Lux 2024 Xigui Gushu Blend Orb

Xigui is a name that carries a lot of weight in the world of puer tea.  It's often awarded a place in the top three most coveted production regions: Xigui, Bingdao, and Laobanzhang.  As a result, there is a huge amount of fake Xigui tea out on the market in China and in the West.  The reasons these teas are fake is because they are not made of tea that was grown in the rather small core region of the Xigui village out East of Lincang.  

Similar to the 2023 Sweet Memories, the leaves in the warmed gaiwan exude a juicy aroma of oranges and other citrus fruits.  While the leaves steal the fragrance show on the first few infusions, this is one of the rather rare and special teas where a majority of the fragrances are stored in the tea soup itself, thus we spend less time smelling the leaves, and more time drinking the tea.  Each mouthful is truly a bouquet of flavors.

The brew is a bright gold and very full in the mouth.  It is surprisingly thick and heavy for such a light broth, and seems to coat the whole mouth during each infusion.  When drinking the Qiaomu alone, the tea was on the tip of the tongue, when drinking the gushu alone, it went straight to the back of the throat, together, this blend represents a well-balanced mouth-feel and very satisfying drinking sensation.  While the brews start off thick and meaty with the pleasant swift bitterness associated with Xigui, it quickly begins turning sweeter and sweeter with each infusion.

We are very pleased with how this blend turned out, as after a few sessions we started to sweat, felt our digestive track moving, and had a lovely sensation in the mouth, in short, the Chaqi was on point.