2002 Bu Lang Mountain Raw Pu-erh Tea Brick

Exemplary for Bulang character and house style

The cold leaf in the bag smells of smoke, as does the dry leaf warmed in they gaiwan. There is smoke in the lid scent and smoke in the soup of the rinse. But also there is a potent sweet dry-cup aroma of old raw puer tea that never got close to being wet. The taste is crystal-clear on this point, though there's not much else besides smoke and sweetness in the first steep. The 2nd steep makes a soup that would be dark orange but for the smoke, which darkens it with a note of brown. Smoke, leather, tobacco, and that oxidized sugar sweet. And some bitter and astringent.The dry cup scent holds for a surprising long time considering it *is* 22-years-old tea. By the third steep it is opened up pretty good and you can see that the material is pretty choppy, as old bricks a likely to be, and that there are some sticks in there. A fair amount of char washing out every steep but getting less now. The smoke is less and the Bulang character of bitter and brisk is coming out more strongly. It will continue to make a sweet dry cup for another three steeps probably, and be getting pretty played out after 10. This is a nice example of the character Bulang is famous for, and an exemplary sample of the house aging style. It is not my five-star pick for 20-something-years-aged tea but it is somebody's, and if this style of storage that so perfectly preserves the origin character is what you like, it's a five-star one for you.

Great quality and value

After a thorough rinse eliminated a slight storage stink, this tea blossomed into a rich, full-bodied and complex aged puerh. Scents of old wood furniture, lacquer, and dried fruits (apricot and raisin). Weighty, oily and mouth-coating, with none of the earthiness so common in many wet- stored teas. A very clean but complex Bu Lang, with a very long finish.

Drinkable

There's no doubt this is a Bulang raw pu erh. There are still notes of the young raw pu erh. It doesn't have the fully aged taste, but it is quite drinkable and refreshing. There's a bit of sweetness at the end.