Today’s review is a 200 year old tree Bulang ripe puer. Healthy-Leaf’s 2012 Bulang Ancient Tree Shou Puer is a 357 gram cake that is priced at $49 (at this time). I love Healthy-Leaf’s selection of aged white tea, but I dipped into their shou to experience their range of teas.
Dry Leaf and Steeping Method: The dry leaf is sweet and earthy scented.
I went 1 gram of leaf to 14ml of vessel size, steeped gongfu style in boiling water. I did 2 rinses.
Tasting of Health-Leaf’s 2012 Bulang Ancient Tree Shou Puer
First, Second, and Third Infusion: This tea steeps up beautifully clear with a bright and light flavor, continuing with the sweet earthy scent.
These early infusions have a crystal mineral clean and sweet taste, with a creamy nut milk vibe. It feels slick in the mouth, and some sips feel a little nutty dry, but not abrasive or punchy. No fermentation, funk, bitter, but there is a slight touch of dryness. I am regretting not using more leaf, this one feels you can leaf to the brim.
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: 2012 Bulang Ancient tree is pretty consistent. It continues to be on the lighter side of ripes, with a sweet earthly moss, slightly woody, nutty, creamy tea. The more I drink, the more I find the texture is velvety soft.
Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Infusion: Well then, this shou just keeps going. With each infusion, it slips sweeter and brighter without a lick of dryness or bitterness.
The final infusions were wet stones mineral and caramel sweetness, so totally worth the 20-minute infusion wait time. The Bulang still tastes like there’s a bit left if I stove boiled, but I’m pooped as I’ve refilled my kettle twice.
Comments
Healthy-Leaf’s 2012 Bulang Ancient Tree is an indestructibly sweet and light tasting ripe puer. This tea is absolutely clean with no funk, fish, bitterness, and only a little dryness in the early infusions. This puer leans more on the earthy side, but with some woodsy and a velvet thickness. I would dedicate this one as a great daily drinker and likely grandpa or thermos styles well. It isn’t a complex, flavor changing each steeping shou, but it is reliably tasty and easy going.
I can see the 2012 Bulang being great for a new puer drinker showing how clean ripe puer can be or for types who prefer a sweet and light shou (and not the thick motor oil kind). It leafed well at 1g/14ml, so I can see this being flexible to brew without a scale if you overleaf. Though under leafing might go too light.
(tea provided for review)
