Bulang Mountain 2021 Pu'erh Ripe

布朗山古树熟普 2021

Harvest
Spring 2021

Origin
Bulangshan, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

This pu’erh ripe is crafted with tea leaves from 2 villages: 100 years old trees from Bulang Mountain, as well as 200 year old trees from the ancient village of Nanben of Mengsong County in Menghai. The cake is a custom pressing, crafted under the supervision of a well-known Taiwanese tea veteran, Mr. Zeng Zhixian. Zhixian is a highly regarded tea culture scholar. His book, The Fate of Fangyuan: Deep exploration into Pressed Teas, has had a profound influence on the current pu'erh tea industry.

Zhixian’s long standing enthusiasm for tea led him to open a small studio in Hangzhou with his sons in 2019. Here, they put their deep knowledge and understanding of tea into practice, crafting small batches of custom pressings of pu’erh raw and pu’erh ripes. This pu’erh ripe, Essence of Bulang, is from their latest batch in 2021.

The tea cakes are made in small batches, with the entire fermentation process happening off the ground on wooden pallets. It was fermented for 6 months, which is on the lighter side, and then aged for 6 months before being pressed into cakes.

The thickness of this pu’erh ripe is striking. The liquid has a glutinous texture, coating the palate with a mellow sweetness. It expresses the grounding tastes of dates, wood, and dense earth that we love about pu’erh ripe in refined measure. This is a very satisfying tea, especially considering how young it is.

Drinking this pu’erh ripe is like spending time with an old friend who you’ve known since childhood: they are gentle, sweet and fortifying, while accompanying you without mention.

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Brewing guide