The Essence of Tea

I had this tea at least 10 times and I still find it quite elusive. I had sessions where it was delicious, and others where it was very insipid, bland or plain bitter/astringent. This notes represent a satisfying session. I think this tea needs to be brewed with particular care and attention.

Dry leaves: sour plums, tobacco, light smoke. Beautiful.
Wet leaves: very fruity and layered fragrance, with a touch of smoke, wood, plums

1
the liquor feels medium-light, but at the same time carries a lot of flavours that spread in the mouth after swallowing, lingering with the help of a controlled astringency. It’s plump with smoke, hay, fruits and fermentation. Pleasant acidity. Beautiful aroma.

2
Some bitterness. The body is light but with good tannic presence. Light sweetness and forest floor aromas make the tea feel “alive”. As it cools down feels a bit like “melted ice”.

3
Austere with light umeboshi acidity. Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico comes to my mind.

4
Incense, very ripe fruits, dried flowers. Sense of “purity” and “cleanliness”. Light cooling sensation.

5
Qi is present but light and comfortable. Slightly relaxing, improves focus. Flavours of cured meat with herbal/root bitterness. Juicy mouthfeel. Aroma gets sharper.

6
Warming. Chalky mouthfeel. More incense and bitter herbs. light camphor.

Brought this one out last night to start. A special tea for sure. It has that kick in the mouth BuLang punchiness and goodness. Reminds me of all the good things I have in life. Family , and the friends I found on this site years ago. Happy Thanksgiving all I am glad to have you in my circle. The last few years have been rough on us all and I hope today finds you all well and blessed.1

Tea that I have received from derk, originally apparently from ashmanra, with prolonged California stroring, one month in Czech customs warehouse and now with me… for a week or so.

Derk noticed, it is very bitter. That discouraged me, so I took only three grams (from 7) and prepared gongfu. Quick rinse that I tossed out.

Several — rapid, short, longer, long steeps. I haven’t counted time nor number of steeps. I started about 10 seconds and ended up with 5 minutes maybe.

Honestly, it doesn’t deliver much. It starts with forest floor, quite dry one. Then there is some bitterness, but not overpowering, not in a single steep. But alas, it doesn’t deliver much more. It is rather boring. There is, again borrowing words, this time from Tea-ass, pekoe aroma (and taste). Light, unharmful tea. Last steeps are rather vegetal and the astringency arises, but not upsetting my stomach.

2020 Essence of Tea Xu Jia Liang Zi
6.8g, 100 mL gaiwan, 212f, Brita filtered tap
dry leaf is dried sweet fruit
8s rinse
Wet leaf is a sweet and smoky honey, in the vein of a green oolong smell

6s: a light honeyed pea-like floral sweetness, with a dried minty edge in slight aftertaste, much like LP’s Bubble gum yesheng I had last week. Aftertaste transitions into a light honeyed taste as it fades

12s: a smoke light edge in the taste, with more prominent crisp crushed mint note that lingers on the tongue. Slight tingling in lower legs and warming in lower back. Leaves tongue sort of dry and teeth feeling oddly dry in that uncomfortable way when you bite into something too hot or too cold.

16s: that same sort of sharp smoky, but not quite bitter taste. Honeyed and rounded, again with the minty edge. Sort of a soapy floral in aftertaste, again reminiscent of LP’s bubble gum sheng.

Not sure if it’s the water, my storage, or brewing temp. or what, but I was expecting more from the reviews on EoT page. I’m not a huge fan so far, especially given sample $/g. Sample cost (96c/g) aside, I guess I haven’t drank as much young sheng as many Westerners into puer, but I’m curious what this will age into. Yeah yeah, me and everyone else. That said, I’m certainly not willing to gamble this kind of money on a cake that I don’t particularly like and would have to probably age 50 years in this climate (knock on wood) to see any changes, and I’m hardly sure we’ll even be around by then. I really need to hop into the heated storage game sooner or later… Anyway, as of current, I’m not sure if I’d agree with refined in the tea’s description, rather than boring. I do consider softer, gentler profiles “refined” in some instances, but this one just strikes me as boring.

30s: Ah, bitterness. Mint edge in aftertaste, which then fades into a lighter floral rounded taste. I would stop here, but I’m determined to get my money’s worth out of this session, whatever that means.

1 min: bitter and astringent. Minty edge in aftertaste. I changed my mind and will just accept this one as tuition and toss into thermos…

Overall: slight warming. I’ll pass on this one. Even taking cost aside, I couldn’t see myself drinking through even a 200g cake of this (which at 71c/g is quite hard to argue for when you can buy very nice mid-aged boutique productions instead…). Had dinner beforehand as usual, and can’t seem to escape the later stomach pains after drinking young puer, even though it’s not like they feel particularly punchy to me. What happened to being young and invincible??! Doubtful.

Lots of off-topic rambling today. Anyway, in sum, tastes like an upgraded version of LP’s bubble gum yesheng. Wouldn’t buy more of either, though if you’ve tried one or the other, they’re very similar in my mind.

Edit 10/2: this was actually quite interesting from the thermos. There’s a very creamy aspect in the way of milk oolongs almost, but very fruity/floral otherwise. I never know if these unexpected things are normal or if it’s because it’s starting to go bad from being in the thermos for over 24 hours lol. I drank two mugs pretty quickly since I had to run off to something else, and started sweating suddenly on my forehead, so that aspect is retained in thermos. A short headache and then I felt like I was burning up for a few minutes. Probably won’t do that again. Still wouldn’t purchase a cake, but it’s been quite a while since thermos has yielded anything unexpected.

Coming back to this tea a little over a year later. https://steepster.com/derk/posts/421128

The impression in the mouth and body remains mostly unchanged. Where it has changed the most for me is in its aromas.

The dry leaf at a short distance smells like limeade sweetened with brown sugar, a touch of cherry. In hand, it’s verging away from the previous experience’s prune into cherry, tangier, without as much that dried fruit richness; dates. Warmed leaf is tangy fruity with a deep sweetness — cherry limeade, dates, brown sugar, a chocolate undertone. Surprisingly, none of this carries into scent of the rinsed leaf which is like wet vegetation and uncured tobacco. The color of the liquor is a golden honey brown. First few cups’ aroma is of roasted barley.

The body is rather thin and astringent but refreshing. It is somewhat fruity with a mild, smokey dark bittersweetness that comes out on the back of tongue. The first steep is cooling in the mouth only, presenting as a small puddle of mintiness where the bitterness also sits. Fluffy sweetness is cut quickly by astringency and acidity. I begin to get warm and sweat but it’s nice on this day of stifling heat. Aftertaste is the same as before — mostly cherimoya with some apricot — though less pronounced. After that fades (rather quickly), the mouth is left with a tingling, metallic feeling. The leaf still needs to be pushed hard after the first few steeps to bring it back to life. In later steeps, the smoke shifts from feeling to taste. The tea is not dense with flavor and has the longevity of plantation leaf. Body feeling more subtle than before; then again, I’m pregnant with a super burrito baby.

This tea is in a state of change, with those more acidic notes of middle age pushing through. I feel like this is definitely going to head in the tobacco-dried fruit-chocolate direction with hints of cola spice, but I do think the leaf needs a more humid environment than mine to successfully age into that. Right now, I’d put this at 70.

As part of my unhurried exploration of Meng Song area sheng puer, I’m having a Sunday afternoon sit-down with Essence of Tea’s 2014 Da Meng Long Gushu.

The dry leaf smells like fruit punch in the forest. Warmed leaf has a thick and rich date-caramel sweetness with faint wet smoke.

The tea is pouring golden orange with a brown tint.

At the lips, it’s rich with dates. There’s a bit of tang to the cup and early a quick bite in the throat. Bitterness is certainly there, structured, and passes at some point (who knows, I’m relaxed) after the swallow giving way to a strong returning sweetness. The aftertaste is drying and creamy, impression of cherimoya then apricot. After that fades, a metallic-astringent feeling/taste lingers; it’s pleasant, my tongue tingles far past the last sip. A comforting, expansive warmth in the throat and chest, a relaxing cool. Once the initial bitterness and astringency pass, the leaf needs to be brewed harder to elicit its hidden richness.

There is lingering depth of feeling to this tea. It rushes with a slow, smooth rumble and recedes like a warm wave break spreading across the sand, barely touching your toes before heading back out to sea. It courses and flows and grounds.

My first Bulang. Very enjoyable aroma: smoke, leather, spices, ripe fruits and something herbal/camphor. The camphor is very subtle and merges well with the other elements without being overpowering. I find this tea very solid and balanced, the qi is strong and gave me a grounding feeling. No tension, no faster heartbeat. I felt comfortably high and unfocused. The aftertaste is medium strong, with wood and spices. As the session goes on it gets more herbal, pungent with some vanilla. Bitterness and astringency are never off-putting.

At first a very creamy tropical yogurt aroma from the wet leaves. Mouthwatering.

1
Liquor mineral, creamy, fruity. Vegetal. Peach. Brown Sugar. Chestnut. Complex, warm. Mmh, interesting…

2 tropical, milky , a bit of bitterness/astringency. Silky. Sweet. Delicate flavours building in the mouth. Empty cup smells like burnt sugar.

Slightly Cooling, like a layer of fresh air coating mouth and throat. Heart beating faster. Peach Bellini.

3
Cooling feeling intensifies. Tingling in the throat. More astringency. Beautiful long lasting acidic aroma.

4
Complex acidic flavours.
Liquor is stable, more astringent. Not very thick. Very mineral. Keeps carrying the initial fruitiness.

I get this feeling of half relaxation and half restlessness. Maybe relaxation is 60%

5
More grassy-herbal notes appear, slight harshness. Drying. Less intensity.

6
Harshness keeps increasing but it maintains a memory of more innocent first infusions. I think of an innocent girl that few years later ends up being a prostitute.

My head feels heavy, it’s a nice feeling I guess. My body feels calmer now.

7
Something is changing, I get an alcoholic feeling, like soured bellini.
The liquor is weak. My body starts protesting for having too much tea.

8
Harsh but low toned dirty mushrooms kingdom. Not very sweet anymore.

Overall the tea is not the most powerful or long lasting but anyway it’s a very pleasurable experience.

The first times I had this tea I wasn’t impressed. Now this is the last bit of my sample and it became suddenly delicious. Is it because I’m more concentrated on writing a review? It’s the weather? It’s the silence of this room, the absence of sensorial stimulus? It’s because I’ve been cycling a lot and my body needs nutrients and everything taste better? Or maybe because I know this is my last session with this tea?

I already had a lot of tea when I stupidly decide to start a session with this one.
I’m feeling quite anxious. I’ve been very busy working in the last 5 days. And now it’s Sunday, I’m at home, and suddenly the awareness of my human condition hits me with dreadful thoughts, confusion, and feelings of hopelessness.
At some point in the morning I decide to start a session with this one. Maybe not a good idea, since my body it’s telling me to stop drinking tea. Anyway.
The wet leaves have a warm, low-keyed aroma. This is the last bit of my 25g sample. This tea feels like shadowy and unclear. A black pepper spiciness lingers at the roof of my mouth. Not super thick. Rough texture. On top of everything I found something that I may call “pekoe aroma”. Everything else is a sweet-dirty-roots kingdom. I start feeling some kind of pressure on my brain, and slightly stoned.
I don’t see much dynamicity here, there’s some floweriness like tiny flowers growing in a rotten tree trunk. Spicy aftertaste with “generic tea” aroma on the roof of the mouth.

Later steps: dryness. Cooling sensation. Herbal. Spicy. Sugarcane sweetness.

Actually as I’m writing this I’m feeling quite tea high. A paralysing heaviness. I like it. Now I’m gonna say the magic words that’ll turn me into a tea connoisseur: strong qi.

This wild tea is gloriously bitter. It reminds me of somebody. Beneath the bitter pill exterior there is a world of depth and insight; a powerful, dark and discerning, truth-revealing energy. A sniper skirting the fine line between good and evil with an intensely romantic preference for cherrywood stocks. Listen to some Deftones and it will make sense.

Anybody have a cake they want to sell? This question applies to anybody reading this note in the distant future — message me.

So EOT is offering 3 new Guyolin teas. 2 from 2020 and one from 2019. They recommend comparing the 3 here which I will do here. I blind bought a cake of the 2020 Tianmenshan because one of my favorite teas from last year came from that village in the form of dragon balls sold (bc there wasn’t enough material to cake) by Yiwu Mountain Tea and cost $2g, $1.50 on sale. The tea from EOT from this village this year is $1.20g so I took a gamble hoping they would be similar. They are. Same big oily tropical fruit and coconut oil notes, penetrating qi and both steep forever. The other new Guyolin is the 2019 Yao Zhu Di which has a balanced bitterness, nice balance between herbaceous notes and the signature Guyolin fruit notes. It has active grounding qi but to its detriment drops off rapidly after 6 steeps which is disappointing bc you want the session to go on twice as long. That tea is $1.10g and I would recommend it if it steeped longer…but…now for this tea…

This tea is a shapeshifting monster and the most expensive at $300 for a 200g cake. The first 2 steeps remind me of WanGong area border tea with big, potent evergreen forest notes and coconut oil thickness. From the 3rd steep onward this tea is almost identical to the tianmenshan with its big tropical fruitiness (I want to call it Manzhuan’s big sister). The qi is similar to the Tianmenshan as well but goes deeper. I can feel it in my bone marrow and it lasted most of the day. Not saying I regret buying the Tianmenshan cake instead of this because it’s an amazing tea but this offers everything it does and a bit more. Oh yeah and I lost count of the steeps. Not sure if I’ll cake this or not as the price is close to that of Chawangshu or Tongqingue which are my favorite gardens and I’m waiting to see if anyone releases teas from them this year before exhausting my tea budget but I am tempted. If you are a fan of the more attitudinal Yiwu teas, this is a must try.

Like Slumbering Dragon from CLT? My guess is that this is basically the same tea at 1/3 the price. Bitter gaogan yesheng from Kunlu Shan? Check. Medium light body with intense but smooth bitterness with notes of citrus peel and blueberries? Yep. Does it have the same spacy but energizing wi? OMG I have to be at work in a half hour. Do I intend to try to trade my remaining cakes of SlumberIng Dragon? …if anyone is still interested in that tea. Bottom line, if you like Slumbering Dragon buy this tea. 3 years ago when I was new to sheng I was smitten with it and bought a lot of it. Now I mainly drink it when I’m fighting a cold…

I got a sample of this tea recently as part of a surprise package from the lovely derk, thanks! ❤❤❤

It is my first encounter with Essence of Tea and it turns out amazing. The storage is somewhat reminiscent to Yang Qing Hao, but I find this one interesting overall than the few I’ve sampled from YQH. The character of the tea itself is somewhere between a Bu Lang gushu and a wild, forest overgrown Yi Wu sheng.

The aroma is intoxicating and I find myself sniffing the leaves as well as the empty cha hai continuously during the session. The taste is bitter, sweet and somewhat sour at times with notes of camphor, wood, cocoa nibs, spearmint, and many others. An interesting aspect is the mouthfeel, which is not too heavy, yet quite viscous. At first, it is a bit egg white-like, while later it becomes smooth and bubbly (maybe a bit more like lightly beaten egg whites lol). One is also rewarded with a long-lasting, cooling aftertaste with notes of aromatic wood, spices, and butter, as well as a strong huigan. The cha qi is mind numbing but not overly aggressive.

All in all, EoT’s Baotang is a tea that is fully capable of capturing one’s attention and not letting go easily; today I got 15 infusions before I called it a day.

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oFnjWS4cpU

2018 EoT Wuliang Wild brewed in a clay gaiwan. Light and refined woody ‘wildfruit’ and grassy pear taste with no smoke or bitterness. Active in the mouth with tangy minerality and drying/mouth-watering qualities. I can feel it going down. The straw-like astringency grows stronger and leaves a pleasant bite in the throat. Kind of nutty/mushroomy/very light iodine aftertaste. Camphor and mild returning sweetness are quick to show. Beautiful floral aroma — don’t forget to smell the lid.

This is a wild tea with a more ephemeral, contemplative almost oolong feel than the aggressive nature of others I’ve tried. That chest-forward energy is there, though; gonna say it’s not suitable as a night-time brew. I’m happy with this tea even if it is short-lived.

Edit: I oversteeped several cups and it still turned out lovely with only a mild background bitterness. I do want to compare brewing the leaf in a porcelain pot and again in the gaiwan with longer infusions. This tea seems like it has wiggle room.

This tea is a very strong contender in the “pine/resin/astringent/drying” category. There is a surprisingly mild, yet very balanced array of complexity in the flavors of this tea. The body is smooth and viscous and the color is a nice deeper golden yellow. It is slightly sweet, slightly herbaceous, and has a reasonably sufficient amount of the astringent mouth-drying effect, but without the offputting bitterness – this is a character I look for in these types of teas, and value quite highly in evaluation. Overall, I’d say this is a lighter, more balanced, “little brother” version of the 2005 Shenlin YQH (a personal favorite of mine). The Baotang delivers in quality without the mushroomy/earthy notes and the more potent drying effects of the 05 YQH. I do recommend giving this tea a try, it is certainly high caliber.

Farewell, Long Lan Xu. Going well with a lunch of red lentil soup :D

Not much has changed in 4 years. Four? Really?

This tea needs to be properly aged elsewhere. Lazy bones storage in California has almost entirely arrested the potential transformation of this brash leaf.

Oh my belly. While I love upfront bitterness, this has a kind of flat alkalinity that my body can’t handle. Five years of EoT storage is apparent in the dark, dry leaf (plus one year in Mediterranean California climate) with notes of forest floor, grain and very faint smoke. The warm leaf smells spicy with pronounced baked bread, some type of citrus (maybe pomelo), licorice root, impression of cherry. Rinsing changes the profile into something very pungent and vegetal. Parsley and celery root come to mind, root vegetables in general, more forest floor, dark soil clinging to tree roots.

From there… eh… flat alkalinity is upsetting my stomach. Thin body, tastes are… eh… thin with that same forest floor, moving later to something more tobacco-leathery but still ever-thin; mild, diffuse bitterness. Mellow aged aroma with a touch of cherry-prune. Light camphor feeling. Aftertaste later is citric sour. This tea is giving me a drowsing, heavy limb effect similar to the other Bangwai sheng I’ve tried though too dopey for my liking.

Long Lan Xu, back to the crock with you.

I’ve had this tea for a while and rather neglected it. I was impressed enough by a sample that I bought a cake a couple years back. The fact that it’s semi aged Mengsong old arbor for $165 for 400g influenced my decision. It’s been over a year since I had this tea and I thought I’d check in on it’s progress. It also sounded like it would go well with my breakfast of chicken, gravy and eggs over duck fat potatoes. I know that some people shudder at the notion of pairing pu with food but I come from the beer world so get over it. Anyhow, the crock storage has been kind to this tea. When I last checked in it was what I would consider in the last phases of it’s awkward stage. It has now evolved into a powerhouse semi aged sheng. Thick and woody with notes of tobacco and earthy autumnal forest notes. I get 10 steeps pushing this tea and each had big long huigan. Bitterness is smooth and round. Beer comparison? Theakston Old Peculier or other Yorkshire old ale with treacle in it. As I drink this tea I scroll through the news and am saddened to learn that the King of rocknroll has just left us so I respond by firing up the stereo and putting on a record of all the Specialty era singles. The qi hits as Tutti Frutti comes on and I’m happily dancing around the living room picturing Richard jamming with Jimi and Willie Dixon in heaven. My muscles are relaxed and I’m quite content. The closest tea comparison I can think of is W2T 2005 Naka. While it has a tad more aged character and more drowsing qi, this tea retains more top notes and is slightly more energizing. In a way I rather prefer this tea and think it’ll only improve with age. Of course the same thing can be said of the Naka…but this tea is 40% the price.

If you’re looking for a great introduction into old-growth puerh, then this is your cake! Most “gushu” is very expensive and hard to authenticate, but this is the real deal and for a steal of a price! I bought this as a great travel tea and to brew for company. The cake is moderately compressed with some subtle aromas of live wood. The warmed leaf is quite sweet and fruit forward with nice aromas of apricot. The brewed tea is a little tricky to put my finger on, but it is very nice and soft! You can expect a medium body with clean tones of watercress, easy-going stone fruit, perhaps a background of vanilla. This is a wonderful relaxed tea to drink while working or studying. I’m glad I added this tea to my collection, and i’m curious as to how it will age.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMUM5nSg7oL/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMUNW0qAMWD/

I purchased this tea from Essence of Tea’s website. Brewed out of a medium sized gaiwan.

This tea overall is solid. I got 10 steeps out of my gaiwan with steeps ranging from flash to 5 mins. I get notes of grass, pears, and overall fruity flavors from this tea. The tea did have a considerable bitterness and astringency that wasn’t my favorite, but for the price it’s solid. The feeling I get from it was almost overly energetic, but I tend to favor more relaxing teas so this is more of a preference.

Song pairing first: Pachanga Boys — Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTbgyp5VnoQ

In the spirit of nostalgia and friendship, today I brought this out for a session with a coworker who has a history of puerh consumption.

I think it was too bitter for him, at least in comparison to the 2005 Changtai Yun Pu Zhi Dian we sampled first.

On the other hand, I was and still am at a loss for words. Nothing but wild associations with this sheng. At least there is often some inkling of shared subjectivity when describing sensate experience, of which I have some to offer but I feel it is inadequate.

This tea is a slow bewilderment that builds into a crystalline clarity. Something about winter in the high desert, pastel sunrises, icicles. It’s subtle beneath the balance of bitter, sweet and cooling. At times it’s woody, others leathery, or with impressions of cacao or fragrant desert wood or floral incense or frigid desert air. Lots of sweet vanilla-mint flavor. Mineral, tongue tingling, mouth-watering but still astringent. Pretty freaking amazing. Yeah, zing. Crystalline.

Thanks mrmopar <3 I bought a cake after trying it at the Great Table Commandeering.

I’ve tasted dozens of spring 2019 shengs from choppy terrace tea to gushu from Mansong and Tongqighe and at $68 a 200g cake it easily gets my bang for the buck award of the year. Even competing against top tier teas I’ve had from Yiwu and menghai I’d put this somewhere in the middle performance wise. That’s against teas 2-3x the price. This stuff is olive oil thick and super mouth watering. Early steeps start herbal with notes of sage and thyme with a mango/coconut finish that reminds me of a Manzhuan tea only not nearly as sweet. Wet leaves smell of white pepper and lemongrass. Later steeps see vegetal notes taking over the herbal character and bitter orange peel replacing the mango. Now when a vendor sources single garden tea from an undisclosed prefecture I usually assume it’s Puer or Lincang. This tea has some traits of Jiancheng teas I’ve tried but not quite as evergreeny. The tea it reminds me most of is Long Tang (the first Jinggu sheng to impress me) from YS although a tad less fruity and sweet and definitely oilier. This goes over a dozen steeps even when pushed final steeps remind me of fruitcake. The qi is grounding and puts me in tune with my surroundings. It’s serene and not of the slaphappy variety I get from some border tea. This is awesome tea, especially for the price and I have little doubt that hip western vendors could get away with dressing it a wrapper adorned with copulating skeletons and a snarky name and sell it for twice the price…