Highlights:
- 100% pure ancient tree ChaWangShu
- Sweet, thick, enveloping taste and aftertaste
- Among the strongest (and most well balanced) taste Yiwu has to offer
- Also among the most intense Qi Yiwu has to offer, already turned on the grounding side by the aging
The “holy trinity” of Puerh is generally considered to be ManSong, BoHeTang and LaoBanZhang. but ChaWangShu is the hidden gem of elite Yiwu single estate, despite the price being much more affordable. Real, full powered 100% pure ancient tree CWS is rarely seen on the open market (even less than the areas above) because pros stock it up and it’s mostly reserved ahead of time.
Compared to the excellently reviewed 2016 Gold Mark Gua Feng Zhai (also Tier 5), this cake is stronger, more intense and has less aged flavour and a bit less patience. Overall, this is a very ‘in your face/obviously good’ tea, the GFZ is more of a ‘good depth’ tea. You probably want one of each 🙂
Good in that effortless, no-faults typical of CYH tea, this is to my knowledge the best ChaWangShu available on the open market (by far). Aged by CYH in their own dry storage environment. Brew it strong, this tea shines with richness in taste and Qi.
There are 6 cakes in 1 tong, buy 1tong and get an extra cake + an extra slice of Gold Mark Gua Feng Zhai.
357g cakes and approx. 85g slices.
James T. (verified owner) –
A lovely, well behaved, flawless, refined tea. I brewed in porcelain with just enough 100c water to cover the leaves. Wet leaf has a deep, concentrated aroma, almost perfumed. Initial steeps complex and extremely well balanced with a nice clean semi aged classic Yiwu flavor. Around steep 7 it started to get sweet and continued to do so, with more intensity up to about steep 12. 15 steeps in and it’s still sweet and has more to give up.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Delicious
Jean Hammond (verified owner) –
Thank you Una and Paolo and Puerh for such a special day. I was met with a beautiful space and people. I totally love what you do. I felt I had been embraced by the tea , family and friends . It felt so good to enter and experience a Sunday of none linear time . XXX
Guillaume C. (verified owner) –
I spontaneously and usually brew light, and I agree, in this case you miss a lot if you don’t brew it quite strong, since a lot of what makes it particularly interesting is its strength. Almost no astringency at all, no (lasting) bitterness to speak of, it’s really something to try if you want to complete your knowledge of Yiwu.
Michael S. (verified owner) –
Louis (verified owner) –
I have been drinking puerh for 14 years, and I have tried many hundreds of teas. This one topped them all. There’s only one other tea I’ve had with comparable thickness, savory flavor intensity, depth of aftertaste, and persistence of aftertaste. It was an iron cake with 40 years of Hong Kong storage and a higher price point than this. Of course, that was a very different flavor profile and a completely different tea but it is the only thing I know of that had comparable thickness, flavor intensity, and aftertaste.
Chen Yuan Hao’s 2016 Chawangshu is a rock star in several areas where it is at a level not exceeded by anything else I know of. These areas include flavor intensity, thickness, hui gan, qi, and aftertaste. It coats the throat with a strong, savory flavor that can be noticed deep in the throat even quite a long time after drinking. There is no astringency even when brewed quite strongly. Its bitterness is soft, subtle, and perfectly balanced. It goes down easy, inducing saliva production. It offers good complexity with floral notes complimented by leather, chocolate, wood, and grain. Whereas many modern Yiwu productions have disappointed me by being overly light, weak, and/or thin, I found that this tea struck a sharp contrast against all that. The powerful strength of this tea’s effect on my body made it most necessary to ensure that I had eaten well before drinking it. The qi is enveloping, comfortable, and enduring relaxation. In summary, it is exceptional in several areas, better than most in a few others, and lacking in none.