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“Easily the most outstanding character of this particular cake is the dry leaf and cupped aroma. It has a strong red currant and fresh cherry tomato scent. Incredibly “red” and vegetable-like. Not...” Read full tasting note
“I think the last rating of this tea was a few years ago by another person, so this is somewhat of an update, though of course we are different reviewers. This is now 5 years old. It is a nice...” Read full tasting note
“In a hurry so more of a note for myself Sweet, not bitter or sour that I could detect, only had a decent body on the second or third steep otherwise was fairly light and “daintly”. Maybe lighter in...” Read full tasting note
Wu Liang Lan Xiang (无量兰香 aka Wu Liang Orchid Aroma) is the third tea created under the new Yunnan Sourcing / Rui Cao Xiang label. This label is a co-project between Yunnan Sourcing “Yun Zhi Yuan” (云之源) and a Korean counter-part “Rui Cao Xiang” (瑞草香). This tea is made entirely from high altitude Wu Liang mountain tea. The Wu Liang mountains peak out at about 3300 meters, making them the highest mountains in Simao prefecture. The Wu Liang mountain range is in the county of Jingdong which borders both Lincang and Dali prefectures. This tea is grown in the area of Wu Liang known as Zhong Cang village (中仓村) at an altitude of 2300 meters making this some of the highest altitude pu-erh in existance. The trees are healthy 200 year old trees growing naturally on steep hillsides and ridges. These tea gardens are arguably some of the remotest tea gardens in all of Yunnan. Lack of roads and access has kept the environment of this area in good condition, mao cha prices are significantly lower than comparable Banna teas, making this an affordable yet.
The tea itself is aromatic with hints of orchid aroma (兰香), and a strong mouth-feel. Even when young this tea is full in the mouth giving the drinker a persistent warmth and lubricated mouth feel. It brews evenly across 10 to 15 infusions never too harsh and neither dropping off suddenly, thus revealing the healthy characteristics of the trees and environment from which it came. This tea will develop gracefully through years building its character and providing the drinker with ever more complex textures.
This tea was compressed in a small tea factory near Jing Hong where stone presses were used. Low temperature “baking” was used to dry these cakes after the compression process thus preserving their integrity! In total just 150 kilograms of this tea has been produced
Net Weight: 357 grams per cake
Compression date: June 4th, 2009
Harvest time: Late March 2009
Harvest Area: Zhong Cang village of Wu Liang mountains, Jingdong county of Simao
Total Production amount: 420 cakes
Company description not available.
Wu Liang Lan Xiang 09
Terre des Thes2007 Wu Liang "Lan Xiang Gu Yun" Wild Arbor Purple Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake
Yunnan Sourcing2009 Gu Shu Lan Xiang
Yunnan Sourcing2018 Zu Xiang "Wu Liang Moonlight White"
Yunnan Sourcing2009 Wu Liang Shan Bing (W0901)
Cha Wang ShopWu Liang Mountain "Xue Dian, Mei Lan" Yunnan Green Tea
Yunnan SourcingEasily the most outstanding character of this particular cake is the dry leaf and cupped aroma. It has a strong red currant and fresh cherry tomato scent. Incredibly “red” and vegetable-like. Not in a starchy way, but somewhere between green plant stems and fruit. Much as many garden-fresh tomatoes would smell like if heated just slightly. In the flavor, this translates to a lightly sweet herbal and delicate floral character, with marked pungency. Perhaps the Lan Xiang (orchid aroma) the producers are referring to?
From the forward flavor notes on, this tea is a little flatter. There is detectable astringency towards the finish, but it’s missing a certain bitterness balance and lingering swell. Longer steeps develop a curt, punchy upfront bitterness that’s somewhat unpleasant. Considering this sample employed fantastically large leaves, I may begin to sense that teas with mostly large leaves are able to put off fantastic aromas and front flavors, but lack a certain roundedness in the finish. This tea has endurance for its youth however, as it crosses the ten steep mark without much noticeable loss in depth.
Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=323
I think the last rating of this tea was a few years ago by another person, so this is somewhat of an update, though of course we are different reviewers. This is now 5 years old. It is a nice gentle and interesting tea with good staying power. Somewhat fruity, especially in later steepings. It has probably mellowed out since it’s youth. It lacks a little on body and punch, but is a nice tea nonetheless.
In a hurry so more of a note for myself
Sweet, not bitter or sour that I could detect, only had a decent body on the second or third steep otherwise was fairly light and “daintly”.
Maybe lighter in caffeine or maybe just my caffeine tolerance but calming gaba content seemed higher maybe because of the elevation.
Ooh, I’ve got a sample of this lying around – this reminds me I have yet to give it a try.
I think the line of puerhs that YS is producing under its own name is really interesting. Many of them are so-called “wild arbor” (which I think usually means some really old trees that had been sort of forgotten and are now being cultivated) or highly circumscribed areas like the one described here. Either way, you end up with distinctive tastes that can be unpredictable but also very particular and rewarding. Like the difference between single malt scotch and blended whiskey. (Sorry for the vulgar analogy.)
I think the tomato note is right on. (I’m using that!) As for the orchid, my sense is that “orchid” is just a superlative, a kind of plus mark.
Thanks for the note!
michaelh, I think you’re right about the orchid as being a superlative. And I think the analogy between single malt and blended scotches are apt, especially when looking at single mountain cakes like this.