had lots of taste in there.  These leaves have great stamina and its only maocha not the pressed material.  Real nice.

Overall, this is likely high quality Yibang material or similar character from different Yiwu region.  I like the quality better than the 2020 White2tea Is A Gift but not as good as the 2019 White2tea Is a Gift which is even more bitter and with stronger Qi.  Something like this could easily go for $200.00 USD for 200g cake and I like it a lot.  Wonder when Mark will press this and offer it on his Etsy site for purchase?

In the end I’m looking at these leaves and see a mix of very small and little bit larger leaves making me wonder if this is even Yibang small leaf variety here… maybe not?

Certainly quite a positive introduction to Puerist!

Peace

2020 white2tea Is A Gift: Can't Have It All

white2tea 2020 Is A Gift

iam_pbr Jury is still out on that

-white2tea’s Instagram

Sometimes the worst brings out the best in people.  It’s been a rough year for some people but a lot of good has come out of it as well.  This is especially true as people are deeply reflecting on what matters to them in life.  I think the turmoil of 2020 has most definitely brought out the best in white2tea which is very good if you like puerh.

First, Paul had the 2020 white2tea Umbrella 200g no strings attached free puerh cake.  That was pretty amazing!  I took a pass on that cake but was moved to support white2tea this year in a purchase that spoke more to me… so here we are…

Then on May 15^th came white2tea’s first wave 2020 Spring release and I would say the art direction on the wrappers is visually and artistically stunning.  Quite fresh and vibrant looking wrappers.  The descriptions and wrappers continue to improve year to year.  Paul’s continued his promotional email launching the cakes with a very short description was proven to be a hit in years past and was just as enjoyable for me this year.  This year the wrapper art seems less “graphic design” and more “artistic” they are really visually stunning this year.  Paul’s photography seems to be featured more and more year to year and the wrappers are looking more like art pieces in a gallery than design.  Beautiful esthetic.  In this first wave was the release of this 2020 white2tea Is A Gift ($249.00 for 200g cake or $1.25/g). The email description was “isn’t this all a gift?”… I agree that it kind of is…

Wave 2 came on June 7^th with another goody- a charity cake named 2020 white2tea Good Man in a Storm which Paul apparently discounted from $35 for 200g cake to $25 for 200g cake.  The best part was that 100% of that money would go to charities that fight against systemic racism in the USA.  Black Lives Matter!  With a brand name that could mistakenly conjure up “white pride”, it was probably a good idea to clarify.  Let’s be perfectly clear- Black Lives Matter.  Paul’s bold statement on racism states the obvious in a turn over the last few years to cakes and wrappers which have a theme of social justice.  Spring 2020 Wave 1 release had wrappers and design elements that suggested that this year Paul’s artistic vision would focus a bit more on Social Justice as I jokingly implied in this post. 

These wrappers started to show up last year with the art on 2019 white2tea Road2Nowhere and the predicable release of 2020 white2tea Road2nowhere.  This cake which was released as 50 limited cakes and was still available for purchase until today.  I think this speaks more to the current economic state, the demographic of white2tea’s consumers, as well as a so-so review by Cwyn N of last year’s cake.  So far I haven’t read a review yet that would convince me to drop the $128.00 for 200g cake.

The artistic statement which is 2019 white2tea InB4 also looks at worker equality which is evident in Paul’s rare detailed description of his wrapper and cake name.  I always felt that the 2019 white2tea Duh is meant to be a strong statement on gender equality/ woman’s rights.  In the same vain as the shot blurred in camera InB4 (Love Always Wins) and Is A Gift (Be Nice), the 2019 Duh has “This Girl Can” blurred.  All of these shots are likely blurred T shirt logos.   “This Girl Can” is a charity that aims to reduce the gap and inspire woman to be more active in sport.  Then the title “Duh” juxtaposed with the blurred image suggests that gender stereotypes are more ingrained systemically than a simple catchy phrase or hashtag can simply reverse.

OK… Lets get back to Is A Gift…

It’s this simple… Last year the 2019 white2tea Is a Gift spoketo me.  Although it was one of the best 2019 puerh I had tried- I hadn’t sampled so widely in 2019 so that doesn’t say much.  Despite it being a great gift it had some flaws to it mainly in it lacking a deep throat feeling or complex aftertaste.  However, I still really like this 2019 but just couldn’t overlook the flaws to buy more for this price.  So in come this 2020 white2tea Is A Gift… will it out preform the 2019????

Dry leaves don’t seem as compressed as last year’s cake.  Very tippy small leaves smell of Tuitti Fruity odours with a deep forest base.  Not as high noted or piercing green smelling as last year’s 2019 but deeper smelling forest.

First infusion has a mellow woody forest vibe.  Some soapy floral notes developing in the aftertaste.  A sweet sugar finish, creamy, soapy floral.  Mainly soapy fragrant floral tastes in a cottony fuzzy mouthfeeling.  The perfume stays on the breath for a while in the sticky mouthcoating.

The second infusion has a floral bitter soapy almost sweet onset.  There is a slight creamy butter and rainforest base.  The mouthfeeling is cottony, full, and sticky the throat opens to a deep soft pungency where mainly floral tastes linger and fade.  The finish and aftertaste and throatfeeling of this 2020 is immediately better than the 2019.  The Qi is alerting in the body.

The third infusion has a foresty onset a moderate bitterness that turns quick to perfume and dense soapy handsoap florals.  Cottony full a little sticky mouthcoating.  There are woody tastes underneath the bitter and a mid-throat opening with some mild cool pungency which throws the soapy across the aftertaste.  The Qi has a building headiness to it with a nice alerting feeling.

The fourth infusion has a pretty intense bitter buttery floral creamy sweet onset.  The bitter really splashes up into the roof of the mouth and there is a touch of peachy mango taste.  The bitter is definitely building in intensity. The mouthfeeling is slippery stone.  My mind and head start to wobble and float.  There is some hypnotic feeling in my mind.  A mid depth throaty light depth that a mild pungency touches.  The result is a long perfume soap aftertaste on the breath.  The peach fruit taste returns minutes later.  Saliva pools in the mid-throat as thick peach taste coagulates there among distinctly strong perfume.  The mouthfeeling has a thick slippery feel to it.

The fifth infusion has a bittery buttery almost forest taste which has a distinct thick perfume floral soapy finish.  The mouthfeeling is slippery and the bitter is pronounced.  The throat sees a mild pungency mid-depth which traps soapy floral tastes for a long perfume aftertaste.  There are suggestions of peach taste under the strong bitter and floral soapy onset.  The Qi has a moderately hypnotic feeling to it, less intense than the 2020.

The sixth has a distinct bitter floral taste.  The bitter splashes up into the mouth and a soapy floral taste expands.  The taste is really pretty strong.  The slippery mouthfeeling and mid-deep light throatfeeling push out a long floral aftertaste of perfume and even peachy tastes.  The throat depth is deep enough to push out a gob of saliva where an almost salty very floral and subtle peach fruit taste is long in the throat.  The qi is starting to race the Heart a bit.  My body feels energized and my mind clear.  The long floral taste here is distinct and strong throughout. The bitter is moderate-strong and quick to move.  Compared to the 2019 the bitter was much stronger and stayed throughout the profile.  The floral taste was much shorter with a very inactive throatfeeling and short aftertaste with the 2019 compared to this 2020.

The seventh infusion has a moderate bitter buttery creamier sweet onset.  There is a long floral taste that expands in the throat and is long on the breath.  There is a bit of woody tastes here now.  The Qi is invigorating now with slight stronger Heart beats.  The mouthfeeling is slippery and reasonably full.  The throat is mid-level depth.  The saliva pools in the throat mintues later holding a kind of forest floral taste in there.

The eighth infusion has a lively moderate bitter taste that splashes floral buttery sweet tastes into the mouth.  A lower level bitter goes the distance the deeper throatfeeling pushes out strong florals and forest woods now in the aftertaste.  The qi pushes me into a mild sweat on this very humid summer day.  The mouthfeeling is slippery with a bit drying lip edges.  The Qi is relaxing as well as alerting.  Definitely not as powerful as the 2019.

The ninth infusion has a moderate quick moving bitter which quickly returns a buttery creamy but mainly woody distinct floral taste then drops to a mild bitter which trails out in the mouth.  The mouthfeeling of this 2020 is really nice with a mid-depth faint almost pungent cooling with saliva gob action.  The aftertaste is mainly floral woods now with faint peachy suggestions underneath.  The Qi is moderate and has a nice euphoria and heating going on now in the body.  The aftertaste of wood florals is on the breath 5 minutes later.

The 10^th has a fresh green moderate bitter splash with a longer buttery floral initial taste.  The aftertaste is woods and distinct florals.  There is some suggestions of peachy fruit in the aftertaste as well.  The mouthfeeling is slippery cotton lip-edge dryness a moderately full feeling with mid-depth in throat and saliva pooling.  There are more tropical fruit nuances that try hard to punch through in the throat.  The mind is alert and a bit euphoric.  The aftertaste of peach florals is long.  I feel re-energized.

11^th has a sweet peachy woody and now only low bitter onset.  There are some buttery florals that emerge mid profile.  The mouthfeel is less intense with a slippery almost dry thin moderate coating.  The aftertaste in the throat is more melon now with some florals as well and less woody.  The body pushes out another mild sweat.  This infusion is sweeter but less bitter or full.

12^th has a buttery creamy floral onset with mild bitter underneath now.  There is a mild pungent in the throat mid ways which pushes out melon, peach, creamy sweet, and floral tastes.  The breath aftertaste is long and tasty.  The mouthfeeling is sticky and throat feeling still holding strong despite the bitterness really falling off.  This is probably the tastiest infusion 12 flash steepings in.  The qi is mildly hypnotic.

13^th has a moderate-low bitterness with woody floral and creamy butter tastes.  The floral taste is long in the throat and sticks to the slippery almost sticky tongue coating.  The aftertaste kicks up melon, peach, but mainly a buttery almost sweetness and distinct floral character.  This infusion is really tasty as well.  The throat feeling is holding strong and is a nice point of this 2020.  The Qi has a warming feeling in the body and moderate euphoria with mild Heart beats.  The face has a subtle numbness.

14^th has a low moderate bitterness with a creamy woody less floral sweet onset.  The mouthfeeling can get a touch almost dry pucker when infusions are sampled back to back.  The throat feels slight cooling pungency with a floral and woody finish with a lot less sweetness in this infusion.  Head euphoria and warming body, mild face and chest sensations. 

15^th infusion has become a bit watery, butter cup, some creamy sweetness and faint floral.  It’s starting to loose strength here.  There is still a nice long aftertaste of tropical creamy banana candy which is really tasty.  The aftertaste is losing strength as well.  The throat feel continues to hold and the mouthfeel has a nice slippery stickiness to it still.

16^th has a peachy woody almost but not really floral initially which expands to more of a buttery floral in the mid profile and slight tropical fruity in the aftertaste with a slight soft bitterness throughout.  Still a nice floral tropical sweet aftertaste which is quite long even though it is weakening now.

17^th is a watery floral cup with a bit of butter and woods mainly watery now.

18^th I push into a few minutes long infusion… and it pushes out some buttercup florals over a mild bitter woody taste.  The Qi has dropped off as well over the last few infusions.  Still some fruity aftertaste.

I put the rest of the wet leaves in a mug and really long steep it…. Deep bitter and salty green florals remain…

Looking at the wet leaves of this 2020- the processing is not the ultra green, crazy perfect unbroken bud and leaf sets of the 2019 Is A Gift.  Also there are some leaves which have a bit of browning or scorched marks which were not in the perfect looking 2019 leaves.  The small leaf varietal is still apparent and the quality is there but not the crazy meticulousness of the 2019.  It could have been deliberately processed a bit longer in the wok as this 2020 is not as mean green processed as the 2019.  Its possible that Paul gave the farmers the directive to leave it in the wok a bit longer to bring out more taste and a deeper throat feeling which the 2019 lacked.

Overall, this is an above average Yibang.  It has some strength behind it and has a nice aftertaste.  The taste peaks slowly and has above average stamina for a Yibang.  The Qi is also nice and more warming and euphoric than the flat out more powerful 2020….

Vs 2019 white2tea Is A Gift.  The 2019 white2tea Is a Gift is a significantly better tea in almost all respects.  The 2019 has much stronger Qi, better stamina, better leaf processing, and is more extreme yibang in general.  This makes the 2019 better to age long term I believe.  But the flavors and aftertaste of the 2019 was weak.  Where the 2020 is better in its more balanced flavor while still being more powerful than average.  The 2020 has a nice throatfeeling and aftertaste as well.  It’s much better suited for drinking now but will aged decently enough.  It’s a more balanced Yibang than the extreme and power of the 2019.  The 2020 does imnprove significantly in the aftertaste and throatfeeling but its gains here don’t outweigh the power which is the 2020.

In the end I'm left wondering if some extra processing was done to this 2020 to make it less nuclear green as the 2019?  To perhaps give it a deeper taste and throat feeling?  I am also left wondering if it was all done deliberately or is it by accident or just the way nature and climate left its mark on harvests of different years?  Maybe if the 2020 was green processed it would still be the powerhouse green machine of 2019? And by processing it differently in 2020 it has added flavor and throat feeling but has weakened its stamina and Qi? 

I guess I'll never know but I will find these two cakes interesting to compare has they age.  It also makes me think that if I thought that the lack of complex aftertaste, and deep throat feeling was the flaw of the 2019 and it was corrected in 2020 by processing but yet I am even more dissatisfied with the 2020 then I must be really picky or impossible to satisfy with my Yibang puerh.... hahahhaha... the phrase "Can't Have it All" is an apt phrase when it comes to trying to find a flawless puerh.  However, with puerh and with life, you make the best what comes your way and find the positives to enjoy...

Somehow I ended up giving the 2019 white2tea Is A Gift anumerical grade of 7.1.  I will give this 2020 white2tea Is A Gift a 5.9 just for comparison.

Thanks again Paul for pressing another enjoyable gift!

Peace

2017 Zheng Si Long Yi Bang and Thoughts on the Yibang Producing Area

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