Foshan cellaring: the climate Liu Shenyang chose on purpose
This Bulang cake arrived at Liu Shenyang’s 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 told him it would need years, not months. Rather than route it to Kunming’s gentler plateau air, he chose Foshan 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 under his management, 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.
Liu Shenyang manages storage across three climates, Foshan, Kunming, and a stable continental cellar, and rotates cakes between them based on what each tea’s structure calls for. This Bulang lot taught him 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.