2009 Guan Zi Zai Jing Mai Wild Arbor

See product description here

I've been sampling whole load of young sheng from my recent order, and I'm pretty glad that I didn't order cakes right off the bat - some of these are stinkers. Now, most of them are stinkers not because they taste horrible, but they weren't my cup of tea. As of now, I'm looking to purchase for immediate consumption...not worrying too much about storage. Since I'm going to be gone for two years, now's not the best time to start collecting. I also figure that in the near-future it'd be clearer what kind of cakes are going to age and which ones are not. Hopefully any cakes I buy will start to age as usual once I move them to a more suitable aging environment.

So, I'm reviewing this cake as it is, without considering if it's going to age well or not. I'm starting to find that I like pu'er with character, raw and fierce...and from what I've tried so far I'm really digging stuff from Bu Lang or Jing Mai. And I don't like many of the Lin Cang/Meng Ku samples that I have, but maybe I'm not drinking the right stuff, or stuff from this region doesn't fit my needs.

So, onto the actual tea. I've returned to this tea a few times, just to be sure that I like it enough to buy a whole cake. I think I'm sold. The product description reads that this tea's "bitterness is rivalled only by Bu Lang." Very nice

The remaining piece of my original sample

There's a nuttiness that permeates this tea. From the dry aroma to the wet aroma to the actual tea itself, it's always there. This seems to be a trait common to teas from this area, IIRC. I'm quite happy to distinguish that, but perhaps I wouldn't be in if this were a blind tasting between regions. There's also a "savory" element in the tea, which is also apparent in the wenxiangbei. Quite smooth and creamy, a slight bitterness in the tip keeps this tea interesting, and which also also compelled me to order a cake once I'm done with all the samples I have. It seems fairly durable, but I didn't keep an exact count of how many infusions it went through before descending into simple honeyed tea water (though I went through half a pitcher of water, which is fairly remarkable since a whole pitcher lasts for three sessions).

I have a fair share of samples from Guan Zi Zai, and they've all left me with a good impression so far. But I'm still a greenhorn in sampling young sheng, so perhaps my opinion doesn't count as much. Would be nice to see other peoples' impressions of offerings from this company, especially the ones that are up on Yunnan Sourcing, which are all 2009 cakes.