2003 Chen Yuan Hao Youle: Puerh.uk vs Teas We Like

In my exploration of earlier Chenyuan Hao from the above two vendors the 2003 Chenyuan Hao Youle is one of my favorites after this reallynice session from Teas We Like.  I like the strong gushu Youle presentation, particularly the strong happy mood altering effect that often lasts a few days for me.  It’s a strong exaggeration of the typical Qi one would get from the Youle producing area.  It’s got to be one of the better examples of the Youle area with this much age on it.  I mentioned in the Teas We Like review that I’m considering purchasing a cake or maybe at least another quarter.  

I purchased this 2003 Chen Yuan Hao (approx. $492.00for 357g cake or $1.38/g) storage version from Puerh.uk.  I have tried this same storage in other Chenyuan Hao which include this 2005 Chen Yuan Hao Shanzhong Chuanqi cake as well as samples of the 2011 Chenyuan Hao Qian Jia Zhai Jincha and 2003 Chen Yuan HaoTong Qing Hao.  The Taiwanese storage is a bit drier than Teas We Like and tends to have more sweetness and higher notes exaggerated as well as more bitter and astringency but sometimes less depth.  For some cakes I prefer the Teas We Like storage and for some I prefer the Puerh.uk storage.  Let’s sample this one and see how it compares…

The dry leaves have a pine tree, slight grain and prune/raison odour.

The first infusion has a woody sort of creamy flat menthol taste.  It finishes a watery prune taste that has a flat almost tight watery mouthfeeling.  There is a nice mid-profile of peachy prune that comes and goes.  The mouthfeeling is a very thin almost watery but full reaching pucker.  There is a lingering coolness in the breath minutes later with a bread-like sweetness to it.  Lots going on early with this one.

The second infusion has a sweet prune almost woody menthol with a dazzling pop of sweetness initially there is a strong puckering astringent mouthfeeling that is less gagging in the throat and more on the cheeks and tongue.  This induces lots of saliva to push out of the throat and into the mouth.  There is a long cooling in the breath and long sort of menthol taste.  The Qi is very happy euphoria with a mind slowing feature with a chest pressure.  Strong Qi sensation.  There is an almost woody menthol and bready taste lingering in the mouth.  Strong warming in the face and chest and body.

The third infusion has a woody almost cherry tart menthol sweet astringent onset.  The woodiness is more prominent here as is the astringency.  Strong puckering mouthfeeling with sweetness and woody and menthol punching through.  The tongue and mouth is a full dry pucker with the throat opening deeply to push some saliva out and greet a lingering cool bready sweet woody menthol.  This Puerh.uk version seems more astringent and puckering and less layered and deep than the Teas We Like version.  There is some sort of peachy/prune sweetness lingering at the end.  Nice time slowing and happy euphoria Qi sensation.  The profile has 4 sort of phases: the initial sweet and astringency, woody menthol puckering, deep throat cooling and flavours, lingering sweet prune/peachy.  Qi is equally layered and complex with slowing properties to the mind, chest beats, and happy euphoria feelings.

The 4^th has an almost sour tart tangerine woody taste initially.  The astringency is less as is the menthol.  The mouthfeeling is almost a grainy sandy feeling here with a chalkiness to it.  There is some throat cooling and bready tastes in the finish.  A bland chalky taste lingers.

5^th infusion has a woody bland chalky very slightly sweet tart cherries onset.  There is a dry bland woody taste that comes after then a woody faint tart cherry finish. This infusion has a bland chalky woody taste that dominates even in the aftertaste.  There is less of a deeper aftertaste now.  Minutes later a bland chalky taste is left in the mouth.  Warming feeling mild happy euphoria with Chest heaviness and openness.

6^th is left to cool and gives off a bland woody creamy sweet peachy taste with less astringency and more bland with a cooling almost but not really menthol finish.  This cool infusion has a long bland chalky taste to it.  Faint bread in the aftertaste and a lingering sweetness with not as much astringency and pucker and chalkier mouthfeeling than pucker and bland woody chalky taste throughout.

7^th has a fruity fresh fruity sort of melon peach type of taste over a bland chalky woody taste.  The astringency becomes less here and is just very mild now in these flash infusions.  There is a creamy bready sweetness in the finish.  Nice calm mind, less slowing now but still nice happy vibe with chest opening and beating.

8^th has a fresh but muted by woody bland tasting fruity melon/peach.  No astringency in these flash steepings.  It has a deep open slight cooling with creamy sweet woody bready sweet aftertastes.  This infusion is less astringent and less bland chalky than previous.  Nice mind slow focus juxtaposed with a happy vibe with a slight euphoria.  Long creamy chalky sweetness many minutes later.

9^th as a more vibrant peachy sweet onset with a mild oily texture.  There are woody almost incense notes underneath.  With an open mid-deep throat there are lingering bread and creamy tastes with dry woody lingering.  Nice chest beats.

10^th has a more woody than peachy fresh onset that is a bit oily and put together and full.  Nice slow emerging creamy sweet over woody with lesser bready notes.  Nice heat beats and warming feeling in the body with stronger euphoria and happy feeling.  Deep creamy woody lingering taste sort of resin but not really not really incense but satisfying.

11^th infusion is left to cool and gives off a creamy woody chalky taste.  There is a deep throat faint cooling creamy sweetness that lingers.  The flavours are less now but the Qi has pushed me into a very happy-go-lucky state of mind which this Youle always manages to do.

12 has a woody bland sort of but not really sweet taste.  There is suggestions of peachy tastes but barely now with more of a grains cereal nuance with bland tastes- some faint breads.

I mug steep out the rest and it gives off a woody bitter with just edges of faint sweetness with a long strong deep coolness in the deep throat and strong Heart beats and vibrant happy mood feeling.  The Qi of this puerh is just great- the best of Youle!

Vs Teas We Like storage Overall, the Teas We Like storage on this is maybe a bit more preferable.  This Puerh.uk storage version, I don’t think has the depth of the Teas We Like storage other than its interesting pine woody resin taste and dry leaf odour which I really loved… actually there was lots of complexity here. The Teas We Like storage has a deeper resin ashy quality that gives it depth without being as astringent.  The layers of this kind of thing appeals to me bit more but it lacks the complexity the Puerh.uk version has lots more dynamic complexity in the first few infusions.

Oh man… still can’t decide on if I’m going to get more of this Youle or just back away with the two quarter cakes here…. Both storage options here are are good in their own way…

Peace

2003 Chenyuan Hao Youle: Uplifting Happy Aged Gushu Energy!

I got this 2003 Chenyuan Hao Youle ¼ cake ($155.00 for 90gor $1.72/g) from Teas We Like.  I’m in a bit of a Chenyuan Hao study right now and really enjoyed this one…

Strongly compressed dry leaves smell of faintly creamy woody more humid odours.

First infusion has a creamy metallic onset with a strong mouthwatering effect over an oily creamy texture.  There is this buttery creamy almost metallic type of sweetness that pops in the mouth initially then expands in the thick saliva.  It’s an almost floral buttery creamy metallic taste.  The oily and saliva producing is really nice with a long thick feeling in the mouth.  There is some mild spacy mind slowing even right away.

The second infusion has a vibrant pop of sweet tangy buttery creamy sweet taste that lingers around in thick oily and mouthwatering places.  There is a vibrancy to it with some sour fruity sweet tastes being featured here it kind of reminds me of a fruit punch blend with sour mango of old dehydrated fruit leathers.  Nice mind slowly with some face tingling.

The third infusion has a floral fruity juicy oily tangy pop of vibrant dried fruity punch/ mango sweetness that hold long in the saliva and mouthwatering oily mouthfeeling.  There is some element of brassy metallic but not really.  There is just the faintest pulling sensation in the mouth but no astringency.  The saliva and oily effect in the mouth is pretty interesting.  There is not really any cooling throat or retuning sweetness just sort of one long oil slick playing out of vibrant flavours.  Nice mind slowing features.  I sigh as relaxation takes hold…

The 4^th infusion has a vibrant sour fruity buttery sweet pop of taste that wallows in saliva and oily mouthfeeling as it stretches its legs.  This infusion shows some interesting florals that kind of taste like sour flowers if that makes any sense.  No bitter or astringency here. Everything has this nice flow to it like floating in the sea, nice happy relaxing feeling.

5^th has a sour thick dried fruity punch dehydrated fruit leather pop of taste that hold nicely in the thick oily texture there is a subtle bready-woody storage taste but overall this is a very clean tasting storage that is doing this Youle surprisingly well.  The initial taste is almost like a sour flowered sweetness.  Nice happy feeling Qi with some deep sighs relaxing effect and mind clarifying slowness.  Very nice package overall.

6^th infusion has a sour dried fruit punch dried fruit dehydrated vibrant pop of a taste then it wallows along in an oily.  Long lingering buttery floral fruity taste.  Very vibrant taste.  Nice happy feeling.

7^th has a creamier and more floral sweet pop of taste.  The taste, mouthfeeling and Qi really line up with this one the storage is really nice and seems to give the vibrancy inherent in the Youle lots of cushion.  Long sweet floral sour like tastes.  Very satisfying package with this Youle gushu.  The cool cup is even fruitier.  Nice happy stress relief with subtle diaphragm release and some sighing.

8^th has a pop of vibrant sour fruity kind of floral-sour like taste that is mainly a balance of sour and sweet with sweetnessess wining out.  Very nice icing sugar on the tongue feeling the last few infusions.

9^th has a woody varnish subtle icing sugar sweet only a bit creamy, floral, sour or fruity now but a long icing sugar that turns to creamy sweetness in the mouth in the cooled down cup.

10^th has a sour dry wood-bark icing sugar taste over a tighter mouthfeeling with less oiliness and a thin woody and icing sugar finish.  Nice happy feelings.

11^th has a woody almost medicinal floral sweet icing sugar taste.  There is surprisingly more cooling in the profile here and more medicinal taste which wasn’t really a thing in the first infusions.  The icing sugar taste lingers in the mouth minutes later.  Nice happy feeling some subtle face tingles but more of just a relaxed body and muscles feeling.

12^th has a strong peachy fruity fruit punch dried fruity taste.  This puerh is really delicious to me.  There is this bready base taste that is really satisfying to me.  Long icing sugar minutes later.  Nice chalky mouthfeeling now with a saliva gob in the throat minutes later.  Deeply happy and tension busting feeling.

13^th has a fruity sweet pop of saliva producing oily sweetness.  The infusions are getting fruitier and icing sugar as the go and the mouthfeeling is becoming chalkier.  The throat is really opening up deeply and holding some saliva deep in the throat.

14^th has a long woody taste with a bit of sweetness and floral and even a bit of very faint incense…

I mug steep out the rest… and it gives off a woody taste with background fruity sweetness.  Strong relaxing Qi and tension easing feelings.  Strong woody brackish dirt with a faint bitterness and strong underlying backbone of fruity sweetness and floral-ness.  There is some faint cooling but hardly.  Lots of strong flavours- woody, almost metallic, sour, fruity, icing sugars.  Lots of power in this top notch Youle.  Strong euphoria and deep body relaxing when pushed hard like this.  I break into a big sweat… wow… what a feeling… I think I’d cake this if the price was right… or maybe another Quarter cake.  So far it seems to be winning the speed test among all my ChenYuan Hao… I like its energy.

Peace

2021 The Essence of Tea Youle GaoGan: Structured and Complex

I was so excited about the Essence of Tea’s offering of this 2021 Essence of Tea Youle GaoGan that goes for $248.00 for 200g cake or $1.24/g that I decided to purchase a it with a bunch of other samples.  It was not David’s new 2021 pole dance that aroused my tea buying this time but rather Kathy and David’s listing from a region that is often overlooked by the Western puerh vendor- Youle…

Dry leaves have a very frangrant floral almost faint woodiness.  Very fresh leaves…

The first infusion has a nice buttery creamy onset with a clear sweetness that almost turns into a Rice Crispy cereal taste as it disperses over the tongue.  There is a subtle sticky feeling in the mouth and cereal sweet finish in the mouth with a faint coolness deep in the throat.

The second infusion has a pungent almost minty intial burst of flavor that is really delicious it disappears into a Rice Crispy cereal taste there is a long deep cooling in the throat.  The mouthfeeling is really simulating and sticky and there is lots of saliva that returns to the mouth.  The aftertaste is sweet breads and a faint passionfruity aftertaste is found minutes later.  The Qi is really peaceful and the body feeling is very strong like shoulders are coming up to my ears, a floating kind of feeling.  There is a certain vibrating expansive feeling in the body contrasting the calm generated in my mind. Very nice.

The third infusion has a pungent, floral, mild passionfruit and sweet cereal grain taste that come fast all at once over a faint astringency and a full stimulating mouthfeeling with subtle dry throat and strong saliva producing effect.  The minty pungent tastes seems to carry through with the sweet bready cereal tasting lasting the second longest of the flavours in the mouth.  Nice long cool deep throatiness.  The stimulating mouthfeeling with saliva producing is really nice.  The Qi is really calming and the body feelings are quite stimulating. An interesting and engaging yet somehow calmly complimentary experience.  The calming/ relaxing Qi is the typical energy of Youle but these subtle body feelings are a added bonus.

The fourth infusion has a very pungent cool and woody taste with a deep throatiness where the cool pungent resides.  The initial taste is almost minty and has a cereal/floral like taste that turns into a cereal and bread sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is stimulating and saliva producing is good.  Nice calm mind and shoulder and body lifting Qi.

The fifth infusion has a minty pungent onset with some buttery florals and bread sweetness underneath.  The mouthfeeling is a full chalky tightness with a pull of saliva into the mouth.  Nice Relaxing Qi with shoulder releasing bodyfeelings and a subtle vibrating feeling.  Nice focusing feeling.

The sixth infusion has a forest pungent minty onset with a bread/cereal finish, a bit floral, not that fruity sweet.  The mouthfeeling is soft sticky dry with a deep cooling throatfeeling.  There is some melon and floral in the finish.  Kind of a tingling mouthfeeling with less returning saliva and not as deep throat.  The main taste is this prominent minty pungency.  The flat soft sticky dry mouthfeeling has a mild pucker and feels kind of fuzzy in the mouth.  Nice claming Qi with nice flowing shoulders and arms feeling.  Nice combo of calm mind with active but not distracting bodyfeeling.

The seventh infusion has a more juicy almost lemon passionfruity a bit sour taste here.  There is some florals, bread sweetness, a tiny bit of astringency with nice full mouthfeeling of drying and deep cool throat.  Has a finish of pungent coolness and subtle florals almost lemon cake like subtle taste here.  Qi is nice and calm.

The eighth infusion has a juicy lemon floral sour, bread sweet, floral, and cereal taste.  The mouthfeeling is a full sticky dry stimulating feelng with some mid-deep throat cooling.  The throat cooling and depth is loosing its deep feeling in the last few infusions.  The aftertaste is a lemon, floral bread-like sweetness.  The Qi is nice and calming.

The ninth infusion has a fresh zesty lemon floral taste to it which has become the dominant intial taste with sour, bread sweetness and to a lesser extent florals which are mainly intertwined with cool pungency.  The mouthfeeling builds in strength as the infusions go and now is quite puckering and squeaky with a deeper coolness and a lemon pungent forest aftertaste with a bit of saliva producing but not too much anymore.  The mouthfeeling is really nice and will do this puerh well out of the fresh puerh stage its in now.  Nice calm fousing feeling with light limbs. 

10^th has a bit of bitterness in it and a bit of sour lemon, floral, bread it transforms into cool pungency that comes from the throat and plants itself onto the tongue where a forest pungency is left in the mouth and throat.  The aftertaste is a bit sour and bready and cool.  Strong tighter throat developing. Engaging tongue coating and throat is tightened at the upper throat.  A bit of dryness here now.  Nice claming focusing Qi. 

11^th infusion there is a bready sour bitterness with a bit of cereal and woody and floral.  The mouthfeeling becomes quite dry here so does the throat.  There is not much aftertaste at this point a ghosty cooling and floral on the breath mainly.  The bodyfeelings have dropped off and just a light airy feeling in the arms are left.

12^th has a woody floral sweet melon fruity taste with nice cool throat and dry tongue with deep floral melon finish.  Nice relaxing Qi.

13^th a bitter buttery floral with a cool forest pugnet endge that comes out of the throat.  Flat dry tongue coating and floral melon aftertaste.  Nice more typical Youle tastes are found later in the session here.  Nice relacing Qi.

Leaves were left in the pot overnight and now I come back to the 14^th  and there is fruity buttercup like florals a bit of sour almost mango, thick dry coat mouthfeeling and slight cooling.  There is a heady qi to it now.  The strong tongue coat gives this puerh a solid base.

The 15^th is much the same with a sweet floral fruity taste tight dry tongue faint throat with faint cooling.  I image this puerh steeping out like this for a while…

The long mason jar steeping of the spent leaves has a very mild forest pungent taste with almost unnoticeable cooling over a dry tongue sensation.  Not any sweetness left and not much flavor to push out and nice relaxing Qi typical of Youle comes out of this long steep.

Overall, this is a nice Youle with a lot of structure to it.  The first group of steepings are interesting stuff with a calm relaxing qi typical of youle but deeper and more powerful with interesting bodyfeelings paired with that deep calm.  The infusions are stronger in the mouth and really saliva producing with lots of interesting tastes which slowly evolve throughout the corse of the tea session.  These include sour, pungent, floral, bready, cereal, minty, Forest, bitter these appear at different times throughout the session. The minty pungency with Rice Crispy cereal note is one I’ve not come across before and make the first handful of infusions supper tasty…  There is lots in here with stronger drying/sticky/tight tongue coating that can get pretty strong if too many infusions are stacked too close together.  The strong saliva producing along with this mouthfeeling give the complex evolving taste a good base to age.

Vs 2013 Pu-erh.sk Youle.  These are similar quality Youle I think.  They both have complex evolving flavours over a stronger evolving mouthfeel.  Too many years have gone by between sampling but this 2021 might be a bit deeper and complex especially the subtle bodyfeelings.

Thought this might be the best 2021 offering from the Essence of Tea until I tried…

Peace

Edit:

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Alex’s (Tea Notes) Tasing Notes

Double peace

2020 Puerist You Le “Forest Tea” vs 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8

 

This is my last in a series of samples to try to understand and define the concept of “Forest Tea Puerh” after Shah8 introduced the concept in this post on 2012 Yang Qing Hao Yegu (also see 2016 Yang Qing Hao Wujin Cang and 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 below).  This 2020 Puerist Youle “Forest Tea” goes for approx. $96.00 for 200g cake or$0.48/g- I purchased a sample in my last Puerist purchase to further educate myself on “forest tea” and to compare to other Youle area tea.

The dry leaves smell of very creamy, airy, almost turnip but very creamy sweet.  Strangely this one doesn’t smell of strong florals typical of Youle.

The first infusion has a pungent spicy grassy floral woody coolness in the breath.  It tastes almost green tea like in its finish.  There is an airy pungency to this one with a watery very mild tongue coating, a watery oily feeling and very deep throat where a cooling taste but not that much retuning sweetness resides.  The Qi is apparent immediately and is strong.  A fresh grass and coolness lingers on the breath with only mild sweetness.

The second infusion has a lips tingling pungency very faint and very quick moving bitter that is hard to even spot it follow pops of cherry sweetness and pungent sweetness.  The base tastes is almost rubbery grassy woody.  It kind of tastes like a wild and conventional variety blend.  For sure the wild tea material is more obviously apparent in this “forest tea”.  There is a watery almost oily feeling that turns to a chalky density on the tongue and the throat is very deep and cool.  Strong Qi sensations rule with this very wild tea like thingy- strong intense energy in the chest.  There is an unusual power to the Youle “forest tea”.

The third infusion has a woody, floral rubbery, quick very very hard to spot mild bitter that make a cherry like taste pop in the mouth.  The rubbery aftertaste is a sign of wild tea material being pretty heavy in here along with the lack of typical retuning sweetness and aftertaste.  This is basically unrecognizable as Youle terroir for me.  Very different, very wild tea, very tasty but not that conventional puerh like.  The cooled cup reveals lots of candy almost caramel finish.  The complexity in the forest tea blends are their strength for sure!  There is also a huge body feeling and intense energy vibrating throughout my body.

The fourth infusion has a strong start fruity, cherry like burst of intense fruity taste that is pushes out by a faint bitter.  There is that rubbery wild tea base taste and aftertaste that signal a strong wild tea like composition.  But man… is the energy of the wild tea electric… intense energy bursts, racing heart beats, strong shoulder especially in the front of the shoulders release… lots of intense and vibrant energies and bodyfeelings.  It’s an intense experience.  Like ingesting a cocktail of tea like drugs.

The fifth infusion has a very cherry bitter floral bitter star-fruity wild tea like intensity to the taste.  The taste is balanced nicely between bitter and sweet with a saliva producing and deep throat opening.  The mouthfeeling is thin and tight with a developing density and rubbery woody floral wild tea strong character.  Intense heart, shoulder, crazy bodyfeelings and intensity… wow!

The sixth infusion has a creamy bitter buttery floral pop of cherry with a tight mouthfeel and grassy-rubbery woody wild tea finish in the mouth.  The Qi is making my head explode!  Hahahhah strong intense bodyfeelings in chest, and across the front of the shoulders like a consiricting feeling.  Grassy almost sweet aftertaste.

The seventh has a strong berry and juicy bitter taste with intense returning flavors of dragon fruits.  The mouthfeeling is thin a tight with an mild oily liquid and a throatfeeling that is disappearing as well as the coolness in the throat.  Feels about mid-throat at this point in the session.  Nice vigorous ground shaking Qi.   Very intense and transformative experience.

The 8^th is strong fruity rubber berry taste of wild tea it has a grassy finish to it, a bit bready, star-fruity, berry pops after the quick bitter.  Very intense Qi in body and mind.  Rubbery, grassy, not that sweet finish in mouth.

9^th has a strong savoury grassy bitter with more of a low lying sweetness over a thin sandy tongue and lips coating with a tighter upper throat.  Slight coolness with rubbery tastes….

10^th begins with a stronger but quick moving bitterness which brings out berry sweetness over a thin sandy mouthfeeling with a certain tightness of the lips and tongue.  The throat feel is loosing strength slowly and much less coolness resides there.  The Qi is just really really big … really really intense… it feels like my heart is exploding in my chest and I’m riding a serious high for hours after…

Not expecting my daily tea session to go into the heavens of intensity, I am left no other chose to back away and approach with caution tomorrow…

11^th is resumed after the wet leaves have rested in the pot overnight… and it comes off as very light and floral with a nice melon taste and a rubbery vacuous wild tea taste.  The mouthfeel has softened quite a bit.  Strong energy courses through the body.

The 12^th has strong melon and fruity florals over a quick moving bitterness and mild tight dense mouthfeeling.  There is that rubbery floral wild tea nuance to it.  But lots of flavor and of course lots of chest pounding and intense energy rushing throughout the body.  This is some strong stimulating energy here even the next day.

The 13^th has strong fruity floral intense fruity even layered creamy flavored fruit tastes.  The cooled cup and nice long caramel sweetness.  There is some complexity and lots of stamina in these leaves.  Strong energy explosion here.  Faint coolness and long rubbery fruity floral finish.

The 14^th is also cooled and gives off a very vibrant and flavourful soup of florals, startfruits, long sweet tastes that goes deep into the throat with a mild cooling and has a bread-like sweetness in the aftertaste.  There is a very subtle bitter astringency. 

The 15^th is left to cool and gives off lots of fruity melon tastes up from that turn to floral and woody and a kind of brackish mild bitter then to long faint cooling in the throat.  There is that long floral/bread note faintly skirting around.  The Qi is starting to be relaxing.  The stamina of this wild tea is long for sure.

The 16^th infusion has a very vibrant fruity intense tasting mild quick moving bitter pop of taste in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is a thin density to it.  Long aftertaste of rubbery woody.

This ones seems to go one forever!  I put the remaining leaves in a mug to steep out.

Overall, this is very much wild tea in taste, Qi and feeling with not much typical Youle feeling or taste at all…  It compares nicely to 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 which I purchased a few cakes of…

The following are notes from a similar 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 which goes for $175.00 for 200g or $0.88/g. I sampled the fresh maocha last year.  These are my notes from last week…

Dry leaves smell of intense forest sweet candy.

The first infusion has a creamy sweet familiar Yiwu sweetness upfront there is some woody taste underneath but a very deep cooling throat which pulls the aftertaste along into grassy almost melon floral taste.  The mouthfeel is nice with a full dense chalkiness and the throat is deep.  Very smooth and soothing feeling initially in the body and mind.  The colour of the liquor is more deeply yellow than the Youle.

The second infusion has a soft onset of Yiwu like sweetness over faint woody with a grassy taste coming out deep smooth cooling throat and a base level of mild bitterness there is a smooth vigorous bread-like sweet finish that lingers in the breath and a strong saliva producing effect in the mouth.  The Qi is really big starting to make the mind stuffy and large.  Arms can feel the effect.  There is sour tastes and woody tastes and grassy-forest tastes and bitter tastes.  The effect is complex with an interesting dichotomy of smooth soothing energy and underlying and building power.

The third infusion has a strong onset of sweet creamy Yiwu sweetness a berry sweet taste with an undercurrent of building bitterness that makes the berries pop.  There is a strong dense mouthfeeling and very deep throat subtle coolness.  A strong intense euphoria shakes out of this one.

The fourth has a strong popping berry taste that follows the initial quick moving bitterness with a nice base of grassy and bready sweetness, wood, fruity berries.  The mouthfeeling is dense and throat very deep. Sqeekey gums and long breath almost floral berries and bread and grass.  Nice euphoria takes hold with some stronger bodyfeeling.

The 5^th is a cooled down cup but is smoother creamy and deeper layered fruity in the cup with an almost caramel edge with a long deep throat coolness over a gradually building density in the mouth.  There is some grassy undertones as well as woody but more of a playing out of complex sweetnesses over a really good tongue coating and deep throatiness.  Nice big euphoria engulfs me.

The 6^th has a juicy fruity bitter with a creamy complex fruity presentation.  There is lots of complexity in here- breads, grasses, wood, floral, melon, and berries.  The tongue coating is interesting in that it kind of slowly becomes denser as you swallow.  The broth is nicely oily and the throatfeeling is deep.  The Qi is strong in the chest but also calming and focusing and euphoric.  This puerh feels nice in the body and mind if not slowly building in intensity.

The 7^th has a quick bitter onset with floral caramel, berries, bread, melon, bitterness, grass, woods- its complex the dense chalky tongue coating and deep throat with saliva producing effect is really good. It finishes kind of woody oily minutes later.

The 8^th is very sweet with a quick bitter pushing berries, melon tastes along the tongue.  Nice complex layered sweetnesses.  Nice euphoria too.  Chalky tongue coating and deep throat.  High floating feeling.

9^th has a strong fruity onset with layered sweet, floral, grass, woody long creamy sweet returning saliva over the tongue over a chalky tongue coating.  Lots of saliva producing effect.  Nice strong focusing. energy.  Relaxing body effect.

10^th has a fruity sweet creamy sweet bready onset over a full dense tongue and deep throat and returning saliva.  There is a mild bitterness to this infusion.  Very bread sweet creamy finish in mouth.  Nice hypnotic euphoria takes hold.

11^th. … I have no choice but to mug steep out over a few days and is much more conventional puerh varietal in there in taste and feel but still a bit wild tea in there.  Very vibrant and sweet tastes remain.  This Yiwu #8 has a certain vibrancy that I find alluring.  Sometimes I’ve tried this and its more bitter other times its more sweet… I think it has an interesting and vibrant blend of material from that forest and feels really interesting to me.  A good young example of something that might be “forest tea” and something I’m curious about aging out.

To compare the two they both have some similar taste in that they have a distinct bitterness to them that quickly gives way to vibrant sweetness.  The 2020 Puerist Youle “Forest Tea” has an obvious wild tea profile / wild tea varietal and is actually quite a bit more bitter than the 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 where the Yiwu #8 is more sweet and savory and closer to the conventional puerh varietal.  The 2020 Puerist Youle has an overwhelmingly powerful Qi, almost chaotic at times where the 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 is both intense but also focusing and euphoric.  They are both pretty intense and interesting experiences.

Peace

2018 Puerist Youle (Ya Nou): A Powerful Youle

This is an interesting Youle for me because it was deliberately sourced by Mark to age based on his tastings of other aged Youle from the same famer and garden specifically in 2013.  This is opposed to most of the other Youle that we in the West have been exposed to that are more for drinking now.  I purchased a sample of this 2018 Puerist Youle which goes for approx. $83.00 for 200g or $0.42/g in my last order from Purist…

Dry leaves a very floral and fruity and sweet and have the odour of fresh grapes almost aritifical grape candy sweetness.

First infusion has a strong buttery floral sweetness in it that has a certain long dense thickness to it and goes deep into the throat like sticky butter.  There is an initial pop of fruity grape then a long thick buttery floral that fades out long and slowly in the throat and breath.

The second infusion has a strong push of heavy fruity buttercup floral thickness that goes the distance in the mouth, throat, and aftertaste breath.  The throat feeling is deep and is stimulated by a faint veil of very mild astringency that pushes saliva on to the tongue.  The mouthfeeling is a thin very full coating dryness.  The Qi is warming and strong and warms the face and relaxes.  The bodyfeel is specific in the face- it feels kind of tingling.

The third infusion has a really thick buttery floral taste with a very sunny fruity thick taste and mid-deep throat.  There is a very faint astringency that pulls saliva over the tongue and extends the taste into the aftertaste with a nice almost bread like and even melon and grain like glimpses.  Very fresh thick floral buttery sweetness.  The mouthfeel is a very full but thin almost dryness.  A strong peachy odour and faint taste is also found throughout the profile.  The Qi is warming in the face with a free spirit and mind like effect.

The fourth infusion has this thick juicy peachy grape burst of taste with a long fragrant floral finish.  Thick oily texture with mid-deep throat and strong saliva producing astringency gives this Youle strength and power.  The taste is long and thick and turns almost into a apricot bread taste.  The Qi is pretty warming and the face feels subtle numbness and the heart starts to race.  There is enough astringency in here that it starts to turn on my empty stomach.

The fifth infusion is left to cool but has a strong floral fruitiness, and buttery taste and with an astringency that continues to increase.  There is a really full almost tight dry mouthfeeling with a very oily viscus mouthfeeling and returning saliva.   Strong enlivening Qi with face sensation and Heart sensations.

The sixth infusion has a less thick fruity floral presentation.  There is some subtle throat coolness and a full thin tight mouthfeeling that works well with a mid-to-upper throat opening and saliva simulating throat. 

The seventh has a bitter astringency to it.  Very thick fruity floral taste, very very fragrant buttery sweet fragrant.  The mouthfeeling is really good.  Very full but thin but kind of tight.  There is a coolness developing.

The 8^th is very oily and much more floral buttery.  The floral taste is really strong and interestingly interacts with the strong mouth and throat presence.  The cooled cup gives off a more bitter melon type of taste which is kind of unexpected.  The taste is strong either way, thick, a bit of astringency.

The 9^th has a bitter melon floral type taste to it with a bit of bitter astringency over there is a distinctly floral melon taste to it. The flat mouthfeel is still there but not as much throat feeling and less cooling and saliva producing now too.

The 10^th has a bitter coco and strong floral initial taste with a melon, floral, fruity coco finish.  There is a full but thin tight tongue coating and a deep cool throat feeling.

The 11^th is bitter coco with a creamy floral onset that stretches over the full thin almost tight mouthfeeling and into a subtle coolness.

The mug steepings are a thick heavy bitter coco deep floral.  This is a super strong and interesting Youle.  The teeth are squeaky and the mind very sedate.  The aftertaste lingers for a long time in the mouth.

This is the most powerful Youle I have sampled since this 2013 Pu-erh.sk Youle.  It is less refined than this one but has lots of power, mouth, and throat presence.  It’s a nice Youle for the price for sure one for aging.

Peace

Marco’s Blind Tasting “Alpha” (2010 Youle Gushu)

A day or so after experiencing the elegance of Marco’s blind sample “Delta” then pretty much having an out of body experience later in the day with “Gamma”, I hope to tread a bit more cautiously going forward.  No more crazy two blind samples in a day type of thing.  With the weather still quite a bit warm here this summer I look for something a bit younger or dry stored and settle on the look of this sample with the symbol “Alpha” on it.  I snip open the sealed package and smell…  

The dry leaves have a meaty musk meat like odour that immediately remind me of Laos puerh.

First infusion has a peachy and very musk gamey almost salty watery meat kind of onset that tastes similar to the dry leaf odour.  Very faint pungent finish with a chalky/talc mouthfeeling and tongue coating.  It has a blank chalky finish.

The second infusion has an almost sweet almond watery clear with gamey musk onset.  There is a lubricating mouthfeeling.  The Qi is starting to swell in my chest a bit.  There is almost a creamy almond but mainly watery sweet finish.  A bland chalky talc develops in the mouth minutes later.

The third infusion has a woody sweet almond onset with a faint less obvious gamey taste.  There is a soft cloud like round sweetness to this one that is interesting.  Almost peach fruity but not really.  The finish is sweet creamy almost faint marshmallow.  The tongue coating is more sticky faint sand.  I can feel my heart racing mildly here.  This has an East Yiwu close to or even over the boarder vibe to it.  In some ways it reminds me of the Essence of Tea Tian Men Shan but not at all as substantial.

The fourth infusion has a pondy, almost blank bland woody, almost mushroom onset with almond sweetness.  There is some faint fruitiness that tries to establish itself.  The mouthfeeling is a soft almost sandy stickiness.  The throatfeeling is faint and somewhat deep.  The Qi is very calming on the mind and almost hypnotic.  The aftertaste is a walnut taste not really fruity but with a very faint not really there candy on the breath.  I can feel a mild slow heart sensation in the body.  The Qi is starting to build in the mind.

I’m having a really hard time placing this puerh.  In some ways it tastes like an old dry seal stored puerh and in other ways it tastes rather new.  In many ways it is like the 2001 Naked Yiwu.  Even the location has evaded me.  This is a tough one.

The fifth infusion has a woody and mushroom and almond onset over a pondy base taste.  There is a creamy incense building almost caramel sweetness that comes out of these tastes.  The mouthfeeling is becoming drier pucker stickiness.  There is a long solid incense base taste.  There is a long candy like sweetness developing on the breath.  The Qi is a bit hypnotic and a bit relaxing.  There is a lot of nuanced complexity that just can’t quite punch through such as orange peel, herbal tastes, and floral tastes.  My scalp feels a bit tingling.  This is a really interesting infusion.  The thought of this being a seal stored Youle crosses my mind- again this puerh is really hard for me to place.  My mind is starting to really unravel.  It has a nice deep warming Qi sensation to it which suggests age.

The sixth infusion has a pondy woody incense onset with some sweet almond and almost suppressed floral.  The mouthfeeling is becoming really engaging and has a sticky drying cotton mouth effect.  It feels almost like there is something caught in the mid-throat.  There is some faint long candy in the aftertaste as well as walnut taste and almost peach orange taste.  The mouthfeel is really intense here.  The Qi is warming and pushes me into a sweat.  I feel quite stoned from the Qi.  There is a deep strength to this puerh in its Qi, mouthfeeling, and even taste, in a subtle way.  This is a really interesting puerh to me.

The seventh infusion has an incense woody onset with some walnut taste in there as well.  There is almost fruity taste that tries to emerge.  There is also a bitterer base emerging as well as there as well.  The mouthfeel is a sticky punckery pretty engaging thing now.  The Qi is warming in the body and hypnotic in the mind.

The eighth has a fruity floral onset over wood and incense notes.  There is a bland chalky base taste then a faint coolness and a strong true apricot fruit finish almost like apricot jam.  This infusion has turned a corner and is very apricot tasting.  Very delicious.  A sticky almost puckering Qi is there. 

The ninth infusion has an almost nutty not really toffee sweet onset the woody and incense taste is less now and a fruitier and sweeter suggestion is left to enjoy.  There is a pondy aftertaste.  There is a bit of a mineral taste here and a floral and apricot fruit.  Over a slightly puckering sticky engaging coating in the mouth while the throat seems pretty absent throughout this session is carries a touch of very very faint coolness.

The tenth infusion is a pondy, kind of fruity, slightly woody incense taste initially that has an almost chalky bland midtaste before returning mild chalky apricot aftertaste.  The aftertaste is not super long not overly complex throughout any of the infusions but sometimes carries a very very faint candy suggestion like this infusion does.  The Qi is strongly warming in the body and feel like aged Qi energy.

The eleventh infusion has a fruity incense taste with a bland chalky finish with some faint florals and barely candy appearing over the bland aftertaste finish.  Mouthfeeling is thicker chalky pucker.  Warming euphoric Qi.

The 12^th infusion has a mild fruity onset with a bland almost woody creamy pondy taste.  There is a slightly sticky mouthfeeling and a faint fruity almost candy finish.  This puerh is dropping off fast.  The Qi is mild.

The 13^th infusion I steep for 30 seconds over flash… it yields a woody bland onset with a bit of creamy fruity finish with some throat coolness.

I put this in a mug to grandpa steep out. It tastes of generic smoky incense and some woody bitterness.

The wet leaves are different colours of aged olive green and coppery colours some of them are chopped leaf grade indicative of a factory production.

Overall, this puerh is really difficult for me to place.  More difficult than the others so far.    The first few infusions and the dry leaf almost remind me of Laos puerh or something East Yiwu close to the boarder with a meaty and gamey taste.  Then the next group of infusions develop a pondy woody taste to it with some fruity and creamy sweetness.  The mouthfeel builds and becomes thicker almost pucker.  The Qi is warm and indicates something more aged as does the incense base taste that develops.  These infusions remind me of a dry seal stored older more old school puerh.  In the later infusions a strong apricot sweetness is highlighted. 

This puerh changes a lot throughout the session which makes it kind of interesting.  It is definitely dry stored, likely Taiwanese dry storage, and possibly even sealed storage.  It also has a factory feel to it like a Xiaguan, maybe especially in the later infusions.  It’s more of a generic factory taste in the last half.  Not sure how this puerh would be priced which depends on how old it is really.  I think this might be an option for offering something older but more affordable at Teas We Like.  Its profile is something that I don’t think I would be too interested in buying, either way.  But if the price was low it would be a bargain.

Guess: An aged possibly seal storage very dry Taiwanese stored factory production?  This one is the hardest of the blind samples for me to place…

Answer: 2010 Youle Gushu from Teas We Like

Peace