Skip to content
2021 Hai Lang Hao "Gao Shan Zhai" Yi Wu Mountain Ripe Pu-erh Tea

2021 Hai Lang Hao "Gao Shan Zhai" Yi Wu Mountain Ripe Pu-erh Tea

by Hai Lang Hao
$23.75 - $411.50
$23.75
$23.75 - $411.50
$23.75

Hai Lang has done it again.  Hai Lang collected 300 kilograms of Spring 2021 harvested mao cha from Gao Shan Zhai Village  and had it painstakingly small-batch wet piled to perfection.  After 43 days of wet piling in a Menghai area tea factory, this light fermentation ripe pu-erh tea was stored for many months before being pressed (in 2021) into these 500 gram bricks.

Gao Shan Village is nestled in the Yi Wu mountains NNE of Yi Wu town and is one of the highest elevation villages in the Yi Wu range.  Gao Shan village is inhabited by both Han and Yao people.  Our material is the combined mao cha of two Yao families' tea gardens.

Hai Lang is a pu-erh tea dealer and producer who has been around for 20 years.  He's unapologetically direct and cares more about quality and one upmanship than he does about anything else.  This is a good quality in a pu-erh producer, and it's that very quality that allowed him to undertake the expense and the risk to wet pile such a tea as Yi Shan Mo.  

500 grams per brick

Pressed in 2021

Overall rating: 4.3333335 / 5 from 3 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: [ripe, tea].

Review highlights

Reviews

Nice shou BUT

"I finally got to try Gao Shan Zhai shou and I'm really glad I did. After a couple sessionsI can say it's definitely different from regular factory shou. The liquor is thick, smooth and really REALLY sweet. Almost vanilla like. Everything is super clean, no wet pile taste, no rough edges, just sweet after sweet after sweet. It's probably one of the sweetest shou I've ever had. Sweet aftertaste stays in you mouth for a hour or two. But it's not that simple. I still had some questions during the session. The best comparison i can think of is a premium steak cooked well done. You know it's an expensive piece of meat and you can tell the quality is there. It still tastes great. But at the same time you keep thinking. . . this would probably be even better medium rare. That's exactly how I feel about this tea. The material is obviously excellent, but I honestly think it would be much more interesting as a sheng. This is also why I think terroir matters much more in sheng than in shou. A great terroir sheng compared to a normal factory sheng can feel like a completely different tea. With shou, fermentation brings everything much closer together. Better material gives you cleaner taste, thicker body, stronger cha qi and more sweetness, but the difference isn't as huge. I've had already differnt Yiwu shou's before and it's good. Sweet, soft and easy to drink. But Ban Pen and Lao Man'e are much more interesting to me. Their natural bitterness turns into this thick, rich soup after fermentation and gives the tea much more character. Gao Shan Zhai goes the other way. It's all about sweetness, vanilla notes and a smooth texture. Very refined, just not really my favorite style. The cha qi was excellent though. Definitely much stronger than an average factory shou. Calm, clear head, good energy and it lasted a long time. You can tell this is premium material. So. . . was it worth trying? Yes, absolutely. I'm happy I bought it and had a couple sessions with it. It was a really cool experience and now I know what a high end Gao Shan Zhai shou is like. Would I buy it again? Honestly, no. I'm giving it 3 stars, but not because it's a bad tea or even an average tea. Quite the opposite. I just don't see the point of drinking shou at this price. In my humble opinion, I'd rather spend the same money on an amazing sheng, or buy a few really good everyday shou instead. No regrets at all, but once was enough for me."

— Daniil (3/5)

A real pleasure

"A lovely tea, which i look forward to trying again in a few years once the flavours have developed further. I usually default to Bulangs for their boldness, but this tea is a delightful chnage and I will certainly be buying more in the future. Smooth, creamy, vanilla with a lingering sweetness. A real pleasure."

— Indiana (5/5)

Wonderful

"Hai Lang has his ways doesn't he - I'd bought 250g and it was an immediate vanilla creme, sophisticated delight, so went for a full brick afterwards - tip: a session of half this, half Hai Lang's 2018 Yi Wu Old Tree Ripe is truly amazing - kudos to Scott and Xiao for making such amazing teas, including their own great ripes, available to us in such challenging times"

— Cary K. (5/5)

Q&A

Free Gifts

and BOGO Offers!

Brewing Guide

Helpful Suggestions!

Terms

Shipping, Refunds and More.

Withdrawal Form

EU Customers Only