Sweet Mesquite: BZ Peacock Autumn 2022

Posted on by Yang-chu
06 Oct

Sweet Mesquite: BZ Peacock Autumn 2022 comes with yet another enigmatically titled blog entry about the ’06 BZ Peacock, XH.  Quite a bit has been blogged about this.  As of autumn 2022, it earns another entry to chronicle the results of the summer.  Autumn is harvest time.  In Los Angeles it’s the peak time for capturing the results of summer storage.

BZ Peacock is now noticeably sweet.  It’s not entirely the sobering whiskey/tequilla of even a few months back.  The sweetness commingles with a bitter/dry mesquite and fleeting fruit notes.  A few infusions in, this fruit takes on the character of apple pie from slightly sweet and sour apples baked in a wood-fired oven.  The sour detected in couple previous sessions hides less now, though it doesn’t overpower the overall composition.  Altogether, it an impressive combination of dish detergent and laundry after a hike that included a campfire.

It’s not ashy or sooty.  Furthermore, it’s fair to make associations with kerosene and pencil shavings along with lemonene.  It’s still a little bit jagged, but that is how many people prefer their tea.  Comparing it to the Green Mark A, Wang Xia it is still a shade clumsy, like a tequila or whiskey you can tell that’s good but just needs a little more time.

The qi is still notably aggressive, particularly in the head.  It is very heady.  As far as other Xinghai productions go, the BZ Peacock is highly representative, though it may be a factor more intense.  It’s hard to say because all Xinghai productions around this time are burly and complex.  It’s price is certainly intense. . . presumably because of its qi and direct Peacock lineage.

 

Puerh Junky Visits Hideout

Posted on by Yang-chu
02 Oct

Puerh Junky Visits Hideout marvels upon a recurrent 2002 phenomenon: the reversed-aging process of some moderately stored raw puerhs better than 15yrs old.   By “moderate”, we’re talking about a reasonable amount of heat and humidity for transformation without humidity affecting the taste.

Not long ago, there was a time when Hideout seemed headed for deep, dark forest.  The prevailing vanilla, with a matching ruddy liquor, presumably should have continued onto roots and spice.  Instead, a second spring has emerged and it takes better than six infusions to get to the vanilla.  The coppery taste noted two years ago has completely vanished.

It doesn’t just turn to vanilla. Powerful floral and lemonene notes gradually merge with the deeper stage.  It’s an extremely sophisticated expression.  Previously, Hideout offered a nice mellow experience.  As of early autumn 2022, its spectacular raw material and processing really shines, imparting a depth and liveliness.

No doubt some dedicated readers of the Puerh Junky will feel the urge to retort, “But PJ, you said you don’t like floral.”

That’s usually correct, especially when talking about young Menghai and Fengqing, Lincang florals.  They’re too brash.  Here, there is nothing brash.  It’s intense but refined through age, Gore Vidal instead of Sam Kinisin.  Hideout is next level good.

 

Tuo for Two

Posted on by Yang-chu
28 Sep

Tuo for Two is a modern-day reverie.  Don’t laugh.  You should be crying.  The three tuo consumed over the past two days are a cryin’ shame.  Before the gory details, a pressing grammatical question should first be laid to rest.  The plural form of “tuo” is tuo.  If you see “tuos” written somewhere, try to be kind.  Even the “your/you’re” dragon has resisted the slings and arrows of correction.  What chances does tuo, much further down on the list of grammatical grievances, actually have?  Now that we dispensed with that there’s something else. . .

Given the title of this missive, chances are good that many readers are harboring suspicions that the Puerh Junky considers cornball allusions to Cole Porter cutting edge.   If you don’t know who Cole Porter is, you still might harbor suspicions but of a different sort.  Mind you, I have it on good authority that one should never let a Cole Porter allusion slip by, even if he didn’t write the lyrics.

Two Days of Tuo-ture

Recently the Puerh Junky posted an easy-listing page.  No, you won’t find Christopher Cross or Steely Dan, but there’s a slew of raw tuo.  One is the T861, Tulin which has been in the Collection since ’15.  There are two remaining.  At one time it bore the name AMT.   Comments there are interestingly honest however aberrant that sesh was.

Dry T861 gives off limestone, honey, and a slight hint of newspaper.  Brewed in red clay, the mineral notes stand out, while in the gaiwan it is sweet and smooth with a hint of humidity.  The astringency attacks the blade of the tongue, lips, and deep in the throat.  The Chinese call this “ghost pinching the throat,” 鬼掐喉咙。 Overall, the taste is what is associated with peat.  The huigan is nicely complex with light humidity, honey, and minerals chatting on in unison.  The seriously sweet broth possesses complimentary thickness.  Beware!  There’s lotsa camphor to this.  Upon exhalation even a hint of something floral can be caught.  As one progresses in gaiwan this floral element becomes more pronounced.  Zero smoke, even a bit of sour.  Deeply satisfying, really the epitome of what a recipe puerh should be: cured with character.

Infusions 2 and 3

I accidentally left the 6.3g of the Red Mark Tuo in the same 100ml red clay pot too long.  Out poured a syrupy decoction.  I was certain that it was going to be horrible but ended up horrified.  I’ve been drinking this since Jan ’20 but in Sept ’22 it is not just the best its been but a serious contender for one of the best offerings in the collection.

Foto from early 2022

It’s so smooth and balanced.  Dense petrol, wood, and incense characterize the broth.  It’s not remotely pencil shavings, caustic, or for want of any additional note.  There is a subtle camphor note tying everything together keeping it from becoming oppressive, excessively unctuous.  The summer has been very good to the Red Mark Tuo.

First acquiring the Tiger Tuo sometime in early ’16, it ended up aging quickly into a root beer-y delight.  I decided to reup on the order in the ’20 and then found it at a better price later in the year.  There’s something to be said for slow storage.  In this case, the sharpness has receded while the interesting pineapple and other fruit notes have been preserved.

Summer has also been very good to the Tiger Tuo.  It’s super sweet, thick, and fruity, with a thread of pine sap that makes it distinctive.  A fellow drinker called it the best she’s ever had like “paint thinner”.  What a compliment.  Tiger is light years from the treasures mentioned above.  It hasn’t entered into the transformed state where the camphor comes in and the liquor turns reddish, but it’s transformed sufficiently to allow the sap and sugars to emerge.  There’s no telling how long it will remain in this state.   V. slight smoke and comprised of about five terroir including a Jingmai backbone, along with Bangwei, Bingdao, and others.

 

Wild Jingmai GPE Returns

Posted on by Yang-chu

Wild Jingmai GPE Returns draws the reader’s attention to the restocking of a very good production.  It was last written about in Oct ’20.  As noted in the product description, WJM more than doubled from the Puerh Junky’s original purchase price.  Whereas it was previously a certifiable steal, the price is still quite fair compared to offerings of similar factory reputation, age, and quality.

Perhaps since the last missive on WJM, it has increased in viscosity and sweetness.  The tight compression might be contributing to its pronounced vivaciousness.  It’s hard to say.  The recent lot hails from the same vendor as before.  He favours very conservative storage.  By contrast, his ’07 Tibetan Script Jingmai, GPE, though considerably more expensive, required two years storage on the Los Angeles side before the offering was in drinking shape. Curiously, the Wild Jingmai has always been highly drinkable.

Despite being eight years old, there are none of the ferment-y notes that can be fairly typical for this age.  The unabashed bitterness in later infusions offers a distinctive contrast to its seductive candy floral aroma.   There was a time when I might bash my head against the wall differentiating between bitterness and astringency, but after reading a post where one confused sour for bitter it’s best to leave well enough alone.  That said, astringency is a texture and bitterness is a flavour.  WJM gets off-the-charts bitter deeper down without tasting as though the bitterness is from being immature; rather, it reflects a very common attribute among Jingmais in general.  No doubt about it, WJM is hegemonic, what the call in Chinese badao, 霸道。

Wild Jingmai joins Jingmai “003” as the only other entire Jingmai in the Collection. The Ox Tuo and the Ox, 6FTM consist of Jingmai blends.

Puerh Junky Visits Marquis

Posted on by Yang-chu
19 Sep

Puerh Junky Visits Marquis du Green Mark picks up in the middle of Sept 2022.  Since at least July Puerh Junky had it in his mind to pay the Marquis a visit, so we find him bowing deeply and apologizing profusely.  The Marquis, clad in purple knee-high stockings with matching knee-low knickers, a white shirt with green buttons, and a gauze-y green cape brushes the formalities aside, grabbing the Puerh Junky’s hand, leading him to the tea room.

Marquis du Green Mark

The Marquis takes out 5.3g of his stuff and places in the red clay Ming replica pot of 100ml.  The taste is surprising.  The summer has in no way imparted a heavier layer upon it and it is clear that a great deal of some of the light humid attributes from previous years have retreated.  At the same time two qualities stand out.

First, the floral creme note commands attention.  Here, we find an expression quite similar in many regards to Creme Florale, MKRS.  Second, comes a crispness that is most surprising.  The surprise come from it being more vivacious than it was previously.  It could be the Marquis’s choice of brewing vessel.  Truth be told, MduG  has always had a grabbiness to it.  That texture in the midst of darker humidity, however, left an altogether different impression, a royal impression.  Now the impression is crisp, almost cold.

Marquis cashed Sept 2022

Marquis du Green Mark is one of a number of Green Marks in the Collection and Stash.  Green Mark is another name for “7542″ recipe, which is to raw puerh what 501s are to jeans.  The idea behind the Green Mark isn’t that it is the best but that it is classic and relatively cheap.  The cheapness factor wanes with age and a proper 7542 needs at least a good 15 years under its belt.  Now let’s shift analogies.

Just as every classical guitarist must have Segovia in their repertoire, so too do most factories feel compelled to offer their rendering of the Green Mark. Meistra Du Qiongzhi was commissioned by an obscure boutique in crafting the Lucky 7542.  A few posts on her have been written.  Here the Lucky serves as an appropriate comparison with the Marquis.

Lucky possesses a similar astringent foundation to the Marquis.  However, Lucky‘s creme florale factor, evident in the earlier infusions, melds more harmoniously amidst a medley of expressions.  While spending at least the better part of the summer in a subdued state of malted hay, it has instantly taken on a much more serious character.

Lucky 2022

Floral astringency is the Green Mark identity.  Raw material and transformation determines how special it becomes.  Lucky is now starting to express woody petrol notes that blends with camphor.  It evokes a sense of a much lighter version of Wang Xia’s Green Mark.  There’s a hickory note in there reminiscent of the 50/50 a raw/ripe blend from years ago.  Those two cakes are both quite a bit more aged, but Lucky is showing promising signs.

The Marquis is a crisp Green Mark without any signs of petrol or camphor.  Its floral character, combined with cream, has remained true with less humidity from a couple years back.  Lucky, on the other hand, is a much more complex balance of tastes, reflective of more dynamic transformation of the Naka material.

 

 

Found: Tinned Pig

Posted on by Yang-chu
08 Sep

Found: Tinned Pig casts a glimmer of light upon the travails of the Puerh Junky, a foundering soul amidst a sea of puerh containers, wrappers, boxes, struts and frets.  As we zoom in, the camera has a retro filter.  We see the Puerh Junky in the cave on the Sunday before Labour Day 2022.  Hair amiss and sweat pouring from his brow and neck, he’s looking for his Gedeng dragon pearls.

Some moody Philip Glass music, monotonous and foreboding, sounds in the background.  A rudderless skiff at night fades in and out between shots of PJ searching.  A thought as to the whereabouts of the missing Pig pops to his mind.  The narrator vanishes and we see him in an interview with a reporter from the world-famous Puerh Storage News. . .

Piggy Went Home

I’m estimating that ’07 Pig sat in its secret location in the cave since May ’22, as that’s around the last time I appear to have last written about it.  At the time, I recall a measure of consternation because it was starting to taste metallic.  Immediately lay to rest the idea that the Puerh Junky listens to this type of music. (note: even in interviews he has this bad habit of referring to himself in third person)  It’s just a serendipitous funny occasioned by the word, and Mariano Rivera’s walk-up tune.  Fact is, I wouldn’t even it know the tune but for Rivera.

For four months it had sat cooking with the lid.  Immediately, I removed the lid and placed in the raw side of the fridge.  It sat there for two days and was sampled on the third.  The results?  Forget you Philip Glass!

Pig Unfocused

This is the sweetest and thickest the Pig has been, but what jumps out immediately is the pallor.  This is consistently the colour the brew throughout.  Where is the aged colour?  I mentioned something about this conundrum when looking at leaves.  May have even gone into the colour deception.

I’ve had the Pig since ’15.  In another post, I discussed the pleasing changes of the Zhongcha Pig, acquired around the same time.  Now, the 6FTM Pig cannot be said to not have transformed, because it has.  All of the edginess, the piercing attributes of a young tippy production have vanished.  There is notable drying astringency as well that takes hold for a spell before releasing the mouth watering.  The floral has transformed to fruity and it resides in the mouth for a pleasant duration.

’07 Pig, 6FTM Cashed

Everything about the taste matches its colour but the age.  I would easily guess that this is a puerh at least ten years younger, except that it doesn’t infuse to a layer where the sweetness dissipates.  I would also identify it as a Lincang, but from the Bingdao side not Fengqing.

Anyway, as far as the ongoing tinning experiment, it appears when the tin is outside the fridge that the lid does not affect the taste.  Inside the fridge, the tin starts to bleed into the taste.  Again, this goes back to the matter of air flow.  The Pig is now happily resting in the fridge without its lid.   Pig isn’t for sale, but a sample of the quite similar Fohai is avail in Sampler U, along with samples of the Lunar Ox and Monkey.

 

 

Replicating Puerh Brewing Results

Posted on by Yang-chu
07 Sep

Replicating Puerh Brewing Results extends a conversation regarding Drury Lane at the end of June ’22.  In late Aug of the same year, Puerh Junky endeavored to replicate the splendid results.  The upshot?  Setting the brick out for a few days before brewing reproduced the desired results.

Although it would be nice to just grab from the stash and brew something up, each treasure has its own personality that will be greatly influenced by storage conditions and season.  Only you know your storage and climactic conditions.  Relating my own only demonstrates that there are no hard and fast rules and you’re only going to find what’s right for you through experimentation.

This time Drury Lane sat out for about three days before being brewed.  The results were superb.  It’s fair to say that any brewing without sitting out a few days would be a waste.  One caveat: so long as it remains in the same storage space, the fridge.

Since April ’22, the fridge has become a power-storage space.  Whereas previously, some humidifiers were placed here and there in the fridge, the current setup has a shelf where a tray of humidification resides.  It consists of a simple large plastic take-out food container with two florist sponges about an inch thick.  The tray is filled with water mixed with perhaps 1/8th, maybe less, of food-grade propylene glycol, used to discourage mold.  If I see mold growing on the sponges, then I add a more concentrated mixture.  I don’t just pour the pg into the tray.  It needs to be mixed.

Precision Humefaction

The tray sits uncovered because there is no risk of spillage and because it diffuses faster than if it were covered.  Most all the other storage containers have a similar setup but with lids that have numerous holes melted into them.  I heated a big screw with a kitchen torch to make them without cracking the plastic.  Two of the very big containers have one-gallon jugs cut to accommodate a big sponge and a good amount of water.  Both containers are accessed frequently and allow more airflow than the fridge, so this seemed to be the best way to get lotsa humidity into the containers.

Dodger tape optional

One such container holds ripes.  The morning of Sept 2nd, ’22 occasioned its opening to sample Snake.  The blast of air upon opening promised good “juice-ification” for the treasures therein.  It’s been hot and humid these past few days.  This setup makes for power humidity, enlivening the ripes, making them richer and sweeter.  Right now it’s ultra primo storage, as the air flow and heat is much greater than the fridge.

Already, 2022 has been the Snake‘s best year, so checking in on it was simply to determine whether it would also require a few day’s airing given the difference in storage.  Findings?  No airing necessary.   The plastic container provides nearly ideal conditions with this humidifier during the hot season.

The most current stint of heat has been quite humid so the amount of water that the fridge has been drinking is actually less than June and July.  It could also be that the tea has reached a certain saturation level, but I’m guessing that it has more to do with ambient humidity.

In general, I’m not worried about mold.  It’s never been a problem and the returns are huge in terms of how happy it makes the puerh.  This applies to both raw and ripes.  From mid-Nov to the beginning of July, temperatures will normally only get into the 90s (27c?) maybe a total of 15 days.  September and October will be burners, but usually the humidity will be quite super low.  Perhaps this newly outfitted humidifiers will work with the dry heat to keep up a juicy cooking, but the main purpose is to prevent excessive drying.

Much could be said on these seasonal changes, but the focus here is on reproducing the same effects for an excellent ripe which had started to drop off from excessive dryness and didn’t impress after conditions had switched to greater humidity.  It turns out, the original charm blossomed after sitting out for a few days.  Visiting the Snake confirmed some of the weaknesses of storage in the fridge.  As an aside, it should be noted that there are other items stored in the fridge that don’t seem to need any airing.  Again, each production has its own personality, shaped by material, compression, and mysterious variables necessitating constant fiddling to bring out the best from each.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  Puerh is super forgiving.

 

Puerh Rating Creme Florale

Posted on by Yang-chu
26 Aug

Puerh Rating Creme Florale takes us to a 23 Aug ’22  tasting of a Mengku Rongshi production from 2011.  It’s been in the Collection since April of ’21 and has now in effect sojourned two Los Angeles Summers.  Here we subject it to the much ballyhooed PJRS.

Mengku Rongshi is an outfit focusing narrowly on Lincang offerings primarily in and around Daxueshan.  Bingdao offerings essentially round out their pre-’14 selections, though in recent years they’ve offered more village specific selections, e.g. Xiaohuzhai, Mangfei, Xigui etc.

For several years they’ve been producing Lunar New Years cakes.  One series with a yellow wrapper and zodiac animal floated around for several years but disappeared after ’19.  Those cakes were 900g and equally handsome in price.  A few years ago, PJ issued at least one missive on the Tiger (500g) of an altogether different series (perhaps a one off) that was nothing short of perfect, possessing that DXS zest with a splendid aged root beer-y and floral expression.  I recently saw a description that it was Bingdao, but it’s not.  I’ve been trying to source the Tiger ever since and the last time I saw it, its price was more than 3X the ’15 price and the vendor didn’t respond to calls.  Oh well.  Onto the Creme Florale. . .

Rating Creme Florale

Creme Florale presents with standard MKRS features in terms of moderate compression and an aggressive nature.  Unique is the cream expression that comes in up front and through the middle before tailing off into an aggressive back end.  The contrast between the two intrigues.

After three rounds the total was as follows:

  • Aroma          12
  • Clarity            9
  • Sweetness   10.5
  • Viscosity       10.5
  • Astringency    8
  • Huigan          10.5
  • Qi                    9

Reflections

Creme Florale possesses an extremely inviting aroma, something like Cream of Wheat with a hint of citrus.  Cream and a hint of grass characterise the first infusion’s broth taste, with a thickening and sweetening as it cools.  On comes the astringency, sassy, along with citrus and definite mouth watering.

Infusion 1

An extravagant vanilla aroma follows in the next infusion with a matching taste.  Astringency is strong with a lilies and orchid in the huigan.  This effect possibly gets overwhelmed by the astringency.  The rating notes that CF rates lowest in astringency, not for lack of it but because it has too large a presence.

The qi hits in the second infusion, heady with hints of being too aggressive in the chest.  Salivary activity, as an expression of huigan, excels.  Hunger starts to set in.  At cooler temp, bitterness is detectable with the aforementioned citrus note.

Infusion 3

By the third infusion the lily-orchid note is in full effect, accompanied by very noticeable bitterness.  Cooler the broth thickens and sweetens, with the bitterness abating before returning in the huigan.  The cream note comes through at cooler temps as well.  In this infusion, clarity rates 2.5 reflecting the overall youthfulness.

Conclusions

Creme Florale is aptly named and perfectly suitable for those who like their raw puerhs on the younger side, i.e., with lots of astringency.  The aroma and up front tastes are divine.  The expression holds true to the MKRS house style, and as the session progresses their characteristic brightness and force are on full display.  Give or take, CR lasts a good nine rounds.  This session was flash brewed in a gaiwan and time wasn’t added till about the seventh round.

69/105 B-

About the PJRS.

Puerh Junky Visits Golden Sail

Posted on by Yang-chu
22 Aug

Puerh Junky Visits Golden Sail picks up with another ripe from the mid naughts.  Golden Sail holds the distinction of selling Yunnan puerh under a Guangdong brand.  As the Puerh Junky has made abundantly clear, brand is about the closest this 250g tuo comes to Guangdong, as it was brutally dry stored.  Some people like that dry-stored ripe vibe, so I made it available even though by my own reckoning it needed resurrection.

The problem with dry stored ripes is that they aren’t sweet.  Ripes should have some measure of sweetness.  I’m not sure how some of the instantly sweet ripes are processed but guesses are that they’re heavily wokked and/or heavily fermented.  Both are heat processing which accelerates transformation of “the stuff” to sugar.

Dry storage also stunts expression.  Notes don’t sound as clearly or vibrantly.  Instead, there are fleeting hints to an otherwise stilted drinking experience.  Such was the case with the Golden Sail, which had hints of fermented cherry but altogether too faint.  Combined with a lack of sweetness and a mid-range vegetal note, it was very difficult to drink.

GS came Puerh Junky Resurrection Center (PJRC) in Dec 2020 complaining of the conditions mentioned above.  An Aug 2021 tasting showed not much change.  The experience was frankly nothing short of horrible, lacking sweetness and if memory serves possessing a sour note totally challenging.  During that session, the cherry note was not detectable either.  I only got through two infusions before tapping out.  Gross.

Aug 2022 presents a vastly improved picture.  Some renovations at the PJRC have afforded more efficient humidification in the summer months to the benefit of all the ripes.  I stopped using a hygrometer.  The Power Humidity Ward (PHW) of the PJRC receives visits on a daily basis, so there is very little concern about mold.  Furthermore, temps remain moderate from daily maritime breezes that cool the air.  Temps have rarely gone above 85, with an average range between 65-85.  Furthermore, any particular concerns about humidity can be addressed by moving ripes from the PHW to another ward in the PJRC.

No such concerns apply to GS, which is now exhibiting sweetness, a cherry-cum-berry flavour, and a slight camphor note.  Remarkable are both bitter and astringent features that express both in the broth and aftertaste, especially the astringency.  The fruit is very promising and much bolder than before.  It’s downright fruity.  Let there be no doubt: GS is in a much better place.

The astringency and bitterness got me curious.  Golden Sail is a Zhongcha/CNNP export brand.  I had assumed that this tuo was their flagship ripe 7581 devised by the Kunming TF but the wrapper offers no indication.  However, this degree of bitterness and astringency doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of the 7581, which is never bitter or astringent.  Such a profile suggests that the material comes from considerably smaller leaves, possibly grade-four leaves and smaller.  Close inspection shows tiny twiggy material, tips, and chopped leaf.

Come to think of it, the release rate of GS is along the lines of smaller leaves, very quick.  Even so, the durability is greater than with most gongtings.  It offers six solid infusions.  As with most ripes this age, clarity is first rate.

 

Puerh Junky’s 2022 Visit Olympics

Posted on by Yang-chu
17 Aug

Puerh Junky’s 2022 Visit Olympics presents us with a tidy way of distinguishing this missive from those of previous years.  Suffice it to say that the ole Beijing Olympics has thrown yours truly yet another curve.  Beijing Olympics still proves to be one of the most enigmatic among the Collection.  Let’s begin.

Previous posts have noted a waxiness and fuzziness in Beijing Olympics taste.  The last tasting did not demonstrate this and anticipated a transition to dark fruit notes and wood.  In that session, Puerh Junky noted that the BJO had definitely turned a corner toward an generally more pleasing and less cryptic experience.  As far as being a tastier experience, this remains true but in terms of the direction it is taking. . . well.

Let’s back up.  Today 17 Aug 2022, I broke into a new cake which has been considerably drier stored than the cake from which I’ve been drinking the past few years.  Yes, it takes several years to get through a cake, as most drinking is dedicated to monitoring recent arrivals’ transition to their new climes here in LA.  I’m lucky if I get to productions that have been on hand for a spell more than twice a year.

A gander at BJO‘s leaves bore the appearance of a production from about 2014, making up some arbitrary year to fully convey just how young these leaves look.  Accordingly, the liquor is nearly clear with some vivid yellow.  The infusions 2-5 were about 3-3.5 in terms of clarity with the sixth being crystal clear and and a darker yellow.  The liquor seemed considerably lighter than any of the previous sessions.  I’ve begun to notice that some productions can actually go from dark to a lighter colour, which strikes me as super curious to say the least.

The taste and body mirror the colour.  There’s no flavour that jumps out and the tastes that are there are hard to identify.  It would be fair to say that the broth is not only Zen but thin.  Then the huigan kicks in.  I’ll get to that later.  The broth is definitely sweeter than ever.  It doesn’t have to compete with fuzziness, so it definitely stands out more than anything else.  It’s not super sweet but the sweetness is definitely pleasant and lasts throughout.  Regarding the blandness, I had two thoughts: maybe brewing in clay and/or more leafage would have been better.  I used about 5.5g in 90g gaiwan.

The aroma and taste sync at the early stage.  After about the 8th round the aroma takes on a vegetal character common with some ripes.  At the early stages, however, there’s a clear resin note that I can only most closely associate with hyssop and lemonene.  There is some citric acid sour in there but it’s hard to pinpoint the fruit, maybe about 25% apricot.  The lemonene note is not of lemons or other citrus.  Many other plants have that molecule, which is why I refer to the molecule and not lemons.

There’s other associations, cinnamon, marshmallow, vanilla, the usual cast of characters, later on Juicy Fruit.  You won’t taste much of it in the broth.  It’s all in a simply marvelous huigan.  Also, I tasted something like split pea or mung beans at infusion 7.  Is that the “yam” that people reference?  The Juicy Fruit made wonder if it’s a slight variant of the vaunted ZC Jia-Ji.

Back to the huigan and the hyssop.  Granted, you might not know that aroma.  It’s somewhere between 65% tea tree and 35% eucalyptus.  It’s camphor but it’s not the camphor of heavy storage.  The effect aggressively cools in the mouth, then you have all those flavours coming in behind it, with the sweetness and bits of sour.  This behavior continues from one infusion to the next.  Each cup you try to identify what you cannot taste in the broth and then sit there for a spell feeling the tingle in the mouth before the dryness passes, the sour and sweet kick in, and those complexities of flavour emerge.  Wash-rinse-repeat.

The qi become fully apparent at around infusion 4-5, heady and uplifting in the chest.  As the session continues and the brew is pushed, the qi sensation increases accordingly.  Although the colour darkens only marginally, BJO‘s age shines through as the session increases by never bottoming out.  The complex tastes in the huigan continue throughout without ever becoming astringent or signalling that you’ve reached that immaturity point.  It seems in fact, that the cinnamon becomes even more pronounced in later stages along with the Juicy Fruit.  There is “that veggie note” of ripes that is obvious in broth but thankfully it doesn’t carry over into into the huigan.  I really like how it feels in the chest.  The overall personality is cheerful and even expansive.  Even made me stretch my back a few times.

Beijing Olympics is a good time.  The material is clearly mostly eastern Lincang from the Bangdong area.