Wednesday, March 11, 2020

2011 Yang Qing Hao Guyun Bulang: Fail!


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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