The leaves of this puer come from the Bulang area located in southern China. To go and frame the pu er tea category we need to go and explain more about the area where these teas grow since in most cases it is the area itself that gives each tea its distinctive name. In our case we are in the eastern part of the Yunnan region (famous precisely for puer production) in an autonomous prefecture called Xishaungbanna. Here in the Menghai region this cake was produced in 2018 by the Ouhai Shenyu factory. This information can tell us many things, but most importantly it indicates that this tea has passed through a factory that will have used a precise recipe to form this product.
Talking about the flavors that will be felt in the infusion of these leaves we might immediately notice some distinctive characteristics of raw puer such as the vegetal and somewhat astringent herbal flavor as opposed to a full-bodied sweetness in the aftertaste. The special feature of this sheng, however, lies in the strong interaction between the mild acidity of the herbal part of the product with the sweeter, full-bodied part of it. Together these two elements will form a delicate sweetness typical of some oriental fruits that is also generally characteristic of the eastern areas of Bulang.
Location of origin
Bulang - Yunnan, China
Production
After harvesting, the leaves are left to wither in the sun for a certain amount of time depending on the producer before going through the "green killing" stage, which is purely similar to that used to produce green teas. The particularity in this case lies in not heating the leaves as much as is done for a green tea so that certain enzymes are preserved that modify the flavors over time. Once the leaves are cooked they are allowed to rest overnight before concluding the drying process in the sun. Once here the maocha is obtained which can be blended with other maocha to create unique flavor and aroma combinations before being pressed into disk, tile, etc. forms. From here, the tea is ready for consumption but is also in the perfect state to be stored for years before tasting its flavors.
Preparation
We strongly recommend infusing this tea in the traditional Chinese method (gong fu cha) to best enjoy these leaves. Following this preparation, 5.5 grams of leaves (about 3 teaspoons) can be used in a gaiwan of about 100 ml to obtain multiple infusions with different tastes. After a quick rinse of the leaves in water at 100°C, a first infusion of 10 seconds can be made, and after that, keeping the water at the same temperature, the time can be increased each time by 10 seconds from the previous infusion (10 - 20 - 30 ...)
This tea has a longevity of about 7 infusions.
For a classic preparation according to the Western style we recommend 2 grams of leaves (about 1 teaspoon) in a 150 ml cup with water at 100°C for an infusion time of one and a half minutes.
The tea can be filtered for ease when tasting and also the infusion times given above here are meant to be purely indicative so you can also adjust according to your personal taste.
We recommend storing in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
Black Friday 50
