2009 Liming “Yi Wu Moutain Big Green Tree”= A Good Cheapish Yiwu

Liming has been popular in the west for its cheapness as well as its easy to drink-ness.  There has been lots of Liming teas currently flooding the market.  When asked why that was, I responded to a commenter some theories here and told him I’ll put up a review soon.  Here is that review...

I love cheap factory puerh especially when it’s done right.  I haven’t sampled Liming in a while and don’t currently own any but it’s always been quite agreeable, easy drinking.  In my mind the Liming I’ve sampled before many years ago had a kind of more mild but sort of similar to a Dayi 7532 feel to it.  That’s what my shoddy memory tells me, for what it’s worth…

On a day I am looking for something slightly aged, comfortable on the body, and nothing to overly complex in my life.  I got this 2009 Liming “Yi Wu Mountain Big Green Tree” sample ($75.00 for 357g cake or $0.21/g) sent free last year with an order from Yunnan Sourcing ..  I hope to push some solid tastes out of this one by leafing it really hard…

Dry leaves smell of faint fruity almost raspberry odour with flowers the leaf looks mild humidly stored, nice tight factory compression.  Its smells delicious..

First infusion is still a fairly compressed infusion and steeps out with a creamy watery sweetness with a subtle watery peachy fruitiness.  A soft creamy vibe.

Second is a watery creamy sweet onset.  Faint with faint returning sweetness.  There is a nice soft watery fruity taste in there that returns with mild fruity sweetness.  There is a nice berry taste in the aftertaste that is a like raspberries and blackberries.

The third has a watery almost creamy kind of fruity onset.  The mild pungency pushes out a slightly sour and returning subtle sweet berry taste.  The mouthfeeling is faint and slightly sandy.  The throat is not significantly stimulated.

The fourth infusion has a creamy fruity taste initially.  There is a nice easy simplicity about the taste in a soft light mouthfeeling.  The aftertaste is enjoyable with a creamy berry taste returning after faint pungency.  The compression is starting to loosen a bit…

In the fifth there is a nice light woody base developing.  The tastes are all quite smooth and easygoing.  There is a bit of a sour pucker- very light but deepens the taste significantly.  Some woody berry, some creamy sweet, a touch pungent.  This is a nice tasting sheng.  Overall the taste is creamy berry soft sweetness.  The Qi is very mild with a slightly alerting and slightly relaxing feel.

The sixth infusion has a creamy woody onset with a creamy rolling berry fruity taste.  There is a slight woody almost sour but then pungent faintly creeps in and gives out long creamy sweetness.  This is a very nice complete tasting Yiwu sheng.  The mouthfeeling in this infusion strengthens a bit to a more puckering fullness and the taste is noticeably deeper.  The Qi is slightly warming now and the face flushes and I can feel the heart pound.  A nice vigor breaks through.  I feel clear.

The seventh infusion has a creamy almost pear and peachy with berry fruity onset the wood taste is becoming more prominent and the sweetness is starting to become less now.  There is a deeper throat sensation upper-mid stimulation from the slight tart mouthfeeling.  The sour tartness is really low actually and is just enough to let the taste really run loose.  I’m really enjoying the classic Yiwu tastes in this one.  Nothing too strong, nothing too crazy but not overly simple either, smooth, easydrinking Yiwu.

The eighth infusion has a nice strawberry onset with a nice woody base.  There is a bit more sour woodiness in the mix up front and building in the profile and the returning pungency has a more difficult time punching through sweetness but it does come in the form of delicious berry tastes.  The mouthfeel is moderately full slight puckering.  Stimulating upper throat.  Nice alerting Qi with Chest Qi and a relaxing that makes me want to stretch.  Straightforward Yiwu tastes, if not a bit simple than easy enough to enjoy.  The astringency is increasing and is a touch hard on my empty stomach now- showing signs of a 9 year factory puerh rather than say 12-15 where this discomfort would be aged out. 

The ninth is fruity almost pear and apricot now, a nice mellow but vibrant and clear tasting fruity with no astringency and a creamy fruity retuning sweetness.  The sweetness rules again in this smooth and not really woody profile.  The pucker is also less and allows for a soft smooth mouthfeeling.

The tenth starts again with this mellow but clear pear-apricot sweetness. No more astringency or woody just nice satisfying fruity taste with slight creamy returning aftertaste.  The aftertaste is developing more complexity too with some almost spice notes, deeper foresty woody notes and a touch sour and manly creamy fruity and sometimes berry fruits.  Sunny taste on this sunny day.

11^th has a sweet pear taste with some almost dirt taste and woody mild pungent and faint returning sweetnss.  The infusions have dropped off in complexity here a lot so I push the next infusion for a good minute long infusion… Oops ended up being 5 minutes..

12^th comes out with a thick syrupy fruity and woody infusion with a lot of syrup thickness and cherry sweetness.  This tells me that I can probably take this one for a while with just a bit longer infusions.  Classic Yiwu not-pretentious taste a bit blended with some more complex nuance to some of the infusions.  This puerh is really tasting and satisfying for me.

13^th I long steep…. Thick fruity syrup, date, woody oily very sweet overall with an oily like cherry date sweetness.

This is a great drinker Yiwu that has enough nuance to enjoy and explore.  I would be happy if I cake ordered this one.  Another great cheap drinker from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing.  I could easily see this costing more for what it is- a very nice solid well stored factory semiaged Yiwu.  But then again, it is a factory production so the price makes sense.

Vs 2006 Rong Chang Hao Yiwu Qiao Mu.  I initially purchased a few of these cakes as a cheaper semi-aged Yiwu gushu option for days I don’t want to drink more expensive but higher quality Yiwu such as Yang Qing Hao.  The problem with these cakes is that my Yang Qing Hao cakes really outperform this Rong Chang Hao stored right next to it, I almost always pass it by.  I’ve since taken it to work and seem to be enjoying it there.  I think this 2009 Liming Yiwu Big Green Tree could be a similarly enjoyable Yiwu when you don’t feel like drinking up the good stuff.  In some ways it might even be a better option for me to store next to my Yang Qing Hao because it has a nice factory feel to it.  Both of these are actually very nice   However, these two Yiwu are just so so different.  The Rong Chang Hao is really a Gushu Yiwu in every way- the feel, energy, taste, look of the full leaf everything.  The Rong Chang Hao is also a bit more astringent and bitter with a stronger throatfeeling.  It had a decently humid Maylasian storage too so it has a deeper rich more semi aged taste.  The storage is probably optimal for something with a bit of underlying bite like this Rong Chang Hao.  It also has a loose stone pressing. 

This 2009 Liming is Kunming dry stored and it really benefits from retaining all the high Yiwu nuances.  I like the blended depth and complexity of this one.  It tastes obviously Yiwu even looks that way with the classic Yiwu wrapper.  It has a nice clear and clean vibrancy to it.  The leaves have a bit of factory chopped appearance but are some of good quality full small leaves as well.  I applaud the very tight compression and optimal dry Kunming storage which takes what the decent materials are and only amplifies them.  There is a nice purity to this factory blend that surprised me and is rarer to find in factory productions like this. 

On the surface of things, the price seems a touch pricy for a 2009 Liming cake, but on the other hand, the storage and performance of this cake easily exceed the price.  I could see myself enjoying this one in the same way I enjoy the 2006 Rong Chang Hao but this one is $25 cheaper than what I paid a year and a half ago on the Rong Chang Hao (the cake has likely even gone up more in price)and in some ways I like this 2009 Liming more.

Peace

Comparing 3 Free Puerh COVID Promotions & The Return of the Charity Cake

I found it interesting that my three most frequented Western puerh vendors started offering free puerh promotions during the current COVID 19 crisis.  What is even more interesting to me is how they are each very different from each other.  Also I wondered why one of the three promotions seemed to work on me.

Yunnan Sourcing’s Free Gift Offers and BOGO Offers

This was the first and earliest of the free puerh promotions.  Basically there are tiers of free gifts and puerh cakes depending how much you spend.  I first got a promotional email at the end of Feb about these offers and I believe that Scott and Xiao Yao just decided to extend it until things normalize (whenever that will be).  This free promotion is within Yunnan Sourcing’s current marketing scheme and it is really the continuous part that is the branch offered to us at this trying time.  I don’t think this is as good as the rotating 13% or 15% off sales but for someone who is looking to not wait it is nice to receive some free! Thanks Scott and Xiao Yao!

The Essence of Tea’s Singularity Free Cake Give Away

This promotion was offered in both March and April so they ended up giving away two of their premium offerings from their very small 2019 line.  The 2019 Essence of Tea Singularity Gushu is a full 400g cake worth $178.00 people!  All you had to do was post a review of one of their teas on their website- sold out or in stock, it didn’t matter.  The March give away only allowed one entry but the April allowed as many as you could review.  I think this was a very successful promotion because it did a few things. Firstly, it got people excited about a pretty absent as of lately Essence of Tea at the right time- just before Spring release.  Secondly, it drew a lot of attention to the Singularity cake which had not sold out yet.  Thirdly, it filled a vacant website full of energetic and positive reviews.  People are a lot less likely to post a negative review when they are trying to be optimistic about landing a free cake- that’s not how human behaviour works.  It also is more of a reciprocal promotion with the customers giving something back to help David and Kathy out at a tough time in the form of some good reviews.  It’s a win-win really.  Thanks David and Kathy!

white2tea’s 2020 Umbrella Free Cake Give Away

This promotion was offered April 2, 2020 and offered a free cake of 2020 white2tea Umbrella, a 5 year aged mocha pressed into a new cake, .  It also offered free shipping on the free cake- no strings attached.  They hoped to give away 100 of these cakes and also offered the rest at $15 per cake.  They asked that only those most in need use the coupon code for the free cake and others go for the $15 reduced price cake.  I wrote a blog post on how this is the most epic of free promotions and Paul of white2tea pulled it off!  I suspect that Paul will release the remaining stock of this one in his first release of Spring 2020 puerh if he has any left to offer.  Thanks Paul!

So which one did I go for out of the three???

Readers of this blog will know that I felt like I already had enough tea and that there were others in more need for me.  So the white2tea promotion didn't directly effect me, but it did make me think more favorably of the brand that I am probably the most critical of.  So in some ways it worked.  I guess you could say the same for the Yunnan Sourcing promotion as well.

However, I thought the reciprocal nature of the Essence of Tea free promotion was really cool and I wanted to participate in it.  Plus I think I'm a sucker for sweepstakes promotions and the prize was big.  So I participated..  I already had the reviews on my blog so I just basically transferred a few of those to the site.  I didn't win but it made me feel good about doing something rather small without actually buying a cake to support a vendor that I buy from.

Did you participate in any of these free promotions?  Why do you think they worked for you?

I guess the other thing I kinda wanted to mention here was that this year I think we are also going to see lots of the vendors give back with charity puerh cakes.  Vendors were doing this off and on throughout the years with Tea Urchin doing it first I think then vendors like white2tea and Yunnan Sourcing.  I think we are going to see a lot of these this year some might even drop in the next few days/ weeks.

Peace

2000 Hai Lang Hao Bulang “Mushroom Tuo”: Nice Aged Kunming Dry

Kunming dry stored for whole life- check.

Super crazy tight compression- check.

BuLang Bulang-E-ness- check.

While this one checks a lot of boxes for me.  The description on Yunnan Sourcing’s site says that good ol’ Hai Lang picked this up in Menghai in 2000.  It currently goes for $102.00 for 250gmushroom or $0.41/g a price determined by Hai Lang Hao and passed on to us by Yunnan Sourcing.  Yunnan Sourcing has many options for Bulang puerh.  This one seemed to be the most interesting to me so I picked up a sample…

Dry leaves smell of classic smokey barely sweet fruit odour.

First has a nice mellow very faint smoke with mainly sweet tasting thin layer of dried pear, and a base of wood.  The mouthfeel is slightly sticky and sandy with the sensation more on the tongue than in the throat.

The second has a nice sweet approach with a very faint mild woody smokiness left. The taste is mainly this monotone sweetness that is almost a woody, grassy, and non-distinct almost not-really there dried pear taste.  There is faint smoke on the breath.

The third gains a bit of strength as a slight bitterness where a sweet grassy woodiness comes out.  The sweet fruitiness is overtaken by bitter and woody grass here.  There is a nice powdery dry storage nuance in here now.  There is a deep underlying menthol that start to generate over a flat sandy stimulating tongue feeling and less active throat.  A very faint candy breath can be found.

The fourth develops a rich nutty sweet onset that is mainly sweet but in a nutty and rich woody type of way.  There is a deep underlying pungency which pushes an almost cherry like sweetness out in the breath.  The mouthfeel is this almost sandy full tongue sensation that is not overpowering but still significant.  The aftertaste turns into a longer running sweetness.  The smokiness is pretty much non-existent now.

The fifth has a thick mushroom almost pecan onset with grassy woodiness underneath.  The overall taste is sweet but it’s hard to describe it almost like a dried/ dehydrated pear sweetness that melds with the mushroom, nutty, woody and grassiness.  There is a slight richness to the taste.  The mild building pungency is apparent in the aftertaste that pushes out a mild candy sweetness.  The smokiness is pretty mild and more in the aftertaste.

The sixth infusion has a mild bitterness with woody and mushroom and it turns into a nice sweetness.  The sweetness is almost a nutty rich sweetness like how a nut butter is sweet.  The mouthfeeling is full and kind of a dry tight mild coating especially on the tongue.  The throat is more opening at the top and mid level.  There is an extension of the sweetness in the aftertaste as a powdery almost cherry like and very faint candy lingering on the breath.  The overall taste is rich, warming, clean, woody and mushroom almost but not really dried pear.  The Qi is mildly relaxing.

The seventh infusion has a woody rich menthol onset with a strong nuttiness in there as well.  There is barely any bitterness here more of a grassy woody menthol type with a strong clear almost plum richer sweetness. There is some candy on the breath and a good powdery-ness in there as well. 

The eighth infusion has a very woody lumber rich taste to it.  There is a honey almost smoked maple syrup edge to it.  The mouthfeel is slightly sandy and dry on the tongue but feels somewhat full. There isn’t really a bitterness now its more of a drier, sharper finish.  This infusion has a nice mild powdery cherry nuance. The Qi is a moderate harmonious Qi not a typical strong Bulang Qi sensation. 

The ninth has a sandalwood taste with mushroom and sweetness to it.  The sweetness is hard to describe it taste so blended into the profile it feels like sweet wood.  The mouthfeel is slippery and thicker.  The menthol incense wood nuance is nice and echoes deep into the throat.  Dry menthol wood and mild sweetness.

The tenth has a sweet dense dry woody presentation.  The taste is almost a syrupy maple syrup taste intertwined with wood tastes.  The mouthfeel is a powdery, dry, sandiness on the tongue.  The Qi is super mild but really harmonious it is a touch alerting and a touch relaxing.  The tea feels really nice in the body, gentle but I can feel something relax my face.  It has a cozy aged warmth to it.  Smoke is gone now.  The fruity aftertaste is long on the breath.  There is nice cherry powdery fruity tastes here.

The 11^th infusion has woody sweetness, at times it almost seems like dry pear there is this low reaching pungency to the taste which pushes out a faint sweetness on the breath.  Overall this puerh feels somewhat dense, full and complete but harmonious in the body and mind. 

The 12^th infusion has a strong woody with faint smokey nuance.  The taste is full and tastes of woody notes and chestnuts.  The Qi makes me feel good.  Relaxed and content. 

The 13^th infusion has a pine wood taste to it with a pungent sweetness that emerges in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is really stable throughout all the infusions it remains full and a sticky powdery sandy on the tongue.

The 14^th has a fruity mainly woody mushroom onset.  Still full mouthfeeling with a low rising pungency and a bit of sweetness under wood mushroom to finish.  There is a flat woodiness throughout now. 

The 15^th infusion has a pine woody sweetness the taste is really dense and feels full on the mouthcoating.  This is a nice harmonious jincha.  The low lying pungency is nice and pushes some sweetness out of the woodiness.  There is a nice peachy sweetness pushed out somehow.

I put this one into overnight steeping as I run out of time in my day…

This one tastes like a bit of a sweeter, lighter Bulang with a mild suggestion of a more bitter and sweet with distant smokey classic Bulang nuance.  This is partly because the bitterness and smoke have aged out a bit and the dry storage and compression is favorable for the sweetness.  This Bulang has a really mellow Qi sensation even for a two decade aged Bulang.  The Qi is not typical of my experience of Bulang.  Either way it works nicely..  for a nice easy drinking dry aged puerh.

In some ways this mushroom reminds me of a bit of the Bada puerh producing region with a mild sweet profile and nice mellow Qi.  I don’t know that I’ve ever tried an aged Bulang that tasted this mild and smooth.  There is something satisfying about this.  On the plus side the dry storage tastes of candy and sweet flavours are nice to behold in something like this due to its nice dry storage.  The storage of this mushroom is ideal Kunming dry storage.  Nicely tight compressed.  I think the storage and compression work well for a lighter and sweeter Bulang like this.  I think this is fair price for what you get considering this is 20 years aged nicely dry Kunming stored puerh.  For me it’s an easy drinker Bulang- just not exactly what I’m looking for.  Anyone interested in clean dry storage on a truly aged Bulang with a smooth mild presentation should give it a try.

Peace

2019 Black Friday Puerh Sales Fizzled Out…

Well, it’s actually still on right now…. Or is the real sale already over?

Certainly, Yunnan Sourcing’s sales are over.  They launched two big 15% off sales that were 3 weeks apart (Oct 21^st and Nov 12^th).  There is no better discount for their 2019 Spring line ups than Black Friday.  After getting the promotional email last month that Black Friday was cancelled, I wondered if they would attempt some different sales and promotions rather than the standard 15%.  Maybe some free shipping for those who are looking to put through a smaller order or maybe a sale that didn’t require a code so you could spend up your loyalty points?  As I just put through a few bigger orders at Yunnan Sourcing over the Summer I thought I might bite on a promotion that was geared to a smaller order.  I guess you can’t argue to much about 15% off, really.  As predicted this very nice 2018 Yunnan Sourcing Autumn Nan Po Zhai sold out before Black Friday.  Everything 15% off- it’s a very good sale and without the hassle.  I wouldn't be surprised if Scott dropped another 15% off sometime before now and the end of the year- a bit of post- Black Friday as well.

Also, white2tea’s limited releases of Tunji and Snoozefest are already sold out now too.  There Black Friday promotion is still on and was a bit of the same non-sale stuff with free shipping and release of years past successful limited releases of Tunji and Snoozefest.  The Snoozefest sold out in about the same amount of time as last year but the Tunji, with more name recognition this year sold out shortly afterward…  Or did they sell out…. It turns out the site crashing apparently caused some issues with the computerized stock counts… it turns out that a handful of Snoozefest and even more Tunji were added to the stock Sunday… I never know if this is part of the marketing stunt of white2tea or not.  Last time I checked the site for the research for this post there were still many Tunji left… poor Tunji…

For the mere fun of Black Friday’s hedonistic consumerism, I went in thinking I would just pick up 2 or 3 Snoozefest after a few good sessions with the 2018 over the last few weeks …. Just as a comparison… and to put an entry into the draw for the oversized cakes… I don’t know how I checked out with a few more Snoozefest than I planned… hahahah…. ah, consumerism….

Going in I thought that white2tea was going to offer more in the line of unique new limited releases and offer more of a new creative direction with their Black Friday promotion while still keeping the framework of their promotion.  Instead they ended up doing basically the same thing with their sheng puerh which was a bit uninspiring.  Of course, it’s good to stick to the formula if it has brought you past successes.  I was right about their promotional business structure being basically unchanged though.  If you look back to their Black Friday blog post last year it reads almost the same as this year.

The new creative change in direction was their releases of promotional and teawear which outnumbered their puerh releases.  Weird.  Their four different bamboo releases were the interesting part of white2tea’s Black Friday promotion.  I kind of predicted that they will be exploring more interesting shapes and forms for their shu puerh in this post back here.  The pre-Black Firday release was the main release of puerh and allowed for buyers to make more informed and developed, as opposed to more spontaneous, purchases when it comes to their puerh.  I wonder if the pre-Black Friday release allowed for those to put a quick order in before black Friday to sample them before the promotion.  I don’t know if that would even be worth it with white2tea’s business structure and lack of real discount.  I wonder how these changes will influence their sales, if at all, this year.

The Essence of Tea are continuing to go in the direction of anti- social media and anti-consumerism by offering less of a sale to the public than years previous.  I think is in line with their direction of their brand which has a really more mature core following, I think.  The 20% more tea was only offered to their tea club members this year the rest of us have to settle for 15% more tea.  They dropped only their second public pressing of 2019 a blend called 2019 Essence of Tea Spring “Singularity”Gushu.  It is a blend of two club exclusive cakes.  The action with Essence of Tea this year is all about their tea club.  This club is the most interesting one, I think.

A few puerh vendors which I haven’t tired yet… Bitterleaf is offering a 5-15% off sale with some other promotional giveaways.  Crimson Lotus is doing 10% off everything.  Farmer Leaf is doing 20%off!!! all full cakes with free shipping.  There are some sold outs already showing with that hefty discount.  Farmerleaf continues to amuse me from afar.  

A few longer running sales are taking place which include Tea Encounter with a 4-39% off Sale which I mentioned last week.  I have reviewed most of their catalogue if you are interested in more detailed notes on what they are stocking or are looking for a particular profile or quality.

I’ve said it in this post last month that this year’s black Friday played out very different than my prediction of the sale being even bigger.  I would say that this year it was wider and longer and took up even more space.  I wondered to myself, If the gap between sales was large enough could you place a sample order through, receive it, sample them, then place and order while still hitting up the discount?  That would be real ambitions and the packages would have to be rush shipping but maybe it would be possible?  This year was really all about the pre-sale.  With that said, most sales are still on but the vendor with the best sale this year, in my opinion, is ready over.

Great job all vendors who offered us a sale…

Peace

It’s All about the Pre-Sale: White2tea’s Big Pre Black Friday Puerh Release

This year’s Black Friday/ Cyber Monday sale seems all about the pre-sale for Western puerh vendors.  This is likely due to the absolute strength of Yunnan Sourcing in the Western puerh market saying, It doesn’t have to be all out craziness on one weekend of the year.  No thanks.  We’ll go first and get this out of the way.  And so they did a few weeks back and it was good (and there will be more to come)!  And others followed suite…

The Essence of Tea released a few tongs of 2009 Mr Feng BWQ, an Autumn drinker Bangwei that went for $82.00 for 357g cake, a few weeks ago.  This one didn’t last until the sale.  Bitterleaf Teas upped the ante for there annual pre- Black Friday sale, their Anniversary sale, by offering more substantial discount than normal with a tiered sales promotion with some actual discount, some promotional gifts, and some free tea goodies.  It looked like you can add discount codes on top of the sale as well.  Tea Urchin has a 15% off all tea orders on now that runs until the end of the month.  I’m already declaring this the best puerh sale of Black Friday and the actual sale is two weeks away!

white2tea decided to forgo tradition and not release their Autumnal puerh cakes on Black Friday- they instead released them a few days ago.  They did so with a similar email marketing campaign that brought them much praise and, likely, success in their early spring release.   I always consider their annual Halloween promotion their pre-sale hype marketing thing over the last few years.  This year for white2tea it seems like they will have four major sheng puerh releases throughout the 2019 season.  One quick out of the gate early Spring release of most of their 2019 Spring line up, one Summer release of gimmicky marketing limited quantity Spring cakes, one Autumnal puerh pre-Black Friday release of most of their Autumnal puerh cakes, and then…. I predict (just like their summer release) a Black Friday release of gimmicky marketing limited quantity Autumn cakes.

It actually makes good marketing sense to release the sheng puerh in these patterned waves because there are going to be some people that simply can’t wait for a promotion or free shipping and that absolutely must buy now.  Then there are going to be other buyers who as soon as someone whispers… sale (although white2tea never actually reduces prices) … or … limited release… they will without much thought fill the cart.  Which one are you???

Paul is the master of Black Friday marketing spectacle and this year I think it will be bigger and bolder than last year.  The big question is whether he will do another limited Snoozefest cake.  white2tea has only ever released the same cake 3 years in a row a few times and never has Paul released the same cake 4 years in a row.  Last year he released 2 limited releases 2018 whtite2tea Tunji and 2018 white2tea Snoozefest (I picked up some Snoozefest last year and came to the conclusion that it Is A Gift).  I think that Paul will probably do 3 or 4 limited sheng releases this Black Friday.  I’m not sure if the white2tea Black Friday brand is now intertwined with the Snoozefest release but it’s been done before and I think he might just do a different budget limited cake, a middle range limited and a premium limited.

I just had a peak at what white2tea has been doing on social media and I wonder if he is hinting at releasing a 2019 We Go High to follow up the popular 2016.  Paul was point on with the political references in 2016 and very forward thinking there.  You may know that Paul often names his blends hip hop song titles.  It seemed that naming his 2016 cake We Go High was prophetic when Chance the Rapper dropped a song with the same namesake this summer.

With a bit of the unpredictable, I also predict that white2tea will use the same formula of offering free shipping, bracketed or tiered promotions- a tote bag or what not, an free hunagpian X-mas cake from the tea club, ect., with the typical caveat of not offering a discount in price.  Anyways, that’s my prediction of the way it will go down so we will see.

In the end you can’t help but think that the sales actually offered on the day won’t top the ones offered here before.  I think you can point to YS in releasing the market pressure out of Black Friday but it’s just as likely that others felt they would be at an advantage by doing a bit of the same.  Was it a reaction or the plan all along?  We will never know.  There is only so much noise you can create on the biggest shopping day of the year.  Looks like my prediction that 2019 Black Friday will be bigger than ever was wrong… or was it…. time will tell but I am convinced now that this 2019 Black Friday is all about the pre-sale ( I say this as Yunnan Sourcing just drops another 15% off on all of us).

Peace

Early Thoughts on Sampling Scott’s Bao He Xiang Picks

I really enjoyed my time sampling the three pricier Bao He Xiang puerh (here, here, and here) offered at Yunnan Sourcing.  I like when western vendors focus on another vendor and pick out some of their favorites.  I also found it interesting how each of these blends were totally and completely opposite each other and had a very specific goal in mind.  The wrappers also seem to reflect the feeling of each blend as well.  The diversity within the Bao He Xiang factory seems very broad from my sampling of these three.

The price seems about right for what you are getting.  With that being said, there are dimensions of each blend which are undervalued for the price they are sold for.  It should be stated that there is not much information offered to the customer about the location of the blending material- similar to the lack of information in white2tea descriptions.  If there are any readers that have sampled Bao He Xiang and haven’t yet tired white2tea they should give them a try and vice versa.

I look forward to sampling some Bao He Xiang in future orders… if that's the way it goes down...

Peace

2018 Bao He Xiang “Wu Jin Hao”: A Very Menghai Blend

Just like in some white2tea blends, we don’t get much from the description of this blend. “"Wu Jin Hao" is a blend of semi-aged mao cha from old tree harvested tea leaves that was pressed in 2018” as stated on the Yunnan Sourcing page.  This one goes for $170.00 for 357g cake (or $0.48/g).  The absolute mystery and semi-agedness of this one lured me in…

Dry leaves are of chicory, licorice-y, black licorice root sweet odour.

First infusion has a blank onset with a slow to build sweetness. There is a bit of floral under clean woody and almost mushroom suggestions.  There is a mild pungency then a high noted creamy sweetness attempts to push through.  The mouthfeel is silky and oily and has a full elegance to it.  The long sweet creamy aftertaste is noted.

The second starts empty almost vegetal, toffee, sarsaparilla, mushroom, then a long creamy sweet uninterrupted taste.  There are some nice layers going on here.  The base is a nice clear fermented mushroom and woody.  There is a richness in taste and feel.  Develops a heady type of relaxing and stimulating Qi. 

The third has a woods, sour, licorice root, chicory, mushroom, mildly smokey nuance with a velvety almost sandy mouthfeeling and opening mid throat empty feeling in throat.  The aftertaste taste has a long pungency creamy sweet to it. 

The fourth infusion starts off with a mushroom, slightly smokey, woody deep note, there is a pungency slightly cooling that is faint then a sweet creamy note over smoke, woody, and mushrooms.  A slight caramel faint sweetness is lingering with smoke a minute later.  Pasha, Menghai, type of blend I would guess.  I’m fond of such things.  Qi is sedating on the mind but races and powers through the Heart.

The fifth starts a slightly sour, smokey, woody, and mushroom, there is a slight floral note before a mild quick pungent then a lingering mild-moderate sweetness overtop mushrooms and woody tastes.  The mouthfeel is becoming sticky the throat opens pretty deeply.  The Qi is powerful in the Heart and starting to stimulate the mind.  The Qi is building into something quite powerful.

The sixth infusion starts slightly sour and sweet and mushroom and woody.  There is a pop of floral sweetness before the mild pungency brings some creamy sweetness.  The flavor tastes nicer than I can describe here and more nuanced Menghai type of feel to it.  The mouthfeel is moderate and velvety almost sticky.  The throat opens to midthroat.  A very mild sweetness is left on the lips.  This infusion is as sweet and highernoted as deeper mushroom woody noted.  Qi is really nice and gives the body a mild shivering type thing.

The seventh infusion starts a sweet creamy mushroomy smokey woody taste which is quite enjoyable.  There is a faint pungent then a creamy sweet finish.  This tea has a base of woody, smokey, and mushroom that stays throughout the profile.  Its subtle elements like creamy sweetnessses, slight caramel, slight pungent even light floral that either comes and goes or doesn’t infusion to infusion.  There is a slight sour astringency but not really bitterness.  This infusion has more of a nuanced sweetness and even a sunflower seed taste in there as well.  Strong powerful Qi sensation here, lots of jittery powerful energy, head unfocused under the power and Heart racing.

The eighth and ninth infusion starts with a sweet, smokey, woody taste.  There is a mild astringency and soft sweetness in the finish.  The woodiness and smoke are more prominent than the sweet here.  There is a sunflower seed taste.

The tenth has a sweet nuance to it almost but not really fruity, mushroom, woody, smokey, sunflower seed, and slight pungent, returning creamy sweetness over these base tastes.  It’s a nice full taste with a deep, mid and light aspect to it.  So Menghai in taste, feel, and Qi.

The eleventh starts to feature the smoke first then woody and barely sweet.  This is what a lot of these smokey shengs end up doing when the initial flavours drop.

The 12^th has an almost juicy fruity onset.  The bassier flavours drop to the background and the juicy sweet flavor is mellow but prominently featured here.

The 13^th has a juicy almost oily taste and feel with very mild smoke, mushroom, woods in the distance.

The 14^th infusion is slight bitter slight fruity slight smokey taste there is a progression to creamy sweetness on the breath but the smoke is building again…

15^th infusion is much the same with a bitterness starting to significantly build as well as smoke.  The closer the time between these last infusions, the more bitter-astringent they are on the guts as well as the mouth.

I decide to end here… my head buzzing as I break into a Qi sweat.

Overall, this puerh has a balanced taste between deep mushroom woody smokey tastes and light sweet creamy and sometimes almost fruity tastes.  It has enough to keep it interesting.  It has a pretty classic smokey Menghai character in here that I enjoy.  This blend is a nod to a more classic puerh taste and feel that you can touch in some 80s and 90s style cakes which I value and enjoy but that which very few vendors seem to be able to produce these days.  The mouth- and throat-feeling sit more in the background and just keep things running smoothly.  Look at those wet leaves- there is a diversity of aged material in there with a feel of a 5-8ish year old Guangdong storage.  The Qi is a big strong type.  Overall, this puerh is pretty good, its just hard for me to justify a purchase at this price.  There is something about the classic feel to it that twists my brain into thinking that it should also have a classically low price… but its 2018… so this is what we get.

Peace

2017 Bao He Xiang “Peach Cake”: Flavour Bomb!

Okay, this is the Bao He Xiang that really piqued my interest in sampling the brand.  The description and the reviews that followed on the Yunnan Sourcing site captured my attention.  Even Scott gave it a nod.  This 2017 Bao He Xiang “Peach Cake” blend goes for $249.00 for 357g cake ($0.70/g).

Dry leaves give off a very deep fruit floral odour.  The smell is very very sweet almost Ylang Ylang like perfume scent in there.  The smell of the dry leaf is entrancing.

The first infusion starts with a fruity very sweet entry the sweetness swells in the mouth.  Its very very well, peachy sweet or apricot sweet, but more peachy.  There is a juicy viscus feel to the liquor.  The peace taste is intense and quite creamy.  The taste is amazing and full sweetness, right off the start.  The mouthfeeling is mildly dryier as the saliva gets pushed into the throat.

The second infusion starts with an almost woody edge of candy like peach taste.  There is a very mild astringency to it.  It tastes of sugar peach.  There is a very faint pungent and long candy like returning sweetness.  The sweet taste is strong throughout but expands in the mouth.  There are suggestions of both Yi Wu and maybe even Bang Dong in this blend.  The sweetness really fills the mouth.

The third infusion starts off with a thick almost bready, creamy sweet peachy taste.  The liquor is reasonably tick and the sweetness turns to candy in the mouth.  There is a thickness to the liquor of this puerh.  The sweetness is quite thick and expands outwardly.  There is a gooey stickiness to the mouth and throatfeeling.  The Qi flutters at the Heart. 

Fourth infusion has a nice rich thick start it has a nice dense fruity taste that feels painted on the tongue.   The mouthfeel is quite thick along with the liquor.  There is a nice thickness to this tea in tongue coating and liquor density.

The fifth is intensely peachy fruity but a deep fruit feeling there is a stronger pungent returning sweetness to it.  The liquor is oily and the tongue coating is nice.  The pungent returning sweetness is cooling in the mouth.  The throatfeeling is gentle and opening.

The sixth infusion has an interesting woody nuance to the thicker peach approach.  The qi is mildly spacy in the head the sweetness returns with pungent into a more cotton candy like sweetness.

7^th starts very peachy, clear fresh ripe peachy high-noted taste that reverbs in the mouth and stretches over the profile.  Candy like finish.  Nice tongue coating.  Mild ringing pungent.  Relaxing chill Qi sensation.

The 8^th has a slight dry woody edge but is mainly stewed peaches with a mild pungent then candy.  The peach taste is becoming less all-encompassing in these middle infusions and suggestions of dry woody notes appear.  The Qi is mildly fluttering in chest but mainly relaxing but not in a lazy kind of way.

The ninth is a nice rich deeper peach almost dried apricot underneath.  There is a building woody dry taste underneath that is becoming more prominent.  The mouthfeeling is becoming more of a sandy astringency now.  The throat is slightly gripping.  This isn’t a strong throat simulator but rather a subtle opener.

The 10^th is becoming a woody, peachy, apricot taste that is sandier in the mouth and tongue. The aftertaste is much less now and the infusion has a slight astringency to it.  The taste is pretty simple here.

11^th has a smoother less intense, less sweet apricot approach with dry woody base taste and a sandy mouthfeeling.  The Qi is a bit relaxing now.

12^th is getting more woody than peachy now then flavor is less complex here but still rather sweet and enjoyable.

13^th….. Ooops… left it for 30 min… wow… a very intensely peachy thick viscous taste was pushed out.  With a dense oily thick dried apricot, some wood, very full peachy density…

This puerh is very very tasty, a bit of bodyfeel in the heart, mainly relaxing with a bit of movement earlier on.  The taste of this one is something else… very very delicious…  The parts of this puerh that are not as solid is the stamina.  I sampled this one twice as I consider an order but the stamina of this puerh isn’t super great and gives out all of its epically amazing taste early and in the mid session already starts to bottom out and taste more woody.  The later session is a bit flat especially when memories of steepings 1-7 fresh in the memory.  The Qi is soft and subtle but still does things in the body and mind.  This puerh is mainly about the mind-blowing taste in the first 1-7 infusions. 

This is likely a very nice Yiwu blend, if I were to guess.  In some ways it reminds me of 2017 white2tea Pussy.  I think both blends are similar and are trying to accomplish similar things.  If you like the 2017 white2tea Pussy, I definitely think you should try this Peach Cake of the same year.  There are many similarities between the two but he 2017 Bao He Xiang Peach Cake is way more flavourful but Pussy has a bit more stamina to it. 

The price… is probably about right for something like this Peach Cake… maybe a bit of a bargain if you value taste above all else and drink your puerh in short sessions.  I value the things that this tea lacks like a bit more stamina and a bit more going on with the Qi but I understand the epic brilliance of this blend and what it was trying to accomplish.

Peace

2013 Bao He Xiang “Zi Yun Gui”, Xigui… I Don’t Know You…

This premium blended “Zi Yun Gui” Bao He Xiang cake ($188.00for 357g cake or $0.53/g) is described as being blended exclusively from the super famous Xigui producing area.  Xigui is thought to be one of the 3 famous puerh producing areas (others being Lao Ban Zhang and Bing Dao).  I actually have no experience in my memory with Xigui which kind of rose to prominence as I was stepping back from puerh.  Unlike the famous regions of Bing Dao and Laobanzhang which I was fortunate to get some education on from purely the kindness of others back in the day…

Dry leaves smell of very faint stone mineral with sweet floral.  Very faint odour.

First infusion has a layered woody approach that turns into a honey and maple syrup sweetness over woody the taste is quite condensed and the mouthfeel has a thick and sticky.  The first infusion feels really complete- and this is just the first flash infusion.  The completeness here is a good sign of things to come.

The second infusion has a dense thick onset of woods but mainly licorice, caramel, maple syrup, type of sweetness.  The taste is really layered and the liquor feels viscus.  The qi is relaxing.

The third infusion has a very dense woody and layered sweetness- maple syrup, caramel, but not very sweet but more of a diffuse sweetness. In the aftertaste there is hints of candy underneath.  The mouthfeeling is thick and sticky.

The fourth infusion has a thick density of dates, licorice, not sweet maple syrup and dark honey.  The dense taste hold and in the aftertaste there are lighter candy nuances over a thick sticky mouthfeeling.  Qi has a happy relaxing feel to it.

The fifth infusion has a very thick density to it of layered woods with licorice and deep not that sweet dark honey underneath and an almost menthol returning taste in which a sweet candy like fresher sweetness lingers mildly.  The taste is a very layered dense woody taste that feels thick and sticky.  The Qi is relaxing.

The sixth is much the same there is a thickness and syrupy density to this one that holds through the whole profile.  There is an almost carrot sweetness in the woody, syrupy initial taste that pops up too.  There is something in here that reminds me of a Nannou and Lincang blend.  A faint floral and almost candy fresh aftertaste breaks through the dense base in the aftertaste.

The seventh infusion is a thick woody, almost carrot, with menthol underneath bringing in a slight candy and floral nuance that pushes through under a thick woody layering.

The eighth infusion packs on that predictable initial thickness that maintains throughout the profile as well as throughout the infusions.  There is also a slight candy like finish in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel holds as a sticky chalkiness.  The throatfeeling is mild and has a vacuous opening feeling where a menthol taste holds space.

The ninth infusion starts with a mouth numbing taste of layered woods.  The menthol is kind of intertwined with the numbing and leaves traces of candy, turnip and floral in the breath.  Overall, the presentation is quite thick. It taste like a thicker Lincang with some Nannou blended in to me.  The candy aftertaste is a nice touch. 

The 10^th has a thick density of wood and leaves and deeper less sweet dark honey taste throughout the session.  Relaxing happy Qi feels nice.  With nuances of candy under a dense woody layered not that sweet taste.

The 11^th infusion starts with thick licorice, layered woods, oily and thick in the mouth. Relaxing Qi a mild Qi.  Nice thicker sticky mouthcoating with menthol release.  Sometimes almost mouth numbing sensation.  Throat is vacuous but menthol goes to a mid depth.

The 12^th the menthol seems to build with closer infusions and so too does the mouth numbing sensation.  Dense woody, less sweet now, thick feeling. 

13^th infusion is still thick licorice, layered woods, dense syrup but not sweet taste throughout with a building menthol pungency that reverberates deeply.

Time has ran out for me in a day.  I think this one still has lots to offer so I pledge to come back tomorrow….

A thick mouthfeeling and dense flavor greet me next morning.  This puerh is not overly engaging but pretty stable and attention grabbing enough throughout the infusions.  The Qi is nice a mild a relaxing thing.  I overnight steeped this for the next 4 days.  It had good stamina and depth and density of taste even later in the session. I wish I had an uninterrupted longer initial session with this sample.

Overall and enjoyable puerh the price is about right, maybe.  If had the name Xigui attached to it, it would no doubt be under priced.  Does it have at least some Xigui blended inside?  I have no idea.  Will have to sample the rest of my sample and get more experience with Xigui to know for sure.  Overall, pretty enjoyable puerh from a region that many Western puerh vendors don't offer.

I had a look at the description as I prepare to post this…

Li Wen Hua's offers us a Xi Gui tea with a strong full taste, some slight bitterness up front, that quickly transforms into a creamy sweet thick tea soup.  The body is incredibly full and there is a sweetness that comes quickly after the tea enters the mouth and throat (huigan).  The "cha qi" is strong but very pleasant and tranquil.

It seems about right.  I would say that age has curbed most of the bitterness out and that the sweetness is not overly strong.  The Qi is bang on and that thickness…. The thickness of flavor or density is hands down the most enjoyable aspect in this one…

Peace

Yunnan Sourcing’s (Premium) Bao He Xiang Offerings

A year or two ago Scott added a bunch more Bao He Xiang factory puerh offerings at Yunnan Sourcing.  At that time they caught my eye for a few reasons.  First was the fact that these are all mainly unlabeled region and often unique blends that were Guangdong stored.  To me this sounded an awful lot like what white2tea is doing.  This was also at a time when the Yunnan Sourcing brand didn’t have all the different blends that it has this year.  To me it was a move that offered a challenge or different option to the stuff that white2tea was releasing- some good clean competition.

The second thing that Yunnan Sourcing is doing with these Bao He Xiang puerh is only stocking a few cakes in Yunnan Sourcing’s dry Kunming storage and reordering them as they go from Bao He Xiang’s clean medium humid Guangdong storage.  This means that Scott is basically letting the Guangdong storage, for which this tea was intended to be aged, impart its aging influence instead of exposing it to his drier Kunming storage.  I like this idea.  I also assume that the pricing and price rises of these order-as-you-go Bao He Xiang depends mainly on the price increases from Bao He Xiang.  I imagine this is similar to Yunnan Sourcing’s pricing of other premium offerings from Hai Lang Hao discussed in the last post.

In a list of recommendations for puerh with strong Qi and throat and mouthfeel, Scott listed many Bao He Xiang offerings and said they were all good.  They are his picks of Bao He Xiang afterall.  He told me that the price of these cakes is closely tied to quality.  I decided to go with some of the pricier/ premium Bao He Xiang that Yunnan Sourcing has on offer.  The next few reviews will feature these Bao He Xiang….

Peace