2005 Ripe Bulang Maocha

Good morning teaheads. My mind listened to my body so this morning’s tea is a shou pu’er from mrmopar (thank you!) and an old one at that.

The aroma is harmonious with the taste and feeling. Smooth with some light astringency. The body may be a little thin for my likes but I’m not entirely attentive to brewing. It gives me a deep, mushroom-brothy feeling. No thick potting soil vibes here. Good balance of medicinal tones — mellow, bitter earthiness like burdock root with whole grain sourdough, a ‘dry’ petrichor, buffalo grass, darkened leather and even older hardwood furniture. A bit of a high-pitched raspberry tone. A cool camphor comes and goes without interrupting. Little aftertaste; on one steep I got the most fleeting impression of caramel-chocolate-coffee. Last few steeps, as the flavor becomes mostly depleted, present a licorice root sweetness and are drying-catching in the throat.

A nice step into this cold morning.

First I put 8 grams in a gaiwan and rinsed it for 5 seconds. The first brew was 5 seconds and it was a light color and tasted sweet like cocoa. the second brew was for ten seconds and was darker and a little stronger but still sweet. The third brew was for fifteen seconds and it was darker and still very sweet. Out of the shou I tried today this was my favorite.

Nice punch, great Bulang personality. Very enjoyable ripe. Some astringency. I gave it very, very short steepings, basically rinses. I think it held up for more than five infusions.

Intro Note I was having this tea in western style cups. I will update with Gong fu notes later (I already have them, but I will add them later, the score is overall).

Dry – Clean wood/earth note(no fermentation scent or musk), sweetness, cream/thickness.
Wet – Light earthy, tangy-tart notes, dark richness (faintly of dates, luo han guo fruit), hints of fruit/floral.
Liquor – Hues of Burgundy

1st 15secs – Light sweetness with medium ‘thickness’ or body and a kind of richness that reminds me of Luo Han Guo fruit up front. As it goes down, there’s a talc sensation on my tongue that reminds me of some Menghai ripes. Some more apparent but still mellow earth and wood notes are present with faint floral-fruit notes.

2nd 25secs – More forward sweetness with medium body and tart-bittersweet notes up front. As it goes down, the broth has a the same talc texture that is noticeable but in a smooth pleasant way. The faint floral-fruity notes appear at the end.

3rd 30secs – A little cleaner up front but maintains all the notes of sweetness with medium body and some tart up front. As is goes down, is is a bit weaker but very pleasant. It was mostly lack of adjusting steep from my part.

4th 45secs – Regained strength; Sweet with a medium body and some tart notes of front. As it goes down, it has the talc texture in the tongue and the sweetness is apparent with faint fruity/floral notes.

Final Notes
This is a very well balanced and mellow Shou. It is very pleasant to drink, it isn’t flashy in notes it is humble but assertive, maintaining its traits through out the steeps.

I went to the White2Tea page and read the description after finishing, I feel like I agree with the ‘Sticky rice’, to me is a combination of how mellow it is and the textural ‘talc’ that I described, which I guess starchy of the rice can accomplish too.

I see this as a very GOOD every day tea, as opposed to a ‘meh’ every day.

The dry tea smells somewhat creamy like white chocolate. It’s fairly mild when brewed. Very palatable