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Revisiting this YiBang sheng. Full and rich in the mouth, sweet and quite aromatic but yet it has a definite mature aged presence. Copper-tone tea soup which is very clear. Characteristically small YiBang leaves with lots to give. Eight steeps in and only using 8-10 second infusions at this point. W2T has been out of this one for some time now. Fortunately, I decided to take a chance and purchase when he had a few left because good aged YiBang material is hard to come by.

A very nice everyday shu puer! A tea that is both sweet and smooth with traces of dark cocoa, malt and baked bread enjoyed throughout the tea session. The dark tea soup offers a sweet and bready aroma. The steeps are thick and syrupy with a mouth-coating sweetness. This shu is very clean with no off flavors of any type. It goes down easy and is quite soothing to me.

Enjoyed sipping this tea over the past three days and it seemed to become better with each infusion. The dry dark leaves were loosely pressed – a gentle nudge of the tea needle separated the fully intact leaves. They yielded a chestnut colored tea soup that is thick, sweet and lubricating. Camphor is noticeable in both aroma and taste. Smooth silky texture. Sweet broth is soft and gentle with a slight herbal taste but there is definitely a distinct nut-meat essence. Later cups were pure smooth sweetness. Definitely not a flimsy tea with its wonderful viscosity. Qi was not as apparent as I would have preferred but from what I could feel it was quite comfortable and relaxing. Overall, a very fine tea with durability and strength – several lovely sessions with an honest, straightforward tea.

This is a tasty, warming, clean ripe puer brick. Revisiting after almost 12 months, I found it very comforting (as always). Many rich steeps over the last few days. The dry leaf offers the satisfying smell of old book leather. The tea liquor is a dark reddish brown color and yields the scents of sweetness and dark chocolate. There is a mix of fruity + creamy flavors in the sip. Dense and rich with an appealing earthy sweetness serving as the foundation for the overall impact of the tea.

I must confess to using very good tea as a respite during the hectic holiday family-time – sneak away and enjoy several quiet minutes with my tea. One of my favorites during this time was a generous sample of the 1996 CNNP Green in Orange from White2Tea. What a nice example of aged tea!! The color of the liquor is deep orange-red and the sip is smooth with a nice aged taste. Definite sense of a woody sweetness with every sip and an interesting tang of minerals or spice (I could not decide which). Vibrant texture in the mouth and throat. A very pleasant sweet aftertaste lingers nicely in the mouth and throat. The qi builds throughout the session (relaxing and warming). Overall, a delicious tea which I found quite comforting.

2004 Shi Kun Mu’s Menghai Gushu Raw
Shi Kun Mu is a tea trader/blender/master from Taiwan and I was very curious about the 2004 ShiKunMu productions (Yiwu, YiBang, Manzhuan, Menghai). When my Menghai and YiBang cakes arrived over 18 months ago, they seemed a bit dry so I stuck them away to freshen up a bit. They have been in my humidity monitored tea cabinets and they now seem ready to taste. The Menghai cake is rather enjoyable – overall a tea of rich flavor and mouth feel. Reported to be spring ancient arbor material, the leaf looks good and the dark golden tea liquor is very clean. Sweet aroma lingers in the cup. Early steeps offer an earthy mushroom flavor which lightens and becomes sweeter in the next cups. The flavor includes a bit of rather delicate astringency in 3rd and later infusions but this makes the tea a little more interesting and complex in my opinion. Camphor and menthol appear off and on. Reasonable amount of Qi builds up through the session. Decent endurance – I’ve enjoyed eight cups and the tea has more to give. My mouth continues to water from the tea session which ended an hour ago.

A very nice brick. I rinse 3 X 5sec. each before starting to enjoy this heartwarming shu. I find it to be rich and creamy with nice depth. A 10 year old brick which is quite easy to pick apart and retrieve many whole leaves. I’ve enjoyed 6 thick syrupy cups this morning – rich, earthy aromas and smooth sweet flavors. This is listed on the PuerhShop website as 450g brick for $32.95; however, mine came as (2) 225g bricks in the package (making it very easy to split with another shu lover).

Premium YiWu material + authentic GuShu + 100% YiWu area blend + produced by a knowledgeable tea maker + carefully stored in Taiwan = a good tea in my experience. This tea did not disappoint. While this may not be the very best YQH tea I have in my collection, it is a very nice tea. Sweet and earthy notes initially coming from the wet leaves. The early sips offer a sweet, earthy taste which becomes a bit fruity after the first two infusions; a vanilla overtone emerges in the 4th and 5th infusions. The tea liquor offers good mouth and throat feel – smooth feel of the tea in the mouth and throat with nice textures. Overall, the tea has a fairly light body which deepens with longer steeps. Decent chi comes from the tea throughout the session. The wet leaves look very good but since this was formed into the more tightly compressed tuo shape, there are more bits and pieces resulting from the picking off of leaves; nonetheless the material seems to be of high quality.
When you have an opportunity to purchase 12 year old authentic GuShu YiWu material in 2016 at $200 for a 300g tuo ($0.67 per gram), that is a very good deal and a tasty tea to enjoy! If you enjoy tea with nice age on it, as I do, this one is worth owning.

Pausing for a few moments before beginning what promises to be a very busy Saturday. Felt a strong need for a “black ball” tea so I decided to revisit Teavivre’s Dragon Pearls. Tasty rich brew which warms to my core – just what I needed. Peaceful Saturdays for all….

Enjoying the “Gold Hai Lang” as my breakfast tea. Light fermentation shu so it is mellow, smooth, and richly flavored. Nice choice for the first cup of the day!