2003 Chenyuan Hao Tongqing Hao Commemorative Cake: Flavour Parade!

I had been contemplating a more expensive Yiwu buy for many months now.  I have been reasonable restrained in my tea buying lately and was looking for a good enough reason for a bit of a splurge then this one came along… $600.00 for 357g cake ( $1.68/g) fromTeasWeLike.  You can’t really go wrong with TeasWeLike.  Its more finding the style of puerh you like and your budget.

This cake is a tribute to famous Yiwu Tongqing Hao cakes that came before… I have never sampled any Tongqing Hao so that doesn’t give me any reference point but here we go…

The dry leaves smell of fall dry leaf and a subtle sugar and pungency.

The first infusion has a watery icing sugar onset in a full fine sandy a bit silty mouthcoating.  There is a long sweet coolness on the breath intersected by a licorice, slight medicinal cola taste.  The taste is really crisp clean drier natural Taiwanese stored thing.

The second infusion has a rich mouthwatering pungent fruity condensed sweetness.  There is all these little complexities in there- cola, traditional medicines, minty pungencies, woody layers, creamy sweetness.. It finishes cool and expanding sugar and cola sweetness in the mouth.

The third infusion has a rich cola woody lubricating sugar onset with a base taste of faint icing sugar, woody layers, subtle root beer, over a sticky sandy coating.  There is a faint fishy dry storage note but quite faint then it sinks into a sweet berry cherry cola surgar finish.  Lots of subtle complexity in this relatively dry Taiwanese stored cake.  The Qi is a subtle neck massaging Qi with a nice deep rejuvenating with a slow breathing feeling.

The 4^th is left to cool and gives off a rich slightly medical and root beer like taste with an oily rich taste and a pungent cola sugar aftertaste.  There is lots of complexity in the medicinal root beer taste.  It has a Jägermeister liquor taste to it.  The mouthfeel is oily and sandy.  Qi is calm with some face tingling.  There is some increase focused attention that I feel here.

5^th has a rich complex medicinal taste with notes of sugar, root beer, Fernet Branca (the best), medicinal complexity.  There is also incense notes and woody layers of sweetness.  The mouthfeel is a nice full silty feeling but not too thick.  There is also a touch of faint bitterness underneath.  Nice focusing energy with a deep relaxing bodyfeeling and open jaw and heavy shoulders feeling.

6^th has a woody smoke incense onset with some richness and medicinal notes being less here.  They kind of emerge as the coolness comes from the throat and into the aftertaste.  There is a balance of sweet, bitter, bland, astringent.  There is a bit tighter throatfeeling here.  Nice tight almost thin sandy feeling in the mouth.  Nice focusing Qi with heavy jaw and shoulders bodyfeeling.

7^th infusion has an oily medicinal onset with tangerine peel, root bear, woody layers and an emerging creamy sweetness.  Lots of complex tastes and subtle Qi feeling.  In the body you can feel the heavy shoulders and jaw sensation.  Nice focusing.  Allowed to cool down it tastes like an oily orange woody sugar taste.  The aftertaste is a nice cooling pungent sweetness.

8^th has an incense onset with a medicinal woody feeling there are some coco and sugar notes lots of complexity with a cool sweet finish.  Nice focusing energy.  More of a gripping throat now.  Cooled down it has a deep whisky barrel/ wine taste to it with a sweet medicinal feel.

9^th has a sweet oily medicinal taste with some underlying bitterness over a flat sandy mouthfeeling.  There is some coolness in the breath and a sweet bready medicinal taste to it.

10^th is left to cool and is a deeper, slight perfume, slight medicinal taste.  Still pretty rich tasting.  Nice cooling pungent breath with cola aftertaste.  Nice heavy shoulders and jaw feeling.

11^th is left to cool for hours and it has a deep syrupy medicinal hue with a decent undercurrent of bitterness it ends with a plum creamy almost peach taste.  Some talc tastes and bread tastes in the finish.

I push this puerh with some long steepings and overnight steepings.  At first I get some astringent/bitter woody plum sweetness. Nice focusing feeling overall.

The overnight steepings have a rich prune and plum taste to it with still a nice oily viscosity to it.

Overall this is a really nice Yiwu in a style and era and storage that I don’t have in my stash.  The storage is a lighter Natural Taiwanese and does the strong and complex Yiwu blend well.  This puerh is mainly about the delicious, complex, condensed flavours.  The crazy parade of delicious flavours over a deeper body with still some faint smoke at times and some lesser astringency and even faint bitterness, make this an interesting Yiwu with lots in there to find, if you want to…  Each infusion will take you somewhere a bit different.  The Qi has some sold bodyfeeling in the jaw and shoulders.  The Qi in the mind is more of a standard focusing feeling and slightly feeling good vibe.  The mouthfeeling has a fuller silty feeling with sometimes some gripping but overall back the taste up nicely.

Makes me curious about the 2005 Chenyuan Hao ShanzongChuanqi that didn’t seem to get too much attention when they had it in stock…

Paolo’s Tasting Notes

Peace

2004 Yang Qing Hao Tejipin (Western Dry stored since 2018 vs Yang Stored)

These are another two samples that I picked up last year from Liquid Proust.  I can hardly believe that I have not yet tried this famous and popular puerh yet.  It’s currently sold out.  I drank these samples in back to back days then compared the overnight steepings.  The 2004 Yang Qing Hao Tejipin 3 years North American Stored sample is still available.

First the 3 Years North American stored sample…

Dry leaves smell of very sweet floral candy like odours with faint storage notes in the background.

The first infusion has a very candy floral onset with a creamy sweet returning taste and a subtle woody body.  The mouthfeeling is thin but stimulating.

The second infusion has a woody creamy almost tart cherry sweetness with a rich creamy sweet woody floral mid body and candy like finish.  The mouthfeeling is a thin kind of pucker that makes the cheeks and gums squeaky.  The sweet floral taste trials into the distance.  A sweet bread notes emerges minutes later.  There are some tingling sensations felt on the neck.

The third infusion has a juicy floral sweet taste that turns into a tart cherry creamy sweetness.  There is some saliva producing here that comes when the woody base is revealed.  Nice way above average Yiwu Gushu here.  Nice long candy finish with some bread nuances minutes later.  Some shoulder releasing and nice tingling.  Great Qi in here.  Nice deeper rejuvenating relaxation takes hold as I sigh.

The fourth has a woody creamy candy sweet onset with a subtle cherry nuances and woody base.  Nice oily texture.  The long candy taste reaches throughout.  Long deep candy that turns to bread.  There is a thin slight puckering mouthfeeling and nice saliva returning.  Deep energizing rejuvenation with subtle shoulder, neck, and face sensations.

The fifth infusion has a buttery oily onset with some tart cherry and long creamy candy sweetness with an unimposing base of woodiness.  Long candy sweetness is the game here and it does it flawlessly.  Candy merges with bready sweetness minutes later.  Nice thick full coating with saliva returning and puckering.

6^th has an oily mouthwatering creamy fluffy almost cherry fruit sweetness.  There is nice saliva returning.  With a long sweet candy finish and bread like sweetness that emerges minutes later.  Nice oily texture here.  Very rejuvenating feeling from deep within.  Some very faint tingles and numbness on face and neck.

7^th has a buttery creamy oily sweet candy onset that gets a bit tart cherry then more long creamy candy sweet as oily saliva returns.  There is more of a chalky fluffy feeling in the mouth now.  Rejuvenating Qi.

8^th was left to cool down and is much more creamy and buttery with a fluffy mouthfeeling some faint smoke and a long sweet creamy cooling then bread sweetness.  This cool cup is very creamy sweet.

9^th Has a creamy sweet, a bit watery now with a creamy fluffy mouthfeeling.  Not as oily with less saliva returning.  Some faint woody and smokey nuances.  Mouthfeeling becomes thicker and fuller after the sallow.

10^th is left to cool it gives off a watery fresh bland woody sweetness with some cooling throat.  I put the rest of this in a mug and steep it out…

The brew is a rich woody not as sweet but not bitter either satisfying brew with lots of deep relaxing Qi in there.

This is a satisfying Yiwu and I clearly understand it popularity.  Long sweetness and very nice bodyfeelings in the face and neck and deep rejuvenating feeling- Very nice.

Next is the sample right out of Yang Storage…

2004 Yang Qing Hao Tejipin (Yang Stored)

Dry leaves smell of rich sweet floral with woody earthy smells.

The first infusion has a sour, woody sort of menthol onset with a creamy sweet finish.  The mouthfeel is a full chalky feeling even the throat has a full almost gripping.

The second infusion has a strong sour woody onset with a solid creamy sweetness emerging.  Initially it has a menthol edge to it then at the end its has a sweet and bready taste.  The mouthfeeling is full chalky and a tiny bit tight.  Qi is relaxing and calming.

Third infusion is left to cool and gives off a velvety creamy sweet taste.  There is a cool throat and a long creamy bready sweetness in a full chalky mouthfeeling.  The mouthfeeling is much thicker than the dry Western stored cake.  Nice relaxing Qi.

4^th is left to cool and gives off a smooth velvety almost plum creamy sweet taste in a chalky full mouthfeeling.  A cool throat emerges and pushes out more creamy sweetness.  There is not much for throat stimulation here but some nice saliva returning.  There is a long bready and creamy sweet finish.

5^th has a creamy rich velvety sweet onset with some cooling menthol that pushes out even more sweet creamy taste over a chalky mouthcoating.  There is some saliva returning and also a long bready creamy sweetness.  Nice relaxing and deeply sedating Qi.

6^th has a woody dark rich sweet nuance to it, a bit of sour and plum up front, then a subtle cooling menthol and returning creamy sweetness.  There is a bit of throat tightness.  Nice relaxing and even warming Qi feeling.

7^th is left to cool and is a very sweet raison creamy plum sweetness before a nice cooling camphor.  This infusion has a velvet silky feeling to it. Nice relaxing and warming Qi.  The throat and mouthfeeling is chalky and a bit tight.

8^th is left to cool and is a woody earth soft camphor with a bitter edge to it, a bit smoky.  Not that much sweetness initially but comes out in the aftertaste as a creamy bread fainter sweetness.

9^th has a woody menthol dirt onset with some emerging creamy sweetness. Nice salivating here with a bit of a caramel finish.  Expanding creamy silky sweetness.  Nice relaxing and warming feeling.  A long coco taste in the mouth minutes later.

10^th has a honey woody dirt coco onset taste that gets creamy and sweet in the aftertaste.  There is a dominating coco taste throughout now which is pretty satisfying.

11^th is more delicious bitter coco woody with a bitter chocolate sweetness.  Nice salivating with a slight gripping thin chalky feeling.  Nice warming relaxation.  The stamina and warming qi of the Yang stored version is something the Westren cake lacks.  The Yang Stored version also has a bit better stamina.

I visit the 12^th infusion the next day and it gives off peachy pear creamy sweetness over a woody slight dirt base and a mild brassy creamy sweet, almost coco and a bit smoky aftertaste.

The 13^th has a dirt onset with some woody tastes and not much left as far as depth so I put it into mug steepings…

The mug steeping tastes of a bitter dirt wood with some lesser cherry plum taste and some astringency.  There isn’t much sweetness and a bit of a tight and scratchy throat feeling to it.

The differences of the two different stored cakes are many.

The Top is the overnight steeping of the dry Western stored and bottom is the Yang storage cake.

Drinking the overnight infusions of both ….

The dry stored cake has a vibrant raspberry hue and descends into a creamy, rich milky sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is fluffy and full.  It’s very creamy and rich milky sweetness.  Super insanely delicious here.

The more humid Yang stored cake has a bitter coco creamy bitter coco taste.  There is some deeper fermented dirt like tastes in there.  The mouthfeeling has more pucker and strength to it.

I get a buzzy of focusing energy still from these…

Nice Yiwu Gushu stuff!

Hard to say which one I enjoyed better, depends on my mood I guess.  The Western stored one had much more bodyfeeling in it and overall better pure Qi but the Yang stored one was much warmer which better mouthfeelings… I can see how this one was so popular for the 350-400$ price tag it would be hard for me to not buy a cake after trying it.  Last year I hit the now sold out 2004 Yang Qing Hao Zhencang Chawang hard for $250 which, I agree with both Shah8 and Marco, is comparatively a much better tea in its depth.

James’ (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Steepster Tasting Notes

Cwyn’s Tasting Notes

Marco’s Tasting Notes

Alex’s Tasting Notes

Peace

1999 Big Green Tree Black Stamp: Proper Dry Stored

I picked up a bunch of samples from Liquid Proust last year and this one is a famous one throughout puerh tea circles globally. Managed to somehow squeeze out a great session in a December day that was otherwise quite busy…

Dry leaves smell of very sweet and very cardboard like slight wood.

The first infusion has a watery creamy sweet taste to it with an icing sugar like finish.  It presents with a very clear dry stored taste.  There is some faint cooling mouth and a long expanding creamy icing surgery sweetness.

The second infusion has a clear almost meat-like taste, creamy sweet and clear profile.  There is a subtle touch of smoke.  The mouthfeel is a thin dry feeling.  There is a long and expansive icing surgar finish.  There is a feeling of release in the neck and shoulders from the Qi.

The third infusion has a slightly sour syrupy woody creamy sweetness.  There is this berry jelly note in there that is really nice and a very faint incense.  The woody sweetness extends into the long thin aftertaste but expands into something more creamy and sweet.  The mouthfeel is thin and full.

4^th is left to cool and has a syrupy creamy consistency initially it stays and reveals a bit of distant incense smoke before intermingling with a pungent coolness.  There is a berry jelly plum jam sort of faint sort of note that comes mid profile with the incense.  The long creamy sweet aftertaste turns into an icing sugar long sweetness in the mouth.  Nice subtle shoulder release and soft euphoria feeling.

5^th has a smoke and fruit creamy sweet taste upfront.  The taste is quite pure nicely concentrated and dry stored.  Nice fruity note that is hard to explain and arrives with and to counterbalance a very faint incense smoke.  A thin dry mouth coating with a soft euphoric vibe.  There is some sensations releasing the tops of the shoulders and giving the body a deep relaxation.  Subtle but profound.

6^th has a rich smoky not quite fruity but almost more creamy sweet onset.  There are two notes that form an interesting polarity- faint smoke and long pure sweetness.  The mouthfeel is less thick here and overall it seems to be thinning a bit… Nice shoulder release still.  The wet leaf aroma is a sweet and spicy aroma.

7^th has a syrupy warming spicy taste to it.  The texture is a bit oily still with a thin mouthfeeling long cooling and creamy icing sugar sweetness. More spicy tastes in this infusion.  Nice mild spacy euphoria with shoulder release.

8^th has a smoky incense taste to it.  There is some spicy tastes, some bland tastes, some faint creamy sweet tastes.  The mouthfeel is a thin sticky sandiness to it that is a touch drying.  Nice soft euphoria.

9^th has a subtle incense taste with a lesser, fading, hard to grasp sweetness now.  There is some spicier notes there.  I push with longer steeping times

10^th is 30seconds past flash…and left to cool… more viscus maybe a bit more fruity… some back ground incense.  There is a bit more depth to the spicy sweetness, fuller dry sandy mouthfeeling, Nice relaxing feeling now.

11^th 60 seconds…gives off a smokier, somewhat sweeter but overtaken by incense, more pronounced throat coolness but also more creamy sweet ending but still not too strong.

12^th I push into minutes long infusion times… a plum and smoke presentation with a nice burst of woody, incense, and faint plum.  The mouthfeeling is sticky and a bit dry in the mouth. 

13^th is a sour, incense, emerging creamy sweetness… finishes a bit cooling, mild creamy, smoke…

The overnight infusion is pretty much just a woody watery taste- not much left in these small tighly rolled leaves.

Overall, this tea is an example of a pure, clear flavored, and nicely dry stored puerh processed in the traditional fashion.  The exemplary points of this puerh is the very clean and pure taste and Qi, the bodyfeeling of neck and shoulder releasing with mild euphoria are some of the most sought out experiences, at least for me, and the polarity of mild smoke and fruity flavour with the long pure icing sugar sweet finish makes this one very nice indeed.

James’ (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Peace

2006 Essence of Tea Naked Tea Horse

This Summer I picked up some other mid-aged samples at Essence of Tea along with the 2021s.  I was interested in comparing this 2006 Essence of Tea Naked Tea Horse ($228.00 for 350g or $0.65/g) to 2006 TeasWeLike Ristic Zhongcha.  They both seem like more rustic Menghai area productions.  In the end they weren’t much alike so not much comparing happened but I had a nice session with this one…

Dry leaves smell of straw, with a sweet almost licorice sweetness.

The first infusion has a sweet licorice caramel onset with a base of dry wood and green twigs.  There is a spicy taste that is simultaneously fresh and warming that develops with some breath coolness then a fading creamy sweetness Overall a creamy, sweet, oily feeling.  The drier Kunming storage is evident here.  The sweet taste really lingers in the mouth a long time later.  This first infusion reminds me of the Mengsong area profile.

The second infusion very sweet onset- icing sugar, creamy sweet, caramel- a nice complex and obvious laying of sweetness that is very nice.  There is some faint bitterness then some coolness, some complex spice then a long fading sweetness.  There is a strong oily texture with oily saliva producing.  Nice long lasting sweetness.  The Qi is mainly in the head with some head stuffiness.  Has a strong feeling underneath the layers of sweetness.  A bit harsh on my empty stomach but tastes of refined sweetness.

The third infusion is left to cool and gives off a syrupy caramel, icing sugar sweetness with a spicy complex middle taste almost a mint herbal type of taste both warming and cooling spices and subtle woody incense.  There is a bit of incense smokiness coming out now less oily texture but still significant saliva producing.  Heady/ stuffy Qi feeling.

The fourth infusion has an herbal caramel sweetness to it.  More of a savory, smoky, spicy, woodiness to it now sharing space with the sweetness that dominated the first few infusions.  There is a flat bitterness to it as well.  Still some signs of floral and sweetness of its youth in here.  Stuffy head Qi, like a head pressure and dopey feeling.

5^th infusion has a woody, soapy, with a bit of caramel in the onset that has a flat bitter and incense note on it.  The bitterness is increasing infusion to infusion and is now the dominant taste.  The mouthfeeling doesn’t have that oily texture anymore and is mainly pucker, silty, slight dry.  Strong stuffy head.

The 6^th is left to cool and has a smoky caramel woody onset with a herbal taste and cooling mouth and sweet incense caramel sweetness.  There is still some oily taste in here but also a flat pucker bitter mouthfeeling as well.  Finishes both cool caramel and subtle pill bitterness.  Heady.

7^th has a light fruity fresh sweetness onset with some caramel undertones and faint bitterness.  This infusion shows off its base taste with the smoky, bitter, spicy tastes less obvious here.  Nice flat silty tongue coating.

8^th has a smooth fruity caramel taste the rest is pretty background now.  Just light smooth sweet floral caramel sweetness.  Nice display of the dry stored base flavors here.

9^th has a fruity sweet floral with some incense in the distance.  Nice woody dry storage with lots more floral showing in this infusion.  Some icing sugar tastes in the aftertaste.  Oily and silty thin mouthfeeling.

10th infusion was a 20second beyond flash steeping and it is more bitter and gripping in mouthfeeling.  Some bland woody tastes come out with the longer infusion times.  Stuffy brain feeling.

I push this one a bit more and it fades out quickly into blandness… but was pretty good while it lasted.  

This one and 2012 Essence of Tea Cloud Watching are both nice more dry stroed teas… these are the things I was hoping to see from Essence of Tea when they moved their teashop to Kunming.  I like them both but maybe priced a bit too high for me to move on them.  Better than most older Kunming storage cakes I have.

Shah8's Tasting Notes

Peace

Please Help ID 1970s? Puerh Cake

This cake is one of my last remaining cakes from the 90s/80s/70s.  I had mentioned before that I had some number of these in the past but I mostly drank through them all many years ago… because they are delicious.The only cakes that survived were ones with some sentimental value.  Some older shu puerh managed to escape my insatiable hunger for aged puerh simply because I drink so little shu.  This cake survived because it was given as a wedding gift and had this type of sentimentality attached to it.

Back in the day you could receive something significantly aged like this or even a Laobanzhang as a wedding gift… nowadays the closest we get is a tong of 2013 Xiaguan Love Forever… hahahhaha… still pretty good.  This is what I know of this cake…  I believe it was purchased by a Korean shop keeper who went on a puerh buying trip to Taiwan in the early to mid 2000s.  It was stored briefly in Korea then I stored it in BC where I sampled it once or twice.  I recently opened it again in Good’ol dry to the bone Saskatchewan where I currently reside.  It is the same cake that Marco recently blind sampled here.

Here are my tasting notes on this aged beauty… 

Dry leaves smell of dried out old faint oldness.  The rinsed leaves smell of old woody, a faint bit urine like, old puerh smell.

First infusion has a sweet candy plum taste that indicates some drier storage at the end with a subtle oily texture with a rich aged almost nutty taste to it that suggests some Traditional Hong Kong storage early in its storage history.  There is a bit of fallen leaf mulch taste in the mid profile a bit of cooling then a sweet candy finish.  Nice relaxing feel off the bat.

The second infusion has a sweet dry cherry taste with some subtle richer medicinal menthol woody taste initially there is a nice mild oily texture in the mouth especially in the front and a bit of sticky dry lips and slight drier throat simulation.  Nice deeply relaxing Qi so far but also a bit powerful in the chest.  A bit of body feeling in the wrists and hands and a subtle tingle in the face.  A cooling throat throws some returning plum cherry sweetness.

The third infusion has a coco smoothness an emerging camphor woody medicinal leaf mulch taste.  It has a bit of a creamy sweet woody finish.  The feeling is a bit chalky oily in the front of the tongue but also drying on the lips and back of the throat simulating it slightly.  Nice deeply penetrating Qi with some chest expanding and arms tingling.  There is a subtle bitter astringency that lingers minutes later.  The Qi has a lingering and deep power to it common with puerh from the 70-80s.

The fourth infusion has a deeper richer nutty sweet oily mulch taste with the sweetness being mainly the nutty taste with only a little sweetness trying to punch through the camphor cooling finish on the breath.  The mouthfeeling is simultaneously oily and dry which is an interesting dynamic feeling.  The Qi is also both deeply relaxing and deeply energizing a nice aged Qi feeling common of things a bit older.  There is a woody not quite coco but almost oily nuttiness left in the mouth.  The bitter and astringency is faintly appearing after the fact in the aftertaste minutes later.

The 5^th has a sweet oily nutty woody left onset with a camphor mid-profile and a faint chalky candy over a woody drying base.  The sweetness is faint and comes out with more bitter astringency on the breath.  Deep chesty Qi feeling with deep relaxing and rejuvenation.

The 6^th has a medicinal rich almost but not really nutty sweet and oily deep taste.  There is some oily texture in the onset and some dryness in the finish.  Overall, not much sweet.  Nice deep relaxing now.  Some faint bitter astringency minutes later with a chalky nutty woody leaf mulch finish.

The 7^th has a medicinal onset with a woody old books taste with sharper woody bitter astringency and not that much nutty sweetness.  A lingering mouth coolness with a camphor. 

I push harder with a 20 second added to flash steepings…

8^th has a woody old woody taste with some sweetness woody underneath that is hard to access.  More of a woody varnish leaf mulch taste here.  There is some coolness on the breath woody finish.

9^th infusion has 30 seconds beyond flash and is left to cool and gives off a rich nutty taste that moves toward a camphor.  There is a woody finish.  There is a distinct chestiness to this puerh nice relaxing and reassuring energy also deeply energizing.

10^th a few minutes long steep… pushing it hard here… rewarded with nice rich nutty sweet oily tastes.  Thick camphor woody nutty finish.  Some dryness and gripping in the throat.

11^th is left for a good 10 minutes… deep rich nutty woody onset that turns into a cooling camphor in the throat.  Nice woody overlay.  Warming Qi with a chesty feeling and deep energetic relaxing.

12^th I do a quicker 5 min steeping… it gives off lighter woody varnish type tastes with not much other taste in there some faint cool camphor but that’s about it.  This old stuff usually has to be pushed pretty hard…

The next morning I push it long and I do this for the next few days savoring the old puerh taste that is pushed out…

Most definitely 70s or 80s material with some Hongkong Traditional Storage… I need to get me one of those puerh yearbooks… hahahah

Is there anyone who can give me more info on this oldie? I would really appreciate it!

Marco’s Blind Tasting Notes

Peace

Ranked! Western Puerh Vendors 2021 Yiwu GuoYouLin Productions Part 2!

 Last year one of my most popular posts was this one where I ranked all of the 2019/2020 Yiwu Guoyoulin productions by Western facing puerh vendors.  The list was ranked simply by my personal preference ( not overall quality), didn’t take value or price into consideration, and was limited by only the Guoyoulin productions I managed to sample.  An interesting conversation developed and I had a lot of feedback regarding my ranking.  Within only a few months of posting most in that list we’re sold out (Blogger effect??).  This year I tried some more excellent Guoyoulin/ Gushu from our finest Western puerh vendors.  Many of these were given to me as complimentary samples and some of them I purchased myself.  I thought I would keep the few earlier productions that have not sold out yet in the ranking list this year.  Some of these are going to be marked down with the Black Friday sales going on now.  Okay In order of personal preference…

1- 2021Essence of Tea Bai Hua Qing ($1.40/g)- this is a brilliant lesson in powerful complex Yiwu Gushu from a new and trendy area.  Tastes profile changes lots throughout the session.  With an interweaving of sweet floral and woody bitter.  First 5 flash infusions are pretty bitter but it integrates more harmoniously into the taste structure as the session progresses.  Very solid saliva returning with aftertaste.  Nice Qi sensation of mind fuzziness and physical face and jaw sensations.  What’s not to love about this one???

2- 2021 Tea Encounter Chawangshu Gushu ($1.75/g)- the most famous area in Yiwu doesn’t disappoint!  This one has extra points for the Qi that makes this area so desired- lots of chesty Heart beats, face and head sensations, even body swaying nervous system effect… so so good!  Strong lively euphoria energy.  Has very long sweet taste that really melts in the mouth with nice oily structure, mouthfeel, open throat, and saliva returning.

3- 2021 Essence of Youle GaoGan ($1.24/g)- a nice Youle with a deeper complex structure that would make it an ideal Youle for aging.  A calm relaxing Qi with deeper body feels.  Solid taste and saliva producing and stronger sticky/drying/tight tongue mouthfeeling with a complex movement of tastes that complicate the session nicely as the session moves along.  I’m really into nearding out over this decadent Youle experience!

4- 2021 Tea Encounter Guafengzhai Gushu ($1.35/g)- This puerh has lots of “deeper” Gushu qualities… so I used the word deep to describe it a lot in the tasting notes.  A nice strong deep euphoria Qi feeling, with strong mind floating.  There is a thick rich feeling to the liquor, taste, and Qi which brings a with it full cohesive feeling. Deep evolving Qi relaxing matches nicely to the thick oily sweet tastes.

5- 2021 Essence of Tea Yiwu “Queen of the Forest” ($0.99/g)-  This is a super interesting blend of Yiwu Guoyoulin material.  It definitely is greater than the sum of its parts as mostly ethereal, light and harder to grasp Yiwu materials combine to give off much more.   Complex and interesting in its presentation the simple complexity of each area come together to offer a single entrancing experience.  Many interesting abut subtle things happen through the session.  A weak throat feeling and super soft but very silky silty mouthfeeling back an orchestra of separate parts.

6- 2021 Tea Encounter Yi Shan Mo ($0.70/g)- The slow and steady evolution of narrow but engaging and dense tastes coupled with the building of Qi and the powerful stamina of these leaves, especially the signature lubricating mouthfeeling, make this the best Yishanmo I’ve tried to date.  A treat for those who like this region!

7-  2021 Essence of Tea Yao Zhu Di ($1.10/g)- is maybe the best pure and true Guoyoulin out of the list and a very honest and straightforward Yiwu Guoyoulin profile.  Flavours are a lingering pure uninterrupted and deeply expansive sweetness with a quick arriving but ling arch of cool pungency.  It goes over very nicely.  It is also something that can be both pushed hard or enjoyed light- either experience is a very nice one.  A happy and rejuvenating energy to it.  It’s also one of the cheaper options on the list.  This Yiwu Guoyoulin is very full and satisfying to me- maybe just not enough to order…. I think I might have over ranked this one… not sure…

8- 2021 Tea Encounter Yiwu Guoyoulin ($0.35/g) -  this is way cheaper than others on the list yet I feel it is still very Gushu.  It has that barnyard gamey Gushu taste and some wild floral taste with not too much sweetness- the flavours are not that condensed.  It’s the deeper Qi I really like in here with bodyfeeling in the neck and a deep spacey almost feel good feeling.  This is the one out of the teas on this list that I’m most likely to cake this year… nice and cheap but believably Guoyoulin with a Qi to back it up!

9- 2020 white2tea Is A Gift ($1.25/g)- is a solid above average Yibang which I quite enjoy.  It has some strength behind it and a very and a very satisfying aftertaste.  The taste peaks slowly and has above average stamina.  Qi is warming and euphoric.  Seems more processed and more balanced than the 2019 version.  I blind caked this one.

10- 2021 Biyun Hao Longdui Guoyoulin (Standard Rounian) ($0.55/g) Nice pure, clean, clear Guoyoulin energy.  This has a bit more bitterness but also stronger throat sensations and returning sweetness than the stronger rolling below.  Same nice feel good relaxing Qi as the stronger rolling #11 below.  Some people could easily place this higher on their list especially considering the cheaper price.

11- 2021 Biyun Hao Longdui Guoyoulin (Stronger Rounian) ($0.55/g) - A Nice clean processed Yiwu single estate production.  Has a classic simple but pure and enjoyable honest taste and faint aftertaste.  I enjoy the uncomplicated purity of it for sure.  Time will only tell if it outdoes the standard rolling above… but why not buy the half cake set offered on TeasWeLike website and find out on your own?

Just like last year, I wish I tired a few more from white2tea and Yunnan sourcing… maybe next year.

Peace

2021 Kim Jong Yeol Saejak

 

It’s been a busy few months for me and my family … all good kind of busyness … but still so busy that it’s been at least a month since I’ve had given myself the time for a mindful gongfu session or an attentive evaluation session of tea.  It’s been years since I had such a long drought.  I assure you I am still throwing back lots of nice mug steepings and weeks long, a few steeps a day, sessions with some nice tea though.  Although I have naturally cut my caffeine/ tea intake in half, I feeling more alert and productive and not as stoned off of all that chaqi…. Hahaha…

One of my last nice gongfu sessions I had months ago was with an old favourite of mine- Kim Jong Yeol’s sejak.  I ended up purchasing some of this delicious stuff and a bunch of other Japanese green teas at the request of my better half while she is going through a green tea phase these days.  I ordered some from Pedro’s O5Tea outfit in Vancouver.

Me and Pedro go back a while so he kindly sent some complimentary samples of Japanese bancha free with my order.  Pedro knows I have a passion for traditionally/folk processed teas.  If you read the early blog entries you can see me exploring these in Korea at a time when those outside of Korea has never heard of such things.  However, I don’t have too much experience with Japanese bancha.  However, I always marvel at the deep and interesting tastes that come out of bancha. Pedro’s passion for Bancha is leading him to produce a documentary on traditional processed Japanese bancha.  If you are interested in this sort of thing you should contact him.

Anyways here is some brief but very satisfying notes on the 2021 Kim Jong Yeol Saejak...

Dry leaves have a deep sweet evergreen forest almost nutty edge.

The first infusion 30 seconds has a nutty sweet forest taste that goes into evergreen with a long expanding fresh nutty vibrant minty creamy sweetness.

2^nd has a sweet aqua cucumber forest green taste slight nutty finish with an evergreen like freshness.  Lingering sweet creamy evergreen forest in the mouth.  Nice clear alert and focused Qi.

3^rd infusion has a woodier onset with creamy sweet evergreen and more distinct roasted notes.  There is a subtle wood and cool aftertaste with an underlying roasted sweetness.

4^th is a woody and evergreeny with creamy woody creamy finish.  More of a cohesive together evergreen taste.

5^th has a more upfront vibrant green roast asparagus and evergreen sweetness.

The bag didn't last long in our house and was shared with friends...

The one thing that struck me the most with these sessions was how much ability I lost in evaluating Korean green tea with such a long absence from tasting.

If you don’t use it, you loose it.

Peace