Whenever I think of Wuliang Mt. productions, I’m apt to think of the strong productions from Xia Guan and Tulin.  The 2014 Wuliang Mt dragon pearl does not fit the mold.  It tastes like sugarcane with a backside kick of camphor.  Often spring material is mas fuerte.  Perfume, bitterness, and astringency commingle into forming some combination of that which appeals or repulses.  This production is nothing of the sort.

The 2014 Wuliang dragon pearl possesses negligible bitterness and astringency.  The broth is thick and light in color and taste.  Whereas most offerings tend to build to a crescendo, curiously this dragon pearl maintains a steadiness throughout its many infusions, more than 12.   Many puerh offerings have “a bottom” of sorts, where the bitterness and astringency prevail over sweetness and fragrance as one progresses from one infusion to the next.  With the 2014 Wuliang Mt dragon pearl, this doesn’t happen.  Furthermore, despite its gentility, its qi is remarkably present and expansive.  The camphor finish is most pleasing in the warm summer months.

The Shujian dragon pearl is rather tightly wrapped.  I soaked it in hot water for about two to three minutes in a 120ml gaiwan, so that it could open up.  In defiance to first-wash protocol, I drank that.  The second infusion received 30s.  Thereafter, perhaps 40m having expired, I could disassemble the pearl about 85%.  The following infusions were rinses, lasting fewer than 5s.

Shujian Tea Company specializes in high quality puerh.  Their dragon pearl selections are on the pricier side, but this Wuliang Mt is among the least expensive of their offerings.  Dragon pearls are hand-rolled from select leaves.  The individuals charged with this task or in possession of this talent, not that one precludes the other, actually expect pay in exchange for their talents.  Go figure.  And labor costs are rising in China to boot.  Shujian (est 2012) has made a bit of a name for themselves peddling dragon pearls, which consistently sell out given their exceptional quality and very small quantities.  If you’re looking for sugarcane without all the flowery fragrance, then I can hardly think of a more pleasing offering.

The 2014 He Kai Dragon Pearl is in full effect and wins this week’s “Star of the Week” award. Some dragon pearls are packed notoriously tightly; the unfurling takes so much time that the tea diffuses unevenly. This often makes for a weaker potion, lending to an impression that the leaves are weaker than they actually are. This not the case with this He Kai。

I infused it during the “rinse and wake” for maybe a minute and a half. The aroma popped and the liquor was promising. By the first infusion the pearl was possibly 1/3 opened. I gave it 30 well-timed seconds. Yum. Thick, sweet, no bitterness, deep. Excellent quality. The huigan is of green melon, a juicy yet firm honeydew. There are just whispers of veggies that you catch perhaps a minute or two after its been drunk.

The second and third infusions were 10 and five seconds respectively, as the pearl was loose enough for me to open fully with a fiddle or two with the fingers. Maybe I’d use one of my tools if I were working from an yixing pot, as opposed to a gaiwan. I do question whether I’m violating some rules of etiquette by using my hands but heck, I’ve already drunk the rinse, so there’s no going back now anyway.

After about 40min of this, I was full. This is a very satisfying raw puerh. Its sweetness and thickness is immediately gratifying. It possesses minimal bitterness and astringency. It is in the same class of fruitiness and sweetness of the Zhong Cha Fu and Bulang Shengtai, but the leaves are vastly more perfect. The cost of dragon pearls is relatively high. Each pearl is hand rolled after leaves have been carefully selected for this purpose. This not only adds to the aesthetic experience but also demonstrates the measure of artisanal craft that goes into making such an ephemeral pleasure. Given their rare quality, very small quantities of dragon pearls are produced yearly and they tend to sell out quickly because they are the only way that most normal Chinese could possibly afford such a lofty product. Such is the case for this production.

The Puerh Junky has a few on hand if this is an experience you feel you need to avail yourself of. This small maker has taken care to date stamp their product on the wrapper, which possesses dandy dragon seal design in which the characters He Kai are also stamped.

Bing Dao Breeze: The Puerh Junky Muses Over the 210 Bing Dao by Yapu Ancient Arbor Co

Gotta say, this is a perfectly production, epitomizing, I believe, the Bing Dao terrior.  Fruity aroma… but I’m getting ahead of myself.  A pleasure it is to break into a cake with such fantabulous pressing, neither too tight nor too loose, just enough to allow for transformation to transpire as it should.  Whole leaves containing a smattering of stem.  Decidedly dry-stored.

Telemetry?  Tea chemistry.  Sounds good.  Eight grams in the 150ml porcelain gaiwan.  “Sugarcane, makes me feel fine, quaffing down the Bing Dao ain’t a criiiime.”  Third time tasting.  Developing nicely.  The hot summer and humidity has helped it along.  Green bean action in the huigan suffused with a predominating high-note camphor.  There’s that breeze, you were expecting.

Not even a hint of astringency in the progressively floral nectar, but it comes on in the throat cutting phlegm.  It occurs to me that it has that Neil Young virtue, burning out fast, yet ever the while so gentle, needing just the right measure of tepidity to be thick and sweet, a gentility that the mandarin lass (read: the wife) never fails to swoon over.  My, my.

Third time’s a charm.  Takes some navigating around the isles of Ho and Hum.  It’s called “delicate.”  Experience under the ole belt, I take to tweaking infusion times upwards after every two rounds.  Familiarity breeds contempt and this icy bard is getting cheekier by the cup.  That’s my mastoids drooling after round nine.  It’s been three hours and I’m hungry.  This zephyr should be able to carry me onto one of the 14 Banna villages by noon.  Besides, the waters round Bing Dao have been duly charted.