2009 Hai Lang Hao Yi Wu Zheng Shan

Have been recently following ol' Hobbes recent run-ins with Hai Lang Hao factory cakes. It seems he had slipped one a few samples of the 2009 and 2010 offerings a few months back. Scott of Yunnan Sourcing still stocks this cake and offers some brief background on his site. Today lets have a closer look at the Yiwu Zheng Shan from 2009 produced under the direction of tea master Hai Lang...

Early in the morning these red tinged, longish, dry leaves smell of muted creamy and sweet scents with suggestions of floral notes to come.

The first infusion pours a light green yellow and presents first with creamy and spicy florals with a mushroom finish mixing with an interesting spiciness. The mouthfeel has a soft, light gritty sandy feel to it right off the bat.

The second infusion starts with a barely creamy green-woody taste transitioning nicely to wood, spice, and mushroom tastes in its finish. It seems there is a green-wood-bark type of base underneath its overall profile.

The third infusion reveals an initial taste that is more dirt and wood bark tasting. It is more dry in the mouth now, still sandy. Floral notes start arriving here later in the aftertaste with dry wood and dirty, meaty tastes. There is enough going on to make this tea interesting.

The fourth infusion presents a green, sour, woody start then finishes as dry spicy wood. This tea has watery almost empty moments but slight floral appearances continue to make it interesting. These tastes are much more obvious in the fifth infusion. In the fifth the floral tastes come along with the returning sweetness after the tea is swallowed. The bright morning sun brightens the room.

In the sixth, seventh, and eighth infusions the subtle floral nuances are most noted over a light dry woody, grass base. Minutes later in the aftertaste tropical fruit tastes such as papaya can be sensed and enjoyed. The qi of this tea is also very light and barely detected by one's sleepy body and mind.

In the ninth, tenth, and eleventh infusions wood notes turn grainy and smooth in the mouth with swirling sweet florals which come later with the very subtle returning sweetness. This tea has lots going in its very light profile.

This tea is taken to seventeen infusions where tropical fruits are highlighted. This tea has very good stamina, a very subtle tea.

Link to Hobbes (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes

Link to Jakub Tomek (T) Tasting Notes

Peace