Another sort of contrasting type theme post, related to these being different ages. Sometimes it can be interesting comparing a shift in character over storage time so directly, or in other cases it just doesn't make sense together. We'll see. Both versions are presented as gushu (older plant material). Per usual I'll add the vendor description after making notes.
Mengsong Dragon Balls (50 CHF or $57 for 80 grams, 71 cents a gram)
...But the lovers of stored teas were a little bit forgotten. For them we now have a well stored Mengsong Gushu from spring harvest 2014. Dragon Balls, Long Zhu in Chinese language, of 8g were made from the tea leaves in Yang Ming’s tea factory to offer the tea in small quantities or as a sample. The tea was stored in Xishuangbanna under natural conditions until 2020 and is already very ripe.
There's no need to take the "already very ripe" part too specifically; it's a general claim that the tea has transitioned quite a bit. Of course this isn't remotely similar to shou pu'er; it doesn't mean that.
Bulang Gushu 2021 Balanced (99.76 CHF, $114 USD, for a 200 gram cake, 57 cents a gram)
I'm not completely sure this is the "balanced" version and not the "bitter" one, but I'd guess that it is. The description:
...Reminiscent of the legendary 2015 Bulang Gushu, which we still fondly remember and has long been sold out, this tea promises a similar allure.
Echoing the legacy of both the 2015 Bulang and the esteemed 5-Village Blend, this Bulang Gushu shares a unique connection – it is sourced from the tea fields of a former school friend of Yang Ming. This personal touch adds to the tea’s story, making it not just a beverage but a testament to long-standing relationships and shared history. Enjoy the depth of flavor and rich heritage encapsulated in each cup of this exceptional Bulang Gushu.
Taste: Strong, intense and deep
Terroir: Bulang Mountain, Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan province, China
Not much description there, but I included some of that marketing framing in anyway. If the tea lives up to it then colorful backstories are fine.
The Mengsong version is dragon balls, pressed spheres, and the Bulang is a coin or disc, so they'll also brew a bit differently. In both cases it will take 3 or 4 rounds to get them to brew consistently, but it won't throw off the character so much during those early rounds, it will just be less consistent. For tasting purposes that might make more difference than for ordinary drinking; you tend to focus in on relatively minor effects when tasting, versus just accepting a general impression.
I'm getting to the end of this Tea Mania sample set (and the Tea Tracks set as well; the two I'd been reviewing back in September). Both have been really interesting, pleasant, and consistent. To me Tea Tracks follows more of a selective and limited curator vendor theme, and Tea Mania sells based on direct sourcing of exceptional character and value sheng, and other types. Both would be good sources, but Tea Mania stands out for including so much range, and a few that are really exceptional in quality and value. Most I've tried are good, so the best exceptions are really something.
Review:
Mengsong (2014): the effect the age transition has had on this is interesting; 10 years is awhile. Warm tones include warm mineral and plenty of spice range. It's a little towards aromatic wood, cedar and such, but to me this is complex all within the range of warm spices, like incense spices, or even more aromatic woods like sandalwood.
The character is interesting and pleasant, and it makes sense. This hasn't entered into a range where it's just quiet, or awkward for being in between fresher tones and that deeper range.
Bulang (2021): that has a nice depth and a cool, interesting character as well. These will be better than I expected. It's not completely different than the other in terms of general range, with mineral and some spice standing out, but greener, slightly woodier tones are also present. This has an unusual degree of depth to it. It's odd saying that about sheng, which often expresses complexity, intensity, and depth, but this is on another level.
One interesting aspect is hard to pin down, maybe more along the lines of root spice, sassafras or root beer. Maybe that includes plenty of ginseng range, and I'm just not clear on that flavor; I haven't been messing around with ginseng for many years. It's not as bitter as I would've expected. There is some bitterness, but it's moderate. It seems like it might've already transitioned some, because this expresses so much flavor range and depth, but it has only been 3 years for this tea, not so long. It must have started out more "approachable" than it might have.
I did a long rinse first, which I discarded, and then went long on the Bulang, and quite long on the Mengsong, and these are opening up already. Both might need a round or two more to fully open but this won't take as long as I expected; knowing what to expect seemed to make some difference. You also tend to brew longer earlier on, to get that early process sorted out, so it's slightly off optimum for that other reason, that you need to make adjustment in some sense for it, either using a long infusion or accepting a few rounds will be less uniform, partly unfurled and partly not.
Mengsong #2: that's so catchy! I last reviewed a Mengsong version a week ago, so in one sense part of this range might seem familiar, but this seems a bit further along for transition (aging and fermentation), and interesting for it. Looking back that was a 2019 Mengsong version (from Tea Tracks); not at all young.
I don't always relate well to partly aged teas, versions in between a half dozen and ten years old. They can be promising, or pleasant, but often the experience is about potential, not what you experience at that time. This is good, both interesting and pleasant. There are layers to what's going on. One part is warm mineral, another a warm spice aspect, and a menthol sort of edge balances the rest in an interesting way. Camphor, I guess that I should be saying. The feel is even ok. It has a bit of dryness to it, which I suppose will sort back out and transition to something else over 5 or so more years, but it's not unpleasant as it is now. It all kind of works.
Bulang: this is unusually interesting too. Intensity picks up; there is a lot to this. Often that could mean bitterness or astringency is high in the balance, for a 3 year old sheng, but it's not disproportionate in this. I'm interpreting this as including camphor too. It's odd, because I don't run across aspects that seem exactly like that effect to me very often. I might say "camphor" once a year in this blog, almost never by sheng drinker tea blog standards.
The other seems more pleasant to me, a better match to my own preference. That's not a completely fair judgment, because the warmer tones, greater complexity, and depth of the other seems to derive from positive aging transitions. It is what it is though; maybe this will be just as good or better in 7 more years, or maybe it won't be.
This includes a perfume-like floral range edge, which is nice. A touch of green wood feel counters that, not perfectly balancing against it, but more just offsetting it. It's as novel as it sounds; they both are. Very often for reviewing partly aged sheng it's about judging how positive aspects are, and how it matches within a range of conventional character types, and for the second these are both kind of unique. In cases like these a close match to preference could make them seem amazing, or a larger gap from that standard of judgment could make one seem interesting but not as easy to value.
This has been a lot of tea already, two rounds in. I'll already take a break to eat just a little, and drink some water, and might have to keep these review notes short, limited to less rounds than is typical. Pushing intensity to get early opening-up transition out of the way is a part of that; it would've been easy to drink 3 or 4 quite light rounds if these were cake material that came unpacked well.
Mengsong #3: the color difference is striking now, this version being so much darker. This tea is really nice at this stage, as I've expressed. I would expect it to only get better, to smooth out and deepen in character, and to not change that much more over the next 5 years. That touch of dry feel will probably smooth out, changing to greater richness.
I'm not doing "warm spice tones" justice in describing this, or explaining how it strikes a balance between remaining floral range and deeper mineral flavors. The descriptions always only go so far. Without as pronounced a mineral range the rest wouldn't tie together as it does. Dominant spice range and camphor are a nice primary flavors set. I suppose someone could still find that feel edge a bit objectionable, too dry, or structured in a way they don't like, but it seems nice enough to me.
Bulang: every round it seems that pronounced, sappy, root spice (ginseng / sassafras), camphor, green wood edge range can't develop to be more intense, and then every round it does. It has a sort of pine edge to it at this stage. To me that balance works a good bit better than a heavier green wood inclusion did last round, which is still present, but more secondary now. I'll brew both these on the relatively light side next rounds, a fast infusion, and see how that changes things. Infusion strength was relatively standard last time, not brewed too long, but out to about 20 seconds, so it could be lighter.
Mengsong #4: it's even more pleasant brewed lighter, still really on the intense side, brewed for about 10 seconds. Sappy, rich feel balances well at this infusion strength. Flavor complexity isn't so different than what I've been describing, just shifted to balance a little better.
A touch of pine may be picking up in this too. It's interesting how closely these seem to parallel each other, relatively different, but with some repeating notes. Some of that could be from the power of suggestion, me looking for what I've already been experiencing, but some flavor themes seem to link between these, even though just as much flavor and other character is quite different.
Bulang: brewing this fast has broken the cycle of that one set of flavors emerging stronger and stronger, but it fits into a more pleasant balance this round, it integrates better. Even the green edge it had seems to be softening, as an experience of depth picks up.
I must admit I hadn't been completely sold on the gushu theme Peter and Tea Mania had long since been promoting. Good tea is good tea, and a few minor character aspects seem to kind of link to that, like a little more mineral range, but it also can seem relatively overstated. It can seem like people over-value a limited type of depth, and that it doesn't actually make the experience that much more pleasant. These are a little different though.
It seems like tea being well-produced, grown under favorable conditions, and also well-processed both mix as related inputs. Producers realize that old-plant material is valued, that it commands good product sales pricing, so they take care to get growing conditions, harvesting, and processing dialed in. Then beyond that there really could be significant positive effect from that one cause, plant age, but it would be harder to spot for it all tending to mix.
Mengsong #5: this may be a good place to leave off; even with eating some sunflower seeds and nuts and drinking water this is a lot of tea to ingest in one go. If an interesting later transition occurs I can mention it, since I'll drink the tea later, but to me it's enough of the story told covering most of the cycle (half the rounds, at most, but most of the changes).
Again balance is quite nice, and of course complexity, intensity, and depth. It hasn't changed much from the last round. It seems like this might be a better tea than I tend to run across, in terms of final character after aging that next 5 or so years. Or maybe that's more a comment about a match to preference, that I like this style and aspect set. Even for drinking it right now it's quite positive, unusually so for a tea at the 10 year aging mark.
Bulang: this is good too; it's not as if it's flawed, or doesn't make sense, in a bad place to experience right now. It doesn't match my preference as well. That really unusual and complex flavor set is really something. Both of these are quite rich and full in feel. I've not been going on about aftertaste experience but neither is thin or limited in the least, so the full range of experience is expressed, including that.
Conclusions:
I would guess that I always would love the Mengsong version more, as it ages across different levels of transition. Both are interesting though, and there's no reason why it necessarily seems better. That's just a match to preference based assessment, as I see it. It would be interesting to try it in another 7 years to check on that, to see how it changed.
Value is hard to place for these. They seemed quite good to me, and "gushu" material versions can tend to cost even more than this. Of course I liked the older and more expensive Mengsong version more; it would work out like that. I didn't go on and on about it in the notes but it seemed to include a bit more structure and complexity, and flavor tones had evolved a bit more over the extra 7 years. I could probably never bring myself to buy 80 grams of tea for $57 but for people more on that page, into that range, it could seem like a good deal. That also means that I've tried many samples presented as selling for more than this but I don't own equivalent cakes.
I really also liked the Mengsong version I covered in the last review, from Tea Tracks, another gushu version, from 2019, selling for $124 for a 200 gram cake (or presented as such; it's always hard to say). That divide in age makes any sort of direct comparison problematic. Trying them side by side I would guess about comparing quality level, character, and starting points, or mid-way points, but saying that both were very pleasant is enough.
If someone is into higher end, somewhat aged sheng pu'er versions this cost issue would have to be something they live with, or they could drink a different kind of tea, factory versions. I just saw a comment by a well-known vendor about how preferences have shifted, and a decade ago factory tea is most of what there was, and these gushu / boutique producer / narrow origin material versions are kind of a new thing. It is what it is. Someone could see this framing as a bit exaggerated, and think that quality and positive experience doesn't justify spending around $1 a gram (with these significantly below that level, maybe a good deal for that, or maybe that's still pretty normal).
One runs across the idea that boutique sheng doesn't always age-transition well. I could type some more paragraphs on that but it's hard to get the bottom of related generalities, and I'd need another decade of exploring sheng to have a more informed opinion. Not everything I've tried that is sort of similar in category background has been as positive as these. Some styles are positive and interesting for a few years and then die off more than they continue to improve.
One red flag seems to be when a tea is too approachable when quite young, when bitterness, astringency, and intensity are moderate earlier on. Of course I'd be guessing to project backwards in relation to these, about their origin. I'm not saying that they'd need to have been unpleasant or relatively undrinkable for the first year or two, instead that sweet, floral or fruity, and mild feel versions might not age well.
These two versions were really pleasant to experience just now, the main thing.
