Lang He Tea Factory of Menghai

2014 Qiao Mu Lang He Raw Pu’er
5g/100ml
200F
intuition brewing
10 minute rest
dry leaf is musty with caramelized sugar
wet leaves smell fruity with a hent of camphor
camphor on the dry lid couldent detect anything else in it
wash color is golden with a tinge of red
tea soup smells like caramelized sugar and just a hint of incense
not much smell from empty gongdaobei

steep one: the color is about the same as the rinse some mustiness and
earthiness but not overwhelming
some floral sweetniss but just a hint wet hay
decaying hay. cooked rice. the texture is thick and viscous
cooling camphor feeling in mouth

steep two: color is a little more red than gold now no fruitiness like i
smelled in it the mustiness is there along with the wet hay. not particularly
earthy this steeping there i some minerality like licking a wet rock
woodiness there is a “Sandy” taste to this. it may be dirt. a slight warming
effect in the mouth. very interesting

steep three: the color is mainly red this time. savory and creamy. the rice
flavor comes in after the wet hay and sticks around in the after taste the
hay and wet rock flavor is up front it has a quick drying and chalky texture
so maybe a little astringent just the hint of hui gan

steep four:color looks more brown this time with hints of red probably underbrewed
wood and stone up front in this brew rice also comes through along with
wet hay and decaying hay savory with a hint of what i think might be flowers
there is earth and a very light huigan

steep five:brew is ruby red this time wet hay upfront with just the tiniest hint of a
metallic taste minerality and the chalky feeling hangs in the after taste
slight hint of the mustiness is there surprisingly. just a hint of mint for a second

steep six: brewed up more red but the metallic edge is more upfront
i am still getting some hay which is good. camphor very light
the wet stone is there. so theres inerality. slight earthiness
the wet hay note is there mustiness and something else familiar
in the after note. very very tiny bitterness

steep seven (last steeping): the color is deep red still. there is a mintyness to
this one. there is a cooling feeling on the roof of the mouth there is something reminiscent
of shou in here but i cant quite decipher what the flavor is that the two share
it was mainly minerality this time with slight hints of wet hay and wood.
can get from purple cloud tea house online

It is a glorious day, nice and cool after the nasty amount of heat we had lately. I have my windows open and I can enjoy a session with some Shou, something I find less desirable when it is near 100 degrees outside, since I find Shou to be very warming. While sipping I am packing, trying to decide which pieces of tea gear are ‘essential’ and cannot be packed away til last minute…and it is really hard! Yes I am wrapping everything in old cloth (my dryer broke and ruined a bunch of my clothes, so hey, free packing material…though I have to buy new underwear now, ugh) and the boxes are RIGHT next to my desk and really easy to access, but I don’t like seeing such bare shelves.

So, onto some Shou! Today we are looking at 2010 Imperial Palace by Langhe Tea Company a well known tea company (from Yunnan of course) that is known for its mellow and clean taste. If the aroma is anything to go by, this one will live up to Langhe’s reputation, notes of sweet and mellow molasses, loam, pine wood, and a distinct cedar trunk finish with just the tiniest hint of leather. Honestly the aroma of this tea reminds me of being in a cabin deep in a pine forest, you keep your belongings in a trunk and your leather pouch for carrying whatever things you take on a forest adventure hangs nearby, it is very evocative and feels me with peace.

Into ye old elephant duanni the tea goes for a rinse and steep! The aroma of the wet leaves is very sweet, strong notes of pine sap and molasses with clean soil and wet wood. It is less forest floor and more just straight up forest. The liquid is creamy, sweet and rich, I am detecting notes of cocoa, molasses and a lovely finish of wet pine wood.

I decided that I wanted to share this with my friends, and luckily my elephant pot is big enough that we can all share several small cups. The first steep has a pleasantly thick mouth, coating the mouth with a full burst of flavor. Rich notes of cocoa and molasses with an accompaniment of wet pine wood and a clean cedar finish.

Onward to the second steep, the sharing of tea continues! Notes of forest loam (mostly pine forest and cedar leaves) wet wood, cocoa, and a touch of malt waft from the steamy little cups. The taste is strong and malty, intense coniferous wet wood notes blend with dark chocolate and a touch of loam. The finish is a clean cedar note that is rather invigorating.

Third steep, we are surprisingly tea drunk…my friends are total light weights, but there is no excuse for me, clearly this is an intense tea! The aroma is dark and malty, rich dark chocolate and a touch of loam, I feel a relaxing, sinking feeling when sniffing this tea, like I am melting into loam. The taste is heavy as well, thick and sweet, warm notes of wet wood and fir trees, loam and chocolate. Finishing notes of malt and cedar, this tea is kinda great! I love the cocoa notes, they blend really well with the loam and woody notes, Langhe Tea Company, you have some made Puer skills!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/puer-junky-2010-imperial-palace-langhe.html

This one is aging up nicely with the classic clean taste of Langhe punctuated by some pronounced camphor notes. It’s more than half the price of the Imperial Round and tastes about twice as good. Looking forward to how it’ll taste next fall. One of my favourite of the Langhe offerings. The “shuang” fresca is really nice, especially since it wasn’t there when I first got it.