As usual with these reports, even the most massive ones, there were a lot of late arrivals that didn’t meet my publish date. Having exhausted pretty much every thought I’ve had on Xiaguan in the past report I wasn’t quite sure what to do with a few of the late arriving Xiaguans. But I wanted to do something for these teas, so here’s a small addendum with notes.

Being burnt out of Xiaguan didn’t really have a desire to pad it with cheaper tea so these tend to be better Xiaguans.
Thanks to Phobos for sending a handful of blind samples.

Starting… I hit my benchmark, the 2005 XG T8653 from MX, and went back to the Xiaguan mines for some more friendly crane sparring.

1998 Xiaguan 8653  (7.5) via SF

Thankfully not overstored like SF’s unfortunate and disappointing 1999 or 2005 T8653. The tea is softish, woody. The tea is nice enough but disappointing in the hunt for densely packed strong Xiaguan tea. It is not nearly as dense as something like the 2001 Xiaguan Heifei. As the tea brews out it does improve a bit. Some salivation and not too drying. No menthol.

The tea itself is a bit sour and I do wonder if this would benefit from more conditioning. It’ll be an interesting reference to have around.

Revisiting the tea and hitting it a bit harder it is quite a bit better. It has more or less the same profile but seems more appropriately dense. The longevity falls off a cliff quickly after about steep 7, but it is enjoyable before that point.

After Alex’s post on fake XG, I’ve been a bit more paranoid about the legitimacy of some of these teas but it does seem like most people think SF is legitimate.

1999 Xiaguan Jiaji (7.4) via SF

Consumed blind from Phobos. Very woody. Good mouthfeel and mouthcoat. It dies relatively quickly but has good depth. Does not have that menthol/pine wood, so I assumed this was not a T8653. Was somewhat surprised to see it be a Jiaji. Definitely a pretty good version compared with some others I’ve had.

2000 Xiaguan Hongyin (6.6) via SF

Some sort of commission I believe. This is fairly dry stored. Woody, BBQ, retired smoke. I had one session get quite sour, but the second was a bit better. The tea overall is soft and woody. This is also disappointing in the sense that it lacks the punch or strength to really go much further. Not every pre-reform XG tea can be a winner. This is pretty mediocre IMO.

2001 Xiaguan Chawang Yellow (7.5) via Taishunhe

From Taishunhe via Quiche Group Buy. Thanks to that buy, there’s quite a bit of the Chawang circulating western tea circles. This is a little less aggressively stored than Yang’s version and for me a satisfying factory tea that’s in a nice place now. Very smooth, moderate body, oily, good depth. A lot of sweetness that is fairly persistent. Not the densest or strongest Xiaguan, but has a good aftertaste and easy enough to drink. If I were to be critical, this tea isn’t as strong as some of the better factory examples.

2001 Xiaguan Da Hongfei T8653 (7.3)

Consumed blind from Phobos. Good, but not great tea. Has a nice punch, some light bitterness and resin to it. Sort of like the 1999 Jiaji it is over relatively quick. It has a nice density to it and it does have a good amount of of bitterness.

Reflecting on this vs. the Heifei, this is the less impressive tea by a decent margin but also more ready to drink. Was slightly surprised to find this was a T8653. To me the gap between the Dahongfei and Heifei is larger than the Thin vs. Thick versions I’ve had from 2005.

2001 Xiaguan Heifei (8) via TWL

Consumed blind from Phobos. Perhaps the more promising teas I’ve had from these Xiaguan reports. This is somewhat similar to the 2005 Xiaguan T8653 in basic profile. Similarly thick, but a couple grades stronger. The initial steep and aroma have that very classic menthol, pine wood, sweet aroma that make me immediately assume this is a T8653.

What stands out here is the smoky peatiness/BBQ that is still very much intact. This tea is well aged but still has plenty of fuel in the tank to continue to age. I would consider buying this if TWL restocks.

2003 Xiaguan Teji Red Eye (7.2) via SF

This is apparently an early version of a Teji and thankfully moderately stored. The tea itself is enjoyable. It is more mellow, sweet, herbal, and woody than a Jiaji and not as packed with that Xiaguan intensity. It has a bit of resin, but not enough fuel to convince me there’s a ton of room for it to improve. The tea has overall decent (for a tuo) depth but fails to standout much beyond that. I think this might be a decent reference for Teji tuos, which I know much less well than Jiajis.

2003 Xiaguan FT Jiaji (6.5) via Laochafei

Consumed blind from Phobos after the Heifei. This one is OK. I do wonder if it suffers a bit because I had it shortly after the 2001 Heifei. it is very mellow. I don’t have Baoyan very frequently, but the coarse wood smoothness reminds me a bit of that. Very different from an 8653 profile. softer and to me lacks enough density and punch to be interesting.

2004 Xiaguan TFT8653 (6.7) via Laochafei

Consumed blind from Phobos. Nice enough, mellow, woody and easy drinking. Seems like it saw some humid storage but it is still pretty clean. I think due to the storage this presents quite different from the Taiwan-stored/MX-stored FT8653s I’ve had.

2005 Xiaguan T8653 SF (6) via SF

I really like this tea from MX. Unfortunately the SF version is overstored. It is mellow, woody, chocolatey. While drinkable, not exciting or interesting.

2005 Xiaguan TFT8653 (6.6) via Laochafei

Consumed blind from Phobos immediately after the 2004. Very sweet and woody. Has a bit of an acidic bite.

I was very surprised when I found out this was also a FT8653 products. Storage really makes a huge difference. Neither this nor the 2004 seemed to similar to each other either. They also both lacked that profile from my previous encounters with the 2004 FT8653 and the 2005 FT8653 (MX).

Last Thought

Finding good Xiaguan is hard! There are many wrong turns including storage and the batch/tea quality itself. Even teas that I know should be good are unsatisfying if the storage isn’t good. I very well may buy the Heifei from TWL if they restock it as its a tea that does hit a lot of the right boxes.