2014 Yunnan Sourcing Wu Liang Mountain Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea

What I enjoy about this tea is its body. Aroma-wise, it’s not the headiest (at least at age 3), though the wet leaf smells a lot like a Taiwanese oolong in its latter, more vegetal steeps. There’s no smoke and very little bitterness or astringency. It seems to need to be pushed a little. But around the third steeping, it begins rolling around on the tongue like cream, and clings to the back of the mouth, a tiny bit of camphor, a little spice and pancake batter.

I’ve already reviewed this tea and noted its clean, sweet profile but I just figured out why I’m so enamored of this tea: the wu liang is as dissimilar from green tea as a sheng is likely to get, and not being a big fan of green teas, this is a great characteristic. Very consistent, no bitterness, sweet but with a little bit of fruity bite, this is more like an oolong than most shengs. An excellent tea to drink right now.

I’ve been wanting to try quality Wuliang sheng for a while and my samples just arrived last week.

I noticed my experience with this tea is quite different from previous reviews. I pick up barely any bitterness until the 5th steep. Dry leaf has a sweet, candy-like aroma and wet leaf has that musky, orchid-like, deep forest fragrance. The first few steeps have notes of sweet peach, honey, and tannin. It’s very smooth and leaves a pleasantly sweet finish lasting more than a few minutes. Following steeps are similar to the first one except gradually reveal subtle tobacco and woodsy notes. Prominent honey and ripe peach notes, with increasingly more tannin, minerals, and cedar wood in the 5th and 6th steeps. Astringency is minimal and the flavors continue to please past the 7th steep.

Honestly, I find this tea to be less interesting than those from the Lincang, Baoshan, and Dehong regions. I’m just not into very sweet teas. The 2014 Qing Mei Shan is just as sweet, but has a much more impressive aftertaste that I got me considering to put some money down. Also, despite its name, this one also doesn’t have that wild tea tree element YS’s other teas have, but it’s very enjoyable to drink now.

4 g Gaiwan.

Dry leaf: Med/high compression; dark leaves.
Wet leaf: Complex. Dark and citrus fruits sit on top of a smouldering straw dark base.

Summary: Bitter sweet lemons, which is interesting in flavour and experience.

So this is high mountain pu erh, grown in the remotest gardens in Yunnan. I’ll remember that when I’m drinking it.

5s – It has a similar bright crisp sweetness that Taiwanese High Mountain Dayuling Oolong has. Slightly lemony; very faint smoke. It makes me feel refreshed, and it gives a droning light buzz as it lingers after the swallow. Dido singing Stan has come into my head.
10s – Pale yellow liquor. Thick syrupy mouthfeel. Edging towards honey and lemon cough medicine. It has a steady flavour profile, with good body and a lingering finish, which stimulates the top of my head and behind my ears.
I’m seeing similarities to Hai Lang Hao “Cha Wang” 2010 by Yunnan Sourcing, which is nearly 8 times the price; however, this tea does not have amongst other things the complex layering I observed in the Cha Wang.
15s – Spritely lemon, bitter lemon bitterness, oscillating between sweet and bitter on the finish, sometimes drying.
20s – It develops intensity, even though it is a delicately flavoured floral tea and at times the experience is stronger than the flavour of the tea.
25s – Enjoyable; smooth’ish.
40s – Bitter sweet lemony.
Note: This tea came free with my first order from Yunnan Sourcing – thanks!
A previous session with this tea failed; most likely due to the new kettle. It went like this: 2 rinses, then 30 minutes rest with the lid ajar. Tasted off; abandoned notes for this session.

this tea is quite bitter sweet with a honey, spicy and slight smoky taste even though me and grandma forgot to rinse it first.

thank you Scott Wilson and Yunnan sourcing for this interesting tea. :)