Lancang Ancient Tea Company 2017 "81 Golden Melon" Ripe Puerh

This beautifully presented golden melon is an upgrade of Lancang Ancient Tea company's classic 0081 ripe cake recipe, which we are very fond of.

In this shape, the already excellent 0081 recipe has been enhanced by blending in a large percentage of older tree gongting (imperial grade) fine buds, as well as 5-year aged material in the blend. It is a fairly rich and intense ripe with strong woodiness and camphor, do not overleaf.

TASTE PROFILE

This upgraded recipe results in a very obvious uplift in smoothness and complexity, noticeable upon first sip. The in-your-face wood/mushroom/earth of the regular cake version has been toned down, while burnished leather and oak with a hint of petrichor takes centerstage. Aroma of burnt chocolate toast laced with roasted walnut. While this isn't a sweet blend per se, a hint of dark caramel is present especially on later steeps, with a deeper, rounded mouthfeel that lingers. The soup is viscous and slippery, lubricating down the throat.

We think this upgraded blend easily stands up to and possibly surpasses classics like Dayi's V93 or Tulin's more premium ripe blends. This is our first recommendation for ripe puerh that is unfussy and satisfying every time, at a surprisingly reasonable cost. For now we have good stock of these, but the 2017 is now becoming scarce and we won't be able to restock this year's vintage.