2011 Bu Lang

This guy arrived courtesy of Mrmopar. The dried leaves were mostly broken up with some tea dust. The tea soup, while started out a cloudy orange due to tea dust, was quite clear with an attractive golden hue after the 4th steep. This made it initially challenging to assess the tea’s qualities, as it made steeps 1 to 4 quite intense.

I’m in the market for intense teas and this was powerful and bitter, in a rough-and-tumble but refreshing sort of way. The huigan is good here and lasts for quite some time. Body is light to medium. After steep 4, I found the rest of the tea quite balanced—comforting sweet wood notes with hints of honey accompanied by that bitter Bulang base.

This one goes for many steeps. I found steeps 5 through 7 the most enjoyable. This one is like a complex IPA with Bulang steroids. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the tea is how clear-headed and awake I was for many hours after the session was over. I’m forced to drink teas with heavy somatic affects, such as Mangfei or Yong De’s Da Xue Shan, less often than I would like, but this one isn’t the case. It could easily be incorporated into my weekday morning routine. I did, however, find this one quite citric, perhaps a little too much for my tastes.

this one really does taste like hay, which surprised me because the smell was rich and sugary. i get mostly dryness from this and not much else. i know right away this wont be a favorite, or even a daily drinker, its just to plain. it doesnt even taste like the tobacco i smoked earlier; i thought it would be a nice follow up, but no. i think ill be tossing the rest of this even though i hate to waste tea. that is all, g’day.

-nycoma

I hate to leave a review like this… but in all honesty, this left me with no impression; bad or good. Was just another cup of tea…

Blah

Decided to try this sample today, Thank You Teanami for this sample. Overall this was pretty good tea. It was good in a strong, kick your ass sort of way. It was strong and bitter in the early infusions. The bitterness was noticeable and potent for the first six steeps. This is not to say there were no sweet notes but they took a while to develop. As I have heard bitterness is good for aging this one might be one to buy and store for ten years but alas my Pumidor is full and I would have to dry store it.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7.5g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

Today I am taking a look at Teanami’s Bu Lang (2011 Raw) a Sheng Puerh made from ancient trees. And when I first saw they were made from ‘ancient trees’ I cringed, that is such a hot topic on the interwebs lately and has become a really unpleasant bit of marketing, but they say their trees are at least 100 years old and that is so much more believable. I’ve known a lot of trees in the 200-500 range when I lived in the mountains, and I am pretty sure the massive spruce in the yard is almost 100 since it is as old as the house…but I am getting off on a tree tangent. Anyway, Bulang, I have so far only had Shou from this mountain, honestly staying away from the Sheng because it has a reputation to be rather bitter, but it eases off the bitter as it gets some age to it, and with my Sheng drinking being limited (thanks ya jerk of a stomach) I go for the sweet or camphorous stuff. But I do love a tea adventure, so here we go! So, this tea does not smell like something that will be bitter, it smells like fresh white grapes, cut sunwarmed hay, a tiny touch of leather, honey, dried apricots, and a tiny almost undetectable (took me a few sniffs) camphor note. I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet this tea smells!

Cranking the kettle to 200°F and giving the tea a rinse, the aroma of the leaves is a bit on the pungent side with wet hay, lemon rind, apricots, and a touch of spinach. The aroma of the first steeping is pleasantly light and sweet, with an undertone of lemon and hops and a tiny hint of camphor.

At the beginning of the tea session, well, you could fool me that this tea is bitter. Granted I do brew it at less than boiling which makes me different from the real pu-heads, but I like it that way. I would describe it as tangy rather than bitter, like lemon rind but not as sour, with accompaniments of spinach and cooling light camphor. It has a thickness and a touch of a dry mouth, and the aftertaste reminds me of the taste of leather. Around steep three it starts to get a bit of that bitterness, though lucky for me it is the bitterness of kale rather than of hops, like some bitter shengs can get, and I really dislike hops.

Ah, this sheng is doing that fun thing where it flip flops from bitter to sweet in a drool induced instant. Like going from kale leaves covered in lemon to dried apricots and hay with a leather finish. Sadly around steep four I am getting that obnoxious dull ache in my guts which makes me so happy for my tiny baby gaiwan. A little farther into the steeping session brings out a tobacco note, which blends well with the aftertaste of leather.

Whelp, this is a tea that definitely outlasted me, nine steeps in and the leaves have only barely unfurled. It is starting to ramp up the bitter notes. The bitterness is pleasant, really wakes up the palate and causes a great salivary sweetness. Sadly this is definitely one of those Shengs that kills my stomach, which angers me because I really wanted to see how far I could stretch this tea out. I am curious if it would be milder on my stomach with more age, perhaps I will come back to it in a decade!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/06/teanami-bu-lang-raw-2011-tea-review.html

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.