22 November, 2011

2011 Yunzhiyuan "Wuliang"

Here's a good one.


2011 YS Wuliang


Wuliangshan is proper Simao prefecture tea, the region to the north of Xishuangbanna.  Scott of Yunnan Sourcing, whence cometh this might cake, has provided plenty of background data.  Background data make people like me happy.

The leaves come from Zhongcangzhai [djong tsang djai], in Jingdong county, which is up in the northern-most region of Simao, where it borders both Lincang prefecture to the west and Dali prefecture (home of Xiaguan) to the north.  Scott writes that these trees are some 200 years old, growing on ridges and slopes.  He then notes that its altitude of 2.3 km makes "this some of the highest-altitude pu'erh in existance".


2011 YS Wuliang


Perhaps best of all, the area is exceedingly remote, far off the beaten track, and so the price of maocha is low.  Scott sells this for an entirely reasonable $20/bing, which is much more like Maliandao price than Western price.

The leaves, shown above, are quite small.  They are also dark and fruity in their aroma, and seem lively.


2011 YS Wuliang


The soup is yellow with, dare I say it, a hint of a brown hue that always reminds me of Simao, and sometimes Lincang, tea.  It's a strange thing to write, but there you have it.

The qualities of this cake are obvious from the wenxiangbei [aroma cup], which has a low, savoury base that correlates with the colour of the soup.  This lowness slowly, gradually becomes a heavy sweetness.  It has real mass.


2011 YS Wuliang


This tea is mighty fine, and a true pleasure to drink: it has a tangy kuwei [good bitterness], and a broad, heavy tobacco - but not the heavy blackness of cheekily-processed modern Xiaguan; rather, this is the dark tobacco of seriously savoury leaves.  It's precisely my cup of tea.

Throughout it all comes  long sweetness, that lingers admirably and causes the mouth to water.  Some grassy notes, some butter from the wok, but mostly just big, fat tobacco richness with sweetness atop.

This is $20?  I consider buying a tong even after the first infusion.  Even while the tetsubin boils up water for the next infusion, my mouth revels in the huigan from the previous cup, such is its duration.

Frighteningly good tea.  Be warned that it is highly atuned to my own preferences; if you don't share a love of potent, dark, low teas, this might not work out for you.  If you enjoy such things, consider getting yourself a sample and let us know how you get on.

I drank this tea last thing before leaving for Beijing, and it stayed with me as a potent comparator throughout my time in Maliandao this year.  Plenty of (modern) cakes that I tried around Maliandao weren't up to this standard.

9 comments:

James said...

I concur, this tea is exquisite. I am savoring a brick I bought after trying a sample kindly provided by Yunnansourcing on with my last order. I hold this one in high regard along with the doubly expensive GuaFengZhai bricks I bought from Yunnansourcing that were also amazing. $20 is a steal for a brick of this fine and I must say under priced tea. I regularly make tea at work.. and I get a few passerby's that enjoy sampling whatever I am brewing at the time. This particular tea brought a lot of comments. I remember one co-worker trying this one and savoring it thoughtfully.. his first response was.. it feels like I'm standing on a mountain in the Himalayas! I think that summed it up more than any explanation I could give it, of nuances in flavors or notes..etc this tea transports you.. it is simply pure.. clear.. intense.. perfect.

Perhaps this is a bit effusive.. but its some pretty good tea!

Hobbes said...

For $20, you can't go wrong. :)


All the best,

Hobbes

Simeon said...

Hi Hobbes , I ordered a couple samples of this along with a few others and they arrived a couple of weeks ago . Had a session with some Wuliang as soon as it arrived and loved it ! My notes are very similar to yours . Just had another session ( got a bit side tracked with a sample of Gao Shan Zhai and some other odds and ends ) - YUM !!! Enjoyed it even more than the first session ! Watch out wallet I have a Tong in my sights ! Just had a quick look at the Sheng Of The Day page on Badger and Blade , where did you acquire your three cakes of YS 2010 Xikong ? - I , like you thought about it for to long and by the time I had made up my mind YS had sold out . All the best ! P.S. - If you want to see something breath taking have a look around at jingtea.com ( uk ) , looks like they have just had their annual price rise ! e.g. organic jade sword green tea has gone up around 20 GBP per kg !

Anonymous said...

I have recently stumbled across your blog and I am astounded by your puer knowledge and collection. Thank you for keeping a blog like this I am learning much from your writings. I am a fairly new tea drinker about 5-6 years and just starting to really appreciate the raw puers, which I am trying to find good quality to base my tastes on but I have not found anyone in my area that can steer me in the right direction. I live in the states near chicago. I would like to know if you would sell some samples to me if possible. Email me emet75@msn.com with any info . again thank you. Emeterio Guzman. Great photography also.

Hobbes said...

Dear Simeon,

Thanks very much for the comment. Nothing would surprise me in the prices of the UK Jingtea.com!

The Xikong cakes were bought after a grovelling letter to Scott. I paid a little more than normal, but the results are mighty fine by me. :)


Dear Emeterio,

Thanks for the kind words. If you're looking for some good young shengpu samples, I would highly recommend buying a few of the 2011s and 2010s from Yunnan Sourcing and Essence of Tea. They're generally very good, and you can find notes for most of them in the archives here at the Half Dipper (for all their very limited worth). I would offer to send you some of my cakes (for free), but I'm so far behind on sending samples out to my friends, that I wouldn't want to keep you waiting. Yunnan Sourcing and Essence of Tea are much faster, and inexpensive if you're only buying samples.


Toodlepip all,

Hobbes

Anonymous said...

hi hobbes
I also find this tea to be a good value for the price. Did you tried the blends from the 2011 YS productions(Shang Chun and San Zhe Zhai) I have a sample from the first one and it convinced me to buy a cake. It certainly worth a try.
Norbert

Hobbes said...

Dear Norbert,

Thanks for the pointer - I haven't tried those two blends. I have a dim memory that I may have ordered some of them along with the tong of this Wuliang, and so I patiently await the delivery.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Anonymous said...

Did you get the year wrong or has it already sold out?

I only see a 2010 version of it at YS with roughly the same price.

Hobbes said...

Dear Anonymous,

A good question - I think it was the correct year, and that it rapidly sold out. This was a bunch of samples 2011 teas that I drank at the same time, to catch up on Scott's output from that year. (I might be wrong on this detail, though, as it was a year ago.)


All the best,

Hobbes