2007 Pin Xiang "Bu Lang Shan Tuo" Raw Pu-erh Tea

Bought this on TaoBao but I am pretty sure it is the same one as is sold on YS. Nice wet-stored raw, very dark for its age. Nice basement aromas with some spicy character, dark color and satisfying body. Wet leaves smell have that woody smell of antique shops. Rich taste, full and mellow mouthfeel, slight amount of pleasing astringency. Nicely lasting (in the throat and in the brewing vessel). I hope it will still be sold when I do my next TaoBao order, I will definitely buy a couple more!

Excellent well aged tea. I suppose the wetter storage shows how it accelerated aging nicely. This is at a point where all of the flavor has mellowed together to create a very good tea. Hard to describe the flavor since nothing stands out strongly but the taste is fantastic. It lasts through many steeps and stays good through all of them. This will be tempting to make an every day drinker.

After 1 year of Canadian storage with slightly enhanced and stabilized humidity (but still dry compared to what I expect this tea has gone through), I see a relatively big change in the profile, which surprised me a little bit.

The smell is more nutty, sweet and medicinal. I think it’s a little more pungent, but not by a large amount. The taste, on the other hand, is more subtle. I can taste the strong herbal notes, but they are much more in the background. Also, the bitterness seems to have faded a notch, now it’s almost unnoticeable. Instead, I get more mushroom notes, especially in the finish. Mouthfeel is more or less the same as far as I can remember.

At this point I wouldn’t say it’s either worse or better than when I bought it necessarily, just different. I have a feeling that if it mellows out much further than it could become too flat. For now it’s ok though.

This is probably one of the best entry points for those exploring both aged and wetter-stored tea. It is super affordable and has a very approachable taste. It is a great introduction to the camphor notes of older pu’erh.

I wouldn’t say this is the most interesting pu’erh in my stash, but being able to sip the aromatic and earthy flavors of a wet-stored, semi-aged pu’erh like this (and spend less than $20 on it), it is a must-have and will be a repurchase for me.

The flavor is something of a combination of tobacco/leather notes of other semi-aged raws, the earthy sweetness of ripe pu’erh, and the tannic bite of a strongly brewed black tea breakfast blend.

An affordable and educational tea for those exploring storage effects on raw pu’erh.
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Dry leaf – aged tobacco, camphor, root beer, sassafras, hints of dried date. In preheated vessel – sweet and savory notes of cream of wheat and sweet bean/taro paste.

Smell – aged tobacco, sweet dry spice, stewed black tea; secondary notes of camphor, sassafras, and dried date.

Taste – Arrival of tobacco, leather, strong black tea blend. Development of ripe pu’erh earthy sweetness, creaminess, and hints of chocolate. Finish includes camphor and dried date. Aftertaste of ripe pu’erh, black tea blend. Lemongrass notes arrive later in aftertaste.

$15.50 for 250 grams. Steeped 16 grams in 32 ounces boiled water for 6 minutes. Tastes like a mixture of equal amounts of black (“red”) tea and ripe Pu-erh tea, so this raw Pu-erh has aged about half way to the “dark tea” taste of a ripe Pu-erh. Has little astringency, and no acid bitterness. It’s a pleasant hybrid tea. At a very reasonable $1.76 per ounce, it’s worth a try.