Dominant Omicron A Relief For Tea Drinkers

 Honestly,  one of the things I have been most concerned of since the start of the pandemic ( in a trivial sort of way) is getting infected with Covid 19 and loosing my sense of taste and smell.  I have talked to people who make their living from these senses, such as chiefs, and that symptom alone can cause true long term suffering.  

Sometimes the sense of smell and taste can become warped from infection where certain smells and tastes that were once enjoyed are now quite off putting or just not enjoyed in the same capacity.  I have talked to and read about other tea drinkers that claim that their altered sense of smell and taste from Covid infection has changed their tea preferences all together.  I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to amass a large puerh stash to your taste only to be put off completely by that taste after being infected by Covid.  I also wonder, if enough people have a similar altered taste, will some puerh cakes that were not as desirable become more desirable?  Not sure if it works that way.  Will a puerh drinker who is infected always have inferior ability to select puerh compared compared to those not infected?  This very recent article in the journal Nature surveyed the science behind it and it sure got me thinking of all this stuff.  The amount of people with long term dysfunction is startlingly high to me!  For drinkers and connoisseurs of puerh, regardless of what your position is on the pandemic, this is concerning.

Anyways, we puerh drinkers can breathe a sigh of relief as the Omicron Variant becomes dominant worldwide.  Not only, and most importantly, it is much less fatal and causes much less serious illness.  But particularly of interest to those who indulge in the sensory pleasures of puerh, infection from Omicron has shown to effect taste and smell way way less than previous variants- it’s actually considered a “rare symptom” of Omicron.  No doubt a relief to puerh drinkers worldwide… in a trivial kind of way… 

Peace

“The Code”: Don’t Break the Vendor’s Code…

The recent uproar in the comment section of this recent post brought to light something that is implied but never explicitly stated…. “The code” or the agreed upon code of conduct between Western puerh vendors.  Although, I have never seen or heard it stated outright, I’ve heard of vendors complain of digressions. As far as I understand, and I am on the outside here, this is “the code”…

1-      Never Ask a Vendor Their Sources- This is probably the #1 complaint amongst vendors and probably the worst transgression.  If you are thinking about starting your own business don’t even hint about it!  Likely all Western facing vendors have been approached by someone in the past who attempts to sound innocent enough but then the next thing they know that innocent inquirer has started selling tea!  This is also the single biggest slap in the face to a vendor.

 

2-      Don’t Sell The Same Puerh- Although it is acceptable to sell a few of the same cakes as other Western facing puerh vendors, I have noticed that generally Western facing puerh vendors tend not to sell more than a few cakes that are the same.  Any more than a few and the code is broken.  The cakes that are sold on multiple sites are usually very common factory cakes and, out of courtesy are usually offering different storage.

 

3-      Don’t Overtly Criticize/ Critique Other Vendors- The roll of the puerh vendor is to sell puerh, it is the roll of the buyer and customer to criticize and critique.  This is especially true if the criticism and critique is beyond the tea itself and extends to the business, people running the business, sources, and other peripheral aspects.  It’s one thing to critique a tea and another to critique a competitor.  The criticism of another vendor should primarily and indirectly come from the high standard which they themselves run their business and choose their teas to sell. Many vendors have or have had blogs where they review other tea.  I think this is acceptable in so much that it is balanced and fair which most seem to be.  I always like to see when vendors comment, on this blog or the others I read.

 

4-      Be Respectful & Hold Yourself to a Higher Standard- It is kind of a double standard or unfair standard, but puerh vendors must hold themselves to a higher standard compared to us tea buyers (and even lowlier tea bloggers… hahaha) when discussing tea and other vendors.  We hold you in the highest regard and it’s an honor for us to be able to buy the tea you have sourced for us.  We only expect the best you can give, nothing less.

Peace

2009 XiziHao Diangu: Orange Blossoms Peachy Floral Heartbeats!

This sample was also acquired from Liquid Proust.  He also used to sell the whole cake on his site as well…

Dry leaves are a sweet creamy talc rose woody odour.

First infusion has an icing sugar with a rose and woody paper taste.  There is a watery creamy kind of fruity finish in the mouth.

Second has a tangy perfume floral cardboard box sweet taste initially.  It has that turnip taste and a sort of dirt and mint taste too.  The coolness in the throat is much more with this than the 2007 or 2008.  There is an almost peach edge to it.  The mouthfeeling is more juicy and lubricating too not the same as the 2007 and 2008 which was more fine sandy slight gripping… it might get there in later infusions…

The third infusion has a peachy fruity rose perfume creamy lubricating sweetness to it.  The coolness goes deep into the throat and expands in a peachy creamy perfume way.  There is some bitterness throughout here now and a flat cardboard taste.  This infusion is a nice balance of sweet, cooling pungent, bitter and bland with sweeter overall.  The Qi is quite strong in the Chest closer to the 2007 than the 2008 in its strong chesty heart beats.  The Qi is more invigorating and energizing than the 2007 and 2008.  The 2007 has more of a deeper profound effect with pronounced bodyfeelings which the others don’t.

The fourth infusion has a medicinal cardboard cherry cough syrup taste that the 2008 definitely had- bitter, sweet, kind of sour and dense.  There is a juicy bitter sour fruity thing with a dose of significant perfume.  The liquid is much thicker and oily than the 2008 and 2007.  There is a peachy, creamy bitter cardboard taste that comes out in the aftertaste.  Nice strong Chest sensations and intense energy.

The fifth infusion has a strong medicinal bitter cherry cough syrup and cardboard taste with edges of turnip.  This infusion is strongly bitter and leaves an oily but underneath fine sandy aftertaste.  Strong Chesty Qi and Heart beats with energy bursts.

The 6^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy bitter cardboard parsnip bitter sweet taste… mainly bitter with a lesser perfume body.  The aftertaste has a perfume and almost sour fruity cardboard taste to it.  This is bitterer than both the 2008 & 2007.  With more dynamic movement between initial taste and aftertaste.

The 7^th has a lubricating Sweettart candy like taste that is both sweet and sour and almost artificially tasting.  This infusion is more sour and less bitter or sweet.  The taste is really delicious and candy like here.  The aftertaste is pretty long but not at long as the 2008 or 2007 which would go even 10-20 min later some infusions.

The 8^th is left to cool and is a bland cardboard bitter woody sour fruity perfume kind of initial taste that extends into the aftertaste.  There is a kind of sour floral orange blossom perfume finish that lingers minutes later.  Decent Heart pounding Qi.

9^th infusion is very peachy pear onset with almost no floral bitter cardboard tastes.  It has a bit of a sour orange peel taste to it with orange blossom.  Nice citrus taste here that is a touch sour and bitter but volatile fragrances and mainly sweet.  The mouthfeeling is a faint fine powdery feeling.  The throat is deeply more cooling than the 2008 and 2007 but the mouthfeeling is less strong or full.

10^th infusion has a peachy pear taste with a subtle cardboard flat woody taste.  There is lesser bitter notes in there and lesser sour and still a floral perfume but not as strong.  The mouthfeeling is a fine sandy feeling that the other years have.  This one has a bitter orange peel and orange blossom finish.  Qi has still some chest action going on with some energetic focusing.

11^th has a bitter woody dirt floral nuance to it with an orange peel blossom bitter woody taste. The dry sandy mouthfeeling feels like the 2008 and 2007 now.  Nice mild energy still uplifting and mildly Heart racing.  Although this is the youngest of the tasting it isn’t at all raw on the stomach like the others can be in a few of the infusions.

12^th has an oily peachy pear fruity onset with not really any bitter or floral or spicy left.  There is an nice oily texture with some cooling deep throat and a bit of sandy undercoating with a mild energy now.

13^th has a strong Asian pear and lesser honey taste, pear peelings, nice sweetness of melon now.  Light fruitier notes are coming out now without any bitterness.  Nice mouthwating sensations.

14^th much of the same peachy, melon, pear tastes that really taste like Yiwu puerh here.  The 2008 and 2007 didn’t have the last handful of infusions that were very fresh and fruity with no bitterness.

Mug steepings of all three spent leaves…

2009 is bitter woody cardboard dirt like taste a faint underlying sweetness of candy melon that barely makes its way through the bitterness.  Big Chest pounding in this long infusion!  On the whole significantly better than the 2008.

2008 is a sweet plummy initial taste with some bitter cardboard underneath taste with a strong cherry cough drop cool pungency.  I think this is that weird minty taste working out.  Overall tastes quite delicious.  Very oily and lubricating. 

2007 is a deep sweet resin incense taste with this very sweet initial pop of flavour.  It’s weird that this mug steeping reminds me lots of the 2001 Naked Yiwu? Strange… but delicious.  More of a deep complex lurking bitterness underneath.  There is this deep penetrating perfume taste that just lingers for a long time on the breath.  2007 is by far the best of the samples mainly due to the strong Qi and bodyfeelings and very intense unique tastes and long stamina.  The Houde storage is significantly better to this year than the Taiwanese storage of the Liquid Proust samples.

These long steepings do much to reveal at its core the differences between these Dianggus!

Peace

2008 Xizi Hao Diangu: Minty Cardboard Perfume Heartbeats!

I picked up this 2008 Xizi Hao Diangu sample at Liquid Proust last year.  I think it was a comparative set along with the 2009.  He has done lots of options with Diangu on his site over the years including offering this full iron cake version.

Dry leaves smell of cardboard and a sweet creamy woody odour.  Not any piercing nectar like the Houde 2007 but same cardboard like odour which is interesting because I thought it was a storage odour and maybe it comes from the same collector and is…

First infusion has a woody, cardboard onset cherry and turnip earthy tastes.  It’s a smooth and a bit watery with a thin full sandy mouth and unique hints of fruit I can’t describe.

The second infusion has a perfume onset with notes of tart rosehips and almost grapefruit pith fruity bitterness.  There is a movement to a creamy berry sweet taste that slowly emerges and expands in the aftertaste.  There is a sweet tart perfume taste in the mouth even minutes later.  The lingering aftertaste is long.  Qi is focusing and happy with a bit of chest Qi.

The third infusion has a woody perfume cardboard bitters onset.  There is a subtle hong cha note and an emerging minty perfume taste in the aftertaste.  Tastes a bit soapy floral almost creamy.  It has a soft thin sandy but full feeling in the mouth.  Spacy and floating Qi takes hold of my mind with some Heart beats.

4^th has a woody bitter cardboard with a soapy floral perfume note that is a bitter minty taste.  Not as condensed, perfume, or bitter as the drier stored 2007 from Houde.  Strong initial presentation of flavour then develops a bit more cardboard minty taste.  Long aftertaste of initial flavours.  Steady strength from the Qi totally spaces me out while I can feel strong Chest pounding.  The cooled cup has a more tart woody cardboard fruitiness, less bitter-mint, and nice long creamy and smoother sweetness.  A touch harsh on the digestion from being a bit young maybe.

5^th has a medicinal cherry cough syrup onset with that minty bitter edge to it.  It has an emerging creamy sweet note in there that comes out as the more bitter notes recede.  Soft full thin sandy mouthfeeling.  Nice Chest Qi sensation with floating mind.

6^th infusion has a sour rose hip and cardboard taste.  There is some bitter floral tastes a touch woody and sort of minty.  The fine full soft sandy mouthfeeling is prominent.  Nice relaxing floating Qi.  Vs   2007 this one is much less condensed, powerful in taste, aroma, and Qi.  Its maybe 1/2 as good.

7^th has a root turnip, floral perfume, carboard onset with a carrot creamy sweet finish.  Nice soft full fine sandy mouthfeeling.  This infusion has more of a root veggie taste which did not appear in the 2007.

8^th has a bitter metallic woody body floral cardboard and sandy mouthfeeling.  Cooled it is more creamy sweet and minty with lesser bitter cardboard wood.  Nice lingering sweet floral breath.

9^th has a cardboard woody floral taste to it.  There is a bit of minty almost root veggies edges to it.  Still lots of medium bitterness that comes with a woody flat taste.  Nice decent chest expanding and uplifting spacy feeling.

10^th infusion has a bitter woody root veggies floral taste initially then has a metallic like finish along with woody bitterness.  This infusion has much less sweetness.  More of a flat taste in the mouth.

12^th is a more creamy woody cardboard floral onset that ends more sweet that woody.  The 2008 is way less perfume.  Nice thin full fine sandy mouthfeeling.  Nice uplifting Qi.

13^th has a woody almost watery bitter flat woody taste with edges of sweetness.  Mouthfeeling is a bit more gripping and has not much sweetness, a bit of perfume.  Nice Chest pounding and uplifting more energizing Qi than the 2007s stupefying Qi.

14^th has a woody cardboard root veggie kind of flat taste with not really any sweetness left.  A flat dry puckering mouthfeeling.  Uplifting Qi.

Although this 2008 is still pretty enjoyable, the quality gap between the 2007 from Houde and this 2008 is very significant.

Peace

2007 Xizi Hao Diangu: Drinking Power Perfume !?!

This past week I took 3 days to sample through Xizi Hao’s Diangu offerings 2007, 2008, and 2009. Due to my always way too long tasting notes I will break them into separate posts with the 2009 post having a bit of an overview.  It ended up being a crazy life altering week… because Diangu is kinda like that…

The first is my last sample from Houde.  It’s a 100% Houde Houston stored cake.  The 2007 Zixi Hao Diangu sold out last yearfor $495.00 for 450g large cake.  It is a much talked about and beloved cake of Shah8 so, it’s something we’ve all read about for years…

Dry leaves have a strong cardboard odour with a piercing nectar odour.

The first infusion has a vibrant powdery talc and perfume floral odour to it with a base of hongcha nuance similar but not exactly what you could taste from Tea Urchin’s storage perhaps? There is a metallic almost bitterness underneath and some nutty tastes.  The creamy sweetness is fluffy and cotton candy tasting thing.  Long creamy sweetness with a tight full and loosely salivating sensation.  Complex full dump of taste in its brilliant dry storage.  Nice focusing energy.

The second infusion has a very thick perfume talc and woody presentation.  The mouthfeeling is strong and puckering fine sand.  There is this floral talc cherry very perfume presentation.  This is a very unique tasting and feeling puerh. There is a strong heavy chest bodyfeeling and a wandering, unhinged mind feeling.  Nice wood perfume and floral finish over a talc and creamy sweet base.  Strong deflating balloon bodyfeeling.

The third infusion has a metallic perfume dense and thick layered woody presentation with heavy, essential oil based, perfume fragrances, flower shop taste.  There is a bitter base taste and a woody vegetal base.  Strong Qi makes me feel like I’m leaving my body.  This is a really strong tea that needs more aging still.  It’s a bit rough on the Stomach still.  There is a bitter woody floral talc taste in the mouth many minutes later.  Strong Chest heaviness and Heart racing with out of body feeling.

The 4^th infusion is left to cool… it gives off a very dry woody, kind of weedy bitter, but heavy perfume-floral finish.  There is a cooling almost minty rosehips and woody base.  That minty woody taste extends into the aftertaste.  This is a very unique and unusual tasting puerh.  The mouthfeeling is a sticky fine sandy pucker.  The Qi is full of strong bodyfeelings in the Chest and Heart and a floating mind, unhinged feeling. Powerful Qi.

The 5^th has a strong woody minty onset with a heavy thick perfume presence.  There is a heavy bitter minty woody perfume dense onset that keeps its form even through the aftertaste.  There is almost an overly soapy perfume taste to it like eating a bar or perfume bar soap.  Strong Chesty Qi bodyfeeling and some face sensations too- very strong. 

6^th is left to cool… it has a strong red tea note with woody minty bitterness.  The mouthfeeling is gripping.  There is less perfume but still quite a bit.  A tingling tongue sensation is very nice.  Long profile throughout.

7^th has a woody sour rosehips perfume woody bitter onset.  The taste comes at once initially then just stays long on the breath without returning, changing too much.  Like being hit by one big wave of flavour.  Qi in Chest and Heart.  Nice floating mind feeling.

8^th has a cherry perfume woody bitter vegetal onset there are some faint spicy notes in there a bit this infusion.  A flat wave of dense flavour that goes straight to the aftertaste.  No returning sweetness or ebb and flow to it, just a wall of tastes.  Soapy perfume nuances as well.  Dry full mild gripping mouthfeeing.  Flat single note with no separation of initial tastes, secondary tastes, coolness then returning sweetness.  That along with the insanely strong Qi feels maybe more like a wild tea or Mu Shu Cha type or varietal than standard puerh type of thing to me.

9^th has a woody almost medicinal minty bitters woody perfume taste.  The dense taste holds into the aftertaste. 

10^th is left to cool and gives off a medicinal minty soap- floral bitter heavy perfume wood taste.  There is some red tea note in there.  The mouthfeeling is flattening out and is a dry slight puckering slight fine sandy feeling.  The Qi is still in the Chest and floats the mind but less strong now.  The Qi has now pretty much rendered me useless and staring at the walls… stupefying Qi knocks me out hard…

11^th is left to cool and offers a woody bitter floral experience.  The taste of this puerh is dense but narrow and steadfast in its consistency and shows its single origin pedigree.  Nice flat full thin sandy slightly gripping mouthfeelng.  Nice spacy Qi now.

12^th has a more perfume taste with less bitter woodiness.  There is a more floral feel to it here with some orange peel tastes in there as well.  Nice floating feeling.

13^th has a bitter woody floral perfume onset.  Nice full, flat fine sandy slight gripping mouthfeeling.  Some minty medicinal tastes in there as well.  Nice floating.  Nice full fine sandy slightly gripping mouthfeeling.  There is a more vegetal type of bitterness in here.  This tea has good stamina and feels like it could just go on forever like this…

14^th has a rich bitter woods floral perfume taste.  There is a bit more richness in this infusion … bitter woody perfume floral … so consistent and still very intense… strong Chest Qi here.

Wow… a really good start to the tasting…

Peace

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