Foshan cellaring: the climate chosen on purpose
This Bulang cake arrived at the Foshan facility in its raw 2010 state, sourced from a family workshop near Laobanzhang — broad-leaf maocha with an enormous, almost brutal bone structure that clearly needed years, not months. Rather than Kunming’s gentler plateau air, Foshan was chosen specifically: the subtropical delta between a river and an old lychee orchard, where humidity holds at 68–72% and temperature at 22–25°C, faster than Kunming, slower than the old wet-storage cellars of Hong Kong.
Over fourteen years in Foshan, the cake absorbed a mellow depth: the early bitterness relaxed, the camphor note sweetened, and a plummy, savoury core emerged. It tastes like the place, warm, earthy, layered with the memory of fruit trees and antique wood.
Storage runs across three climates, Foshan, Kunming, and a stable continental cellar, with cakes rotated between them based on what each tea’s structure calls for. This Bulang lot showed early on that mid-humidity isn’t a compromise between fast and slow ageing; it’s a distinct voice of its own. The cake still holds plenty of power, but it’s now conversational rather than shouting. Pour it for someone who wants a slow, deliberate session.