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“Trip to Changtai, vol. 8”

This is the final tea in my Changtai journey. The label says ‘2005 Changtai Lao Ban Zhang’ so it’s not really a Random Steeping but I can’t find any information at all about this tea. I’ve never had a tea claimed to be made of Lao Ban Zhang material. (Does the 2006 Changtai Lao Chen De Cha Ban Zhang contain LBZ? It’s awfully cheap if so.)

With the rinse and a few minutes of steaming, the leaf quickly separates from the chunk and opens up. I can see it’s healthy and resilient when pulled upon. When the leaf does pull apart, it reveals strings of ‘sweet fibers.’ I remember seeing those in a dragon ball from Crimson Lotus before. This leaf has similar characteristics to the Lao Man E tea I’ve had — many very fuzzy, shimmering chopped and whole leaves and buds.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the flavors of this tea. It’s rather robust, round, clean and engaging with wonderful bitterness and tingly mouthfeel. The sweetness is evident in the calm aroma such that I get some of the flowery caramel on the sip but not once the tea has moved around my mouth, which I love. In general it’s spicy and bitter-medicinal with an initial mellow viscosity and maybe a hint of citrus zest? While I don’t notice an aftertaste, I know something is there. When I breathe out, I can tell a delicate aroma is moving from my throat and passing beyond my lips. I want to drink cup after cup in quick succession. I guess that means it’s tasty and thirst-quenching :) This tea amplifies the sweetness of bites of sauteed scallops had in between steeps.

The qi is fantastic and adds to the desire to brew successive cups quickly but not in haste. With the first steep I can feel the tea flowing in waves through me, relaxing my arms and legs. I slow down, time dilates slightly and my visual acuity both softens and sharpens such that I get lost in the steam rising from the cup, like a 2-dimensional figure being plucked and stretched into 3-dimensional wafting strands of silk. The sound of pouring water on the leaves becomes very soft and textured. I become flushed with heat in the face, neck, shoulders and chest. So comfortable.

Around the 5th infusion, I begin to notice the returning sweetness, an amount that is proportional to the other qualities of the tea. This lasts throughout the remainder of session as the the liquor becomes softer and thicker, the next day still spicy but now mostly nuts and flower nectar with wet rock/wood, kind of forest floor tastes. I lose count of the infusions as I move into minutes-long steeping times. The normally slightly loose lid is sealing to the pot because of stickiness.

The scent of the dry leaf and liquor color make me think this was fairly dry stored. I actually don’t pick up any humid notes until the end of the session. Whatever this tea is, whether it’s real LBZ or at least partial, it’s a pleasure to drink and a hell of a tea to end the journey.