Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #5

 Dry leaves have muted sweet woody grains.

The first infusion has a coppery milky taste.  Nice creamy body and fluffy mouthfeeling.  Has a creamy almost fruity edge to it.  Faint cooling at the finish with muted creamy sweet taste.

The second infusion has a creamy nutty slight woody pond taste.  Creamy coco returning sweetness.  Chalky mouthfeeling.  Nice cooling creamy coco finish some vegetal woody faint base taste underneath.  Relaxing bodyfeeling with very mild floating bodyfeeling.  Tastes a bit more humidly stored but Mid-aged.  Not sure about the storage tastes somewhere between Taiwanese and Malaysian- probably somewhere my brain isn’t taking me to… Maybe dry stored Malaysian? Not sure…

Third infusion has a woody resin sweet woody taste.  This tastes almost like varnish woody.  Reminds me a lot of 2003 Hong Kong Henry “Conscientious Prescription” it has that woody furniture varnish with a orange citrus finish to it. Very woody taste up front but turns a bit creamy. Has a decent level of acidity and a sandy gripping mouthfeeling and stimulating upper throatfeeling. Sort of tingling floating bodyfeeling.

The fourth infusion has a woody sweet acidic onset.  The cooled down infusion has a woody creamy almost citrus fruit taste.  There is a substantial woody character over creamy sweet citrus taste.  There is a spacy Qi feeling with some tingling bodyfeelings.  Sort of reminds me of Chen Yuan Hao here but more like 2003 HK Henry Conscientious Prescription even a bit 7532 Menghai Factory.

5^th has a woody creamy resin incense onset with woody edges and feeling of mild spacy and floating feelings.  Strong woody resin body in this puerh with a nice long cooling over a sandy mouthcoating and upper throat stimulation. Tingling whole body Qi with spaced out feeling. 

6^th has a very woody onset with creamy citrus finish.  There are lots of resin notes as well with a citric almost orange fruity edge to it.  Incense and resin body to this one.  Nice spacy with body tingling.  Thin sandy mouthfeeling with a bit of upper throat simulation.

7^th has a deeper woody resin taste.  Like furniture with acidic and citrus in there.  This is something really like 2003 HK Henry.  Sandy thin mouhfeeling with upper throat stimulation.  Nice spaced out Qi with body tinges.  Deep cooling in the throat with creamy sweet edges in the aftertaste. 

8^th has a woody furniture varnish taste.  This is much less sweet and woodier furniture with edges of acidic orange.  Nice spacy feeling.

9^th has a very woody varnish resin taste with a bit of acidity and not too much sweetness left.  Sandy thin full coating mouthfeeling with some upper throat stimulation.  Has a talc dry storage taste in there like incense.  It pours a bit lite but has an older dry stored feeling 2001-2005 maybe.

10^th is left to cool and has a creamy woody taste a bit of acidic tastes.  Nice creamy sweet taste.  

11^th has a woody varnish acidic sweetness to it. Very woody with a bit of cooling breath and incense resin taste.

I mug steep out the rest… it offers woody acidic taste with not much sweetness left in there.  A long day steeping pushes out sweet bread and faint cooling returning sweetness.

Guess: 2003-2006 Factory production similar to Hong Kong Henry Conscientious Prescription or even possibly Menghai Factory Deliciousness. Re-reading the notes it seems a bit unclear…

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #4

 The last blind sample #3 seemed to almost be a puerh style I have little experience with and was a bit harder for me to grasp but this one seems like something much more deliciously familiar to me… here are my thoughts as I go through the session…

Dry leaves look like a Fu brick from Hunnan as you can see the large twigs and leaves … brick shape with tinny white dots of mold and thick stems/small twigs… has a woody fall leaves and limey mildew sort of odour… Yummy…  There is white dots of mold that indicate that it might be HongKong traditionally stored or possibly other wet storage not the Yellow spores that you see from Fuzhuan.  Definitely has a post fermented processing look to it… maybe a crude shu brick traditionally stored…?

First infusion has a watery onset with woody almost bready sweet flavours.  It is a bit watery with lots of space there is a grassy hay and woody finish… tastes not really like Fuzhuan but not my experience with Traditional Hongkong stored bricks either… sort of like something in between…

The second infusion has a woody hay milky hay sweet monotone taste there is edges of sweetness that are like a grains type sweetness.  Light mild watery mouthfeeling. Nice light warming Qi. Beautiful waming simplicity and enjoyment this time of year!

The third has a woody milky coco taste.  It is smoother here with more of an oilier mouthfeeling and milky.  Milky grains sweet finish.  Mild warming Qi.  As the liquor cools it becomes quite nutty sweet.  This infusion tastes more like a Hongkong Traditionally stored puerh.  It tastes really good in its own way.  The leaves look like it is likely shu.

The fourth infusion has a nice milky nutty sweetness that is reminiscent of Hongkong Traditional storage.  It has an oily mouthfeeling and woody grains milky finish.  The mouthfeeling is a touch sandy somewhat oily and a bit of spacious watery.  Nice mild warming feeling.

The 5^th infusion has a milky woody hay and watery mouthfeeling.  Lots of space in the mouth simple but enjoyable warmth.  The mouthfeeling is becoming a bit scratchy in the throat. 

The 6^th infusion has a woody fallen leaves and not that creamy sweet but woodier hay taste.  Drier mouthfeeling now as the session progresses with a bit of throat starchiness.  Becoming more fallen leaf and even a bit mushroom.

7^th is left to cool and gives off a milky sweet oily taste with some woody almost nutty finish.  The nutty finish makes me think of Hongkong Traditional storage shu Brick but the less complex taste and feel is reminiscent of Fuzhuan Brick- the one for sure is that the fermentation technique is obvious- this is not sheng puerh and I’m leaning heavily that this is a HK traditional stored Shu puerh that is at least from the 90s but the material is not the highest quality but the storage more than makes up for it.  This also tastes a bit different/unique from other HK Trad stored Shu bricks I’ve hand… I appreciate the experience here.

8^th is left to cool and gives off a woody creamy almost mushroom fallen leaf taste. Faint creamy sweet and nutty but distant in the more woody aftertaste over a drier mouthfeeling now.

9^th is also left to cool and has a woody fallen leaf mushroom taste over a flat dry and a bit throat scratching throatfeeling. 

I do a longer infusion just for fun… a good 60 second steeping…

10^th infusion has a milky nutty and a bit more oiliness to it.  Still some throat scratchiness and a nice mild warming Qi.  Longer infusions here give it a subtle nutty even coco nuance with oilier feeling and some throat cooling.  Likely a cheaper but yet satisfying older drinker.

11^th is another long infusion that gives off a woody, nutty, mushroom taste to it.  A bit oily but drying mouthfeeling with scratchy throat. Warming Qi.

12^th is another long one… and is much more nutty and woody.  Nice woody almost creamy sweet with subtle cool throat finish.  The longer infusion time the smoother it is at this point…

I put it into overnight infusions… and it has nutty dirt deep oily but a bit sweet taste.  Taste shu processing but also the nuttier sweetness and more humid traditional storage. 

Guess: Hongkong traditionally stored Shu puerh brick at least 90s old maybe older of not that great quality materials.  It leads me to wonder if the seller was selling this one for the material or the storage?  If selling for the material this could be a nice cheaper aged drinker… if for the storage might be a pricier drinker…

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #3

 

Dry leaves smell of aged puerh with that old books and basement kind of smell but also a sweet odour in there as well, mild smoky BBQ.  There are black and reddish looking leaves in there looks like aged loose sheng.  Looks like this is puerh that was aged loose which is evident by the clumps and long shot to be an aged Lou tou cha a common by product of Shu or maybe even aged huang pian?

First infusion has a creamy smooth sweet fruity watermelon taste that is very mouthwatering and juicy and spacious in the mouth.  There is edges of dusty book but surprisingly juicy fruity watermelon.  The juxtaposed tastes of both fresh fruity watermelon and aged dusty books is confusing to me and interesting.  I’m thinking this is aged sheng hunagpian but the amount of space in the mouth and the juiciness.  Is definitely sheng material.

The second has a fruity aged watery taste to it.  It has a nice soothing broth that is fully aged sheng material.  Very soothing energy.  It has an interesting juicy fruity taste mainly with aged duty books and fruity faint incense.  Sort of reminds me of a fruity hooka.   The juicy oily feeling fills the mouth and throat.  There is some deeper throat simulation.  

Third infusion has a fruity oily full taste the fresh watermelon is less but there is an interesting ashy sweet taste in there mainly sweet aged fruity taste. Some dusty ashy aspect but very background.  The mouthfeeling is oily and lubricating and wet but there is still some faint puckering finish.  Feel like it has a nice body of almost sort of bitterness underneath.  I have never tried Lao Man E huang pian aged out but I imaging it could taste like this. Very tasty.  Has a warming make-you-sweat Qi here.  Strong enlivening warming happy Q in here.

The fourth infusion has a rich dense oily dusty sweet taste which is in an oily soothing broth. Strong warming and happy vibes with a bit of Heart beats.  The cooled down infusion is even more smooth with a smooth oily sweetness overall and strong Qi which you can feel in the head like a stuffy pressure along with strong happy feeling.

5^th infusion has a milky oily fruity texture with a long oily sweet extension of taste.  There is no noticeable smoke or incense or ash in the last few infusions just smooth broth. 

6^th is Oops a good 30-60second infusion here… it is a bit thicker and its base is has a bit more strong depth almost bitter- woody furniture rich taste almost nutty now.  Has a Honkkong Traditional Storage vibe to it.  Finishes nutty and sweet.

I liked that…7^th is a few minutes long infusion… oily dusty rich milky nutty… faint cool throat… warming with head heaviness and happy vibes. There is a pop of initial flavours sweetness then a layered richness.  A bit head fuzzy but warming and soothing. 

8^th is a few minutes long again and gives off a fruity almost strawberry and old dusty taste.  Taste is fading a bit with oily mouthfeeling with a slight throat cooling.

I mug steep out the rest and it has a subtle gripping mouthfeeling with not much sweetness and more of an old dusty aged puerh taste.

I overnight steep it… the next morning it is watery somewhat sweet sugar but mainly watery old dusty aged puerh water… The spent leaves are quite large and still furrowed up with dark fermented hard texture but unfrowned is even a bit green.

Guess: Hong Kong Traditional Storage aged loose puerh- possibly Huang Pian.

Peace

Dry leaves smell of aged puerh with that old books and basement kind of smell but also a sweet odour in there as well, mild smoky BBQ.  There are black and reddish looking leaves in there looks like aged loose sheng.  Looks like this is puerh that was aged loose which is evident by the clumps and long shot to be an aged Lou tou cha a common by product of Shu or maybe even aged huang pian?

First infusion has a creamy smooth sweet fruity watermelon taste that is very mouthwatering and juicy and spacious in the mouth.  There is edges of dusty book but surprisingly juicy fruity watermelon.  The juxtaposed tastes of both fresh fruity watermelon and aged dusty books is confusing to me and interesting.  I’m thinking this is aged sheng hunagpian but the amount of space in the mouth and the juiciness.  Is definitely sheng material.

The second has a fruity aged watery taste to it.  It has a nice soothing broth that is fully aged sheng material.  Very soothing energy.  It has an interesting juicy fruity taste mainly with aged duty books and fruity faint incense.  Sort of reminds me of a fruity hooka.   The juicy oily feeling fills the mouth and throat.  There is some deeper throat simulation.  

Third infusion has a fruity oily full taste the fresh watermelon is less but there is an interesting ashy sweet taste in there mainly sweet aged fruity taste. Some dusty ashy aspect but very background.  The mouthfeeling is oily and lubricating and wet but there is still some faint puckering finish.  Feel like it has a nice body of almost sort of bitterness underneath.  I have never tried Lao Man E huang pian aged out but I imaging it could taste like this. Very tasty.  Has a warming make-you-sweat Qi here.  Strong enlivening warming happy Q in here.

The fourth infusion has a rich dense oily dusty sweet taste which is in an oily soothing broth. Strong warming and happy vibes with a bit of Heart beats.  The cooled down infusion is even more smooth with a smooth oily sweetness overall and strong Qi which you can feel in the head like a stuffy pressure along with strong happy feeling.

5^th infusion has a milky oily fruity texture with a long oily sweet extension of taste.  There is no noticeable smoke or incense or ash in the last few infusions just smooth broth. 

6^th is Oops a good 30-60second infusion here… it is a bit thicker and its base is has a bit more strong depth almost bitter- woody furniture rich taste almost nutty now.  Has a Honkkong Traditional Storage vibe to it.  Finishes nutty and sweet.

I liked that…7^th is a few minutes long infusion… oily dusty rich milky nutty… faint cool throat… warming with head heaviness and happy vibes. There is a pop of initial flavours sweetness then a layered richness.  A bit head fuzzy but warming and soothing. 

8^th is a few minutes long again and gives off a fruity almost strawberry and old dusty taste.  Taste is fading a bit with oily mouthfeeling with a slight throat cooling.

I mug steep out the rest and it has a subtle gripping mouthfeeling with not much sweetness and more of an old dusty aged puerh taste.

I overnight steep it… the next morning it is watery somewhat sweet sugar but mainly watery old dusty aged puerh water… The spent leaves are quite large and still furrowed up with dark fermented hard texture but unfrowned is even a bit green.

Guess: Hong Kong Traditional Storage aged loose puerh- possibly Huang Pian.

Pictured are blind samples 1 (top),2 (middle), 3 (bottom).

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #2

 Dry leaves smell of smoky mesquite BBQ with an odour very similar to the 2005 Nan Qiao Double Lions from Teas We Like.

First infusion has a bbq smoky taste with a pasty returning sweetness.  There is lots of smoky car with a pasty not quite returning sweetness.  Nice full pasty sticky mouthfeeling.  Old School factory feeling.  Alerting energy.  Wet leaves in the pot have a peaty semi-aged odour.  Seems like Maylasian storage to me.

The second infusion is left to cool and has a BBQ mesquite onset with a creamy sweet emergence. There is a delicious pasty strawberry sweetness that comes out underneath the BBQ taste.  Nice pasty mouthfeeling.  With a lingering creamy pasty sweetness.  Almost pastry like sweetness.  It really lingers for minutes.  Not much throat feeling but a faint lingering cooling with sweet pastry sweetness over a faint BBQ.

The third infusion is left to cool and gives off a smoky BBQ onset with a sweet creamy pasty taste.  The balance of smoky BBQ Mesquite and creamy pasty sweetness is nice.  Also nice pasty mouthfeeling with only the faintest throat stimulation.  Nice enlivening Qi.  

The fourth infusion has a smooth creamy almost woody incense sweetness.  There is a smokiness to it but it is overall smooth a bit woody not really strawberry fruity.  The mouthfeeling is getting less pasty and more puckering.  Moderate energy bump up and a Chest/rib opening bodyfeeling with heart beats. The smoke as well as a woody sweetness lingers in the mouth.  Almost dirt like woodiness that reminds me of Malaysian storage.

5^th infusion has a creamy sweet but also woody taste to it the creamy sweetness really expands in the mouth.  Woody sweet creamy almost cherry sweet but layered fallen woody base.  The creamy sweet taste hold throughout.   Faint cooling on the breath and a full almost sandy pasty pucker mouthfeeling.  Nice moderate energetic feeling.

6^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy cool feeling with a stronger smoky char and more of a puckering sandy mouthfeeling now than pasty. Nice mild energy.

7^th infusion has a creamy sweet and smoky onset with a woody puckering mouthfeeling and lingering woody and a bit creamy sweet.  Lots more woody and smoke tastes here.  The sweet tastes is lessening as the session progresses.  Nice mild energy bump.

8^th has a smoky BBQ mesquite onset that is the dominant taste now I would say woody fall tree is the next taste underneath with only edges of sweetness now to access underneath the stronger gripping mouthfeeling.  Some creamy sweetness glances below the woody gripping smoke.  Nice energy feeling also a bit relaxing at the same time.

9^th is cooled down considerably and has a woody creamy taste with a lesser finish of creamy sweet wood and smoke.  Thin puckering coating on the tongue.  Mild energy.

I put the rest into mug steeping and it gives off woody sweet smoke.  Soothing rich even a touch puckering dry.

Guess: Malaysian Stored factory production from 2005-2007.  Tastes a lot like the 2005 Nanqiao Double Lions.

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #1

 

Small stronger compressed dry leaves have a faint sour fruity almost woody sweetness to them.  A faint bready/grains sweetness that almost reminds me of a less smokey Xiaguan.

First infusion has a watery woody onset with barely sweet grains and woody finish.  It has an almost lingering faint sweetness.

Second infusion has a smooth oily slightly fruity approach over woody layers.  The mouthfeeling is a bit puckering and saliva producing.  Very clear profile of tastes.  Lingering dry wood and long faint fruity cooling.  Tastes like a Yiwu to me.  The wet leaves smell of cherry and dry woody odours.  Neck releasing bodyfeeling and deeper level relaxing.  The storage taste and smell is familiar like I’ve tired it before but not sure where… maybe BiYun Hao’s storage?  Dragon Tea House?

Third infusion was left to cool and has a sweet expanding caramel sweetness that expands and induces salivation.  Clear gushu Yiwu profile.  Nice long sweet deep in the open throat caramel with faint whimsical cooling.  Around 10 year puerh with drier storage.  Nice spacy feeling with relaxing neck Qi and bodyfeeling.

Fourth infusion has a caramel fruity oily sweetness with a woody base taste to it.  The clear profile of taste is really nice and so is the beautiful bodyfeeling- a subtle opening of the neck and shoulders.  Nice full thin mouthfeeling with a mild back of mouth stimulation enough for a nice oily saliva producing.  The subtle coolness overlaps the caramel sweet finish.  The mouthfeel is full but gentle and bodyfeelng and Qi has a very peaceful and tranquil effect overall.  Gushu Yiwu feeling feels sort of like Bi Yun hao?  Has the Qi of a Gua Feng Zhai.

The 5^th has a creamy caramel sweetness that is really pure and sweet fluffy deliciousness. There is an oily thin full mouthfeeling that holds the simple delicious single estate tastes in nicely.  Nice saliva producing and mid-throat opening.  Long deep relaxing with spaced out feeling and wave like bodyfeelings- warming face and opening neck feeling.  Spaciness builds in the mind.

The 6^th infusion has a candy-like caramel almost strawberry-cherry subtle sweet pop.  The tastes are really pure and clear.  Then comes a long faint coolness that is almost camphor and woody but long creamy cool caramel taste to it.  Spaced out feeling.  Neck body feeling.

7^th has a pungent woody sweet taste to it over a thin full mouthfeeling.  There is very subtle candy and even spice edge to it.  The cooling reaches deeper into the throat.  Spacy relaxing.  Open neck bodyfeeling.

8^th has a woody pungent caramel onset with a full thin pasty mouthfeeling and deep throat coolness. The cool cup is woody with a long cooling deep candy almost papery woody bark taste in the mid throat.  The full coating of thin mouthfeel is becoming slightly drier but not really dry still some saliva producing but not as much. 

9^th has a woody caramel woody bark with an emerging menthol cool that returns the sweet caramel taste.  There is faint complex edges of coco and almost cherry.  The mouthfeel remains all covering but thin yet still present with an almost mossy feeling.  The cooled down cup was more caramel but also more papery tasting.  Has a Chawangshu vibe to it.  Very spaced out strong Qi in the mind with a subtle neck thing going on.

10^th infusion has a woody papery bark taste that has a sweet almost caramel taste to it with a cooling pungent woody caramel finish.  The papery woody bark taste is becoming the most prominent as the mouthfeeling becomes a bit more gripping.

11 infusion is left to cool and gives off a caramel sweet papery with a mild dry astringency in the mouthfeeling.  There is a deeply relaxing and especially spaced out feeling.  There is almost some fruitiness that comes out in the aftertaste with caramel and paper woody.

12^th is left to cool and gives a nice creamy wood-caramel sweet taste.  The mouthfeel is still full covering the mouth and there is a woody papery finish.  Nicely spaced out in this stronger Qi.  

I do a 13^th infusion and is much the same as the 12^th with a bit more woody paper almost dryness.

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I overnight thermos the spent leaves and it comes out a bit bitter and with a full dry coating.  There are edges of coco and then finishes a faint caramel almost fruity but mainly a woody papery with some breath coolness.  Overall impressed by the stamina.  A solid full chalky dry mouthfeel keeps things going for sure.  Strong spaced out feeling with neck bodyfeeling.

Guess: 2012-2010 Yiwu single estate with very clean storage Maybe a BiYunHao Chawangshu/Guafengzhai/Yiwu maybe even a Dragon Tea House Yiwu?… definitely something familiar about this one…  Somewhat resembles the BiYUn Hao Chawangshu I tried a few months ago.

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Tasting

 Okay… here we go again… I think both Marco and I had pretty busy summers because this blind tasting was more of an afterthought.  I reached out to him this time and we hastily arranged to send out some samples… that was about a month ago.  I had really enjoyed the previous 2020 and 2021 blind sample sets he sent in past years.  It has been a real learning experience besides being super fun.  For this I am very thankful.

This year I sent him some teas that have been in my regular rotation over the last year.  I went through his samples a few weeks ago and they were a lot of fun… please join us in these posts over the next days and weeks…

Peace 

2019 Puerh.uk “Guo Gan”: Excellently Ethereal

 Got this free sample from Paolo of puerh.uk…. I have no clue what this puerh is so I’m going in sort of blind here… Dry leaves smell of a faint woody sweetness…

First infusion has a watery clear faint sugar melon sweetness with a nice long cool sugar finish. Clear like a pond. Watery mouthfeeling.

Second infusion has a melon sugar watery clear onset with a bit of faint wood.  Clear watery sweet tastes. Cool long faint aftertaste in the deeper throat.

Third infusion has a pungent coolness woody sort of root veggies clear sweet sugar onset with a bit of gripping mouthfeeling.  This infusion reminds me of Nannou region here.  Stronger Qi is deeply pooling in the chest.

The fourth infusion has a pop of woody sugar fruity taste.  Nice vibrant pop and clear tastes with a bit of gripping and nice mouthfeeling that pulls the flavor out in a singular fashion.  The mouthfeeling is simultaneously gripping and stimulating but also clear and thin… sort of interesting.  Long cooling throat with sweet sugar. Qi is strong in a building up sense in the Chest and diaphragm with light airy limbs.  Mildly expansive mind. 

5^th infusion has a woody melon candy pop of initial taste there is this mouth pucker and long cool deep throat feeling. Strong Qi builds in the Heart.  Limbs are light mild is expansive.  Really nice experience here with everything.  Ascending feeling in the body.  Long deep candy throat reminds me of Yiwu now.

6^th is left to cool and gives off a fruity punch with quick moving bitterness.  Nice mouth stimulation with long sweetness candy like and deep in throat. Very nice strong Heart clumping and limb airiness.  The quick moving bitterness and candy reminds me of LaoBanZhang… do I dare say it! This is really nice puerh.  Flavour, mouthfeeling, aftertaste, throatfeeling, bodyfeeling, Qi… the whole package is quite nice.

7^th has a clear melon sweet candy-like burst with quick moving mild bitterness in a simulating mouthfeeling with long cool deep throat aftertaste turns to candy.  Strong Heart clumping with limb lightness and expanding consciousness.

8^th has a nice pop of melon, sugar, can11dy sweet there is a thin veil of woody even mild bitter pop but a long sweet candy finish.  Heart pooling and lightness in the body with expansive mind.

9^th has a melon woody pop that has a candy nuance and more candy in the aftertaste.  Very clear flavours and movement with pop and release type of taste.  A bit of gripping mouthfeeling that has a sort of initial gripping then release with some throat stimulation now.

10^th The next day I come back to the pot and am greeted with really fruity sweet pure tropical pop of flavours.  There is this vibrant pop of sweet taste and long candy like finish. 

11^th is left to cool and has peachy fruity clear onset with clear pops of initial tastes …

I get a handful of more excellent infusions out of this one!  As I said above … This is really nice puerh.  Flavour, mouthfeeling, aftertaste, throatfeeling, bodyfeeling, Qi… the whole package is quite nice.  I had a really good experience here…

Thanks Paolo for sending it.  I wonder if Paolo will offer it?  It will be a bit pricey me thinks???

Peace