2016 Chawangpu Bada

Yes, a good one!

Not much to add to the other reviews here. It’s a good harmony of flavours and aromas, doesn’t have the potency of other shengs but it gives a well balanced, floral, fruity and medicinal tasting drink with hints of grass and wood. Cup melified instantly and is easy to drink, because is on the softer side.
The lingering aftertaste is quite long and it reminded me of albariño white wine.

Quite good value at $24. Moar! :)

This is a little unusual since I’m reviewing this tea in 2019, as an aged product, versus the other reviews here appearing in 2017. I really liked it. Quality was quite evident from the very thick feel, good balance, and overall clean character. It could’ve been a little sweeter, and vegetal range was a little heavy compared to other scope (green wood or just cured wood, or both), but moderate floral range, a pleasant level and type of mineral, and some dried fruit filled that in. This tea is amazing for value, increased from $20 to $24 in two years, for a 200 gram cake. I’m not sure if or when it will “go quiet” due to the teenage years theme but I suspect that moderate humidity storage isn’t rushing that process, so it has probably lost some youthful intensity and bitterness, and the smoke others mentioned, but it’s still quite vibrant and intense. This is the really long version of all that:

http://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.com/2019/06/2016-chawang-shop-bada-and-on-puer.html

I have been trying to get to my remaining Chawang samples the past couple weeks, and this was the next in line. I was surprised by how nice this was, especially after the Bada Laoyu was a good deal smokier than I would prefer. The dry leaves had a sweet apricot aroma with a bit of something light and vegetal behind em. After a rinse, the fruity note came out strongly, along with a bit of a sourness and a light floral aspect.

The flavor was really nice as well – apricot and a bit of buttery vegetal flavor. The finish was floral – I couldn’t tell you what flower it really was, but the first thing that came to mind for me was orange blossoms. During a couple early steeps, I picked up a quick licorice note on the very front of the sip. As the session went on, some astringency built up, but not all that much. As I increased steep times, the brightness of the apricot fruitiness faded some, into a deeper/more syrupy flavor and mouthfeel. I didn’t really pick up much energy off this one or anything. Nonetheless, quite tasty, easy to drink, and complex enough to make for an engaging session.

Not much I can say that the reviews from Rich and Liquid Proust before me haven’t already said. I echo their sentiments exactly. Good tea…actually a steal of a tea. Don’t buy it all before I get around to placing another order :)

This brews out a bit darker than everything else I’ve tried from the chawang 2016 lineup thus far.

Pretty deep taste to it that comes with a little dryness on the back. Thea leaf when wet has a great aroma that is strong and the liquid comes out with a small amount of viscosity that would be above normal, however I think the mouth is confused by the dryness to think so. The huigan does come through quite nice on this tea as well with the slightest hint of lingering smoke.

Considering where this tea is at now, I really think it has great potential to be humid stored for 3 plus years before it gains some ‘legs’ and I really think that it’ll improve as the slight smoke goes away but the boldness of this tea sticks. For the price, it’s a good throw in the back of some area type of buy.

Still plowing through Chawangshop’s 2016 pu erh lineup from the recent group buy. Today’s tea was the Bada, and it was very good. Possibly the best of the bunch I’ve tried so far. It’s got some good huigan, a slight bite of bitterness, a bit of fruit, and energizing qi. So after I tried this, I looked it up on the website, and despite it being one of my favorites so far, it is only $20 for a 200g cake. That’s a steal!