2000 Hai Lang Hao Bulang “Mushroom Tuo”: Nice Aged Kunming Dry

Kunming dry stored for whole life- check.

Super crazy tight compression- check.

BuLang Bulang-E-ness- check.

While this one checks a lot of boxes for me.  The description on Yunnan Sourcing’s site says that good ol’ Hai Lang picked this up in Menghai in 2000.  It currently goes for $102.00 for 250gmushroom or $0.41/g a price determined by Hai Lang Hao and passed on to us by Yunnan Sourcing.  Yunnan Sourcing has many options for Bulang puerh.  This one seemed to be the most interesting to me so I picked up a sample…

Dry leaves smell of classic smokey barely sweet fruit odour.

First has a nice mellow very faint smoke with mainly sweet tasting thin layer of dried pear, and a base of wood.  The mouthfeel is slightly sticky and sandy with the sensation more on the tongue than in the throat.

The second has a nice sweet approach with a very faint mild woody smokiness left. The taste is mainly this monotone sweetness that is almost a woody, grassy, and non-distinct almost not-really there dried pear taste.  There is faint smoke on the breath.

The third gains a bit of strength as a slight bitterness where a sweet grassy woodiness comes out.  The sweet fruitiness is overtaken by bitter and woody grass here.  There is a nice powdery dry storage nuance in here now.  There is a deep underlying menthol that start to generate over a flat sandy stimulating tongue feeling and less active throat.  A very faint candy breath can be found.

The fourth develops a rich nutty sweet onset that is mainly sweet but in a nutty and rich woody type of way.  There is a deep underlying pungency which pushes an almost cherry like sweetness out in the breath.  The mouthfeel is this almost sandy full tongue sensation that is not overpowering but still significant.  The aftertaste turns into a longer running sweetness.  The smokiness is pretty much non-existent now.

The fifth has a thick mushroom almost pecan onset with grassy woodiness underneath.  The overall taste is sweet but it’s hard to describe it almost like a dried/ dehydrated pear sweetness that melds with the mushroom, nutty, woody and grassiness.  There is a slight richness to the taste.  The mild building pungency is apparent in the aftertaste that pushes out a mild candy sweetness.  The smokiness is pretty mild and more in the aftertaste.

The sixth infusion has a mild bitterness with woody and mushroom and it turns into a nice sweetness.  The sweetness is almost a nutty rich sweetness like how a nut butter is sweet.  The mouthfeeling is full and kind of a dry tight mild coating especially on the tongue.  The throat is more opening at the top and mid level.  There is an extension of the sweetness in the aftertaste as a powdery almost cherry like and very faint candy lingering on the breath.  The overall taste is rich, warming, clean, woody and mushroom almost but not really dried pear.  The Qi is mildly relaxing.

The seventh infusion has a woody rich menthol onset with a strong nuttiness in there as well.  There is barely any bitterness here more of a grassy woody menthol type with a strong clear almost plum richer sweetness. There is some candy on the breath and a good powdery-ness in there as well. 

The eighth infusion has a very woody lumber rich taste to it.  There is a honey almost smoked maple syrup edge to it.  The mouthfeel is slightly sandy and dry on the tongue but feels somewhat full. There isn’t really a bitterness now its more of a drier, sharper finish.  This infusion has a nice mild powdery cherry nuance. The Qi is a moderate harmonious Qi not a typical strong Bulang Qi sensation. 

The ninth has a sandalwood taste with mushroom and sweetness to it.  The sweetness is hard to describe it taste so blended into the profile it feels like sweet wood.  The mouthfeel is slippery and thicker.  The menthol incense wood nuance is nice and echoes deep into the throat.  Dry menthol wood and mild sweetness.

The tenth has a sweet dense dry woody presentation.  The taste is almost a syrupy maple syrup taste intertwined with wood tastes.  The mouthfeel is a powdery, dry, sandiness on the tongue.  The Qi is super mild but really harmonious it is a touch alerting and a touch relaxing.  The tea feels really nice in the body, gentle but I can feel something relax my face.  It has a cozy aged warmth to it.  Smoke is gone now.  The fruity aftertaste is long on the breath.  There is nice cherry powdery fruity tastes here.

The 11^th infusion has woody sweetness, at times it almost seems like dry pear there is this low reaching pungency to the taste which pushes out a faint sweetness on the breath.  Overall this puerh feels somewhat dense, full and complete but harmonious in the body and mind. 

The 12^th infusion has a strong woody with faint smokey nuance.  The taste is full and tastes of woody notes and chestnuts.  The Qi makes me feel good.  Relaxed and content. 

The 13^th infusion has a pine wood taste to it with a pungent sweetness that emerges in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is really stable throughout all the infusions it remains full and a sticky powdery sandy on the tongue.

The 14^th has a fruity mainly woody mushroom onset.  Still full mouthfeeling with a low rising pungency and a bit of sweetness under wood mushroom to finish.  There is a flat woodiness throughout now. 

The 15^th infusion has a pine woody sweetness the taste is really dense and feels full on the mouthcoating.  This is a nice harmonious jincha.  The low lying pungency is nice and pushes some sweetness out of the woodiness.  There is a nice peachy sweetness pushed out somehow.

I put this one into overnight steeping as I run out of time in my day…

This one tastes like a bit of a sweeter, lighter Bulang with a mild suggestion of a more bitter and sweet with distant smokey classic Bulang nuance.  This is partly because the bitterness and smoke have aged out a bit and the dry storage and compression is favorable for the sweetness.  This Bulang has a really mellow Qi sensation even for a two decade aged Bulang.  The Qi is not typical of my experience of Bulang.  Either way it works nicely..  for a nice easy drinking dry aged puerh.

In some ways this mushroom reminds me of a bit of the Bada puerh producing region with a mild sweet profile and nice mellow Qi.  I don’t know that I’ve ever tried an aged Bulang that tasted this mild and smooth.  There is something satisfying about this.  On the plus side the dry storage tastes of candy and sweet flavours are nice to behold in something like this due to its nice dry storage.  The storage of this mushroom is ideal Kunming dry storage.  Nicely tight compressed.  I think the storage and compression work well for a lighter and sweeter Bulang like this.  I think this is fair price for what you get considering this is 20 years aged nicely dry Kunming stored puerh.  For me it’s an easy drinker Bulang- just not exactly what I’m looking for.  Anyone interested in clean dry storage on a truly aged Bulang with a smooth mild presentation should give it a try.

Peace

2010 Hai Lang Hao "Ba Ma Gong Chun" Nannuo Shan

This is another sample from Hobbes produced under the guidance of Hai Lang. Scott from Yunnan Sourcing offers a description of this tea which explains that its from the Northern area of Nannuo Mountain.

When the dry leaves are examined they offer up a nice fruity, light, smooth mix of furry colours. These leaves exhibit a sour, nose tingling pungent-floral ordour that is quite stimulating.

They submit to a quite rise then a short first infusion which offers very spicy-pungent floral notes presenting first and fading into a pungent and floral sweetness with a certain gummieness appearing. The aftertaste is a continuation of these tastes held together with a soft sticky mouthfeel.

The second infusion offers less spicy florals which slide into a bubble-gum sweet aftertaste. The aftertaste is of this soft, thick, soupy, sticky gummy type. It is most notable on the lips and tongue but coats the whole mouth. The sweet bubble gum floral aftertaste lingers.

The third infusion is much of the same but a very light bitter-bland rubbery taste emerges slightly under nice florals in the finish. The returning sweetness tries unsucessfully breaking through these tastes.

In the fourth infusion this bland aftertaste has wiggled itself into the inital profile as well. It presents as a bland-floral taste, still slightly pungent. The aftertaste is still gummy, fruity and sweet and makes its way on to the breathe. The qi of this tea stagnates in the stomach slightly, it mildly alerts the mind.

The fifth infusion delivers more light spicy-pungent floral sweetness as well as a bitter-bland taste that shares room with fruit and flowers in the aftertaste. This infusion is relatively sweeter than the infusions that came before.

In the sixth and seventh infusions the brackish somewhat grittier bland bitter notes encroach more on the fine florals and lighter tones. The tea now leaves a rubbery bland taste in the mouth along with some lesser noted florals. The qi is on the whole soft and doesn't assert itself over ones mind.

This tea continues in this direction for the following infusions with more of the bland-muddled floral-fruit taste taking over.

Link to Hobbes' (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes

Peace

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