Still waiting for arrival

I can't believe the quality/price ratio on this. This is a VERY good quality Bulang, the real deal, with loads of the unique kuwei of the special varietal found in this area. It has a deep base of cocoa and minerals which dominates the first half of the session, in the second half some more delicate floral top notes emerge. It is exceptionally clean and smooth throughout, and very active in the mouth (saliva-stimulating). Bargain!

The order hasn’t arrived yet.

To me, the Early Spring Cake has an excellent price-value ratio.
Strong and flavorful, but already mellowed - and most importantly, drinking it makes me feel good.

Pretty good example of what Na Ka region sheng tastes like. It's strong, bitter, and powerful without being harsh, though I think this is a good tea to age, not drink now. Starts off bitter, almost medicinal, and possesses depth and lasting huigan throughout. The bitterness quickly switches to slight sweetness in the mouth, but overall, I'd say that the bitterness is very noticeable throughout and coats the mouth. I liked this one a lot, the bitterness stands out but the tea remains complex and enjoyable. Would be really interesting to see how this one ages.

If you like powerful, aggressive teas, this is nice! Classic citrussy claw feel at the back of the throat and definitely has some qi. It's expensive, but the sample is worth a shot, at least to get a feel for Laoman'e. I've had more mouth destroying Laoman'e before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one :)

This is a more complex tea than other samples that John is offering, it's definitely something that you need to think about while drinking. That being said, it's got a very nice duality of bitterness --> sweet. It's subtle but it's clearly got strength. Makes you salivate, good huigan, and mouth feel is sublime. Would definitely pick up a sample, you can't lose at 3 dollars.

Bought a bunch of the "gushu" 2018 spring shengs from KingTeaMall, and I've been slowly going through them. This has been hands down my favorite example of a drinkable young sheng. Very very sweet taste, just like the sugarcane described. It's rich, has a full body, and coats the mouth well. Very little bitterness or astringency, and to be quite honest, I don't know how well it would age, but this is a prime tea to drink now. Very relaxing powerful feeling and a delight to drink. At the very least, grab a sample, as .60/1g for a cake is difficult to swallow, but the tea is indubitably not.

This is the first revival of this tea since early in the factories history. Simply Bing or "Round" cake. This tea seems to have some older material in it from the start. A little smoke and some punch up front. You may find some sweetness in this at the end. Material looks good for and XiaGuan production. I have been finding out these first year revivals of these things are given a little more "attention" from the factories maybe to generate some hype but if materials are good as this one is it is founded. I have a couple and will be interested to see how they age.

I had heard a lot about this cake across various forums. I have only drank a few teas from this factory. I found this tea to be well aged. It has a wisp of the storage on the aroma but I didn't get a transfer of that to the cup. This tea is almost sweet on the tongue. Nice color in the cup some hints of wood and dates in it. I was impressed by this cake in terms of storage as well as price. This could be an affordable tea you could pull out and drink each day.

Very good tea.

very good and strong tea in Xiaguan style.

This is a fantastic portable set. The materials are high quality and the design is very compact. Easily worth it!

A++ prompt and well packaged. many many cups ahead!

Sweet, clean, and delicious shou puerh. Very clean rinse, virtually no dust or tiny bits. First steep produced dark red/brown soup with fruity, woodsy aromas, and rich and surprisingly bright mid-toned flavors along with nice depth. Interesting wood spice. Smooth and clean. Subsequent steeps produced more noticeable camphor notes and sweetness, both of which lingered long at the back of the throat. Too pricey in my opinion for a daily drinker, but a very tasty and unusual young shou for an occasional treat.

Thank you John for the sample..! very good puerh, well balanced, moderately thick liquor with floral-fruity flavor and good aftertaste

Nice raw pu-erh tea. First infusions have a vegetable taste. The taste becomes more sweet with increased quantity of infusion. All in all a good sheng pu-erh tea that needs some more aging.

Excellent young Naka and by far the best value of any young Naka from 2017. Highly recommended.

Floral, sweet, complex & powerful. I really like it.

Mother tree strong energy/qi. Bulang bitterness :)
Captivating and enchanting!

This is an excellent yancha, outperforms many of my much more (like 6 times) expensive stuff. And not necessarily by winning side-by side comparisons. Some well rounded teas taste better when trying together. But I find myself always returning to this one, while the "better" teas lie undisturbed for months. It must have some magic others do not have. Do try if you are into rock tea.

Perhaps it would be better to age this tea for a while. But as it gives me an energy burst I really like, could not keep myself away. This is the second (small) cake I'm buying, and it will not last long either. Service is impeccable as always.

Very good, precise and accurate teapot. Good matter and smooth surface. Thank you.

It’s pretty good. It’s a bit smoky, and you can already catch the change of how the tea is becoming to be an old sheng.

Good tea for every day

I think this is a fine a example of what can happen when you take inexpensive, broken leaf intended for Tuo Cha, and age it in a proper environment for over 10 years. No negative storage characteristics, just a sweet aged flavor, nothing too fancy but very easy to to enjoy. Note and aromas:

-Dried orange peel
-Dried plum
-Very faint smoke aroma

Balanced, easy to brew, and easy to drink. You can’t ask for more than this.

great seller
fast delivery
quality goods

Very good tea!

Very good tea!

A very impressive, high quality Bulang raw puerh. Strong bitterness up front, penetrating fragrance, pronounced salivation and huigan, long cooling kougan and powerful cha qi. I can see why the semi-aged versions of this tea have increased so dramatically in price. This is a tea worth owning and revisiting over the next 10 or 20 years.

I drank this for the first time today after receiving it a few days ago. I enjoyed it very much. It doesn’t have a flavor that’s very distinctive in any particular way, but even though it’s an iron-pressed cake and I couldn’t manage to chisel off a chunk without creating a lot of dust, it didn’t get overly bitter or astringent. If you’re looking for a “daily drinker”, look no further. However, if you’re looking for something with a particularly “interesting” flavor, this might not be what you’re looking for. I will be interested in seeing whether this tastes different after acclimating to my storage for a few weeks.

A lovely, delicious tea. Sweet, fruity, roasty, aromatic, and very smooth, with a cool, lingering hui gan after drinking. Very nicely balanced, the delicacy of the tea is offset by the medium-heavy charcoal roasting, and the strength and persistence of the mouthfeel. One of the best of John’s selection of Spring 2018 WuYi YanCha oolongs.

Received as a sample. Wet leaves smell with hints of gooseberry . First couple of steeps gave really high tein kick. Sweetness steps in from 3rd steep and keeps for another 4. Not as bitter or astringent as I expected, not easy to over-steep. Had a pleasant energetic session with this whole afternoon/evening. As the previous reviewer wrote, I could focus very clearly, finished presentation that I thought will take longer. Overall plasent and recommended.