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Verdant brought back a limited supply of this one during the last Cyber Monday sale and I had to pick it up. Very glad I did for I know that it is real Ban Zhang which is quite difficult to obtain these days. This is a powerful tea with a definite bite to it.

Begins with a lovely clear and bright golden tea soup with a thick and sweet leather-like aroma. Progressing through several steepings, the color begins to turn more orange. Body is low and strong. At the front of each sip there is definite smoke and bitterness but it becomes sweeter at the back of the throat. Note, this is a heavy, dense sweetness with smoke and pepper in the early steepings. The texture here is thick, smooth, and very satisfying. After each cup, I am left with mouth watering and a fuzzy warm feeling in my body – interesting that I feel both mellow and alert at the same time. After each of the many steepings it remains pungent and potent with a bit of sweetness coming through. Each cup is full-flavored with long-lasting aftertaste. Overall, quite a tea with a balanced mix of bitter and sweet that infuses first the nose, then lips, tongue, mouth and throat. This is strong and potent stuff and I am delighted to have more in my tea cabinet to enjoy from time to time.

I should add that there is an interesting backstory to this tea. As reported by David Duckler at Verdant:
“This pu’er is a unique example of a brick pressed by a small farmer’s cooperative. Their family has a plot of land on Banzhang mountain, which is considered to be the absolute top in terms of pu’er. They eventually got sick of selling the pu’er leaves they picked with care to the big factories for pressing because they felt that the pu’er was treated like too much of a commodity by the bigger companies. They took a huge risk and started their own pressing of bricks.”

I believe this is my first experience with a Baotang tea. The quality of the material used in this cake is excellent. Baotang is a village in Mengsong township, Menghai. Apparently, in Baotang the trees are large & ancient, growing in biodiverse, organic gardens. Beautiful leaves produce a bright and clear gold tea soup with a crisp vegetal aroma and taste. Pleasant but not impressive at this point. Very soon the leaves open up and begin to produce a much more interesting cup of tea – increasingly thick in the mouth with a nice bitterness that turns into a pleasant lingering sweetness. Moving through five quick steepings, the cups become increasingly mellow and smooth. I was left with a lingering mouthfeel and a good mellow feeling. I like this tea!
Update: Seems to be enjoyable for 6 steepings and after that it fades.

I picked this up about 18 months ago because I am a fan of Master Han’s productions; however, I never tried it. Having seen a recent tea note on this ripe tea, I was reminded of it so this morning I went looking through my shu tea cabinet and I’ve steeped it about 6 times today. It does not disappoint. This really is a high quality harvest and production – there definitely is something special about small producer, hand processed tea whether it is shu or sheng! Very easy to drink. Sweet and creamy with fruit and nut overtones on top of the woody traits found in most shu. All in all, a very smooth and enjoyable ripe tea. One worthy of being in a good puerh collection.

Time to revisit my tasting note on this one. I can now say that this has become one of my frequent drinkers when it comes to ripe puerh. Simple, sweet and creamy with chocolate undertones and a bit of age. Rich dark red tea liquor which is clear and bright; some would say it is sometimes rather syrupy. Smooth and balanced (the more intense flavors are balanced by more subtle flavors) with a great mouthfeel. These are the attributes which have made it one of my daily drinkers. This is a very tolerant and forgiving tea even when overbrewing it and quite affordable at $49.50 for a 357g cake.

A very easy sheng to drink. Not terribly complex but powerful, smooth, fruity (peach and pineapple) with a moderate sweetness. Beautiful whole leaves with very few bits and pieces mixed in. Fairly light colored tea liquor which is very clean. No smoky or fermentation undertones. The aroma is rather sweet and a bit like a field in the springtime. The aftertaste is long and very warm, with just a hint of astringency. Quiet, calming qi. Decent number of resteeps – I’ve done six so far. All in all, a solid sheng with decent age and IMHO worth owning. I picked this up at Yunnan Sourcing a few months ago but it is now out of stock. However, I have seen a few JinuoShan cakes at Cha Wang Shop but not this particular year. FollowUp note: good for 10 steeps.

High grade raw material found in this cake. Nice maturation. Smooth and mellow cup. Clear dark tea soup. No traits at all of the fermentation smells or tastes – benefits of the “light fermentation” process. A safe one to offer those fairly new to the world of puerh. A decent shu with an appealing profile to make it safe and enjoyable for all drinkers.

Enjoying a nice large cup of this one on a rather cold day – seems to hit the spot. When I drink this one, I typically use the same leaves over a three day period – the quality and maturation of the leaves allows me to do this. The first day (phase) offers a woody, mellow tea which is also quite smooth and mellow with the complexity slowly revealing itself. Good choice for this afternoon with more promise tomorrow.

Descriptions of this tea indicate that it is one of the highest grade teas produced by the Shuangjiang Mengku Tea Co. The hand processing and stone compression result in moderate compression of the cake and make it very easy to pick off whole leaves. The leaves look lovely – for a factory produced puerh, they are very large and whole rather than bits, pieces, and stems. The smell of the dry leaf is clean and fresh. I rinsed twice and steeped the leaves three times but I’m not ready to describe the tea in detail for I really don’t think I’ve worked with this one enough. The cups were sweet and mellow but lacked the flavor profile I was expecting. Thus, to be continued…….

A delightful rich flavored ripe puerh! Easy to drink with absolutely no off-putting fermentation taste. Moderate compression with a mix of leaf pieces but fairly easy picking of chunks to brew. Flavor profile offers a creamy chocolate with a fair amount of underlying sweetness. Easily yields 6-7 flavorful cups. Very nice everyday ripe tea to enjoy and share with others (even those non-pu types).

Naka is in the Mengsong tea growing region. Generally I enjoy Mengsong teas and their elegant character. This particular cake has gently pressed leaves and picking the cake apart is very easy. Soft warm aroma comes from the wet leaves and the dark golden tea soup. Early brews are a bit light in taste with a slight hint of smoke but this changes in later cups. There is a light underlying bitterness in the early sips. Even with the first cups, there is a very pleasant aftertaste which continues throughout the tea session. The activity in the mouth is persistent and good. In later cups I discover a low, dark sweetness which is rather enjoyable. The qi is strong and obvious with this one. Lovely tea that works hard to put the mind at rest – in fact, silencing the mind allowing you to feel the peace of the moment. The price is high but the quality matches the price.