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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.

Let’s jump to the end – buy this cake if you are fan of rich, bold puerh and great deals.

I bought this cake at the end of a short pu’erh tasting journey through various regions. I noticed that young Bu Lang had quite a personality, and frankly, was not something I enjoyed drinking young. However, my gut told me that it was the sort of thing that would age and mellow out – leaving great flavors and a big personality. To test my hypothesis, I bought this cake.

I think my gut was right. This tea has a lot of depth and personality. There is a rich savoriness that is balanced throughout, from smell to aftertaste, by an equally rich and complex sweetness. In addition, just enough sharp flavors like astringency and bitter herb help lift the whole experience – like a well-hopped beer.

I still can’t figure out Hai Lang Hao though. The dude has cakes going for almost $1K, and then he has stuff like this. In any event, I get to have a budget cake made by someone who knows what they’re doing, so I’ll take it.

This is a great addition for anyone looking to have some semi-aged stuff on hand.
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Dry leaf – aged spicy tobacco, hay, notes of spicy sweetness (like spiced jelly candy – clove, sassafras). In preheated vessel – dark tobacco notes get bolder and more notes of spiced jellies.

Smell – mushroom broth (vegetal, savory, earthy sweetness), hints of spiced jellies, hay and barn notes, sweetness like spice cake, hints of pine resin.

Taste – mushroom broth is primary flavor. Hay/barn and medium/sweet tobacco are secondary flavors. Light molasses and spice cake sweetness arrives in late development and finish. Chocolately body in finish and aftertaste, with returning spiced jelly sweetness balanced by savory notes from development. Some astringency in finish, with light bitter green herb.

This was a pit stop along a brief hei cha journey that actually began over a year ago. I sampled some tian jian a while ago and enjoyed it, so I invested in another tian jian, some liu bao, and some fu just to get some bearings on the hei cha world.

Much like my liu bao experience, my fu experience has required some getting used to. It is very yeasty and grainy – almost starchy – and not at all what you get from any other tea.

It’s not bad; in fact, it is intriguing because of how different it is. I had an easier time aligning tian jian with hong cha (sort of), and liu bao with ripe pu’erh. This guy, though, stands alone. Imagine putting a little brewer’s yeast into a black tea breakfast blend and you get sort of close.

Anyway, I would certainly recommend this to anyone who really enjoys exploring the breadth and depth of Chinese teas. Because it is so different from everything else, it is a necessary pit stop. It took me a full year to wrap my head around it, and I still am, to be honest. Probably not a re-purchase for me, but I’m holding a little back so I can revisit it in another year or so.
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Dry leaf: brewer’s yeast, black tea breakfast blend. In preheated vessel – stronger aromas as before, with notes of starchy cooked yam, and hints of grape syrup and bruleed sugar

Smell: brewer’s yeast, cooked yam, dry spices

Taste: brewer’s yeast, milky mild black tea breakfast blend, hints of dark caramel. Aftertaste of hardwood, cream of wheat, with hints of lemongrass.

This story begins a year ago when I was about to throw this tea out. I smelled it – dirt. I brewed it – dirt. I tasted it – dirt. Things were not going well, and this tea and I were not seeing eye-to-eye.

Luckily, I stuffed it in with my ripe pu’erh stash and figured it deserved a second chance at some point.

Between now and then, something happened – the tea changed, I changed, we both changed… I don’t know, but I really like it. Yeah, it still has a lot of earthiness, but that earthiness has depth and dimension – sweetness, dry Irish stout-like body, notes of cherry wood and carob. There are even camphor notes that waft through your nose and make the whole thing just a fascinating experience.

You could tell me this was some really old, fairly expensive ripe pu’erh, I would believe you. In fact, I would buy this over quite a few ripe pu’erhs I have purchased.

Really glad I hung on to it. Well worth a re-purchase.
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Dry leaf: earth, potting soil. In preheated vessel – carob, wet bark, hints of camphor.

Smell: cherry wood, potting soil, carob, camphor.

Taste: wet earth, cherry wood, carob. Irish stout-like body with a dry richness and subtle sweetness. Hints of camphor weaving throughout.

Another run-in with an aged oolong…

The roast on this is strong, but balanced. Unlike other heavily-roasted oolongs I have had, this one has deep roastiness without assaulting your palate with lighter fluid and charcoal. In fact, it has the depth and richness of a well-roasted coffee.

As for the aging, I suppose it has helped add some depth of flavor. It reminds me of a pu’erh with some age on it, with a lingering base of sweet earthy flavors that help other flavors pop and transition.

So, I certainly did enjoy drinking this tea. For me, though, I still prefer less of a charcoal note so that I have access to finer flavors. This one was so roasty that it really just made me want to grab a cup of coffee.

Also, I’m cheap. At $7 for 25g, I’m paying about $2 per session. Not bad for a treat, but if I’m going to treat myself, I’ll stick with Tie Luo Han, which I thought had a more dynamic experience. For a more economical Wu Yi, I recommend Golden Guan Yin Da Hong Pao or Traditional Roast Shui Xian.
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Dry Leaf – dry nuttiness like peanut shell, dry spice, cocoa powder, musty fruitiness – some prune, citric tartness, hints at charcoal roast. In preheated vessel – big whallop of charcoal – not super pleasant.

Smell – charcoal roast, peanut shell, hard wood. Again, not really pleasant.

Taste – bold charcoal roast (but not lighter fluid), deep roasted nut, coffee-like. Development has creamy earthiness and minerality that includes some marine savoriness. Aftertaste gives way to melon, citrus tart notes with underlying sweet prune.

This guy has a bit of buzz and mystique around it. I certainly get it – it definitely is a departure from your typical white tea experience, but after having a few other purple tea experiences, including black and raw pu’erh, the mystique is losing a bit of its magic for me.

From what I’ve experienced, purple tea (this one included), comes with a big whallop of funky fruit flavors, sort of the like what you get with papaya. Funky but sweet.

So, it is delicious. But, it is also STRONG. For me, these purple tea flavors are so strong that they sort of bully the other “standard” flavors of the tea. It’s a little difficult getting past them.

Anyway, as far as white tea is concerned, I think I’ll stick to silver needle. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of peach iced tea, you will definitely dig this tea.
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Dry leaf – strong fruit – peach cobbler, melon; autumn leaves, a fruity-funkiness you get with some tropical fruit (like papaya), green leaf; hints of malt and nut. In preheated vessel – more dark honey and honeysuckle notes

Smell – almond nuttiness, malt sweetness, wood, peach, fruit funk, black tea blend with milk, hints of cucumber and mint

Taste – milky black tea blend, peach and berry compote, melon, cucumber, raw almond, honeysuckle, potpourri

This is a good black tea to have when you want something different from the norm. It still has some familiar black tea notes, notably roasted nut and sweet potato; however, there is some funky fruity sweetness that runs through the whole experience that makes it stand out from others.

I keep using “grape leaf” and sweet potato to capture some of these flavors, but there are some other fruit flavors that are present, especially blackberry syrup.

Given its name, there are certainly some parallels with Oriental Beauty oolong – there is always a certain fragrance about the whole experience that is a bit floral and fruity that you almost never get with black tea.

All that said, YS is selling it super cheap, and it’s a great departure from the heavy-handed nature black teas can sometimes have. There is always a certain lightness to this tea that is refreshing.
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Dry leaf – grape leaf, grape vine, raw peanut. In preheated vessel notes of chocolate, date, and blackberry syrup

Smell – roasted nuts, sweet potato casserole, grape leaf, hints of blackberry syrup

Taste – roasted nut, sweet potato, grape leaf. Aftertaste has notes of date and chocolate sweetness, hints of fresh mint

It’s been a while since I actually had this tea; I’m a little behind on my notes. So, I just have some random observations collected from various scraps of paper that had notes on them – the end result of my tea sessions coinciding with my two-year old’s tea parties… Anyway, here’s what little sense I could make of them:

My experience changed a bit as I worked through my 50g pouch. My first impressions noted its sweet smokiness, mainly because I wasn’t expecting it. Just based on the color and my impression of Jin Jun Mei, I was expecting a whallop of malt sweetness. Instead, the main flavors where thick roasted nut notes and some sweet smokiness.

As I got to know the tea, though, I wasn’t noting the smokiness nearly at all – that got overshadowed by the prominent nut notes. Beyond this, I was really picking up sweet, fruity flavors, with a little pleasant funkiness (I called this “grape leaf”).

So, it was an engaging tea that made me want to explore it more. Overall, it definitely fits in the “roasted nut” flavor profile of black teas. However, there is some noticeable sweetness and fruitiness that keeps the flavor profile complex and balanced.

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Dry leaf – mesquite smoke (barbecue), fragrant floral, pollen, molasses, hints of grape leaf and red currant. In preheated vessel – peanut, buttery toffee

Smell – mesquite wood smoke, roasted pecan, dark caramel, pungent floral?/wet wood?

Taste – heavily roasted pecan and hazelnut, grape leaf*, mesquite, brown sugar and malt sweetness; fruity and syrupy finish and aftertaste – grape leaf, mesquite smoke, red currant, molasses and malt.

*Grape leaf – fruity, leafy, musty flavor – some fruit sweetness counteracted by a leafy greenness and slight bitterness. Musty without being earthy.

Really nice tea. Bang Dong, it seems, is one of my preferred areas, and this one didn’t disappoint. Really nice herbal notes that are restrained by a mushroom savoriness and fruit and chocolate sweetness.

Great complexity and variety of flavor, and super easy to drink, especially for such a young tea.
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Leaf – peach, rock candy, fresh autumn leaves, honeysuckle, date, lemongrass. In preheated vessel – stronger fruit notes – grape, raisin, date

Smell – sweet herbal (parsley, cilantro, fresh grass), char-grilled zucchini, crab apple, mushroom, carob

Taste – mushroom, zucchini, fresh grass, slight bitter herbal / aftertaste of fresh grass, light mint, milk chocolate and carob, lemongrass, light citrus and peach notes, date, hints of fruit leather. Lingering floral note in aftertaste.

So, right now I am drinking a Wu Yi tea, but it’s not this one. Here’s why: I wasn’t terribly impressed with this tea, and I got worried that maybe my palate had changed and I just wasn’t appreciating Wu Yi teas right now for some reason. So, just to see what was going on, I grabbed some of my favorite Wu Yi tea (YS Golden Guan Yin DHP). Still love the Golden Guan Yin – great minerality, wonderful spice notes, strong fruity aftertaste – so I guess the Lao Cong Shui Xian just wasn’t for me. Let me dive in:

To sum up my experience in one word – flat. It just doesn’t have much in terms of flavor in-mouth or in the aftertaste. Very subdued. On the palate, I didn’t find the liquor to change much in terms of flavor from one infusion to the next. I even heavily leafed my gaiwan (literally stuffed full of leaves), and still – nothing. Just a very monotone delivery.

There is nothing here that tastes bad; it just isn’t very dynamic or memorable. It sort of tastes like the 6th or 7th infusion of some other Wu Yi. And it just stays like that.

Don’t take my word for it – others certainly have had very positive experiences with this tea. However, in terms of flavor and value for money, I would say there are other Wu Yi oolongs that surpass this one.
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Dry leaf – peanut shell, hazelnut, hints of dark chocolate and cinnamon. Hints of tartness like tart raspberry or red currant

Smell – wood, peanut shell, charcoal roast, dry baking spice

Taste – peanut shell, English breakfast tea, charcoal roast, some minerality. Hints of cinnamon and baking spice, cocoa powder. Aftertaste of lemongrass, mild and subdued peach and raspberry. Lemongrass lingers.