2005 Hai Lang Hao "Lincang Impression" Raw Pu-erh Tea

My label of, probably, this tea, says “2015”; but I just think that derk has sent me this and it is just a written typo. Thank you anyway!

And it is another tea finished in single session; I used all 7 grams at once.

No rinse, boiling water; my only one gaiwan with volume 125 ml.

First steep was roughly 20 seconds long and honestly, I just remember I liked it, but I gulped it so fast and I haven’t wrote any impressions. Sheng-y goodiness is what I recall. The wet leaves after this steep are quite funky in the aroma, somehow herbaceous, but also mentioned in earlier reviews notes like egg shells and BBQ.

Second steep I cut the steeping time to 10 seconds only and it brings sweet notes with vegetables, as it cooled down the more sheng sweetness appear, but there is no astringency or bitterness; it is very mellow and smooth. I don’t notice any smokiness as others.

Third steep was 15 seconds long, producing a beautiful color of the liquor with a smoky aroma that I missed in previous steeps. I agree with Togo that it smells a bit like grilled vegetables a bit, moss and Finnish damp forest.
As of flavours, it seems it hits their peak, there are too much of them to describe… somehow similar to the aroma — grilled vegetables; but of course as I haven’t tasted moss nor Finnish forest not these notes. But it was slightly woody, a bit smoky and a little of astringency is here.

4th steep, 25 seconds
Minerality has appeared and complements well with the astringency… and bitterness. Not my favourite profile, but there are still lovely vegetable notes in the cup; especially when it has cooled down a bit.
A slight woody note is still there as well as the smoke, but overall it is a calming tea, and glad I took it today after yesterday stressful day at work.
I am suprirsed it is so flavourful after those steeps, as often the flavours hit their peaks and then they disappear very quickly, sometimes in very next steep (like a steam above pot — that’s a Czech saying).

5th steep, 30 seconds
It is still very flavourful, and here I noticed still the grilled vegetable note with some vegetal astringency. Gets a little salty, as Togo has mentioned. I wasn’t too focused to this steep, though.

6th steep, 45 seconds
Right away I made this steep, I had to go away from keyboard and cup; and when I returned I had just right lukewarm tea with lovely flavours, though a bit heavy for my stomach. Dominant notes were astringency and saltiness, with vegetal aftertaste.

7th steep, 50 seconds
About 90 minutes later… as I went for a lunch, then did some grocery shopping and just returned to the tea.
The water was in thermos, so nothing wrong with this and tea was covered with gaiwan lid.. nothing that could happen here as well.
It still have lots of flavour, I notice more of the moss instead of vegetables.

A few next steeps were made, and this tea apparently lasts long… afterall, it was mentioned by other reviewer as well. It is a great tea, especiall considering it is, probably, 20 years old, I am pretty sure it has aged beautifully. I can’t believe that this tea was pressed when I was 10, and now I am drinking it almost 30 years old. It has to change… like I did.

Dear glorb, I’ve tried to log this tea twice since drinking it and each time, something has come up. This time I had to take my old meow meow to the emergency vet. Hopefully some fluid injections, antibiotics and anti-nausea meds will remedy her ailments.

The dry leaf had an aroma of bitter apricot and the warmed leaf an addition of a woodsy aroma with a hint of vanilla? Rinsing the leaf brought out scents that better matched the taste of the liquor. I could smell grilled vegetables like summer squash with light smoke, cooked mushrooms, uncured tobacco and that bitter apricot. I can see how Togo interpreted the wet leaf aroma as egg shells, bbq sauce and celery root.

The liquor was a beautiful champagne hue with a tinge of pink. The brew was astringent and bitter (pleasantly so for a bitter puerh lover) with notes of minerals, wisps of smoke, grilled vegetables, earth, cooked mushroom and a carrot sweetness. The texture I found a little thin and it left behind a sandpapery roughness as I swallowed. The tea did not change much in flavor or texture throughout the session. The spent leaf is small and as noted by Togo, still very green. The cha qi moved in quickly on the second steep when I began moving slowly and my eyelids drooped. I was in the midst of packing up my belongings while drinking this and found myself getting sidetracked easily. It was a heavy, cooling, spaced-out energy.

Overall, I found the tea to be pretty pleasant and the light smokiness a nice addition to what is mostly a vegetable-mushroom tasting sheng with good longevity. I think it might continue to be a pleasant offering several years down the road.

This tea has one of the strongest dry leaf aromas I have encountered in a sheng – mostly smells of honey and cookies. After the rinse, the aromas change dramatically to smoky & earthy ones, and strangely enough the wet leaves don’t actually have such a pungent smell anymore. They give off aromas like egg shells, bbq sauce and celery root.

The taste is very strong and bitter right up front in the first few infusions (make sure you keep your initial steeps short). The quinine like bitterness quickly transforms into sweetness though. Other than that, it is a mineral tea with some notes of moss, dry grass and cranberry. The aftertaste starts off sweet but becomes slightly salty afterwards. In late infusions (above 10) I also get the standard tobacco and mushroom flavours, the former actually really strong in the aftertaste.

The liquor has medium thickness and is mouth-watering, oily and a touch powdery. It is also quite warming in the throat. The most memorable aspect of the tea is definitely the cha qi though. It hits really hard, this is not a tea to drink while working. I had to lie down after 3 infusions already.

The leaves are young (small) and still very green, attesting to the dry storage of the tea. It still has quite a way to go in terms of aging. I wish the mouthfeel was thicker overall. Because of the pungent taste, steeping more aggressively doesn’t seem to be a viable option to improve that. But ok, I can accept that this tea is not about the mouthfeel, rather the ‘mindfeel’ and, to a lesser extent, the strong taste. The longetivity is quite good too. Right now I am on steep 14 or so (each one of which was 90-100ml and the first few I should have done shorter tbh), and it seems like it will last for a few more at least.