279 Tasting Notes
5.5g, 90 mL ZZZ, filtered tap
wet leaf: wood, medicinal, retired smoke
overall: wood, smoke, medicinal, bitter, leaf sap, and something like tires. Without a label, I would’ve pegged this for a really nice Xiaguan but less obviously BBQ than XG can be. Again, a nice floral in aftertaste like other CYHs, but bitter lingers a bit too. Caffeinating, some focusing and not particularly uncomfortable compared to last week’s SZCQ but was still pretty hungry after.
This was acquired in a sample swap with a tea friend but I can’t find any mentions of an 05 Jiang Cheng pressing by CYH online. I saw listings for the 05 jing chang hao, and there’s apparently an 07 Jiang Cheng, but then again, CYH pressings aren’t well documented online, at least in english that I could find.
6.1g, 130 mL zini, mixed water
wet: wood, smoke, sour, berries, medicinal
1. bitter upfront. somewhat thinner than expected, maybe ratio too low? bright sweetness in finish. dry wood, medicinal
2. similar. maybe a water issue miscalculating, or ratio is really throwing me off compared to previous times trying. fruity finish in throat and on breath
3. kind of dull. not unpalatably bad, but not terribly attention catching. too many variables switched up: pot, ratio, water. ended up moving to a mug after because I wasn’t too happy with it this time.
Mattcha quips somewhere that shah reviews teas more favorably when he owns them. I hope this is not the case for me, but this is generally a common cognitive bias and I probably have the same issue lol. I don’t think I’ll end up caking this.
5.5g, ZZZ, water mix
KL wong calls this the big bang somewhere so safe to say I went in expecting a lot.
wet leaf: citrus, medicinal, vanilla
1. slight bitter, woody sour, medicinal, sweet floral on finish.
2. similar taste, deeper floral lingers in throat in finish that seems to be common across the CYHs i’ve tried.
3. tastes like earl grey, but with an exceptional floral finish. not sure if the chunk I pried off was just bud heavy or sth
4. similar earl grey. Had to stop here.
The tea could’ve kept going, but somatic effect wise, very much uncomfortable. I had a somewhat lighter lunch than usual so maybe my fault, but tried finishing a circuit workout a few hours later and almost collapsed. The leaves definitely look aged and fairly reddened, and taste is not especially young but the feeling needs a lot more time to settle.
I bought my cake from Jade leaf several months back for $570 or so I think, so not cheap. Not that this has ever been a particularly cheap cake, but generally westerners buying more expensive cakes seem to be looking for things hinging on ready to drink. The description mentions that “This tea has mellowed into a satisfying deep and dark woody profile.” and if it’s the same source, I would caution anyone thinking it’s a drink-now type of tea. I don’t know what TWL’s source now is like either, since I bought a QC a long time ago and now I can’t remember where I left it. Apparently they’ve offered several different ones as well, so sometimes just a roll of the dice.
5.5g, 90 mL ZZZ, water mix
wet leaf: maybe camphor? Have seen some people compare it to tiger balm, but this is the first time I’ve noted this for any tea i think.
Starts w woody, baking spices, earthy notes and subtly sweet finish. Taste overall on the lighter side, but when pushed some soft bitterness. Some grounding feeling.
Overall, I’m inclined to think that there’s no issue with longevity, since for something like the BYH 04 Yiwu, the stewed leaf taste comes through after five or so steeps. Not the case here, taste is just a bit lighter overall, so sample is likely a bit too dried out/sleepy. Was looking forward to this, but fell slightly short of expectations. Given the drastic differences in experience when the liao fu san cha was dried out vs. rehydrated, I will let it rest and hydrate more before re-assessing.
4.2g, 130mL zini pot.
1. woody, slight sour and some sweetness on end. Shou-like medicinal, graham cracker sweetness that’s yancha-like sans roastiness and also reminiscent of the 8582 from HouDe. Slight warming and settling
2. sort of liu bao taste. sandalwood like note in back of mouth/top of throat
3. woody, calming
Had to leave for work after. Usually morning teas if I have time are something cheap and quick and usually try to set those out ahead of time, but saw this and couldn’t resist. I rinsed with boiling water and then simmered but that’s never quite the same. Overall was much happier than before. Experiences like these where after some time rehydrating results in a night and day difference between sessions remind me to stay humble about my own evaluative abilities. Eep.
In terms of comparing with other (accessible for purchase, if not necessarily daily drinker price) old teas, was similar value compared to TWL old Liu bao offerings to me. Given price, these teas aren’t really something most of us can feasibly stock up on, but generally a pleasant experience (and still, cheaper entertainment than, say, a concert or the like). Also assuming US based, obviously HouDe shipping is much quicker from TX than from Taiwan.
5.2g, 90 mL duanni, boiling Brita tap
dry: beet smell
wet: sweeter, almost shou like, but not sure if it’s because the pot has seen a lot of cheap shou (my latest obsession) lately.
1st: concentrated and smooth. Slight dark bitter upfront. Beet and concrete like taste in middle and then slightly sweet on finish. Slight relaxation and warmth
2nd: similar, lighter honeyed finish
3rd and 4th: lightened, somewhat woody beet
all in all ok enough. Already over a month, but maybe more rest and or a lot more time will lighten up the beet heavy taste. While it’s not disgusting or anything, for the price I would’ve preferred to own more cheap shou or just pony up for the bao lan instead.
6.3g, 90mL ZZZ, boiling Brita tap
Almost finished with my sample. just like the last two times, very irked by the effort it takes to break and brew a chunk, but a very pleasant session today. cherry, woody, light medicinal, and baked goods, with all the latter almost seeming like a nice yancha without the roasty hint. Tapered off gently, with a light mushroom and minty finish. A bit warming in core + nicely caffeinating. From this session, if it wasn’t an iron cake, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy. But since it is an iron cake, I will probably never own it… lol
5.7g, 90 mL ZZZ, Brita tap, boiling
dry leaf: fruit, slightly fishy? strange
wet leaf: powder-y incense, sweet, fruit, light smoke
1. some pill-like bitterness upfront dissolving into a candied sweetness, floral, strong mouthcoat.
2. weaker taste. Aftertaste is honeyed. slight medicinal bitter
3. woody sweet
4-6. light, light generic aged sheng taste, bit of light mint and mushroom
7. mugged but similar
Feeling was nice. Much more gentle downward pull than yesterday’s LLL liubao, though still noticeable. Overall relaxing, slightly slowed thinking and somewhat caffeinating+mood boosting. For the price, my three sessions have all had somewhat poor longevity so a little disappointing compared to what others have said about it…
picked this up recently since I wanted to buy a smaller gaiwan for stale greens (lol) and the 4gc liu bao. not shabby, disregarding price! haha. Who are we kidding. Still hard to divorce price from consideration for me. Should’ve just bought more of the 90s bao lan. :P
4.9g, 90mL duanni, 212f
quick rinse. overall strong beets in taste across steeps. Initial steep had a cooling, sweet, slightly floral finish but the rest had more of a unsweetened home-made soy milk finish. When pushed, there’s a slight bitterness present. With older liu bao, it’s hard without a lot of heat and I only own teaware amenable for one person brewing. So after 4 good steeps and 2 relatively pale steeps, I moved it to the stove top to gently simmer for 10 min., and that was ok. Slight warmth. Feeling is mostly relaxing, but was very sleepy today and this did not help.
6/90/212. Rinsed quickly twice. Lasted about 4 steeps before it was dead. Taste reminded me of golden nuggets lao cha tou from BLT in the creamy sweet kind of way. That was 11c/g i think. This is okay enough for the 12c/g for the brick, but I wouldn’t buy more. I would be shocked if it’s actually big tree material and not just random huangpian or HP adjacent material. Have to get through the brick, so maybe will up the ratio next time.
