I picked this up in KM last year, ’17. The guy selling it didn’t seem too impressed with it, saying it was some stuff for export to Japan. I guess it wouldn’t be overstating things to say that this is wet-stored. I wouldn’t call it “dank,” because I can actually drink it. You know the types who’ll drink a cup of longjing or Xigui and call it “earthy,” while you smile politely biting your tongue? Well, this is actually earthy. Dirt pure and simple.

The thing with this profile is that distinguishing between the raw and ripe productions is quite difficult. I’ve got this raw cake from ’08 that I picked up in Bangkok that tastes quite similar. I used to have a wild raw brick that was HK stored that also had this vibe. I studied the leaves carefully to determine if it was ripe tea being pushed off as raw. Who knows. The deciding factor seems to be astringency.

’07 “T868” Tulin. I got this back when I was in my Tulin tuo stage. Scott of YS says that Tulin productions compare favourably to XG. I’ve not run across any Tulin that have the smokiness or minerality of XG. Dunno. To my mind there is more similarity with 6GTM productions, expressing bold floral notes with astringency and bitterness.

The T868 sits somewhere between the ’06 Yinhao and the T861, where the former expresses an unmistakable Fengqing/black tea character and the latter is a perfected creation with a more deciduous forest character, imho. The aftertaste in the T868 is long lasting with more incense and wood notes coming through with later infusions.

The Graphite Blond never lets you beneath her steely surface.  She wears a classy, inviting perfume that is a mark of style that shies from the garish.

Many Xia Guan productions try to knock you over the head with smoke or flower or rustic huzza, but the ’06 Dali Tuo is the impeccable and experienced secret agent whose poise is lasting and full.

If you last till the 12th infusion, a distinct aroma of spiced pears wafts from her.  The huigan is always fast, as the graphite fades away into a faintly bitter astringency.  Before 12, the bitter is not particularly noteworthy.

This just in: the Lancang Year of the Tiger has been declared “a good puerh.”  Sources agreed to speak on anonymity.

Four Lancang productions have been gathered by yours truly.  Their most famous production is is a Jingmai, which I’ve yet to try.  Focus alternatively has been on their lunar series, including the years of Rat, Tiger, and Ox, as well as a 100g cake of premium early spring buds from ’05.  There is a consistent florailty to them all, with varying levels of bitterness and plenty of astringency.  For those favouring the genteel effect, these productions are not the most easy drinking, but likely quite attractive to those keen on black teas.

This 250g tuo is moderately pressed, separating easily without crumbling.  The dry material still gives off the fragrance of granny smith, but spiced wood is now more prominent in the first three infusions.  Wet, it gives off a the aroma of floral vanilla

This round in the green clay teapot produced a liquor that is turbid, brown, and sudsy for the first six infusions.  It attacks the gut.  The fragrance hangs in the mouth for a lengthy duration.  Cheeky and throaty.  Difficult to tease out all the tastes, which can be easily overshadowed by the numbing astringency.  You have to sit with one as  you would scotch.

On the other side of the boldness is a velvety vanilla that is evocative of root-beer, a signature of my most favourite puerhs, raw and ripe.  This root-beer taste is either starting to gain a foothold as tuo ages or perhaps my tastes are maturing, perhaps a bit of both.

In sum, it is a well-balanced production, which in its seventh year is a delight to drink.  It is decidedly less like the green apple it was a few months ago.

Some shots of the ’05 Glee 250g tuo by Yangpin Hao.

The other day I was two-timing.  I was with a gathering of folks and the fare of the day was wulongs not puerhs.  In the course of conversing, one person remarked that puerh was a masculine tea.  I smiled because I know what she means, but that’s just not the case for all productions.  Exhibit A: Glee, the epitome of a genteel (rou) production.

Yangpinhao is a brand with a clear identity.  Their productions raw and ripe express an unmistakable talc and vanilla character.  Glee was produced in ’05 but dry-stored for 10yrs before being wrapped.  The aroma faintly floral and the liquor looks about what it should for 12yo Kunming tea, as you can see from the picture above.

In the year since acquiring Glee, I’ve downed about 1/2 of the 200g. tuo.  It is gently pressed and the leaves are more whole than is usual with tuo cha.  The taste doesn’t bowl you over.  In fact, you have to really pay attention to this one.  The impression at this stage is of highly mineralized slightly sweetened water with some floral overtones.  Just three months ago those notes tasted like wild weeds, a flavor I’m very much not keen on.  This floral note builds with an intensely lingering astringency that shreds and sticks to the tongue, cheeks, lips and throat about a minute in.  Early infusions are woodier.  There is no spice.  There is no bitterness.  At the 10th infusion with a time of more than 60s, the color was dark with a stronger floral note but positively zero bitterness.  It has a very subtle and possibly calming effect on the body.