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I just updated this one after some research. It has older tea leaf in this cake. Stored as MaoCha and then they were pressed into cakes.

I pulled 9 grams off the cake to start with and gave a 5 second rinse. There is color in the rinse that would support the older material.
I started steeping at 5 second increments. The color on th e brews is a nice golden. The aroma has the camphor humid type note to it. This is confirmed upon drinking the tea. You can taste the humidity and the camphor notes along with some mineral in there. The leaf was pretty tightly pressed and there is some bitterness in there as well. This thing is very similar in profile to EoT’s Baotang. It has good storage without being too wet. It gives some tongue tingle and it exudes mintiness breathing it in and out for a minute or so. This thing feels almost like a supercharged ‘7542’ hits all the good notes for me.
This was loads better than the Menghai ’Old Tree Round" I had a while back. Maybe Menghai is something that can be drank without a 5 year or so aging process. I have a couple of more in this same style production to try as well from Menghai.

Brewing this up as I have been retasting a lot of stuff in storage .
I brought this one out and picked 10 grams off to start with. I warmed my Shiboridash and let the water out I tossed the dry leaf in and swirled it around. The aroma was a bit of the heavy tobacco to the nose. I gave it a rinse and let it sit a bit before brewing. The aroma is woody and sweetish in the cup.
First infusion, it has some of that thick almost bitter that belies its BuLang source. The color is a nice light amber in the cup. I sit back and let the tea rest in the mouth . The thickness and tobacco come to the front. A little mineral and a whisper of some smoke.
I have had some BuLangs that will smack you in the chops. This one is a bit more tame. It may even be one you could introduce a newer drinker to the BuLang area.
Later steeps carry through. I let this one cool a bit and it became almost sugarcane sweet.

I got this out after giving a little time to acclimate to its new home. I got 10 grams off this and it seemed to be loosely compressed and easy to get into. I put this in the gaiwan and rinsed it and allowed it to rest for about 15 minutes.
The wet leaf gave some hints of humid storage but not in an excessive way. I brewed it very quickly as Bu Lang tea is known for strength and bitterness. The brew turned out a nice golden color in the cup.
This is a strong Bu Lang! It seems to be oily and thick in the mouth. There is a pronounced bitter bite in this one. A bit of smoke that disappears very quickly. A hint of the old book and leather as well. I think the bitter and the old ’ horse tack leather’ as my friend KS says come through in this one. This is almost as strong and possessing the bite of a Lao Man E tea. For lovers of strong in your face teas this is one.

Been a while since I have had some time to post. Summer work schedule has been a bit brutal lately and the heat. I think most know it is that time of year.
I remember this when I first got it. I bought it untasted and then grabbed another after it got here.
I got about 10 grams of this to brew tonight. I have been doing it for 3 days but I wanted a fresh from the cake portion to start with.
The wet leaf after the rinse has a bit of smoke in there with a sweet aroma. The tea on the first brew has some sweetness in the beginning and the BuLang comes in. This one come in on the middle of the tongue. A bit of the oily coating come in on the sip. There is some tingle on the tongue. It is coming across as bitter and punchy. Smacking the taste buds around. The color of the tea is coming through as a more golden color. I remember it being a bit lighter and greener in color when young. I don’t know if it is the pumidor aging or a combination of both. This is warming , salty and with a nice bitter punch to it. There are wisps of some smoke and sweetness but the BuLang is the potent factor here. It is a nice blend and seems to be punching above its ticket for me. I have brewed this all week and I am glad I had a break to post on it.

I got about 9.5 grams of this out to try tonight. I used the Gaiwan to brew this up. I gave this a quick rinse and allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes.
I did 3 quick brews into a big mug, my favorite way for shou.
The brew is a nice deep amber color. The sips are very clean. I think the fermentation has left this one. It has the bittersweet chocolate and dry cocoa in the mouth. It tends to linger on the middle part of the tongue and whispers of a savory broth with some saltiness in there. Hints of dried dates also come through as the tea cools a bit.
Nice and clean and good value for a tea with this age.

Breaking into a sample of this today.
Leaf seems to be very nice with hints of a drier storage aroma.
I got 9.8 grams out for brewing in the gaiwan. Water was heated to 208f to start with. I heated the gaiwan and tossed the dry leaf in and shook it around. Opening the lid the aroma gives a bit of mineral and damp hay in there. Rinsing the leaf for about 5 seconds the aroma goes to a honey sweet hay type of aroma. Brewing the first cup, it doesn’t come across as a heavy type of brew. Semi-sweet and a bit of oily viscosity.
Second brew after letting the leaf absorb a touch are quite stronger. The tea starts to push the bitterness that Bu Lang is known for. The viscosity comes up as well. It hits the tip and side of the tongue well. Some tobacco is in there as well. Sitting back the tingle lasts a bit.
Successive brewing awakes it well. The wet leaf exudes the aroma so well.
Steeps 3 to 5 The activity moves back more in the mouth and throat. The sweetness after the sips will play in there as well. There is just a hint on my palate of smoke in there. This isn’t as astringent as some of the younger teas I have had but it packs a punch under all that sweet aroma the wet leaf gives off. For fans of Bu Lang and Mang Fei this will be right up your alley.

Working this one up tonight. I bought this after tasting a sample of it a while back. Mengsong material is usually pretty decent.
I grabbed 11 grams out to start with and gave it a rinse and a little sit time.
Wet leaf you can pick some hints of floral but subdued and there is some smoke in there as well. The tea brews a nice aged golden color in the cup.
It starts out fairly thick and seems to rattle around in the mouth a bit. It is a pretty strong brew with the mintyness and camphor and bitterness rolling around in there. It is not as strong as a Bulang area tea but it is quite strong. Letting the cup cool a bit the bitterness can really come to the front. I see this one doing quite a few quick steeps as I am already 8 in and the leaf keeps giving. The aged profile of this will make you think it is a few years older than it actually is.

Getting into this one tonight. I actually brought it out and rinsed it and sit it a while.
I grabbed about 10 grams off the cake. It has a bit of compression and came off in chunks and that was the rinse and wait basis.
The first 3 brews were very light on aroma and taste. My guess was the compression still opening up. The tea does have a nice golden color to it. Steeps 4-5 bring out the Bada Shan side of it. There is more in the way of a light floral aroma to it and there is the touch of bitterness cutting through the floral. Steeps 6,7,8 start to kick in nicely. The tea becomes stronger with a tobacco in there with the bitterness.
Pushing it a bit harder it comes across a bit tannic and the bitterness and tobacco kind of overpower the rest. I will brew the rest with shorter steeps. Dropping back for brews 9,10,11 the brew calms down and some hint of maybe lemon and saltiness emerge.
The tea as it cools down has a sweet sugary undertone. I let it sit and cool a touch on steep 11. I think this tea will go a few more as it still carries along fairly well.

I finally found the time to properly review this after drinking it for the last 2 days.
I let this one sit a while as it had a 5 week trip to me.
I got a little over 10 grams out to start and gave a quick rinse. The initial aroma has a slight floral note to it. The tea itself brews a slight amber golden in the cup. The first sips come in full in the front part of the mouth with some slight bitterness that fades into an edamame or fresh picked snow pea note.
Sipping the tea and holding it a few seconds the thickness comes in and the tea has a stronger bitter note. A few minutes after drinking this you can still feel the pucker factor going on.
I looked through some of the spent leaves and found good full leaf with thick veins on many of them. The bitter isn’t like a young tree bitter but quite a bit softer and subdued. The tea is a softer tea that would be a good intro easing someone into a stronger more bitter tea. A starter as some would say.
I brewed this in a 230 ml shiboridashi as this has become a favorite brew vessel lately.