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“I found the compression and composition of the sample quite enjoyable. The leaves were relatively even in size, moderately long, pleasantly colored, and fresh-looking. It was nice to get a cake...” Read full tasting note
Members of the Mengku Tea Factory made an expedition to remote areanear Banzhang mountain to obtain the leaves for these cakes. The leavesare from trees 400 to 500 years old that were heavily cut during theCultural Revolution. The trunk is still intact and in the 35 yearssince the trees have continued to grow and produce excellent qualityPu-erh with that special Banzhang taste and penetrating perfume-likearoma. When brewed is golden yellow and takes 15 or more infusions,each infusion with it’s own taste and gradually less bitter and ineffably sweet.
The cakes are made from the highest grade Ban Zhang raw material andare entirely spring 2009 production. The price of premium Ban Zhang rawmaterial has surpassed other tea mountains, because it is the mostsought after. Many producers use just 10% to 20% Ban Zhang material togive their blended cakes enough “oomph” to make them taste good.A little more background. I have known these sellers since 2005. They were one of the earliest distributors ofShuangjiang Mengku tea in Kunming and were my suppliers for Mengkuproducts in 2005 and 2006. The Lao Ban Zhang teas were something thatthey did themselves as a side-project. Since they did not identifytheir teas, I just started calling the teas “Mengku Lao Ban Zhang”. They started sourcing teas from this area of Ban Zhang in 2003, againin 2005. In2007, they produced a Lao Ban Zhang tea of spring material and used the “Chun Jian” style wrapper of Shuangjiang Mengku but instead of"chun jian" written on the wrapper, it was written “Lao Ban Zhang”. This wrapper was produced in very limited quantities and was soldentirely to “Bank of China – Yunnan Branch” for gifting purposes.
This years harvest has a sweet rounded taste but there is a heavy stimulating feeling after drinking it! You might want to have a sit down after drinking a round of this “cha qi” rich tea!
This cake is 100% Ban Zhang Wild Ancient Arbor material!
Product Name: Lao Ban Zhang Tea cake
Harvest time: Spring 2009
Net Weight: You will receive one 250 gram cake.
Shipping Weight: "265g"Ingredients: Sun-dried Pu-erh from centuries old trees at Lao Ban Zhang
Produced by Members of Mengku Shuangjiang Tea Factory
http://www.yunnansourcing.com
Company description not available.
I found the compression and composition of the sample quite enjoyable. The leaves were relatively even in size, moderately long, pleasantly colored, and fresh-looking. It was nice to get a cake sample that wasn’t just the iron-fist tight and all-dust core of the beeng. The tea opened slowly and quietly. The dry leaf aroma was low and lightly sweet. The first two steeps were rather quiet, especially clean, and a little plain.
The fourth steep really shined. Lacking any coarseness and feeling smooth and velvety, this tea glided pleasingly across the palate. Bits of sweetness, distant stone-fruit, and some moss glowed in the finish. Confident dryness and back-of-the-throat bitterness rounded out the presentation. I longed for more earth, tree bark, lichen, and wet forest, but was happy with the balance, smoothness, and robustness of this tea’s texture. It was solid tea, but it wasn’t so exemplary that I would ignore my ethical concerns and buy tongs of Lao Ban Zhang tomorrow. There are other teas, with better provenance and less cost.
Finally, I’ll say that I didn’t find the chaqi particularly notable, in fact it seemed a little soft to me. I feel pleasant, calm, and peaceful, not electrically charged or overwhelmed.
Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=207
