Wuliang Longevity Ripe

The Wuliang Longevity Ripe came to settle in the Puerh Junky Lair (PJL) in March of ’23.  That makes it a newcomer to the community of LPTAWA, otherwise known as Languishing Puerh Tea Associates With Ambitions.  Dear Reader, don’t fret.  It has plenty of company.

The WLR doesn’t have a page of its own, but can be found on a page  where it clusters among productions from the same factory, Haixintang.   It falls into the category of heavily fermented ripes with an unapologetic fruit expression, in this case cherry, fermented to be precise, but to characterize it as fruity would overshadow its complexity.

Wuliang is in the Lancang/Simao region, whence cometh GPE and Tulin and a region somehow associated with the Xiaguan TF tea region.  This could be a misnomer derived from assuming that the Tulin founder and XG disciple simply picked up shop and moved across the proverbial street.  In any event, Wuliang productions tend to have quite the personality.  The WLR is no exception, particularly in terms of the roast note that comes through, most evocative of coffee.

WLR has a syrupy quality about it.  It is super smooth and coats the mouth with a thick layer of sweet and smoothness.  There’s no doubt that it would perform quite well in thermos.  It doesn’t have the playful fruitiness of Merlot, nor the wicked bitterness of LME’s ripes.  It’s very well conceived, notes of chocolate, orchid, even a suggestion of cinnamon.  It’s sweet and juicy, but all balanced by a powerful roast presence.

Obviously, people looking for their ripes to approximate coffee will love it. Instagram shots.

Puerh Junky on Haixintang

Puerh Junky on Haixintang is a quick note on a factory that releases some very decent productions.  So far, the only treat offered has been Grenouille, an Wuliang offering that has been in the Collection for several years.  Here’s a link to the articles mentioning it.

About every year the Puerh Junky takes up a factory of interest.  Late ’22 began Haixintang’s turn.  All of ’22 was about gathering up a great many Xinghai productions, raw and ripe.  Over the years, Xinghai has been acquired.  You’re welcome to inquire about the younger productions under newer processing and the older.  The focus of this missive is on Haixintang.

Grenouille is on the dry side of dry.  Conditions have been reasonably warm, so it’s not young but the evolution under dry warmth has be of talc and dish washer soap.  There’s some initial layers of incense that are also evident in the ’05 Green Mark, Xinghai.  The difference between the two is that Grenouille is more in the tobacco vein wheras the Xinghai is not tobacco-y and much more bracing, with some apple notes.  Grenouille is far more soothing, whereas the Xinghai continues to feel it needs time for maturation.  The very initial five layers have proper expression but subsequent layers clearly need yet more time.

The New Year Rabbit ’23 late Jan brought some new Haixintang discoveries.  These include a ’18 Yiwu and ’07 Wuliang Longevity and a kilo ’13 Jingmai Old Tree raw.  The ripes are ready absolutely, but the raw needs a few mths.  Contact me if interested in a ripe.  Both are under $90.