2014 Rama Lama Bu Lang Ripe Loose

Another nice one from Mandala. Dark liquor, like reddish-espresso color, with a leather, earthy aroma. The first couple of steeps there was earthiness, leather, hay, hints of dark cocoa. After a few steeps, I got some creaminess along with molasses, some spices, minerality, more chocolate, slightly nutty as well (not almonds though, not sure what type of nuts but it’s there. >.<). The later steeps I got some fruit notes and a camphor feeling. It was a very smooth, rich, mellow, clean Pu erh. Creamy and soothing mouth and throat-feel.

I don’t know which one I like better The Shu Fits or this one. I ‘think’ The Shu Fits but I have enough to keep comparing them. It may be the name lol. I love it. Anyway, I had bought the Plethora of Pu’er and those two came with it (along with the Rice Aroma which I had bought earlier, liked it and reviewed) and the Noble Mark which I’m looking forward to trying as well. What a great combination to send in one package.

5g, Yixing gaiwan, 212˚F, 110ml, 9 steeps: rinse, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s

What a day. Wife is gone for 2 days at a business conference. Both kids had the day off from school. My 4 year old son had to get an abscess on his stomach lanced at 8am. Yup. The good news is that he handled it so well and has been in good spirits and very loving/cuddly all day.

So I decide to reach for this sample that was sent to me a while back with an order. Mandala is usually a pretty good bet when you want a good ripe. I went with a full boil, a 5 second rinse, and a 5 second first steep. The first steep felt very light and airy in my mouth. But for as light as it felt, the flavors were really nice. I detected some malty chocolate as well as some light cherry notes. But, calm down all you cherry cordial fans (myself included). Those flavors weren’t together when I detected them. More like, one sip reveal one and the next sip revealed another.

Second steep, 10 seconds. Earthy smoothness. Still light and airy. There is something on the back of the throat. A coating sweetness. Underhanded, not overpowering. But there.

Third steep, 15 seconds. First off, the smell of the wet leaves is unlike any I’ve smelled in a ripe shou before. I am not sure I can even really describe it other than there is this almost floral like honeysuckle, slightly spicy, sweetness. The liquor on this one has more of a musty taste. Not un-enjoyable but not as good as the first two steeps.

Fourth steep, 15 seconds. Held back a little on this one due to the flavor of the last steep. I think it was a good decision. The flavor mellowed out. Now we are getting back to some of the enjoyable flavors from the first two steeps. Light chocolate/cocoa flavor.

Fifth steep, 20 seconds. I am starting to see the bigger picture here on this one. When steeped correctly, this is a light, airy and smooth, consistent drinker. My review will probably stop here, until/unless something else drastically different jumps out at me.

Final Thought: Though this is pretty consistent from steep to steep, it is by no means dull, bland or uninteresting. It has some really unique flavors/and smells. It certainly feels and tastes like a higher quality tea. Very solid.

Thank you for the sample Garret. I probably would not have picked this out for myself. So thank you for expanding my horizons! The world of unflavoured pu’erh is still pretty new to me but I am starting to see why it’s such a big hit. After drinking it, I almost feel a little detoxed (if that’s a word!). I ate too many Christmas cookies yesterday. I feel like unflavoured pu’erh is a bit of an acquired taste at first. But then, once you get into it, it can be enjoyable. But maybe that’s just me and my sweet tooth talking.

Anyway, this tea was very dark brewed up. I wasn’t sure what parameters to use so I just winged it. I gave a quick 10 second rinse to start off. It is earthy with slightly sweet cherry notes. I am not sure what other notes there was because I was too tired to pay attention. I will hold off on a numerical rating until next time, when I will pay more attention to the tasting notes.

I steeped this all day, I am not even sure how many times…6 for sure. This tea holds up excellent to steep all day and could have steeped many more times after I was done with it.

Drank this at work in the morning :)
Potent. Lasting. Taste of fermentation.
I would say that this has less chocolates than BuLang that I’ve had from ’10 / ’08, but the fermentation is quite strong in this. With that being said, this one is up to personal preference not only of taste but time of drinking.

I got this a little bit ago, so I’ve been letting it sit in storage to get ready for brewing. I opened the jar and poured it out into my cha he. The leaves carried a wonderful aroma! This was a very fragrant shou. I could easily identify a dry hard chocolate tone with some slight fermentation. I was also picking up some cherry and red wood scents. I loved how intense theses aromas were. I warmed my gaiwan and emptied the cha he. The aromas began to morph. I was now picking up a warm petrichor and liquid dark chocolate. The cherries became more pronounced and resembled more like dark chocolate cherry cordials. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. I decided to go heavy with the leaf, for I like intense shou sessions. The steeped leaves lost their chocolate tone and was replaced by an aromatic ferment and wet wood. The lingering sweetness was of some fruit. The taste was something special! The liquor was a beautiful red coffee color. This drink was thick and syrupy! The taste began as completely filling and some intense drying sensations. The body was nice and full with a lot of flavor. I picked up some heavy wood, molasses, and fermented tastes. The chocolate was still present but lingered in the back to help curb the Bulang bitterness. The drink moved into more mineral tones in later steeping and a pleasant sour taste followed throughout. This brew has a lot of mouth action, with it beginning with a full and lubricating feeling and then the Bulang brings a sharp bite to alert the taste buds. I noticed a bunch a tongue prickling after each sip. I was able to pull at least ten steeping sessions out my gaiwan. The final sessions still brought a relatively dark liquor; however, the drink became more muddled with soil and wet clay tones. The qi is almost unnoticeable at first. The feeling begins in the chest and doesn’t blossom until after the session. I cleaned up my table, and then I was stuck with a heavy heart and nice head buzz. The force emits from the chest center and flows throughout the body. I really like this qi, and this is a nice brew for a morning starter. All and all, I enjoyed my session and this would make a nice daily drinker. This a great representation of young Bulang Shou, and it would be well to introduce to newbies and guests. This is an easy drinker and it lasts for quite some time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-EtUI2TGcb/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Received a 9.4 gram pre-production sample of this as loose leaves in my latest Mandala order. After three days of solid shengs, it was time for a shou. I spent half an hour waffling over how to best try this using several brew methods, but finally just threw the whole thing in my 100ml gaiwan and went for short steeps (5/7/9/11/15/20/30/60/120 seconds). That turned out to be a good choice.

Gave it a 5 second rinse, then let it sit for about 15 minutes. The tea was still opening up on the first steep, but steeps 2 through 5 were a rocket ride. The liquor was only medium bodied yet the flavor was intense. An incredible molasses sweetness was paired beautifully with a restrained Bu Lang bitterness that balanced the whole thing out. Around these two dominant flavors were notes of oak wood, leather and tobacco. Salivating citrus notes and hints of spice (felt more than tasted) popped their heads up a couple of times. The sensation was of a very clean shou with no off flavors. These early steeps had a heavy mouthfeel that felt like they coated my tongue, mouth and throat in rich shou goodness that lingered in the long aftertaste.

Steeps 6 through 9 tapered off in intensity and body, yet were very enjoyable. The Bu Lang bitterness tapered off a bit as well, yet remained present until the end. The sweetness became more like sugarcane. I caught a subtle note of chestnuts on the 8th steep.

I had a hard time sipping this tea because I could not pull my nose away from the cup. The aromas were intoxicating; powerful at first but significant all throughout the session. There was a super-intense sweet aroma that ran the gamut from sugarcane to molasses, with one steep having caramel and another pralines. There was also a strong, clean earthiness in the early steeps. I even smelled some cinnamon at one point.

I did two final steeps at 5 and 10 minutes, but they were pale shadows of the earlier session.

This shou really hit on all cylinders for me. The note on the sample bag said “soon in 200g cakes”. I hope soon really means soon. Assuming the final pressing lives up to the potential shown in this sample, this may be the best shou that Mandala has yet produced (no disrespect to the Original Phatty Cake).

Pix: http://instagram.com/p/9F40FTFi93