2005 Yiwu Ancient Tree Melon: Craving this Yiwu!

Got this sample from The Essence of Tea after it sold out.  I had just hit the 2004 Yang Qing HaoZhencang Chawang pretty hard for a decent price and couldn’t stomach another few KG of Yiwu… but this one turned out to be pretty good as well…  This 2005 Yiwu Ancient Tree Melon went for$690.00 for 1000g melon or $0.69/g.  There is a terrible spring blizzard here now so I’ve been digging into some oldish samples…  

The dry leaves smell very sweet creamy sweet almost candy-like odours.

The First infusion has a creamy oily sweetness.  The taste as a touch of fleeting fruitiness and a touch of astringent pucker but is mainly this sweet oily liquor.  The aftertaste has this slow creamy sweetness that hides in the throat and is pushes out in gentle spurts of saliva.

The second infusion has a fresh cherry pop of taste that induces saliva in the slightly puckering mouthfeeling and oily texture.  The throat feeling is interesting and feels like there is a slow and sputtering release of saliva from the mid throat to the back of the mouth.  The finish is subtle incense and a slow release creamy sweetness.  There are some bodyfeeling tingles with this one- face, neck, forehead.  Some diaphragm and chest opening feeling.

The third infusion has a cherry fruity pop initially with some pucker tart and saliva producing to follow.  The finish of faint incense and creamy sweetness is stronger here.  The mouthfeeling is becoming more gripping as well.  Strong puckering feeling where a creamy sweetness lingers.  Open belly and chest feeling with some relaxing sighs. 

The 4^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy sweet oily and slightly woody taste that has a chalky incense aftertaste and strong cherry almost sour edge to it.  There is a faint cooling woody but tastes different and fresher than menthol in this cooled down cup.  Nice soft full drying.  Cherry artificial candy like finish.

5^th has a creamy woody sweet taste with some lesser fruit cherries that can’t quite express.  The creamy sweet chalky aftertaste has an almost strawberry cream taste to it.  There is a cool almost menthol but more like a tingling cherry cough candy- really tasty and unique.  Nice numb tingles in the body with a foucs on the tummy and chest feeling open.  Nice calm feeling.

6^th has a creamy woody oily onset with a sweet creamy almost fruity taste.  It develops into a faint incense and creamy strawberry candy sweetness with a bit of cherry cough candy taste.  Nice mild tingles and Chest and Abdomen opening.  There is a long cooling cherry candy creamy woody taste in the back of the throat.  There is an open mid-throat with and slight full dry puckering mouthcoating.  The energy of this puerh isn’t warming but not cooling either. 

7^th is left to cool and has a creamy woody almost sweet fruity initial taste with an almost menthol cherry cough candy finish to it.  The mouthfeeling is puckering and becoming more and drier.  There are glimpses of talc powdery taste.  There is now a gripping feeling in the throat as less saliva is produced.  Nice relaxing and reassuring vibe here with some tingles and Chest and Abdomin opening.

8^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy woody not as sweet initial taste with a menthol cherry cough candy mild finish.  There is a drier gripping mouthfeeling with a mid throat puckering.  Nice opening expanding diparagm and Chest.  Nice calm focus.

9^th infusion has a creamy sweet candy cherry like onset over a chalky slight puckering mouthfeeling.  The sweetness lingers in the aftertaste. 

10^th has a creamy strawberry-like taste with a chalky finish.  With nice chest and abdomen opening and tingles in the face.

11^th is cooled down and is creamy woody talc taste with chalky finish in the mouth.  There is this woody chalky taste primarily.  Nice focusing.

I mug steep out the rest of the wet leaves and it gives off a woody menthol-cherry taste with a touch of astringency and long cool aftertaste with interesting layers of pungency, sweetness, and dryness.  The mouthfeel has a strong gripping taste which translates to a woody cherry pungent astringent dryness.  It doesn’t have that gag feeling though.  Strong mind relaxing and face warming now.

Comparing this Yiwu to some of the Chen Yuan Hao or Yang Qing Hao Yiwu’s I have been consuming late isn’t really a fair comparison as I feel these are a bit better but not that much better.  This Yiwu melon has really nice storage on it better than the Yang Qing Hao and Chen Yuan Hao stuff and a super interesting cherry cooling coughdrop flavor.  It’s really comfortable in the body.  There is some solid bodyfeelnig with the Abdomen and Chest opening and focusing feeling in the mind.  The mouthfeeling is a bit too gripping and puckering at times and the complexity is obvious single estate product.  There was something unique about this one that I can’t put my finger on maybe the cherry cough drop taste ??? which was enjoyable also the fact that it was a bit gripping and astringent but aged enough that it was completely comfortable in the body. I’m not sure if it would have been one that I would want to purchase but I can see myself drinking it regularly.   Another solid tea from The Essence of Tea! 

I’ve been drinking the spent leaves in long infusions for the past few days and I have to say that I really look forward to these steepigns from this puerh.  It has a nice very clean taste, very pure taste, the leaf quality is very and there is no interruption from storage tastes.  In many ways this Yiwu is better that those coming from those famous boutique brands…  This is definitely a puerh I could drink on the regular.

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

2012 Essence of Tea Cloud Watching: Nice Dry Storage Gushu

I purchased a sample of this 2012 Essence of Tea CloudWatching ($298.00 for 357g cake or $0.83/g).  The dry leaves just looked too good to not try.  This find of David and Yingxi was released at the same time as their 2021 Spring release.

Dry leaves smell of faint dry leaves and cardboard.  Not too much here but an obvious clean dryness.

The first infusion has a watery paper, and dry wood bark initial taste with a faint taste of spice and faint cooling on the lips that comes with a faint white sugar edge.

The second infusion has a watery clear warm spicy peppery note initially that drifts into a faint cooling open throat with a retuning faint white sugar not that sweet taste.  The mouthfeeling has a bit of lip drying and very very mild light sandy coating.  Nice relaxing feeling as I sigh.

The third infusion has a viscus mushroom warm spice watery and clear onset with a deep faint cool open throat with some icing sugar finish.  There is a bit of mushroom and forest taste and spice left in the mouth.  The mouthfeeling is a very very faint dry sticky with dry lips- a very soft mouthfeeling.  The taste sort of lingers along.  Relaxing smoothness.

The fourth infusion has a honey mushroom forest taste initially with a bit of background warm spice.  It turns into a mild cooling open throat and a bit of faint sugar.  There is some forest mushroom in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is full but thin, slight drying lips, slight sticky tongue.  Relaxing and tranquil feeling… a bit spacy.

The fifth infusion has a chalky woody dry leaf mushroomy taste.  There is a cool throat with a woody dry with a bit of sugar almost camphor aftertaste.  Nice thin full mouthfeeling with a mushroom woody aftertaste.  Deep contemplative relaxing.

The 6^th has a woody mushroom cooling camphor with thin sugar taste.  There is a subtle foresty complexity in the dry leaf, dry woody, mushroomy, forest thing.  Nice full mouthfeeling. 

7^th is left to cool and gives off a camphor cool woody dry leaf mushroom taste that turns into a not that sweet honey-sugar sweetness on the breath.  Thin full moufeeling without any throat involvement.  An open throat with some subtle coolness and brings a returning sweetness of mushrooms and honey and white sugar.  The tastes are really crisp and clean.

8^th infusion is left to cool and has a woody cooling camphor with some faint honey mushroom sugar mild sweetness returning.  There are some bread tastes in there as well.  The mouthfeeling is really full sticky taste.  Nice relaxing Qi.  Strongly puts me at ease.

9^th has a creamy bready woody mushroom forest onset with faint cooling throat and returning sugary mild sweetness, forest-mushroom.  Nice thin full sticky mouthcoating that is a bit dry and grainy and dry lips.  Nice relaxing calm.

10^th has a mushroom almost faint bitter sweet fruit dry wood.  There is a dry woody-mushroom bread creamy very faint sweet taste in the aftertaste.  This infusion starts to get a touch bitter but the others so far had no bitter or astringency.  The mouthfeeling also becomes more gripping here.  Nice spacy relaxed feeling.

11^th is cooled down and has a mushroomy-forest almost fruity-honey sweetness.  There is just edges of bitterness and coolness and wood.  Full dry-sticky mouthfeeling.  Relaxing vibes.

12^th has a bitter mushroom woody taste to it with some throat cooling and faint sweet honey.  The mouthfeeling has become quite gripping with the increase of bitterness honey tastes has also increased but lots of sutlites of taste are lost.

I run out of time in my day and mug steep out the rest but these leaves could easily be steeped at least a few more times.  The mug infusions reveal lots of flavor and complexity over a bitter backbone.  I like the flavours and feeling of what is left in the mug.

Overall, this is a really nicely dry stored Gushu type production.  The Jinghong dry storage really preserves the subtleties nicely. I like the interesting and tasty complex tastes which are at first subtle then dynamic especially the mushroom-honey taste create an interesting balance.  The session slowly builds in intensity as it goes.  In the end the bitterness and the mouthfeeling become stronger but the Qi reminds us that we are, in fact, quite relaxed.

I like this one a lot, maybe not enough to cake for this price, but my assessment is much closer to Alex’s than Shah8’s assessment of this puerh.

Alex’s (Teanotes) Tasting Notes

Shah8’s (B&B) Tasting Notes

Peace

2021 Essence of Tea Morsels (or Pieces?)

 

This 2021 Essence of Tea Morsels goes for $168.00 for 200g cake or $0.84/g but it was my free gift included with sample purchase.  It’s by far the most unusual of Essence of Tea’s spring releases, maybe one of their most unique offerings ever?  Comprised of small morsels (in North America they usually say “pieces”) of this and morsels of that- must be how it got its name. “It's all from ancient trees, from Yiwu Guoyoulin gardens, Guafengzhai, Bulang and some other single trees.”

Dry leaves smell of very sweet fruity berries and creamy sweetness.

First infusion has a very fruity, hay, woody, mushroom onset with an emerging bitter bland that converts to a very sweet berry, strawberry and peach fruity finish in the long aftertaste.  There is lots of depth of taste and a leaning toward fruity sweetness.  Sticky sandy full mouthcoating with some pungent cool in the deeper throat.  There is lots going on but it tastes nice together.  You can feel a bit of bitter astringency in the empty stomach.  The Qi in the Chest and alerted mind.  Strong energetic Qi feels lots like a bulang energy here.

The second has a medicinal very pungent camphor cooling sweet bread onset where fruity tastes like plum and peach emerge as well as woody-dirt bitter flat taste that reminds me of Bulang. There is a sticky full loose chalky feeling in the mouth with a deep cooling throat and some saliva producing.  There are some fruity tastes like plum and bread that come out later in the aftertaste.  Strong heart pounding Qi- very energetic.

The third infusion has a creamier sweet very pungent medicinal woody camphor onset its very strong and concentrated.  It ends both with a bitter-wood-dirt flat as well as a creamy sweet, some plum, and bread almost apricot.  The full onset really comes on thick and coats the thick sticky-cottony mouth with lots of full and lasting throughout the profile taste.  Strong Qi in the chest and very stimulating on the mind.  It’s a powerful blend.  There is also some bodyfeeling in the arms like a tingling floating thing going on.  Strong but only a touch harsh on my empty stomach.

The 4^th is left to cool and has a thick woody syrupy concentrated woody camphor taste with a lot of coolness then turns to a flat-woody-dirt bitter that is totally Bulang.  There is some florals and plum and lots of cool pungent camphor that emerges out of the strong champhor bitter woody taste.  There is a certain sweetness, bread-like, to the taste throughout.  The mouthfeeling is sticky and full with some saliva forming.  Strong and powerful Qi with Heartbeats and limb numbness.

5^th infusion has a melon woody coco bitter with a long fruity melon and peach finish within the mild dirt-woody-bitter.  The taste is pretty condensed with a saliva producing effect and fruity coco finish in the mouth.  Nice strong energy in the mind.

6^th has a fruitier peach, pear, melon that comes just before and over a long mild woody-dirt-coco-woody bitterness.  The mouithfeeling is sticky almost drying full coating with an open cool throat and some gripping of the throat with a mild saliva producing effect.  Kind of a metallic woody taste on the tongue.

7^th infusion has a fruity, medicinal, bitter-dirt-woody taste to it that has a flat bitter medicinal finish and some subtle fruity tastes.  The main taste here is a medicinal woody kind of taste.  The Qi is strong and sedating at the same time now.  Some lesser chest sensations.  Tighter almost dry mouthcoating with slight saliva producing effect.

8^th is cooled down and is a very peachy apricot syrupy taste with a woody medicinal menthol camphor taste.  The sweet taste is thick and goes the distance in the taste profile with a melon coolness on the breath.  The mouthfeeling is sticky and cottony and full.  Nice strong Qi feeling.

9^th has a melon then woody onset taste with a dry woody coolness on the breath.  There is a creamy sweetness almost mushroom taste that returns and the bitterness is mild kind of coco and medicinal taste.  These last few infusions taste like Yiwu material.  There are nuances of potato and bread.  Nice full sticky feeling with a nice oily texture here.  Nice sedating effect now.

10^th is cooled down… there is a almond, syrypy sweetness that comes along with mild dirt-coco bitterness nice long cool coco sweet finish.  Nice relaxing sedating feeling with some Heart racing and alertness.  Limbs feel a bit heavy.  Melon and potato on breath reminds me of Gua Feng Zhi in the blend.

11^th has a melon chocolate onset along with a creamy yogurt melon taste.  There is a bland potato taste, woody taste, melon, creamy sweet, dirt-coco, subtle medicinal.  Lots of soft faint flavours in there now as the aftertaste fades to a blander woody dirt-coco.  The mouthfeeling remains dry.

12^th is left to cool and sit a while and it is a syrupy bitter woody coco dirt camphor taste.  It feels really full but with a softer mineral melon aftertaste.  The recent material comes out in the aftertaste now and the initial taste is more semi-aged or at least a few years aged. 

13^th has a dirt coco woody dirt onset with a light fresh mineral and melon finish.  Almost potato in the finish.  Aftertaste reminds me of Gua Feng Zhi and the onset reminds me of bulang/ Menghai.  There is a long fresh aftertaste.  These infusions taste like a semi-aged Bulang initial taste with a young Gua Feng Zhi or Yiwu finish.  It leaves me wondering if this is the composition on the blend?

14^th has a fresh fruity onset with a bitter-dirt-coco that follows.  The taste is pretty stable the last handful of infusions despite this being a blend.  Soft dry sandy mouthfeeling now.  With a calming Qi sensation without any bodyfeeling now.

I end up mug steeping out the rest and its pretty similar to the last few infusions.  More bitter and more gripping dry mouthfeeling than previously but not too too strong.  I can feel it in my guts a tinny bit and the Qi is strongly energizing with strong Heart beats.  Vigorous energy when steeping strongly for sure.

The overnight steeping is mainly a nice melon woody sweet taste.  Still surprisingly lots of taste in there.  This one has some good stamina, I think.

Overall, this puerh is unusual, it has some really good tastes in there and even better energy.  I think a bit of powerful semi-aged Bulang that is showcased as the infusions get more bitter and then as the session progresses it has the bitter strength up front with the younger, fresher, Yiwu/ Gua Feng Zhi sedating and very sweet finish.  Often the polarities present simultaneously for an unusual but full effect.  The young and a bit older material along with the Menghai and Yiwu blend is interesting but really disjointed.  I think this has great material in it and would probably taste better with a bit of age on it and give the time for the desperate pieces to come together more harmoniously.  It has interesting movement throughout the session and uniq combination of energizing then sedating Qi.  I find puerh like this hard to purchase before I can clearly see how it’s going to come together.  One thing is for certain this puerh has good bones.  Would love to try this one again in 10 years!

Alex’s (Tea Notes) Tasting Notes

Peace

2021 Essence of Tea Yiwu Queen of the Forest: Subtle Complexity

 I found it super amusing this year when David and Yingxi started off the description of this tea by saying “We don’t make many blends”. I found it funny because 2 out of their 4 raw 2021 raw puerh releases this year were blends ( both of which I will have the pleasure of reviewing here on the blog)!  This one is blended from 4 Guoyoulin regions in Yiwu and apparently was blended with the good stuff- no filler.  I bought the sample but the cake of this 2021 Essence of Tea Yiwu Queen of the Forest goes for an interesting price point $198.00 for 200g cake or $0.99/g- it’s expensive but not insanely by staying under the $1.00/g.

Dry leaves smell of a sweet kind of sour floral.

The first infusion is a creamy milky silky sweetness with a bit of pond green taste and a finish of slight sour mineral taste.  There is an opening of the throat feeling with a gob of saliva in the back of the throat.  Nice soft silky tongue coating.

The second infusion has a grains and creamy taste initially with a slow developing creamy sweetness.  There is some mineral tastes, sour tastes, salty tastes, woody tastes, with faint deep sweetness that is generated really slowly in the mouth.  The mouthfeeling is a nice silky feeling and there is a deep opening in the throat.  The Qi seems to give me focus now.  A tunnel vision feeling and a certain calm.  I can feel a bit of chest pressure.  A salty woody taste is left in the mouth minutes later.

The third infusion has a fruity sweet pop with toasted grains sweetness with a green tea pond and woody finish, subtle spice taste slow creamy and fruity sweetness, even a faint candy sweetness that arrive more with the gob of saliva that develops in the throat and spills over the back of the tongue.  There is a lot of subtle tastes in there, complex tastes- woody, fruity, silty, green tea pond, mineral, salty, even spicy… its interesting but not overpowering.  Nice focusing Qi and open and heavy chest feeling.  Minutes later there is a salty mineral taste in the mouth.

The fourth infusion has a woody licorice onset with slow cooling and a very faint returning candy sweetness.  The finish is salty and mineral and even a bit bitter.  There is subtle hints of warm spices, slight sour tastes, fruity tastes, all pretty faint.  The mouthfeeling is silky/silty with a bit of gripping now.  The cooled cup has a woody vegetal onset with creamier sweetness, a bit bitter, fruity sweetness more mineral finish.  Nice focusing energy with some subtle neck releasing.

The fifth infusion is left to cool and has a woody pungent creamy sweetness with a metallic fruity mineral soapy finish.  There is a bit more fruitiness initially but still the sweet taste is secondary to salty/ savory tastes.  There is some green tea pond taste, some spice.  The mouthfeeling is silky and the texture is a touch oily.  The throat is more vacuous now with less saliva producing.  Nice focusing energy.  Some mild chest, shoulder heaviness a bit in the neck.  Nice feel good vibe to this puerh.  Although there is lots of substiles going on in this blend it really feels harmonious.

The sixth infusion has a fruity sweet melon and apricot pop of taste followed by a woody mineral faintly bitter taste in the mouth.  The aftertaste is mild but mainly a mineral vegetal taste.  This is not a particularly sweet Yiwu tea, not yet at least.  The mouthfeeling is a soft silky feeling that is restricted to mainly the tongue.  The throat is empty feeling with not as much saliva producing now.  Nice focusing Qi with mild chest/shoulder heaviness, neck feelings.

The seventh infusion has a woody fruity bitter onset with a woody, metallic, soapy, mineral finish.  The pungent and spicy notes have dropped off considerably over the last few infusions and the bitterness is mild but more pronounced. 

The 8^th has a savoury green vegetal bitterness with a lesser sweet fruity taste.  There is some woody and bitter and mineral in the finish.  Not much for a sweet aftertaste.  The main taste is a bitter vegetal savory taste.  The mouthfeeling is a bit drying now, a bit sandy on the tongue.  The saliva producing is gone.  Nice focusing relaxing going on, a bit spacy. 

9^th has a creamy woody mineral even coco bitter onset that gets a bit creamy sweet but the coco taste now turns less bitter and more milk chocolate and there is a mineral creamy sweetness left behind.  This infusion is particularly delicious.  The mouthfeeling is a slight dry but fuller feeling with pucker.  Nice focusing.

10^th has a tangy fruitiness now in the onset and finishes with a flat mineral and vegetal taste with a spicy pungency and tongue tingling taste.  The tongue coating is a tingling flat and throat is not really stimulated as much as slightly open.  Nice focusing Qi.

The 11^th infusion has an oily buttery tangy fruity almost sour fruity sweetness with tingling pungent mouthfeeling and sticky coating with open throat.  Not much for aftertastes with this puerh a bit of mineral woody.  Nice focusing Qi.

The 12th infusion the next day gives off a sweet lime floral mineral quality.  The mouthfeeling is soft and the aftertaste is faint.  There is a nice mild uplifting feeling.

13th has a more mineral onset with a faint emerging floral, melon, mineral sweetness.  Mouthfeeling is this nice mild soft silty coating on the tongue.  There is a lime melon taste to this one.  These later infusions show off the high percentage of Mansa area Yiwu in this blend.  I’m thinking this is at least 60% Mansa Yiwu in this blend.

14th is cooled but gives off a green- vegetal, mellow melon mineral taste.  Soft tongue coating. Nice relaxing and chill feeling.

15th has a mineral woody not really sweet taste with a faint cool finish.  Kind of a slippery silty mouthcoating now. I’m surprised that this puerh is still going strong for something pretty subtle!

16th has 20 added to the flash steeping.  Is more bitter woody now with a bit of floral melon green taste.  The bitterness is throughout.

Mug steep of the spent leaves give off a very melon sweetness with lots of floral tanginess and slight sour bitter.  The floral taste is surprisingly complex and the melon sweetness is notable.

Overall this is a super interesting blend and something that I have not experienced before.  What makes it interesting and unique to me is how gentle and subtle the blend is while still offering lots of complexity.  It’s complex but never chaotic or confusing.  It almost seems too light to be interesting but yet each infusion and the progression through the gongfu session reveals these subtle changes that keeps you engaged and wondering what will be behind the next corner.  The Qi is first very focusing for the first handful of infusions, then relaxing, then almost hypotonic, then kind of a chill vibe.  There is a bit of body feeling in a heavy chest and shoulders and a touch of neck release.  There are lots of really subtle tastes but they take turns with only a handful of the middle infusions that feel a bit crowded but never too much.  The last infusions feel really very much like a heavier Mansa area in the blend.  There is not too much sweet taste or aftertaste in this blend right now that some associate with Yiwu.  There is some green, vegetal, pungent/spice, woody, savoury, metals mineral, melon even some mild bitter but surprisingly not much of that creamy sweetness.  The throat is not too involved in this blend and it is definitely the weak point.  The mouthfeeling is also kind of interesting in that it is often soft but has a very silky silty feeling that is super enjoyable.

You can really feel the quality of the material in the blend.  Most of it is this ethereal Gushu Guoyoulin stuff that one it’s own can be really nice but often simple or to clear and clean and lacking complexity and depth.  But when these are blended together the simple complexity of each area becomes a single sound in a very classy entrancing Guoyoulin quartet… the result is strangely satisfying to me.

Alex’s (Tea Notes) Tasting notes

Peace

2020 Essence of Tea Lao Jie Zi Re-Taste

I received a sample of this last year with my order and it seems the post office jumped on my sample!  David offered to send me another with my next order.  So here it is… I wonder how it tastes one year later (and with leaves not as crushed)???

Dry leaves are a deep perfume-sweet floral woody.

The first infusion has a clear watery pure taste to it.  Fait aftertastes of melon, floral, and wood in the breath.  The tongue coating is thin and sticky.  There is a long breath taste of sweet woody almost stone-mineral.  Very soft and clear profile.

The second infusion has a woody-bread pure onset.  There is some super faint melon sweetness that appears some faint sugar pure sweetness.  Long breath of faint ghostly melon and wildflowers follows a faint cooling on the breath.  The Qi is relaxing and makes the limbs a bit heavy.  This still tastes quite green.  Thin sticky tonguecoating with faint open throat. Relaxing even a bit warming.

The third infusion has a bread and slight roasted Korean barely tea taste maybe almost seaweed tasting in its green tea style.  The tongue coating is sticky/grainy with a bit of dry lips.  There is a touch of astringency here which stimulates the tongue and throat a bit.  Faint cooling in the vacuous throat leaves a subtle melon-woody-bread-stone taste in the mouth.  Nice relaxing Qi felt a bit in the limbs- not much- subtle.

The fourth infusion has a woody-bread-stone onset of really clear taste that turns into an almost barley tea taste with subtle emerging melon.  The taste is really pure and clear and simple.  There is a sticky dry puckering mouthfeeling, empty throatfeeling with very subtle coolness.  Very green tea tasting.  Nice relaxing Qi with subtle limb lightness.

The fifth infusion has a woody-barely tea onset with a faint suggestions of melon after a very faint coolness.  There is a mild tight dryness on the tongue.  Very pure, faint, simple, clear profile.  Dry wood is the main taste with faint subtleties of melon and stones.  Deep relaxing Qi takes hold subtle light limbs.  Slight sedating here.

The sixth infusion has a woody faint stone juice melon faint taste to it.  It has a refreshing green subtle taste to it that kind of fades into the aftertaste.  There is very faint cooling and soft drying tongue.  Nice deeply relaxing Qi subtle limbs.  Almost spacy and slowing things down.

7^th has a fresh melon and subtle dry woody-stone onset.  Very simple, clean, pure tastes, Some faint cooling with some fresh honeydew melon returning.  Soft short fading aftertaste with very mild melon and almost no cooling.  Refreshing feeling on this hot day!

8^th has a woody faint fruity stone like onset.  It has a very subtle bitter astringency and a slight sticky dryness in the mouth.  Faint empty throat feeling with some barely coolness and melon finish that fades away.  There is a faint stone like finish.

9^th has a woody slight fruity stone like taste initially with a subtle cooling and melon finish on the breath.  Nice subtle sweetness.  Nice relaxing Qi, subtle bodyfeeling.

10^th has cooled down but gives off a melon woody fruity refreshing simple taste.  The faint cooling sort of combines with the sweet melon in the aftertaste as is fades quickly.

The 11^th becomes woody with less sweetness.  This is really not that sweet of tea but some subtle melon tastes.  Nice relaxing feeling in the mind.  A bit of stone melon on the breath.

12^th & 13^th have a woody stone almost melon sweetness quite mild and simple tastes with a deep relaxing in the mind.  Very easy to drink, uncomplicated, simplified, enjoyably in its simplicity.

I mug steep out the rest… and it has a flat woody taste with a bit of cooling and some green-tea-like vegetal bitterness not really sweet a bit of stone taste, almost melon.  The mouthfeel is a lot stronger with a dry gripping mouthfeeling now.  The cooling pungency is also stronger.  Still very green.

I suppose this one is less astringent than the crushed sample I received but it is very much the same tea and my opinion of it is very much the same.  Thanks David and Yingxi for sending me another sample of this one.  I really enjoyed drinking it back-to-back and contrasting it with the 2021 Bai Hua Qing last post.

Shah8’s Tasting notes from a few weeks ago.

Peace

2021 Essence of Tea Bai Hua Qing Contemplative Power!!!

I have never tried a puerh from the newly trendy Tong Qing He producing area in Yiwu.  Like the trendy Tianmenshan from Essence of Tea last year, I basically have only read about the region before trying it.  Last year Yunnan Sourcing pressed a cheaper cake from this region the 2020 Yunnan Sourcing Baihuatan that I really wanted to try, just haven’t put an order through lately.  Shah8 made a comment that made me chuckle saying something to the effect that it was likely bought from a man selling maocha from the side of the road if it’s this cheap.  David and Yingxi seem to chime in by stating that there is a wide range of quality from this area.  This 2021 Essence of Tea Bai Hua Qing goes for $280.00 for 200g cake or $1.40/g must surely be on the higher end?

Dry leaves have a subdued icing sugar creamy sweetness with a background of wood. 

First infusion has a deep layered untouched creamy sweetness that threads along the profile into the mid throat, very ghostly cooling, sweet creamy returning a bit, then into the breath.  There is mild suggestions of forest vegetal tastes and some faint bitterness but too faint here in the first infusion… this first infusion is about long creamy sweet tastes.  The tongue coating is soft and a bit sticky-grainy but faint here.  Not much throat feeling just a vacuous opening mid-throat.  Qi seems to build in the head.

The second infusion is bitter with a sweet buttery and faint floral with a glimpse of creamy melon custard.  The mouthfeeling is a bit tight and sandy over the tongue.  The throat is vacuous.  The Qi has a strong influence on the head and face making my face sweat on this very hot day.  I can definitely feel some astringent bitterness in my empty stomach and am already contemplating removing some leaf from the pot.  Qi seems really active in the face and strong stuffy head feeling.

The third infusion has a quick moving buttery/creamy sweetness that gives way to long flat bitterness.  There is lots of tropical fruity taste melody that gets released in the aftertaste after the bitter taste recedes.  There is a creamy sweetness lodged under the bitterness.  Tight mouthfeeling with vacuous throat.  It’s pretty delicious tasting despite its stronger bitterness.  There is a bit of head stuffiness in here for Qi but not too much yet.

The fourth infusion is more creamy sweet and sweet fruity.  There is some mild bitterness and some almost dirt-wood base taste that mingles with bitter.  The tropical fruitiness is highlighted and seems to expand and join up with creamy sweet tastes in the aftertaste as the saliva returns over the tongue.  The tongue coat is a thin sticky now and the upper throat is stimulated by the mild bitter astringency and pushes saliva out.  Qi is kind of fuzzy in the mind… kind of cloudy.  The double sweetness of creamy and fruity and the dance with a bit of bitterness in nice here.  Some jaw sensations.

The fifth infusion has a vibrant light airy fruitiness that splashes up into the mouth.  The sweetness gives way to bitterness before sufficient saliva pools from the upper throat simulation.  The result is a tropical, a bit sour medley of flavours.  The Qi is heavy in the jaw and stuffy in the head.  Nice salivating tropical fruitiness with a subtle bitterness now.

The sixth infusion is cooled down and tastes of peachy apricot fruitiness that merges with bitter.  There is a creamy sweet taste in there which kind of dances with the fruity sweetness.  There is a bit of retuning saliva.  Stuffy head feeling Qi.

The seventh infusion has a vibrant juicy fruity burst.  The bitterness is just mild for the past few infusions but appears briefly after fruity sweet tastes as creamy sweet tastes merge as saliva slides over a mild chalky/sandy tongue.  Nice juicy bursts of tastes, a certain lively sweet fruity taste.  Some head stuffiness. Some lingering fruity aftertastes.

The eighth infusion has a nice pop of juicy fruity vibrant sweetness that is really nice and clean and just a bit of wood-dirt-bitterness trails behind it now.  Nice tight mouhfeeling and empty throat with notable upper throat and saliva producing effect.  The aftertaste is more on the tongue and saliva than on the breath.  Some head stuff and jaw sensations the Qi is mainly directed at the head and face.

The ninth infusion has a bit of bitter mixed with fruity sweet taste initially there is some creamy sweetness that comes as the saliva fills the dry/sandy/chalky moderately full mouthcoating.  The aftertaste is a bit of dirt-wood-bitter taste.  This infusion is less sweet and complex as others and I’m wondering if the puerh is waning here.  Face Qi and stuffy mind.  There is a kind of looking outside of yourself introspective Qi thing happening here.  Not really a powerful out of body but subtle.

The 10^th has those pops of vibrant fruitiness initially with a lagging bitter-wood-dirt that finishes off the aftertaste with not much saliva producing or the creamy sweetness that follows.  Still lots of face Qi and contemplative Qi.

11^th has a juicy light fruity taste light airy very sweet light honey notes.  A creamy returning sweetness. Very bright and pure very tasty with a retuning sweetness.  Over sticky sandy tongue.  Finishes bitter bland woody dirt.

12^th has a very sweet initial taste of florals, pops of fresh fruit, very vibrant and pure fruity sweetness here with a slow lagging bitterness that turns into creamy sweetness as some saliva returns over the sandy sticky moderate tongue coating.  The Qi is nice and contemplative but is building into an enlivening feeling.

13^th I do a long 5 minute infusion here… oops… a strong juicy fruitiness initially very strong pure and vibrant like nectar or juicy tropical blend of sweetness there is only very very mild bitter now and a bland-woody-dirt taste in the aftertaste.

The long mason jar steepings of the wet leaves tells me this puerh could have easily gone a good 5 more steepings at flash steepings with tones of flavor.  The result is a very bright fruity vibrancy throughout with very little bitterness now and a full sticky sandy full mouthfeeling that finishes with a stone-dirt kind of finish.  There is a bit of mild throat stimulation and nice contemplative Qi.

Puerh is all about the vibrant shinny pure sweet fruitiness that is basically undisturbed after the bitterness and how the retuning saliva dances with different sweetnesses as the upper throat becomes stimulated.  It reminds me of sort of like Gaoshan Zhai area puerh with an influx of bitterness and Forest like aftertaste.  The Qi becomes this very contemplative thing as mild face and jaw sensations un-disturbingly exist harmoniously.  Although bitter, it’s only really strongly bitter in the first 5 infusions and this bitterness is essential to the structure and interplay of saliva producing, and changing sweetness.  The bitterness never seems harsh in the body… this is a really good puerh. It’s unlikely that I will try a better 2021 puerh this year but I still can’t bring myself to shell out the $280.00 for this one.

I know the description of this puerh on the site says that “It’s not particularly a tea that we’d recommend for beginners but for old tea drinkers”.  I disagree and think that beginners should sample this puerh and follow the notes above as well as Shah8’s notes below to get a better understanding what makes this puerh so good.  You can learn a lot from a puerh like this.

Vs 2020 Lao Jie Zi- Shah8 compared these two and I just happen to be drinking this one today.  These two both have a very similar Qi feeling in the mind which is of deep relaxation Lao Jie Zi is more slowing and Bai Hua Qing more contemplative- both quite powerful in a calming and harmonious kind of way.  The Lao Jie Zi has a lighter limb bodyfeeling with a body Qi that is directed to the limbs and the Bai Hua Qing has more concentrated face and jaw sensations directed at the face.  Everything else is quite different I think with the Lao Jie Zi having no bitterness and only a very subtle astringency.  The Bai Hua Qing having strong bitterness and astringency for the first part of the session.  The taste is also quite different but has similarities in its stone and woody qualities but these are pretty minor.  The Lao Jie Zi has subtle mild pure subtle flavours that reveal themselves singularly where the Bai Hua Qing has powerful bursts of flavours that interweave and cross with each other to create a complex effect.  The Lao Jie Zi has very faint throatfeeling where the Bai Hua Qing has a very stimulating saliva producing effect.  These are very different puerh tea.  The Lao Jie Zi’s brilliance is its subtle nature where the Bai Hua Qing is its strength.

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Alex’s (Tea Notes) Tasting Notes

Peace