2003 Chenyuan Hao Yiwu
5.8g/90ml Yixing, Toronto filtered Tap.
Tryptych, Eliane Radigue (1978)
Faint fruity fermentation aroma on damp leaf. Wash has a touch of smokiness to it. Wet leaf has an attractive woody and slightly sweet aroma.
Crystal clear bright orange liquor. Very thick. Sweet aftertaste. Woody resin, very mild, no sharpness and quite rounded. There is a strength but it is not sharp.
Very recognizable gushu Yiwu profile – a kind of sweet leather note and some juicy wood oils. Very nice second steep, bold orange colour, high viscosity, bittersweet wood oils with some herbal notes.
Very low bitterness and astringency, warming profile. No hong notes. Eye focus. Quieting.
Later steeps have a younger, brighter profile, and remain viscous. Interesting that it doesn’t have any of the sharp notes one usually gets from material with a decent proportion of tips.
Mid-aged profile with clean storage. Very comfortable calming and warming energy. Low astringency, woody bittersweet profile. Very enjoyable Yiwu gushu tea. In comparison with other Yiwus, I would say that the DTH yiwus are significantly more intense in flavour and energy, the BYH yiwus are more similar to this but slightly more full and dense. I believe I prefer the CYH Youle and Manzhuan to this tea, although I would be quite happy to have a few cakes of this CYH Yiwu. Very nice looking material as well. 7.4