2008 Bulang Ancient Tree

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Bitter, Heavy, Smooth, Sweet, Wet wood, Camphor, Wood
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by DarkStar
Average preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 28 oz / 833 ml

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4 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Super heavy and full-bodied with an very spicy sweetness and subliminal bitterness which numbs the tongue. Wet-storage character but still a super strong tea and a very relaxed qi. Images and more...” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “This is a tea I bought back in 2013 and have slowly been consuming since; eyeballing, I’ve got roughly half a cake left, and I currently plan on dragging that out for the long haul. Looking back...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “Wow. Deep, dark body reveals intense sweet fruit. Intense, oily and powerful delivery. Just a few thoughts on first trying this.” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “I got a cake of this last year firstly because I am a big fan of puerh from this region and secondly because I was curious to taste a semi-aged example. When EOT was still based in the UK they...” Read full tasting note
    90

From The Essence of Tea

This cake was pressed by a Malaysian tea lover in 2008 and stored there since. We came across this cake on our trip to Malaysia this spring and were very impressed by the quality. Not only has it been produced from very high quality ancient tree leaves, but the storage has been impeccable & really has left us feeling very impressed by the effect of the Malaysian climate on puerh tea.

The tea is incredibly pure. There are hints of what was once a little smokiness, but this has transformed into a lovely camphor flavour. There are also hints of the famous Bulang bitterness, which has also transformed nicely into a very thick sweetness. There is vibrancy in the mouth and the beginnings of a very nice aged flavour. I’m very excited about this tea and very happy that we were able to buy some to offer to tea lovers in the West.

About The Essence of Tea View company

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4 Tasting Notes

100
127 tasting notes

Super heavy and full-bodied with an very spicy sweetness and subliminal bitterness which numbs the tongue. Wet-storage character but still a super strong tea and a very relaxed qi.
Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2008-bulang-ancient-tree-eot

Flavors: Bitter, Heavy, Smooth, Sweet, Wet wood

Preparation
10 tsp 100 OZ / 2957 ML
mrmopar

This one is so good…..

Alexander

Indeed, absolutely love this one! One of the best more traditional stored Shengs ever.

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85
27 tasting notes

This is a tea I bought back in 2013 and have slowly been consuming since; eyeballing, I’ve got roughly half a cake left, and I currently plan on dragging that out for the long haul. Looking back on some notes I took when I first tasted this, it’s interesting to see how this has evolved. At the time, I noted tobacco and smoke, with some mild qi; this differs substantially from my impressions today.

Admittedly, the nose on the initial steep was much as I remember it, with camphor and notes that I can best describe as minty (common to a lot of semi-aged stuff; I’m pretty sure this is wrong); this was present in the flavor and recurred a couple of times throughout the session, but didn’t dominate. Instead, I noticed mostly lightly bitter, alkaline notes on the first several steeps, not unlike those in the 2012 Essence of Tea bulang, although not quite as pronounced. The flavor was remarkably pure, with no noticeable smoke and a slightly bitter, cooling finish. As the session continued, the flavor deepened, moving into dark fruit territory, albeit with a distinct sour note riding atop it. This sourness was new, even in the past six months; it came and went throughout the session, missing from some steeps entirely only to reappear on the next, and I’m not quite sure what to think of it. The qi was gripping: while drinking the last of the third steep, I suddenly found myself, cup in mid-air, staring intently at the bookshelf.

The evolution in this tea has been interesting, though the appearance of sourness has me more than a little concerned. I recently exposed my tea to far too much cold, as I currently keep it in my apartment in a sealed plastic tub, which had been by a very large window; this worked fine in the summer, but with temperatures dipping below freezing, the tea got properly frigid. I’ve relocated my storage away from the window, and with any luck, things will normalize themselves. Suffice it to say, though, that I’ll keep an eye on this tea and revisit it in a couple of months.

Preparation
Boiling 8 g 4 OZ / 125 ML

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90
92 tasting notes

Wow. Deep, dark body reveals intense sweet fruit. Intense, oily and powerful delivery. Just a few thoughts on first trying this.

Preparation
7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
mrmopar

I liked this one too.

tanluwils

Lots of buzz around this tea. Too bad it’s sold out. :(

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90
26 tasting notes

I got a cake of this last year firstly because I am a big fan of puerh from this region and secondly because I was curious to taste a semi-aged example. When EOT was still based in the UK they manged to get a few examples of Malaysian stored puerh, and this was one of them.

Due to time constraints I don’t have much time to do a long review like I normally do, so I will keep this tasting note pretty brief. Dry leaves smell nice and sweet, material appears to be of a good quality. 9 grams go into my 150ml yixing. Boil the kettle and let the water settle for a minute. Quick rinse and I smell the wet leaves…aroma is rich and sweet…I think I can also detect mint there as well.

First proper steep at 7 seconds. I slowly sip the brew…clean, crisp and pure, light woody textures amongst a sweet background, hints of pleasant bitterness. Very, very nice. Second steep at 10 seconds. Liquid appears a bit darker with reasonable thickness. Getting the same taste sensations as the first steep except there is some astringency, more minty notes which creates a rather pleasant cooling affect on the tongue when you take a deep breath in.

Third steep at 12 seconds…now tasting some aged camphor notes, still getting some pleasant bitterness however for me the sweetness is far more prominent. The Bulang’s robust nature has been tamed somewhat…overall my impression is that this is pretty “gentle”. I am enjoying the long, camphor and light woody sweetness in the aftertaste that remains between steeps. I am feeling the aftertaste far more on the tongue than at the back of the throat. I would also say this has some decent QI…I am feeling positively relaxed, warm and a little sleepy. I have a few more steeps and my tea session comes to an end.

As much as I enjoyed my session with this my personal feeling is that this puerh is seasonal in that I could see myself drinking loads of this in Autumn/Winter rather than Spring/Summer. It has a warm, comforting nature that is perfect for those cold Winter nights. My only “negative” feeling is that I am not a massive fan of its astringent properties…I think this needs a few more years of aging before it becomes ultra smooth. I was pleasantly surprised with its gentle character, yet behind this there are a lot of complex taste sensations.

My conclusion is that this is an excellent example of a semi aged Bulang. From a price point this costs £88 per cake which I think is pretty fair considering its not easy to find a Bulang of Ancient Tree material. I think with another 5+ years of aging this could be an exceptional puerh. Many thanks to EOT for another great example of Malaysian stored puerh. This was one of my favourite cakes out of their Malaysian stored selection, only being beaten by the impeccable 1991 7542.

Flavors: Bitter, Camphor, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
0 min, 15 sec 9 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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