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I’ve decided to revisit the beautiful Bulang mountain range this morning with a 2010 Gu Ming Xiang Ban Pen sheng. The wet leaves, which are of an impressive size and produce a delightful amber liquor, radiate an aroma that I can only describe as smoky vegetal (I believe this aroma is similar to the aroma found in the Lao Man E sheng I described not too long ago). Frankly, the aroma isn’t as impressive as say a Jingmai ,but I suppose this is expected from a Bulang. What is impressive is this teas profile and kou gan. The tea exhibits a pleasant transformation from a light bitterness to a subtle sweetness. It only takes a few sips of this tea to bring out a well balanced astringency and Hui Gan in the mouth. IMO, this tea is a fine tea. It has a lot of character. I look foward to drinking it a few months down the road! Perhaps an 84/100 is fair assessment.

Parameters : 4.5 g / 100 mL of water @ ~200 F

I received my first Lao Man E beeng (2009 Hai Lang Hao “Lao Man’E Wild Arbor”). I’ve read several articles describing the regions intense bitterness, but have never experienced it. I began by breaking off 4.5 grams of dry leaf. The dry leaves seem medium in size with a fair share of buds. I suppose its fair to say it looks like your typical arbor beeng. The wet leaves have a brownish green colour to them and are indeed intact. Very nice to look at. This tea produces a nose that I have yet to come across. Its aroma hints at the forthcoming bitterness, an aroma which I can best describe as a vegetal smokiness (I want to say that the wet leaves have an intense bitter aroma, so intense that it seems smoky. However, I dont feel comfortable using the term bitter to describe a scent. Perhaps someone trying this tea can comment on this?). A brief 10 second steep yields an amber coloured liquor with intense bitterness, much more so than any LBZ I’ve had. In fact, I think this is the most bitter tea I’ve had (not including accidental oversteeps). Accompanied with the bitterness is a pleasant floral sweetness, albeit, it is rather subtle. The body is thick and coats the inner mouth with a subtle sweetness. The most impressive aspect of this tea, as Scott mentions in the YS description, is its qi. Its cha qi is incredibly strong and I’d echo his comments on it. There is also a pleasing hui gan and hui tian. I am happy with this purchase and I will definitely be picking up another beeng as I can see this material aging very well. 85/100

In light of Canada’s hockey victory, I’ve decided to treat myself to a steeping of this wonderful 1980s Menghai Yiwu Spring Buds 7532. This is another special tea that excites the soul. The wet leaves release a sweet wood-like character and a soup that is remarkably clean. Its colour brings cherry wood to mind. On the palate this tea has a pure, sweet woody note with a thick body to it. This tea is also pretty dynamic as there seems to be a peak of sweetness near the end of its profile. Clean, sweet, dynamic with a pleasant hui lian. Very good tea in my books.

This is a fine tea. The wet leaves don’t produce a particularly impressive aroma but do produce a soup with a beautiful medium amber colour with little to no cloudiness. This tea has a remarkably smooth body with floral and honey notes that brings upon a noticeable qi. There is a soft Hui Gan which arises with time. I’d say the prominent feature of this tea is its smoothness, a term that I feel is sometimes loosely used. This bing was definitely worth the money.

Edit : Very nice citrus notes

Impeccable. That is the single word I would use to describe this tea. Easily among the best young puerhs I’ve had, if not the best. The prominent feature of this material is a wonderful lone note of honey, a note which the wet leaves grace the drinker with. I enjoyed this aroma for a good two minutes or so. The leaves brew a graceful, surprisingly clear, dark amber – a colour suggesting more age to it than there actually is – colour. Beautiful. The soup is smooth with just enough body to coat the mouth with a fine Hui Gan sensation – all this while the notes of honey tickle your taste buds.
I will definitely be steeping this tea for the rest of the day.

Side Notes : I believe the darker soup is due to the fact that this tea was stored as loose maocha for four years, hence, able to age much quicker. Also, despite how much I am enjoying this tea, I feel I would be remiss to not mention, what I feel to be this teas single downfall, the price! This bing sells at a whopping 85 british pounds! If it weren’t for this, I’d definitely own a tong.

Parameters : 6 grams to 120 mL of water. 5-15 second steeps.

I would say that this tea has aged well in the past 9 years. It brews a dark amber soup with wet leaves that have exceptional aroma. Due to the low compression, this tea does open up rather quickly – around the first or second steeping. The soup has practically no bitterness and a refreshing sweetness to it. I find it to have a high degree of astringency – a tea for those who enjoy the dry, puckering mouthfeel. Also, the soup seems to be rather 1-dimenional revealing only a fixed profile. A nice tea but nothing too spectacular, in my opinion.

I must say, this tea is one of the finest young puerhs I’ve had. It is truly impeccable. The wet leaves are a treat to my eyes. They are, in general, intact with beautiful little white hairs and hardy veins – usually an indication of arbor material. Pleasure to watch these leaves perform a wonderful Baroque dance to Bachs concerto #5. The consequence of such a beautiful performance by these little leaves is a brilliant golden soup – a soup that has various dimensions, thick yet silky smooth body and a slight bitterness that transforms into a heavenly sweetness. The Hui Gan is practically instantaneous with a half life of a good five minutes. In a nutshell, this is a tea with a lot going on. A fine tea.

Parameters : 4.5g to 100 mL in a Porcelain Gaiwan

Simply put, this tea is exceptional. It brews a dark amber soup that is rather clean considering its age. The leaves produce a wonderful honey-like, peachy aroma – one of a kind. Due to its compression, the leaves are, in general, not intact and it does take a few steeps to reveal its true character. However, its worth the wait. The tea is perfectly balanced with sweetness, astringency and a soft hui gan near the end. In my opinion, this is essentially the profile one seeks when dry-storing puerhs.

Parameters
5.5g to 100 mL water
10-20 second steeps