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Bu-Lang Early Spring Raw Pu-erh Cake (Sheng 生) — 2020
Other names: Bu-Lang Pu-erh, Bulang Raw Pu-erh, Bulang Early Spring Sheng, Menghai Raw Pu-erh, 布朗早春生饼
Bu-Lang (布朗) is famous for bold, powerful raw pu-erh — and this early-spring 2020 cake is a fine example.
Look for a distinctive maltose (malt-sugar) aroma, a thick, rich, mellow body, and a strong, long-lingering fragrance that clings to the empty cup, layer after layer.
It's a high-energy tea with fierce cha qi and clean, clearly-formed leaf — a real Bu-Lang for drinkers who love strength and depth.
About This Cake
A bold raw (Sheng) pu-erh from Bu-Lang, picked in the early spring of 2020.
The brew is brightly yellow, with the malt-sugar sweetness Bu-Lang is loved for, a thick and mellow body, and a powerful, strongly-layered character that lingers long in the cup. Finely made, with clear, well-formed strands.
- Type: Raw (Sheng 生) pu-erh cake, bold
- Region: Bu-Lang (布朗), Menghai, Ban-Na, Yunnan
- Flavour: maltose (malt-sugar) aroma; thick, mellow, powerful; strong layering; long cup-clinging fragrance
- Season: early spring pick
- Production: 2020
- Weight: 357g full cake, 50g sample
Essential Pu-erh Tea Accessories
A pressed cake needs a couple of tools to enjoy it at its best:
- Cake pin: to break the cake neatly, slide a cake pin in from the edge and prise gently, keeping the leaves as whole as possible.
- Vessel: for pu-erh we reach first for a Yixing zisha pot — the unglazed clay rounds the cup out for a smoother, fuller brew — or a gaiwan for an easy, more affordable start. A gaiwan helps you follow all the layers of a powerful Bu-Lang.
- Storage: keep your cake breathing in a pu-erh bamboo storage unit or an unglazed clay jar.
See the full range in our Pu-erh accessories.
Want to understand pu-erh a little better? Here's some honest, no-fluff knowledge to help you find your pu-erh.
How to Choose Your First Pu-erh
Your first pu-erh:
start with our Pu-erh Beginner's Trial Pack.
It brings together raw and ripe, loose and cake, in one box
— the easiest way to feel the difference and learn where you'd like to start next.
The quick version:
Raw (Sheng) is like sashimi — fresh, bright and a little wild;
Ripe (Shou) is like a rich, slow-cooked stew — dark, mellow and smooth, transformed by time.
Love green or white tea? Start raw — like this cake.
Love black tea, dark tea (hei cha) or roasted oolong? Start ripe — explore our Ripe (Shou) pu-erh.
Your next pu-erh: explore by region.
Scroll down — there's plenty here to help you decide. Finding a pu-erh you love is a genuinely fun journey, and the pricey one isn't always the one that suits you.
If you like a bold, powerful cup, Bu-Lang is one of the most rewarding places to explore.
Pu-erh Regions: Why Origin Shapes Taste & Price
Region is one of the biggest reasons two pu-erhs can differ so much in taste, quality and price.
Across Yunnan, tea grows on hundreds of mountains, each giving its own character — shaped by the land and the tree type (ancient-tree, arbor or plantation).
Here's how Yunnan's three core regions break down — and where this cake sits:
1. Ban-Na (西双版纳) The King of Pu-erh
Yunnan's most famous region, and home to the old and new "Six Great Tea Mountains." It splits into two very different sides:
Menghai (勐海) — bold and domineering: rich, thick flavour, powerful cha qi and a high aroma.
★ This cake is from Bu-Lang Tea Mountain (布朗茶山) — the famous home of bold, powerful Menghai pu-erh.
↳ Bu-Lang's celebrated names: Ban Zhang (班章), Lao Man E (老曼峨) and Hekai (贺开).
Yiwu (易武) — soft and fine: a floral-honey aroma over a wild forest character, with the least bitterness of all.
2. Lincang (临沧) The Queen of Sweetness
Lincang is all about sweetness — a high, lifted aroma and a broad, generous sweetness, floral and honeyed, with barely any bitterness. It's built on the celebrated Mengku broad-leaf variety.
Best-known origins: Bing Dao (冰岛), Xigui (昔归), Xiao Hu Zhai (小户寨) and Mengku (勐库).
3. Pu'er (普洱) The Birthplace
Where the name "pu-erh" began. Soft, sweet and balanced, leaning to a floral-fruity sweetness — easy and approachable.
Best-known origins: Wuliang Shan (无量山) and Kunlu Shan (困鹿山).
A handy shorthand pu-erh drinkers use:
Ban Zhang is the king (bold and powerful),
Bing Dao is the queen (sweet and smooth),
Yiwu is grace itself (soft, supple and silky).
What Decides a Pu-erh's Price?
Pu-erh prices run from everyday to eye-watering, and it helps to know what you're paying for. A few things set the price:
- Where it's grown (region): a famous mountain like Bu-Lang, Bing Dao or Lao Ban Zhang is scarce and commands higher prices.
- The tree (variety & age): ancient-tree (gu shu) leaf sits above arbor (qiao mu), which sits above plantation (tai di).
- The pick: tender early-spring bud-and-tip, like this one, fetches more than coarser or later leaf.
- Age, storage & grade: older well-stored cakes and higher grades all add to the price.
That's why two cakes with the same famous name can sit at very different prices. The exact village, tree type, grade and season all change what ends up in the cup, so the same name never means the same tea.
We're honest about price. This is genuine early-spring Bu-Lang — bold, layered and finely made — priced for what it is.
A bigger price tag doesn't mean "better for you." Don't chase the number on the label: trust your tongue, not the price. The right pu-erh is simply the one you love drinking — which is exactly why we sample everything first.
Pu-erh, Caffeine & Antioxidants
Like all true tea from the Camellia sinensis plant, pu-erh is post-fermented and naturally contains antioxidants and caffeine — that's simply part of the leaf.
A powerful young Bu-Lang like this has plenty of energy and cha qi. If you're sensitive to caffeine, keep your leaf light and your steeps short, and enjoy it earlier in the day.
Brew this raw pu-erh the right way
— check out our professional Brewing Guide, Storage Care, and The Origins below 👇
🍵 Brewing Guide
📦 Storage & Care
🌿 The Origins
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