Imperial Dark - Bu Lang Gong Ting 2009

I haven’t been drinking much puerh lately, but I think that will be changing especially now that the rainy season appears to be upon us here in San Francisco. I don’t tend to drink much shu pu-erh at all when the weather is warm. This shu is delicious, especially after the first steep is gone. Nice flavors of chocolate and fruit are present with a very creamy mouthfeel here in this tea. Great for a mid-afternoon pickup here in the damp.

Somehow, I drank green & white teas almost all day. A couple of Dragonwells, some white, & before I knew it the day was nearly gone. I realized around 6:00 that I really wanted something else. I wanted a nice rich dark cup that was full of grounding qualities. I wanted a cup of Puerh! I didn’t want to sit around with a Gaiwan, doing multiple steeps & comparing sips. Sometimes I like to do that, but sometimes I just want a nice fully brewed cup. So that’s what I had.

I got this Gong Ting a few weeks ago in my Mandala order, but this is my first time drinking it. I steeped a heaping tsp in an 8oz or so cup for 3 minutes. Smooth, rich, mellow, earthy, a little sweet. I sat with that cup, sipping & savoring while listening to my final student of the day, & it was just what I wanted, just what I needed.

My first time using my yixing pot (after a seasoning).
I sat with my Zojurishi (sp?) and enjoyed multiple steepings which were seamless with that wonderful machine from Mandala!

Steep One: 30 Seconds (after an initial rinse)
Light, Juicy mouthfeel, Dry in back of throat, Mushroom flavors, Spicy, Creamy, and my favorite flavor.. Leafy!

Steep Two: 45 Seconds
Leafy, Oaky, More Creamy than first steep, Autumnal Flavors and aromas like being in the woods after a light rain in Autumn! Love it!

Steep Three: 1 Minute
Leafy aromas with an amazing mossy flavor again the wet leaves in Autumn flavors but more prominent!
Drier, Earthy, Hay, Tingly, Mushroom.

Steep Four: 1:15 Minutes
Light, Clean, Milky, Nutty

Steep Five: 1:30 Minutes
Weaker on flavor in this steeping, Mellow, Leafy, Sweetness coming out!

Steep Six: 2:00 Minutes
About the same as the last cup but sort of getting weak. I went for another steep anyway.

Steep Seven: 2:30 Minutes
Mossy, Juicy and now Fruity!

Steep Eight: 2:45
No real flavors present although a light golden color. No notes taken, by this time I was absorbed into a movie (Red Tails – GREAT movie!)

Overall I was surprised to find I did not get any of the chocolate notes as in the description but was not disappointed! I think I will allow this to age quite a bit and re-visit it later on.
I did enjoy it very much and there were some wonderful flavor notes and a few surprises even once I began to think it was past it’s steep-ability!

A nice tea with mellow flavors through out that over all remind of me my favorite season! You can’t beat that!

On another note. My husband at first said it smelled fishy. Again that FISHY word but I proved something to him and myself.
I said rather than fishy think of it as MUSHROOMY!
He disagreed so I made him go get an organic mushroom from the fridge!
He took a bite and said OMG your right!!!

I think the two flavors are similar in some ways but distinctly different enough. Plus for most mushroom is more palatable to stomach than “fishy”.

ALSO he drank with me the entire time! I was sooooo shocked and happy!
:)

I still love this one. It’s just easy to drink, not fussy, not finicky – let it steep for 6 minutes on your desk and it just gets deeper with out anything nasty happening.
Honestly this one reminds me a little of Special Dark – yes this is more pu’erh esq – but it has a hint of chocolate and a lot of the notes of Special Dark. Smooth, cocoa notes, bit sweet, touch of earthy, just fabulous. It resteeps forever, doesn’t really go through too many drastic changes, just cup after cup of awesomeness.
If you like Special Dark, I’m suggesting you think of this one as it’s little brother. Similar, but just not quite as in your face.

I sure have been drinking a lot of puerh lately, huh?

Today I steeped this one at a lower temp for a longer time. I got more creamy nuttiness and less mushroom notes. Yummmmmmm!

Speaking of shu, has anyone encountered this before?? http://04561.com/image/cache/data/20110518/b3-700×700.jpg It’s puerh tea aged inside an orange rind! I’M SO CURIOUS ABOUT IT!

I’ve already reviewed this tea once before, but I’m drinking it again this morning while watching the snow fall.

Not that I’ve tried many pu’erhs (hoping to change that for 2015), but of the ones I have, this is my favourite. Upfront notes of spice, with an underlying earthiness and maybe some autumn leaves. As the cup cools the mushrooms become prominent.

A sample that was shared by Dexter – thank you!

Needed a shu to get me going this morning! I haven’t been drinking much puerh since the winter/early spring. It’s something I typically reserve for cooler weather, when I need something to warm my bones…And it usually does the trick. (: Interesting to revisit an old favorite after so long. I used 2tsp of leaf to about 10oz of boiling water, rinsing for 15 seconds first. Steep times were 35sec, 40sec, and 1min 15. Every steep was creamy, nutty, and mushroom-earthy. Each flavor had varying intensities but for the most part each steep was very similar. Notes of baked bread gained strength with every infusion.

Overall I would say Bu Lang Gong Ting makes a bold cup with light sweetness, pastry/bread notes, some fruit/berry undertones, and a strong earthiness about it. Lowering the rating a tad because it’s not very complex—it’s comfortably consistent and reliable. Not very fussy either. Nonetheless, it’s still one of my favorite shu’s.

I think this was my first ever transcendent tea moment. From the first sip, I was immediately in love with this tea. It was perfect. I was in utter awe while enjoying this tea. I am a former coffee drinker. You just don’t get that from coffee so this was a kind of milestone for me.

1st Steep- 30 seconds
Very leathery and, it’s going to sound strange, but there is also a note of parchment. I’m a book lover so this first steep worked very well for me. The smell of parchment and leather always brings happy memories. There was also a bit of bittersweet chocolate on the finish.

2nd Steep-45 seconds
The dark chocolate really came out. There was also a nutty hazelnut flavor. I loved this steep. I’m not a fan of Nutella but that is what it reminded me of. Maybe I just like it in tea?

3rd Steep-1 minute
The third steep is always my favorite for some reason. There was a lovely vanilla bean flavor with a brown sugar finish. In a way, it kind of reminded me of crème brulee with the brown sugar crackle on the top.

4th Steep-1.30 minutes
I got a lot of cinnamon. Very light and naturally sweet. There was also still a bit of the brown sugar flavor with some honey coming through. I love this steep almost as much as I love the 3rd one.

5th Steep-2 minutes
Honey. This steep was just one note but it was intense. And delicious.

6h Steep-3 minutes
This final steep was suddenly very fruity. Like peach. Maybe my taste buds are in a tizzy but it came out of nowhere.

Yet again, there came a point where I had to stop brewing this tea because it got late but I could have brewed this tea over and over again. This tea was perfection. Complete and utter perfection. I loved this tea. I wish I had bought more than an ounce of it because I could drink this everyday.

well,i lied..i said that I would try the year of the dragon shu this evening but instead im trying this one…this is nice…I really enjoy Bulang teas raw or ripe…another winner from Mandala…110ml gaiwan 8g tea…

I don’t always write a tasting note for it but one of my favourite things to do over the course of an afternoon working from home will be to brew up a shou to drink at my desk – sometimes Western, sometimes gongfu, and something just lazy style. This was one of those times with a Western steeping method. I just find shou makes for a grounded feeling cuppa with the right rich density to put me in a good space while working and kind of work as a bit of a back drop tea. What I mean by that is that I don’t always really pay attention to the tea itself; it just kind of acts as an in the moment anchor to hold enough of my focus that I’m not distracted while working but not so much of my focus it’s preventing me from doing my work. Does that make sense!?

I don’t reaaalllyyyy love this shou so it’s a good one because it doesn’t feel wasteful to use it in this method. The times I did notice the flavour I found it more brothy and mushroom-y with a bit of a mild dankness to the overall savory/umami profile. Nothing fancy but also nothing foul.