2007 Hai Lang Hao Bu Lang Mountain Wild Arbor Spring Raw

Shipyard used to make a beer called Fuggles IPA. ( I don’t know if they still make it or not because new ridiculous hipster beers with peanut butter, pomegranates etc with ridiculous alcohol content has pushed many a solid traditional brew off the shelf). Shipyard Fuggles IPA had a thick caramely body balanced by a woody bitterness and resiny aniseedy flavor. Nothing really complex but satisfying. In early steeps this tea has these attributes, thick, sweet body with balanced bitterness, anise and wood. The qi is relaxing but not overwhelming. The tea is solid and good but for a wild tea of this age I’d prefer a more attitudinal Wuliang which would be a bit cheaper as well.

Brief story time: My father came from a farming family and joined the nuke program in the Navy. Having a father figure who understands hard work and has been in Mensa since he was 18… I try to remind myself every day how lucky I have been to be raised by someone who not only taught me but showed me through example what dedication is, how to plan, and just all sorts of wisdom.

Anyways, it is through that relationship that I have been able to take my next somewhat scary steps. So today I pulled out the book for my first MBA course… and to think just two days ago I reopened LPT with a whole new adventure in mind. Great dialogue between my fiance and I as we discuss time management, but I am somewhat excited to push myself once again.

So let’s see if I can break after every reading session to write a review because we all know I am drinking tea when I read!

Tonight I had the 2007 Bulang from HLH. This is very much so a dry stored tea that came from YS. Recently my palate has become accustomed to humid storage so this was a bit different and contrasting to the expectations of tea . While this tea was decent, I am unable to pick out anything unique from it. My experience with this tea helped me realize that if someone likes a punchy tea with some bitterness, it might be best to dry store teas opposed to humid as I have found less bitterness with humid stored cakes within the same time period. With this session I also noticed that my stomach was having a mini battle so I am unsure if ‘greener’ stuff will agitate the stomach or not which has me question if storage will soften the tea. I need to find time to research more puerh related topics… Anyways, this tea stays strong and keeps its punch for a great length of time from my experience so I believe I will use the rest to make a cold brew for those sunny days.

Why I use Steepster to ‘blog’ I’ll never know, but I do.