Chamoting Yibi 2012 vs XZH 2011 Zhangjiawan

Chamoting Yibi 2012:

wet leaves: mainly forest fragrance & something fruity soup: pale gold color, cloudy.. oily surface: some bubbles settle for good like on a guinness surface 0/ the rince is thrown away, not in a good mood today 1/ tastes very fruity, some honey-like sweetness and almond. In 2012 there were lots of spicy/wild flavours like in the ys chaqi ’11, but apparently they are gone for this one. the aftertaste starts slightly mineral, then comes slowly some fruits and sweetness the leaves start to deliver nice sweet aromas in the room

2/ the soup is not cloudy anymore, gold color, stable bubbles on the thick surface the fruity taste and the almond are now meeting some sweet spices, some milk is coming, and the whole tastes… yiwu! the classic yiwu flavor has just arrived. the rooms smells sweets, just like the leaves, the aftertaste is having a bit of anise

3/ i’m pushing this one: there’s even more a that classic yiwu area flavor (like for example, in that ’06 red cake houde had, museum something, if i remember well… or in some douji yiwu zhenshan too), i’m still surprised, again it was quite “wild” in ‘12.. well it’s very sweet, smooth, sligthly refreshing with the anise in the aftertaste.. and it’s not red tea!

4/ more milk, a bit minty this time. pretty delicious if you like this kind of sweet tea. 5/ pushing too much by mistake, the soup is dark orange. There is more anise, and it taste bitter this time, but that vanishs in a seconds. the yiwu flavors appear in the returning sweetness which disappears quickly too. Some astringency is settling in the mouth… ther’s maybe a distant soap too

6/ the brews are longer and the soup is dark orange, the taste is fading there is no much shengjin, but the tip of the tongue and the lips benefit some creamy feelings. a little head focused energy …

i regret i didn’t buy more of their yiwu collection in ’12, it was relatively cheap: i’ve tried several samples of them but given how different this one now is, it was useless for educational prupose.. i have a small cake of autumn mahei though

XZH 2011 Zhangjiawan :

Compared to the yibi it is less fruity and has more tobacco. This one has also some classic yiwu flavors, they show up faster. It is perhaps very slightly more red, not sure though, but the biggest difference is that this one comes with an elegant and fairly present sourness. The aromas are also much more sour.

The huigan behavior is similar for both, the length is pretty weak here too, but the aftertaste starts with more depth (less than the mahei) and it leads to a lasting and obvious sweet houyun. The mouthfeel is more persistent, there’s a little shengjin here.

The soup is slightly oilier in the mouth. It looks less durable, maybe not, i will not check that tonight.

I like its sourness even if maybe it makes it feel less dynamic, but it is also quite unique and nice. This one has more nobility, i like both.