2020 Puerist You Le “Forest Tea” vs 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8

 

This is my last in a series of samples to try to understand and define the concept of “Forest Tea Puerh” after Shah8 introduced the concept in this post on 2012 Yang Qing Hao Yegu (also see 2016 Yang Qing Hao Wujin Cang and 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 below).  This 2020 Puerist Youle “Forest Tea” goes for approx. $96.00 for 200g cake or$0.48/g- I purchased a sample in my last Puerist purchase to further educate myself on “forest tea” and to compare to other Youle area tea.

The dry leaves smell of very creamy, airy, almost turnip but very creamy sweet.  Strangely this one doesn’t smell of strong florals typical of Youle.

The first infusion has a pungent spicy grassy floral woody coolness in the breath.  It tastes almost green tea like in its finish.  There is an airy pungency to this one with a watery very mild tongue coating, a watery oily feeling and very deep throat where a cooling taste but not that much retuning sweetness resides.  The Qi is apparent immediately and is strong.  A fresh grass and coolness lingers on the breath with only mild sweetness.

The second infusion has a lips tingling pungency very faint and very quick moving bitter that is hard to even spot it follow pops of cherry sweetness and pungent sweetness.  The base tastes is almost rubbery grassy woody.  It kind of tastes like a wild and conventional variety blend.  For sure the wild tea material is more obviously apparent in this “forest tea”.  There is a watery almost oily feeling that turns to a chalky density on the tongue and the throat is very deep and cool.  Strong Qi sensations rule with this very wild tea like thingy- strong intense energy in the chest.  There is an unusual power to the Youle “forest tea”.

The third infusion has a woody, floral rubbery, quick very very hard to spot mild bitter that make a cherry like taste pop in the mouth.  The rubbery aftertaste is a sign of wild tea material being pretty heavy in here along with the lack of typical retuning sweetness and aftertaste.  This is basically unrecognizable as Youle terroir for me.  Very different, very wild tea, very tasty but not that conventional puerh like.  The cooled cup reveals lots of candy almost caramel finish.  The complexity in the forest tea blends are their strength for sure!  There is also a huge body feeling and intense energy vibrating throughout my body.

The fourth infusion has a strong start fruity, cherry like burst of intense fruity taste that is pushes out by a faint bitter.  There is that rubbery wild tea base taste and aftertaste that signal a strong wild tea like composition.  But man… is the energy of the wild tea electric… intense energy bursts, racing heart beats, strong shoulder especially in the front of the shoulders release… lots of intense and vibrant energies and bodyfeelings.  It’s an intense experience.  Like ingesting a cocktail of tea like drugs.

The fifth infusion has a very cherry bitter floral bitter star-fruity wild tea like intensity to the taste.  The taste is balanced nicely between bitter and sweet with a saliva producing and deep throat opening.  The mouthfeeling is thin and tight with a developing density and rubbery woody floral wild tea strong character.  Intense heart, shoulder, crazy bodyfeelings and intensity… wow!

The sixth infusion has a creamy bitter buttery floral pop of cherry with a tight mouthfeel and grassy-rubbery woody wild tea finish in the mouth.  The Qi is making my head explode!  Hahahhah strong intense bodyfeelings in chest, and across the front of the shoulders like a consiricting feeling.  Grassy almost sweet aftertaste.

The seventh has a strong berry and juicy bitter taste with intense returning flavors of dragon fruits.  The mouthfeeling is thin a tight with an mild oily liquid and a throatfeeling that is disappearing as well as the coolness in the throat.  Feels about mid-throat at this point in the session.  Nice vigorous ground shaking Qi.   Very intense and transformative experience.

The 8^th is strong fruity rubber berry taste of wild tea it has a grassy finish to it, a bit bready, star-fruity, berry pops after the quick bitter.  Very intense Qi in body and mind.  Rubbery, grassy, not that sweet finish in mouth.

9^th has a strong savoury grassy bitter with more of a low lying sweetness over a thin sandy tongue and lips coating with a tighter upper throat.  Slight coolness with rubbery tastes….

10^th begins with a stronger but quick moving bitterness which brings out berry sweetness over a thin sandy mouthfeeling with a certain tightness of the lips and tongue.  The throat feel is loosing strength slowly and much less coolness resides there.  The Qi is just really really big … really really intense… it feels like my heart is exploding in my chest and I’m riding a serious high for hours after…

Not expecting my daily tea session to go into the heavens of intensity, I am left no other chose to back away and approach with caution tomorrow…

11^th is resumed after the wet leaves have rested in the pot overnight… and it comes off as very light and floral with a nice melon taste and a rubbery vacuous wild tea taste.  The mouthfeel has softened quite a bit.  Strong energy courses through the body.

The 12^th has strong melon and fruity florals over a quick moving bitterness and mild tight dense mouthfeeling.  There is that rubbery floral wild tea nuance to it.  But lots of flavor and of course lots of chest pounding and intense energy rushing throughout the body.  This is some strong stimulating energy here even the next day.

The 13^th has strong fruity floral intense fruity even layered creamy flavored fruit tastes.  The cooled cup and nice long caramel sweetness.  There is some complexity and lots of stamina in these leaves.  Strong energy explosion here.  Faint coolness and long rubbery fruity floral finish.

The 14^th is also cooled and gives off a very vibrant and flavourful soup of florals, startfruits, long sweet tastes that goes deep into the throat with a mild cooling and has a bread-like sweetness in the aftertaste.  There is a very subtle bitter astringency. 

The 15^th is left to cool and gives off lots of fruity melon tastes up from that turn to floral and woody and a kind of brackish mild bitter then to long faint cooling in the throat.  There is that long floral/bread note faintly skirting around.  The Qi is starting to be relaxing.  The stamina of this wild tea is long for sure.

The 16^th infusion has a very vibrant fruity intense tasting mild quick moving bitter pop of taste in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is a thin density to it.  Long aftertaste of rubbery woody.

This ones seems to go one forever!  I put the remaining leaves in a mug to steep out.

Overall, this is very much wild tea in taste, Qi and feeling with not much typical Youle feeling or taste at all…  It compares nicely to 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 which I purchased a few cakes of…

The following are notes from a similar 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 which goes for $175.00 for 200g or $0.88/g. I sampled the fresh maocha last year.  These are my notes from last week…

Dry leaves smell of intense forest sweet candy.

The first infusion has a creamy sweet familiar Yiwu sweetness upfront there is some woody taste underneath but a very deep cooling throat which pulls the aftertaste along into grassy almost melon floral taste.  The mouthfeel is nice with a full dense chalkiness and the throat is deep.  Very smooth and soothing feeling initially in the body and mind.  The colour of the liquor is more deeply yellow than the Youle.

The second infusion has a soft onset of Yiwu like sweetness over faint woody with a grassy taste coming out deep smooth cooling throat and a base level of mild bitterness there is a smooth vigorous bread-like sweet finish that lingers in the breath and a strong saliva producing effect in the mouth.  The Qi is really big starting to make the mind stuffy and large.  Arms can feel the effect.  There is sour tastes and woody tastes and grassy-forest tastes and bitter tastes.  The effect is complex with an interesting dichotomy of smooth soothing energy and underlying and building power.

The third infusion has a strong onset of sweet creamy Yiwu sweetness a berry sweet taste with an undercurrent of building bitterness that makes the berries pop.  There is a strong dense mouthfeeling and very deep throat subtle coolness.  A strong intense euphoria shakes out of this one.

The fourth has a strong popping berry taste that follows the initial quick moving bitterness with a nice base of grassy and bready sweetness, wood, fruity berries.  The mouthfeeling is dense and throat very deep. Sqeekey gums and long breath almost floral berries and bread and grass.  Nice euphoria takes hold with some stronger bodyfeeling.

The 5^th is a cooled down cup but is smoother creamy and deeper layered fruity in the cup with an almost caramel edge with a long deep throat coolness over a gradually building density in the mouth.  There is some grassy undertones as well as woody but more of a playing out of complex sweetnesses over a really good tongue coating and deep throatiness.  Nice big euphoria engulfs me.

The 6^th has a juicy fruity bitter with a creamy complex fruity presentation.  There is lots of complexity in here- breads, grasses, wood, floral, melon, and berries.  The tongue coating is interesting in that it kind of slowly becomes denser as you swallow.  The broth is nicely oily and the throatfeeling is deep.  The Qi is strong in the chest but also calming and focusing and euphoric.  This puerh feels nice in the body and mind if not slowly building in intensity.

The 7^th has a quick bitter onset with floral caramel, berries, bread, melon, bitterness, grass, woods- its complex the dense chalky tongue coating and deep throat with saliva producing effect is really good. It finishes kind of woody oily minutes later.

The 8^th is very sweet with a quick bitter pushing berries, melon tastes along the tongue.  Nice complex layered sweetnesses.  Nice euphoria too.  Chalky tongue coating and deep throat.  High floating feeling.

9^th has a strong fruity onset with layered sweet, floral, grass, woody long creamy sweet returning saliva over the tongue over a chalky tongue coating.  Lots of saliva producing effect.  Nice strong focusing. energy.  Relaxing body effect.

10^th has a fruity sweet creamy sweet bready onset over a full dense tongue and deep throat and returning saliva.  There is a mild bitterness to this infusion.  Very bread sweet creamy finish in mouth.  Nice hypnotic euphoria takes hold.

11^th. … I have no choice but to mug steep out over a few days and is much more conventional puerh varietal in there in taste and feel but still a bit wild tea in there.  Very vibrant and sweet tastes remain.  This Yiwu #8 has a certain vibrancy that I find alluring.  Sometimes I’ve tried this and its more bitter other times its more sweet… I think it has an interesting and vibrant blend of material from that forest and feels really interesting to me.  A good young example of something that might be “forest tea” and something I’m curious about aging out.

To compare the two they both have some similar taste in that they have a distinct bitterness to them that quickly gives way to vibrant sweetness.  The 2020 Puerist Youle “Forest Tea” has an obvious wild tea profile / wild tea varietal and is actually quite a bit more bitter than the 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 where the Yiwu #8 is more sweet and savory and closer to the conventional puerh varietal.  The 2020 Puerist Youle has an overwhelmingly powerful Qi, almost chaotic at times where the 2020 Puerist Yiwu #8 is both intense but also focusing and euphoric.  They are both pretty intense and interesting experiences.

Peace

2012 Yang Qing Hao Ye Gu Wild Tea: A Top Wild Blend

I acquired a free sample of this from Emmitt in my last Yang Qing Hao order and tried to taste it and put my notes out here as soon as possible.  Thanks Emmitt, this is a real treat.  Anyways I’m doing this to alert any readers that Liquid Proust is doing a sampling of this cake that is not currently available to the public right now.  It’s your chance to try a really interesting tea experience, I believe…

The tightly compressed dry leaves are of wild variety and have a very unnaturally deep purple colour.  The leaves look quite small and the dry leaf smell is a vacuous faint barely fruity and almost woody or cardboard.

The first infusion has a watery wood approach and I decide to ignore Emmitt’s warning and put the whole sample in the pot.  This is still probably about 1/3 less leaf than I normally use to evaluate.  Very light with icing sugar suggestions, mainly vacuous in taste because of the tight compression.  There is a solid long breath taste emerging here and vague tastes of faint storage.

The second infusion starts with a watery almost fruity light bitter and mild long cooling and a long almost strawberry and wood breath tastes.  There are very faint sweet black cherry and barely bitter suggestions.  The mouthfeel is like a very very fine sand on the tongue.  Lips are slightly sticky. The wet leaves smell of slightly barnyard.  The Qi comes quickly and I can start feeling a loopy euphoria building and a face releasing sensation and a chest opening sensation.  This Qi will be very strong, I think- it is already stronger than most standard puerh at the peak of the session.

The third infusion has almost strawberry onset quite watery and vacuous still with an icing sugar nuance and a bitterness that emerges more in the mid-profile.  The roof of the mouth is stimulated in a drying way that makes the taste on the roof almost metallic.  The long mild minutes returning very faint fruity taste is expansive in the mouth. The Qi frees the mind and the muscles of the jaw, head and face relax.  I feel very very relaxed and almost like outside my body.  The feeling is not powerful but is liberating and subtle.

The fourth infusion has a vacuous woody subtle sweet has a mild mid profile bitterness which turns to raisin and current returning sweetness a very mild cooling in throat.  There is a bready sweetness in there as well as faint fruity and woody a mineral taste slight metallic on roof slight bitter.  Very Very long and intricate breath taste with many subtle nuances.  I hear the word jam sweetness thrown around a lot.  This has a true jam sweetness in there as well.  Very relaxing.  The slightly cooled cup has an obviously very nutty and creamy sweet disposition more like conventional puerh which might be blended into the wild leaf.  I can obviously see 3 different leaf colours just as Marco observed.  Strong mind unraveling Qi.

The fifth has a moderately bitter, watery, almost grape peel and creamy sweet onset which swells into a raison and current sweet taste as the faint cooling pungent pushes upwards.  It leaves behind a distinctly vanilla note more like the actual spice than the artificial flavor.  There is a minutes long returning woods, slight bitter, almost fruitiness, and barnyard, slight coco, cola, root beer.  The taste is very very complex in the minutes long after taste.  This infusion is crazy delicious.  The bitter with creamy sweetness and coco almost tastes like homemade sarsaparilla.  Very yummy.  This puerh is not really overly bitter just moderate.

The sixth starts creamy woody slight bitter into a raison and current taste over underlying moderate coolness that goes deep into the throat.  The throat feeling is quite deep here.  The cooled cup is quite creamy and sweet.  A cola, root beer, sarsaparilla, woody sweet deep taste a deep but still ethereal taste.  The Chest Qi is substantial.  I realize that the warning Emmitt was giving me was not, in fact, for the bitterness but rather for the rather intense Qi sensation.  My heart races with an intense rancor.

 The 7^th has an almost spicy cinnamon, almost cardamom, onset.  There is a low level almost melon sweetness that comes out stronger in here at the start and mid profile before turning to raison and currents.  There is a more creamy wood returning in the minute’s long breath.  There is a low lying bitterness that rest underneath and slowly expands in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is sticky, the lips even more so.  The throat stimulation is very subtle and deep.  The Qi is starting to push me into a frenzied like giddy happy feeling.  My Chest feels like it will implode energetically.  Minutes later quite obvious blueberry jam like taste comes on which is very very nice.

The 8^th has a soft onset of layered tastes which consists of woody, nutty, creamy sweat, mineral, underlying almost fruitiness.  It turns into a current/ raison taste then into a dark coco taste.  Minutes later as the coco recedes fruit tastes emerge as it converges with a cooling pungent.  Then the mouth becomes almost dry and the bitterness and creamy sweetness is left in there which gives it a dark chocolate feel.

The ninth I get a little bit of a pot clog- about 1/3 the leaves sitting in hot water for a minute or two.  So this steep is going to be a bit more intense… Not bad… a coco sweet creamy and moderate-mild bitterness with a long wild cherry, creamy sweetness over the mild pungency.  Heart races intensely.  The blueberry jam taste is prominent.  Distinct jam like blueberry sweetness in a flat mild bitter base.  This more aggressive steeping more shows up 10 minutes later in a long chocolate berry taste.  The mouthfeeling is fine sand, sticky, deep throat opening.  My heart…. This puerh gives me a hyper alertness and certain clarity.

10^th becomes a woody slight bitter coco onset with a mild pungent a slow emerging coco.  There is a vague berry taste almost chalky and tart initially then disappears into coco and mild bitterness.  The minutes long returning is coco and faint blueberry jam with some mild mineral and even a metallic taste on the roof of the mouth. 

The 11^th has a vanilla nuance again with a wood sweet creaminess.  Once the underlying coolness reaches a point a berry taste emerges as does coco and milk like tastes.  The alertness and intensity of the Qi is turning into relaxing.  The mouthfeeling is full but never strong just like a fine almost slippery sand.  The throat always opens deeply with this one.

The 12^th has a woody, mild bitter, dry woody turning into coco taste.  The teeth become squeaky.  This infusion is leveling into a bitter coco with creamy sweetness slight pungent with the sweet nuances almost gone this strangely tastes like Bulang in later infusions.  Minutes later some fruity tastes come out of the wood works.  There is a malty taste in there as the cup cools.

13^th is woody sweet and slightly astringent bitter now.  The most obvious and dominant note is wood and creamy coco along with a subtle suggestion of sweet fruit and a slow moving coolness underneath.  There are some berries that pop up now minutes later.

14^th starts a bit watery with some woody almost berry like tastes and a thin level bitterness.  The taste is losing steam here a bit and I will push this into longer minutes long infusions for a bit here.

A 15^th that is minutes long tastes of coco bitter and low lying blueberry taste.  The pungent cooling note is more significant here and attempts to push some interesting tastes out in the long breath.  Some other fruits and mineral are found there even a grapefruit taste is noted.

The 16^TH is a few minutes steeping.  It tastes quite mineral, bitterer, coco flat bitterness with a faint lingering floral at the back of the throat which is interesting.  There is some initial fruitiness that disappears almost instantly as bitter comes fast too.  The Qi is now very mellow and tranquil.

The 17^th is another few minutes long steeping which gives off flat bitter coco with some dark fruits pushing faintly underneath.  These longer infusions do more to amp up the pungent coolness which tries really hard to push something out in the breath but not that much comes out this late in the game.

I put this into an overnight steeping.

This is a fantastic wild tea (and possibly conventional puerh blend) I believe.  It’s possible that the three coloured leaves represent 3 different varietals of wild tea or 2 different varietals and conventional puerh.  Overall I think it is mainly wild tea/yesheng as noted by the leaf colour, intense Qi and minute’s long returning taste.  The Qi is really strong and invigorating with some more intense body feeling then strongly relaxing.  Like doing a good cardio workout and the feeling afterwards.  The taste is really really complex for a wild that’s why I think its possible there is some conventional puerh blended in here.

Not at all picking up on the storage tastes like marco did in his tasting notes.  This one may have been dry stored by Emmitt, instead of coming directly from Yang’s storage, I believe.  This is a kind of tea that would be best dry stored, I think.

I also don’t understand how Shah8 cannot see three colours of leaves in this one as marco pointed out.  I think it’s pretty obvious to anyone.  Just look at the photo.  I hope he doesn’t have a fake?  I always get a kick out of how Shah8’s impression of a tea always improves considerably once he has acquired it… hahahahha… Either way I agree with his assessment that this is an extraordinary blend that is hard to come by.

Rating it for a wild tea and just for comparison 9.0.  Wild tea doesn’t really get better than this.  To be honest there are not many blends of wild teas so its hard to kind of compare it to this.

James and Denny’s (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Shah8’s (Badger and Blade) Tasting Notes

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Peace

Edit: The overnight steeping the next day has a tart and bitter fruit taste, slightly creamy sweetness with corn flavor base.  There is still some cooling pungent then into a longer creamy sweet and bitter finish.  The mouthcoating is sticky and slightly drying.  Minutes later a distinct bitterness is left on the tongue with no other flavors to join in. 

2001 Zhongcha Huang Yin from Teas We Like: Unique Power!!!

On the Teas We Like website ($110.00 for 357g cake or $0.30/g) this puerh is described as true dry Taiwanese storage sourced right from the commissioner.  It is a blended material mainly from the Qianjiazhai area…

Dry leaves have no must or dirt or incense just creamy sweet fruity strawberry-cherry talc undertones.  The pure creamy sweetness of the dry leaves are enchanting.  The storage on this seems very clean-dry Taiwanese storage.

The first infusion has a peat moss with slight bitter onset then a vacuous gap which is filled with mild slight tart sweetness with a full slight tight tongue coating.  There is a faint cooling then long very thin peat moss and almost cherry fruit sweetness.

The second has a peat onset with flat bitter which kind of leaves a long gap in the taste until the tartness reveals a slight cooling with a long lingering, almost cherry, almost creamy fruity, finish.  The flat bitterness is decently strong and comes with a tart, almost sour, nuance.  There is a really long minutes long returning creamy sweetness that lingers for a while.  The creamy sweetness just doesn’t really go away pinned in by the active tartness of the tongue coating and the throat is subtle and deep stimulated by the tart.  The Qi is strong and you really do feel quite warm from the Qi very quickly. 

The third infusion has a nice woody and peat like onset with a quick and creamy development of sweet talc fruity cherry and strawberry.  There is this flat long fairly strong for an aged puerh bitterness that stretches the profile.  The long minutes long aftertaste that follows is a nice creamy talc, almost choke cherry jam, and strawberry cherry nuance.  The Qi is big I feel very warm almost at sweeting.  The chest it races and there is a very strong alerting happening here. Very very nice big Qi.  The smell of the wet leaves are likely Yesheng wild leaf variety.

The fourth infusion starts with a peat-like almost coffee ground bitterness with a swelling tart sour and vibrant long fruity aftertaste.  There is a bit of creamy sweetness that follows the cool pungency.  The mouthfeel is this full coating slightly tight tart.  The minutes long returning breath is cherry jam, creamy talc sweetness.  The long breath minutes long returning fruity aftertaste is another strong sign of some yesheng or wild tea content as is the big Qi, strong alertness even flightiness.

The fifth infusion has a turbid woody bitter coffee ground onset. Then a flat bitter vacuous before very mild cooling and deep tart sourness.  The mouthfeeling is tight and stimulating griping tart but not really puckering.  The Qi is so good wild tea Qi.  Very nice very strong, like a floating and levitating feeling, very very warming thermodynamic Qi.  Long minutes long aftertaste.

The sixth is very bitter and it pretty much dominates the profile start to finish.  The bitterness beats the crap out of my empty stomach.  It’s unique to have a tea so warming yet so bitter.  There is possibly bitter variety wild yesheng material in here but I can’t be certain.  There is peat, coffee ground, very sour tart like choke cherry jam.  Long minutes later sweetness. Big Alerting and heady Qi- an alarm bell sounding in the head!

The 7^th is distinctly sour with a subtle sweet fruit taste.  There is some bitter woody peat tastes then a long subtle lingering aftertaste of choke cherry jam, a creamy sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is concentrated on the roof of the mouth and tongue and gives a tight tart feeling.  The throatfeeling is pretty deep but mainly upper stimulating.  The Qi is very strong pushing past alerting to a stoned feeling now.  This less bitter infusion is less harsh on the digestion.

The 8^th infusion has a sour bitter, slight peat and woody onset of sweet tart cherry.  There is then a vacuous length to the profile that is mainly bitter then creamy almost cherry and slight bitter sour intermingle.  The jaw has a nice releasing bodyfeeling here.  I feel pushed past alert into a spacy out of body feeling.  Strong Qi.

Ninth infusion has a darker peat woody onset with sour sweet tart fruits.  The bitter emerges out of these initial tastes to reach deep across the profile.  Tart fruits, creamy sweet talc and choke cherry like tastes emerge.  Qi is very relaxing and has backed off digestion as it is less bitter now.

10^th has a sour woody peat onset with a flat fruit taste.  There is much less bitterness now and more sour than bitter.  A nice breath taste follows of fruits.

11^th has a brackish sour cherry and wood taste presentation.  Less bitter and sourer tasting. 

12^th has a bitter sour dry dirt woody with tart fruit.  The tongue coating and mouth and throat stimulation are less as the bitter also declines. Qi is more relaxing now.

13^th has a mild bitterness with more of a sour presentation.  The sweetness is also declining and a wood peat and bitterness lingers with a bit of sour.

14^th is woody peat sour almost fruity slight bitter comes quick but then turns vacuous and bland in the mouth.  The aftertaste is pretty much gone and I think I will put this into overnight steepings.

The next morning I am greeted with a very fruity vibrant liquor in a decently bitter base.  I put this into another overnight steeping and get much the same.  I put it in another overnighter-  It steeps out strong fruity tastes a few more days.  Very nice.

I did some comparison tasting with both a Malaysian stored 2003 Shuangjiang Mengku Da Due Shan wild brick from Teapals and a Malaysian stored 2008 Essence of Tea Qianjiazhai wild but there are some similarities between these but also too many differences as well.  So I decided against it.  This 2001, I think is a really unique tea, hard to put in a box.

This 2001 Zhongcha Huangyin is pretty good for its age and price too.  The impressively clean processing and dry storage is quite nice.  Crazy big Qi.  Unique heat inducing and sweating while still being bitter- bitter heat is an unusual presentation.  There might be some yesheng/ wild tea blended in here.  How much, I can’t be certain.  It has enough indications for me that it might be yesheng and should be evaluated more like this.  I would say that possibly bitter yesheng and sweet yesheng might be part of this blend.  I can’t be sure, but it has enough characteristics to make it possible.  It is also something that I don’t think most would crave on a daily drinker basis due to its unique profile.  I think those who like some Lao Man E would appreciate the bitterness.  But man, oh man… great value and big Qi.  A very unique tea for sure.  Would not have ordered this one if I knew it was wild but its nice value and Big Qi that having one of these around won’t bother me a bit.  I wouldn't rule out a re-order if the speed test dictates it.  For those in the mood for something a bit different with a powerful experience look no further.

Best tasting note ever:

"Max's tasting note: Instant sauna, just add water."

So true.

James’ (TeaDB) Tasting Notes

Marco's (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes

Shah8’s Tasting Notes

Peace

Tea Encounter Brand Puerh Initial Impressions

I guess it’s a little overgeneralizing to state grand sweeping impressions of Tea Encounter’s premiere brand of Tea Encounter puerh.  It’s a bit of a stretch because the release only had four offerings.  I would say the most obvious thing about Tea Encounter puerh is that its main goal is likely to fill gaps in what is offered both at Tea Encounter and on the Western puerh market as a whole.

For instance, their 2019 Tea Encounter Bai Yin Shan Yesheng fills a gap of offering a Lincang wild from a region not represented by any Westren dealer.  Their 2019 Tea Encounter Laos Gushu offers Laos puerh which hasn’t been offered in the West since 2014.  Their other offerings give us budget versions of regions that typically are offered at a higher quality by Western vendors (and therefore much higher price point) such as 2019 Tea Encounter Bang Dong and 2019 Tea Encounter Gua Feng Zhai.  Smart offerings (and currently discounted on a Black Friday Sale).

As far as the overall feel of the brand, I would say that they are milder and not as aggressive, they focus on subtlety and are not standoffish or overly bold.  They are deliberately positioned to be budget puerh so, overall, they are easy on the wallet.  They could all be consumed now, and many have decent stamina especially considering the price.

I think Tiago of Tea Encounter might be positioning the brand to focus more on the further Eastern Border of Yiwu and even the border tea beyond.  Of course, it’s a complete guess but wouldn’t be surprised to see more from Gua Feng Zhai, Xiang Chun Lin, and even Laos, and other border teas in the years to come.

Congratulations Tiago on your premiere offering!

Peace

2019 Tea Encounter Bai Yin Shan Yesheng: Wild Yesheng Qi

I was most excited about this wild tea from Tea Encounter brand puerh’s first pressing.  I have experience with Lincang area wild tea/ yisheng from 2008.  There is actually not much of this that makes it to western tea vendors, so this is a treat for me.  Congratulations on taking the plunge and pressing your very own brand of puerh tea!

Dry leaves smell delicious of strawberry sweetness with layered rainforest and evergreen forest odours.

First is a very spicy pungent foresty rubbery wild tea profile.  The pungency here is interesting with the flat sweetness and minutes long returning slight sweet strawberry.  The mouthfeel is silky in the mouth and the throat feel is immediately opening mid to deeply.

The second infusion taste like eating an evergreen forest, mixed with Yunnan rainforest, there is a pungency then that vacuous ye sheng space then rubbery, forest, almost sweet gum and cantaloupe taste.  The Qi is starting to sedate the mind.  The chest feels like its opening softly and warmly.  The Qi is yesheng/ wild tea type of strong.

The third infusion starts off with a strong forest taste then is kind of muddled rubbery funk typical of young wild tea like this.  There is a forest taste in the aftertaste with suggestion of cantaloupe and strawberry trying to push through.  The mouthfeel is a watery almost oily consistency.  Throat has a moderate opening.  The qi is really sedating.  The heart beats slowly in the chest.  Head feels like floating away.  Bigger Qi sensation that the average wild.

The fourth infusion starts off deeper forest then leads into a pungent almost parsnip type of pungency then a long mildly cooling rubbery forest blank taste.  There is tastes of layered forest and even mineral with less sweetness this infusion.  There is a faint cantaloupe sweetness, a salty melon taste, which tries to make itself known.

The fifth infusion has a layered foresty onset.  There is a touch of sweetness lingering underneath- its almost a juicy like sweetness.  It comes out barely minutes later.  The main base taste of this wild tea is its layered foresty tastes.  It has some rubbery turbid yesheng type note in the aftertaste.  The Qi is really spacing me out.  I find my eye muscles twitching… and heart beating and chest opening…

The sixth infusion is has that same foresty layered taste, there is little in the way of sweetnesses but rubbery, different layered yesheng forest-like tastes.  The Qi is big in the head.

The seventh, eighth, ninth infusions are fruity, forest layers, barely pungent, yeshengy taste with big Qi in head and heart.

My day gets the best of me and, unfortunately, my tea session is less of a focused session.  The later infusions are more of a mild sweet watery taste.  The sweetness comes out more and the foresty taste less.  The Big Qi sensation in the head, a stoner Qi sensation for sure, remains consistently strong.

Even the next morning I steep this and there is a nice soft sweet taste in a watery almost foresty broth.  The Qi sensation is strong even now and makes me feel a bit dizzy and loopy.  I long steep it and its pulls out nutty sweet notes.

Overall, this yesheng has more Qi than the average wild tea, for sure.  I like this. Its flavor is such that it seems simple but has a nice evolution throughout the session from initial to late session.  The returning sweet breath aftertaste that is famous with yesheng is less distinct with this one.  There is a clean crisp feel to this yesheng which seems very green processed to me. 

Another thing about this 2019 Tea Encounter Bai Yin Shan Yesheng is that it is currently discounted 53% from $161.63 to $114.49 ( $0.32/g).  I’m not sure I would pay the full price but these days a 2019 wild tea goes for that much- it is what it is.  So it is nice that this one is priced at something more attainable, less in line with its actual market value.

Peace

2010 Essence of Tea Da Xue Shan Wild 1KG Brick (What’s Not To Like?)

I choose some of this in Essence of Tea’s Black Friday promotion of 20% free tea.

I have to admit, I was excited about this 2010 Essence of Tea Da Xue Shan Wild ($0.26/g) right from the start…

What’s not to like about this?

It’s from one of my favorite vendors, the Essence of Tea.

It’s of yesheng material and I do like wild tea.

It’s very tightly machine pressed, exactly the way I like high noted tea.

It’s stored on the drier end of the spectrum, most often optimal for wild tea I suspect.

It’s material is from Da Xue Shan, an area which I always seem to enjoy.

And last but not least,

It comes in an over the top 1KG Brick!

Really, it checks all the boxes for me.

The oily purple hued dry leaves give off a delicious odour…

The first infusion starts with a watery, empty taste with a slight vegetal, slight turbid\ barnyard taste there are just glimpse of juicy fruity, barely there as this compression needs to release more.  What is most noticeable is the long breath cooling and faint almost cotton candy sensation.  This wild will be quite nice, I think.

The second starts with a subtle smoky and mainly juicy fruits and subtle sour onset with layers of almost tobacco and woody notes.  There is a long cool lingering returning undulation and creamy sweet breath, slightly talc with almost cherry tastes left on tongue.

The third infusion starts off with punchy tangy fruity tastes with a nice astringent feel.  Then there is slight woody layer, tobacco and slight smoke then long cherry returning taste with decent cooling.  The slightly forest, slight wood, slight creamy taste is long.  The mouthfeel is nice and astringent but not overly so.  It’s mainly felt on the tongue and cheeks as well as mid throat.  Nice full feel for a wild tea for sure.

The fourth has a woody, juicy fruity taste with very mild smoke then to a building pungent cooling in the throat.  There is more of a full onset with woods and fruits layered in.  The mouthfeel is nicely simulating for a wild tea, much more full than even the better yesheng I’ve had.

The fifth infusion becomes very thick right from the onset.  The liquor is quite viscus and denser layers of wood, slight sour, barely noticeable barnyard/turbid taste, thick dried fruits, slight juicier fruits which stretch into the aftertaste and breath.  The long ring of cooling pungent taste makes this wild special as well. Very refreshing.  The throatfeel paired with the sour slight astringency pushes saliva into the throat along with the deep, dense, layered flavours.  The Qi is very floating but my mind feels quite sharp, a very nice qi.

The sixth infusion starts off in a vibrant soapy guy (Thrills gum) taste and turbid/wild/slight barnyard taste with woods and fruits under this almost grapy sweet soapy taste.  The long pungent returning kicks in and rolling creamy talc sweetness.  The mouth/throatfeeling are nice and do a nice thing with the saliva.  I feel so floaty but clear in the head.

The seventh starts layered, dense, complex with layering of woods, sweetnesses, chalk, forest, fruits, juicy, and is capped with a strong pungent coolness and long creamy, talc sweetness with mild dancing fruits in the distance.  The sweet taste is quite strong and long.  The throat does a capturing of taste with the saliva even minutes later.

The eighth infusion is a thick dense onset.  The thickness of the liquor and mouthfeel really make the complex interplay of flavours hold.  Instead of coming one at a time flavours come all at once.  The Qi makes my heart pound with a certain intensity but I feel slightly spacy.  Like I have lots of energy but don’t know what to do with myself.

The ninth infusion is sweet, almost juicy smokey, dense, onset, with creamy menthol sweetness long on the breath.  The taste is barely sour, faintly astringent, long dense sweetness, long cooling. The interplay and complexity of this wild make it special, I think.

This tenth and eleventh infusion is more watery fresh almost fruity juicy type I’m more familiar with.  There is a mild juicy fruity taste throughout.  The deeper tastes and rolling pungency seems less here.  This is more like a solid and more typical wild presentation but this one is especially nice.

The 12th is smooth fruity and woody to start plumb and blackcurrents come to mind.  There is a wave of menthol coolness then a long woody and subtle sweetness.  I would say the wood note is the dominant here.

13^th has a slight sour tart onset with a choke cherry like initial taste there is more of a slightly sandy and dry mouthfeeling now.

13^th starts woody mainly with fruits underneath capped by a menthol taste.  Some sweetness and fruit in the aftertaste.  14^th is much the same.

The 15^th is brilliantly fruity and long the mouthfeel is a touch slit-like.  The Qi pushes me into a sweat.

I end up long steeping this one for a few days and get brilliantly viscous fruity flavors.  It goes for a few more days like this and I quite enjoy it.

Overall, this wild is really enjoyable, it really does have everything I look for in a wild tea.  So will I be buying up a few bricks? I’m afraid not.  Why?

The reasons are many but are mainly personal reasons.

Firstly, despite what you read here on this blog, I only drink wild tea/ yesheng infrequently.  I only go for it maybe once a month, that’s it.  The other times I’m downing puerh.

Secondly, I already own over 3KG of wild tea probably enough to last me a lifetime considering how infrequently I consume it.

Thirdly, I just picked up a KG of a very similar wild from Teapals, a 2003 Shuangjiang Mengku Da Xue Shan Wild 250g (very compressed) brick for($0.16/g).

Fourthly, although I consider this 2010 Essence of Tea Da Xue Shan Wild one of the finest example of wild tea but I have a very similar tasting (although admittedly inferior) dry stored, very tightly compressed, factory-esque feeling, and similar Qi pattern.  Mine is maybe ½ as delicious, though.

Overall, this has got to be one of my favorite Northern Xishuangbanna wilds…

I just can’t rationalize buying more…

Peace

 

2003 Shuangjiang Mengku Da Xue Shan Wild Puerh 250g Brick

KL Wong of Teapals makes a bold claim about this 2003 Shuangjiang Mengku (Rongshi) Da Xue Shan Wild ($39.15 for 250g or $0.16/g).  He states, “If not better, it’s as good as 2006 Mengku Rongshi Qiao Mu Wang.”  This is the line that hooked me on this tea because personally I feel that the 2006 Mengku Arbour King brick is one of the best productions that Shuangjiang Mengku has ever produced.  This is coming from someone who has also tried a lot of Shuangjiang Mengku.

Ok, let’s go back a bit.  Since, returning for my onslaught of puerh buying, this has been my only purchase that I have been tipped off by a kind email (thanks friend).  He no doubt flagged this wild tea down for me because it has a lot of qualities that I look for in a tea.

First, it’s from one of my favorite factories that is known for cheap and good quality puerh.  Shuangjiang (Rongshi) Mengku is also well known for pressing wild tea and have been doing it for a long time before any of the other factories.  Secondly, I like wild tea though drink it infrequently. The Shuangjiang Mengku Da Xue Shan wilds are some of the most famous factory production wild/ yesheng out there.  This is a very early version of these.  Thirdly, I highly value very tight/ iron compression which these bricks are.  Fourth, as stated above I’m a big fan of the 2006 Shuangjiang Mengku Qiou Mu Wang.

Seems, like this completely Malaysian stored brick has everything I like… so I ended up ordering the last 4 bricks but the big question is…

Is it REALLY better than 2006 Shuangjiang Mengku Arbour King???

Dry super compressed leaves smell of the dry leaves is of vibrant fruits in wood and slight dirt.

Slightly watery, fruity, distinct date and plum skin onset with cooling light finish on the breath.  The mouthfeel is a bit vacuous in this first infusion with a touch of barely noticeable dryness in the throat.

The second infusion starts off more earth peat mixed with date and overly ripe cherry.  It has a watery and almost tart quality reminiscent of wild tea profile.  There is a slight bready finish with moderate cooling on the breath.  The mouthfeel is sticky especially the lips and this throat mildly opens to the obvious cool menthol.

The third infusion starts with pops of dense and thick syrupy fruity vibrancy, cherry and plum initially then is swept away by a moderate cooling returning yeasty bread sweetness.  There are mild layers of wood underneath.  This infusion excites me.  The qi is starting to kick in the upper neck, down the spine effect is felt as if the head is wobbling on a swivel.

The fourth has a woodier and cherry and rum like taste, a bit like rum and raisin flavor and dried cherries.  The woody taste is not as prolific as the fruity.  There is a wave of cooling and beadlike sweetness and even dark chocolate covered dried cherry aftertaste.  The profile is pretty long and reasonably complex.  It tastes like a drier storage, I wouldn’t have pegged it as typical Malaysian.  There are lots of crispness, woodiness, and fruitiness in here more typical of drier storage.  This is likely due to the iron like compression on the brick.

The fifth infusion starts off with a yeasty bread like sweet and sour dominating with sweet fruits layered under that and wood notes even deeper.  There is a mineral taste in this one as well before cooling and converting into a long fruity and bread like sweet taste on the breath.  The mouthfeel is slight tart and astringent enough to give the layers of wild flavors traction.  The qi is powerful in the mind, spacy.  Do I still even have a neck attached to my head, I wonder?  The tart mouthfeel forces the saliva to retreat deeper into the throat.

The sixth infusion starts off strong, dense, thick fruit, wood, cooling,  The taste is real full and strong here. The Qi is real strong in the head too.  I almost feel like I can’t think straight.  I can feel qi pooling in my eyes and spine.  This is a powerful wild tea.

The seventh infusion starts with a pungent fruity bready taste, it’s almost bitter here and more woody with a more pronounced cooling throat action.  The sweeter and fruiter tastes are less.  The eighth infusion is identical with a touch more bready sweetness.

The ninth infusion has more of a sour fruit onset and strong pungent coolness to finish.  There are long bready sweetness and fruits in the breath here.  The Qi is very powerful almost dizzying.

The tenth infusion is a nice balance of dry wood and date/cherry it has a tartness underneath.  The pungent coolness reaches deep into the throat from the astringency here.  I can feel the qi beating in the chest now.  The Qi of this tea is very nice.  I clear out some pieces that have clogged my teapot filter a bit and things change…

The eleventh infusion has an almost floral sweet fruit approach, slight tart, much less bitterness and astringency and a smoothness to it.  It has a talc mineral nuance to it as well.  A subtle mineral soil taste, like licking a rock.  Still distinct coolness and long sweet bready and fruit aftertaste.

The twelfth infusion has that same floral and berry taste now.  It is somewhat refreshing in these infusions, cooling and replenishing feeling but warm in the body and face.  The aftertaste is pungent cool and long fruity breads.  This tea feels very clean and pure in the body.  My mind melts under the Qi’s presence.

Thirteenth infusion is of mahogany wood with layered fruits underneath.  Deep rich dried cherry, cooling pungent.  My energy explodes in my mind and I break into a sweet.

The fourteenth is beautiful cherry florals with a Saskatoon berry taste.  It tastes like Saskatoon berry pie with the pastry bready edges now.  A sweet fruity mineral aftertaste is enjoyable.

The fifteenth infusion is more berries and wood and mineral.  A pungent fruity long aftertaste.  The sixteenth is still at flash and delivers.  The sixteenth is fruity and long cooling pungent it is simple now but the qi is still strong and the sweet fruit note is predominant.  The seventeenth is sour, fruit, woody base really tastes like younger wild tea here.

The leaves are still very tightly rolled at this point as evidence in the picture.  This is the kind of tea that easily gets steeped for 2 days in my house.  The overnight steepings are surprisingly woody, a touch bitter, and a bit brackish.

Conclusion: I have had a chance to sit down for a few good sessions with this one.  I have found a lot of variance in session to session with this wild.  This is due mainly to the amount of dry leaves used.  You actually get the best result when the session is leafed a bit on the lighter side.  If you use too much leaf it can get bitter and astringent and turn out more woody and less fruity.

The best sessions, like my first session in the above notes, are close to the brilliance of the 2006 Shuangjiang Mengku Arbour King but really the teas are so different it’s hard to compare.  Other than the same factory and compression, the material and harvest year gives off completely different taste, feel, and energy.  I really like this 2003 wild, a wonderful tea for the modest price tag…

 With that being said, I still don’t think it compares to the brilliance of the 2006 Arbour King.

Peace