I just received my sampler of bottom to less popular mid-range
Yang Qing Hao puerh from Liquid Proust Teas. I wanted to include this 2011Yang Qing Hao Guyun Bulang ($225.00 for 500g cake or $0.45/g) as a part of the
Bulang sampling I have been doing here as of late…
Very very tight compressed dry leaves smell of familiar Yang
storage smells and some mild creamy sweetness and a vegetal like foresty odour. There almost looks like there are some
purplish leaves blended into the mix as you can see from the photo. The purple leaves immediately remind me of
the 2012 Yang Qing Hao Ye Gu…
The first infusion has a creamy milky sweet onset with a
flat milk almost bitterness throughout.
There is a muted sweetness and a slight tingling chalky mouthfeeling
especially on the tongue. There is a
mild creamy almost powdery chalky sweetness on the breath that has some very
vague suggestions of fruits. The
mouthfeeling is interestingly thin but tingling chalky. There is a rolling moca like chocolate milk
finish off this one that is really delicious.
The second infusion has a milky sweet foresty onset that
slowly crests into something sweeter. Simple
tastes. There is a clear purity to the
taste not muddled. The creamy sweet
milky note is long and deep and very satisfying. The mouthfeel is thin but chalky and
tingling. The throat carries a deep and very faint pungency.
Third steep… pot clogged about 1/3 way through the pour and
the tea sat in there for a good minute… this will be a stronger one… yes… quite
strong.. there is a coffee ground onset bitter and roasted like nutty taste
with a deep medicinal Traditional Chinese Medicine bitterness. There is also some sweetness nutty sweetness
and creamy bitter milk sweetness. A
peaty musky depth to it. The
mouthfeeling is tart on the tongue. The
mouthfeeling isn’t that thick nor is the throat feeling that stimulating. There is a faint deep reach which gives this
tea something. There is a lingering returning
sweetness in the breath- a milky flat sweetness.
The fourth infusion has a coffee mild bitter nutty almost
but not really toffee like onset with a long milky sweet note that fades out
into the aftertaste. Milky smooth sweet
with a coffee, nutty bitter with some faint TCM nuances. The taste has a certain simple shallowness to
it. The Qi is really subtle and not very
Bulang like at all. It has a more typically
Gushu like relaxing thing going on.
Almost like a gentle rocking soothing feeling. I can feel my face puffy. I feel relaxed and happy. The Qi is mild and subtle.
The fifth infusion has a flat sweet blank faint sweetness
that transitions to a creamy milky sweetness.
There is a storage taste that is pretty strong and a faint buttery
taste. The tastes are very mild
here. The forest base is the strongest
but it feels more like a background taste.
There is a faint bitterness in this one as well. The mouthfeel is thin and kind of mossy. The throat feel is faint and weak but reasonably
deep. This one reminds me a lot of 2012
Yang Qing Hao Yegu like budget Yegu but the divide between the two is vast.
The sixth infusion has a dirt like taste with storage onset
that slides into a more typical but very muted bitter sweet creamy Bulang
suggestion. The mouthfeel is chalky and
mossy but fuller here. It ends in a
foresty storage tastes with a faint thread of the bitter sweet. This puerh is really neither bitter nor sweet
but more medicinal forest. A mild
relaxing Qi. Can feel it just a touch in
the chest. This puerh is filled with
mild and simple things.
The seventh has a rich nutty foresty dirt like onset with a
longer bitter coffee grounds almost nut like not that creamy sweetness. There
is a forest and dirt like edge with a mild mossy mouthcoating with faint,
almost non-throat feeling. The Qi is
relaxing and tranquil. Not to much going
on with this one.
The eighth infusion has a foresty almost dirt and storage
taste with a touch of bitter herbal medicine nuance. There is a subtle creamy bitter sweetness but
it is faint. The taste is shallow and
simple.
The ninth infusion is very soft muted barely sweet barely
bitter barely medicinal and forest tasting.
The Storage taste is probably the strongest taste here. The next infusion I will push harder…
The 10th infusion I put to a minute long infusion
and it pushes out some coffee ground tastes, some bitter milk tastes even some
low lying pungency. There is an overarching
forest taste as well as coffee bitter.
The Qi is mild and relaxing almost sleepy.
The 11th infusion I do a few minutes long
infusion a longer one and get a bitter coffee grounds bitter almost nutty flat
dirt bitter. There is a mild pungency
but with a thin mouthfeeling and absence of throat feeling- this taste doesn’t
do that much. There are some vague
suggestions so milky sweet…
The 12th infusion is very long infused and pushes
out much of the same…. Something kind of funny happens here… I notice a faint
and unusual euphoria lingering in my mind… I kind of feel a bit lazy but also
high in a not that obvious sense… The Qi is sneaky but it’s most definitely doing
something…
My guess is that Yang was trying to press a unique possibly
a wild like forest production much like his 2012 Yang Qing Hao Ye Gu. But this one kind of failed, I think. The purple leaf material is very nice much
like the 2012 Ye Gu. I have no question
that this is gushu, it just doesn’t do much.
Overall, its uniqueness is accomplished as I would never guess to be
Bulang and I would say it is almost more like a medicinal tasting Bulang. It has a typical gushu like Qi sensation that
seems foreign compared to a usually powerful Bulang Qi. I can kind of see where this tea was going
but I just am not a fan and don’t think that this one will age into anything
very exciting either. Just like I said
before all vendors press both very good puerh and not as good puerh…. Everyone knows
that Yang presses some of the best but sometimes nature dictates that things
just don’t turn out as planned. Even
Yang probably knows this by now- you can’t win em all.
Peace
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