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One of the few teas out of the 2015 line up from White2tea I hadn’t tried yet. Received this as a sample from Round 3 of the TTB.

Pretty enjoyable for a really fresh sheng, which is something I’m finding I enjoy less and less. Lately my tastes for tea with at least a few years of age on it seem to be more agreeable to my palate. If you have tried the Poundcake then this is pretty similar. Not quite as good but close and less than half the price. Sweet and floral, little to no bitterness. Really nice example of a drink now puerh. Has W2Ts typical thickness and oily texture which I love. Maybe what you would call their house taste/style/flavor. Either way I love that in tea and no one making new cakes does it better. Went on for about 10 steep with the the flavors and body progressively getting lighter after the first couple of cups.

When I make another White2tea order I’d probably add a cake of this for when I desire and nice easy drinking fresh puerh. Really can’t go wrong for 20 dollars. Good for someone not looking to spend a lot of money for their sheng fix, for someone new as an introductory sheng to get them started or to serve to someone that doesn’t normally drink/never tried sheng and may be interested

Another EoT sample from the TTB – Round 3. This tea was pretty simple so this wont be a long flowery review. Sweet and fruity, decently thick ( thicker than the green peacock). Durability was pretty good, session wasn’t all that dynamic but honestly wasn’t expecting fireworks here. This is something for the price that I’d buy a couple of brick of as a tasty cheap daily drinker type. Falls right in line with a couple of other teas I’ve had in this price range and would love to have it in my rotation and I can see why it sold out so fast. Hoping this comes back up for sale soon.

Second TTB review. I admittedly started this session not expecting much as most Bulangs I’ve tried have been harshly bitter and overall disappointing. Glad to say this tea was anything but that. This was rich, thick and oily. Bitterness was fairly strong but not at all harsh, in fact it was of the most enjoyable parts of the session. The kind of bitterness you would get from both high quality espresso and semi sweet chocolate. Those flavors were the most dominate in the flavor as well along with caramel, brown sugar. Some dark dried fruits and mushrooms were also present but in the background and didn’t make their way to the forefront till the end of the session. Coated the mouth and throat well which led to a strong and long lasting aftertaste. Big floral bloom in the mouth upon breathing out which was a bit surprising since it didn’t show up in the taste. Maybe it was there when younger but has been aged out by the excellent Malaysian storage. Qi came on fairly quickly, by the second cup or so and lasted throughout the session. Not overly strong but persistent and of good quality, best way I can describe it is I felt pretty damn awesome lol.

Glad to have finally had a great session with a Bulang tea and any MengHai county tea in general. Finding good high quality west banna sheng (without paying through the nose) seems to be very difficult as compared to tea from Mengla county.

First tea I’m reviewing from the TTB – Round 3. 5 grams in my shibo, gave them a quick rinse and let sit for about 5 minutes before starting my first brew. This tea has definitely seen some humidity and would benefit from some airing out for sure. Early tastes were dusty books and basement with underling fruit, camphor and some vanilla. Overall really complex and enjoyable flavors and my favorite aspect of this tea. In general the body was light and the after taste wasn’t that strong. Some throatiness early in the session but it didn’t develop or last for more than a couple steeps. As the session progressed the storage tastes lightened but never went away completely, astringency on the tongue and cheeks on the later steeps until the very end. Had to push this tea fairly early which is usually a sign of trouble but it turned out to be fairly durable and got around 15 steeps.

Overall the tea was pretty enjoyable but nothing mind blowing. Some people may be turned off by the storage taste but it doest bother me. As I said earlier airing this out would do it wonders as the flavors were the highlight of the show here. Also I do like teas with thicker bodies and oily texture but I’ve come to not expect that all the time from older tea.

6.5g in a 85~ ml shibo. If you read the description of this tea, the wrapper is labeled “wonderous fragrance” which couldn’t be more accurate. I received the tea in it’s original box still wrapped in plastic. Soon as I lifted the cover off the box, while the tea was still wrapped in plastic the aroma hit me right in the face. Obviously removing the plastic and wrappers ( yes two on this cake for some reason, works for more though, both are thin and I’m already a master of tearing them) only intensified the strong smell. I thought to myself that I’d like to tape it to my face and walk around all day with it. Enough on aroma for now just wanted to say a bit about it as it was very pleasant and strong.

Into shibo it goes and I start my normal routine. Quick rinse which I use to heat up my pitcher and cup. I take a sip to get some idea of whats going on. Due to compression the rinse is light but the flavor is already pretty good. I give the the tea a couple minutes to steam /loosen up and then begin to doing flash brews. First few steeps continue to remain light in body and taste getting a little stronger with each one but they give you signs of whats to come. First, while the taste is light its not lacking complexity in the slightest. Sweet fruit, vanilla, plums, some cups even had an extra layer of an almost strawberry flavor, ummmmm YUMMY! to say the least. No bitterness or astringency in this but I also didn’t push it too hard. After taste was not the strongest but was full mouthed, in the throat and I could still taste it almost 2 hours after stopping. Second, there is some serious no joke Qi going on here. Strong feeling in the throat. Someone else has said they can almost feeling it drip down and I agree with them 100%. That throat feel continues into the chest and stomach. Very warming as well, full body sweats from forehead to shins, I think its almost needless to say but I was very very tea drunk. The feeling was closer to the effects LBZ has had on me instead of the normal yiwu calm and relaxation. Third, this tea steeps forever and not only that but the flavor and qi never really subsided. I got 20+ out of this and could have gotten 3 or 4 more longish steeps before another couple really long ones. My initial session was about 12 cups before I took a break. Came back to it a few hours later to finish it up and the taste was still full, complex and the Qi was still full force. I’m not sure that I’ve had any tea deliver Qi of that level 15+ steeps in.

In general the body is not overly thick like some of the more modern teas of high quality. The taste is light but really good, need to pay attention when drink this. So this is not perfect but what does well it does exceptionally well. Right now this can be acquired for $275, so right around .50 cents a gram. I think that if you’re in the market for quality eastern banna tea then you really can’t beat this at that price. To elaborate a bit further, it’s cheaper than both Bosch and Tuhao from White2tea. Those are some good teas, I own both and I don’t want to sound like I’m knocking them but they aren’t in the same league as this in terms of durability, Qi and complexity. That and it’s got a decade of good storage on it! This is one I am without a doubt going to be “hitting with a hammer”

8 grams in my hongni xisha pot. I didn’t write down extended notes on this one but this tea is a masterpiece. Just about 15 years of age have this is a great position to drink now. It’s thick, sweet and mellow. Little bit of woodiness but it more on the fruity end of the spectrum. Becoming more and more of a northern tea fan. Great throat, chest, stomach action on this one. Can feel the tea going down the throat and settle in your stomach. Still this teas best attribute is the powerful qi. Wasn’t expecting it at all since I’ve never felt it at that level in a tea this old before. I was all settled into have a relaxing mellow session but the tea had other idea. She slap me and slapped me around good. By the 6th cup I was so tea drunk that I had to get up and walk away for a good 20 to 30 minutes.

Amazing session, one of my favorites with any tea to date. Wish this was a touch cheaper as it ranges from 300 to 400 dollars. Would rank this up with White2tea’s blue mark as my favorite shengs with 15 plus years on it

About 8 grams in my usual 100ish ml yixing. Tea opened up with some promise. Had all the good Yiwu characteristics along with some deeper bass notes that gfz is known for. Fairly thick but not super dense like some of white2tea offerings. Through 3 or 4 steeps the tea was fruity and sweet, not much bitterness which was the first sign of trouble. Also those bass notes brown sugar, plums mushrooms were there. Around steep 5 or so the tea lightened significantly in both taste and body. Pushing it harder the next steep didn’t translate into a much better cup. Next steep I ramped up the water to full boil and went even longer. Results were once again disappointing. Got a watery thin cup.

I did one or 2 more but it just kept getting worse. Was really disappointed in this session considering that this is a pricey tea, right around 270 for a full cake. Puts it around the price range of both the Tuhao and Bosch from White2tea and either of those are leagues better. I’d put this closer to the poundcake and if your reading this which are less than half the price and have better durability. Only thing this was better at than those 2 cakes is qi and even that was light and short lived.

Shame to see this producer release a product like this when a year earlier their gfz got rave reviews

BanZhang King Ripe (ha ha…) as the label reads from White2tea moving sale. As you all know by now laobanzhang or LBZ is the greatest of all puerh. All other puerh bows in its presence, which is how it got to be known as the king of puerh. First you might notice that this tea has no age, that’s cause LBZ trees are magical and can travel back and forth through time at will. No one knows exactly how old the tea is when being picked. This tea could be from a tree that doesn’t yet exist and has traveled back in time. Another possibility is that Paul, the owner of White2tea, a well known time lord and used his puerh powered tardis station to capture this mystical tea in some unknown dimension. Now that we all know a little more about LBZ its on to the tasting.

Before removing the wrapper one must make sure to put on welding goggles or very dark sunglasses to protect the eyes since the tea itself shines like the sun. Carefully removing the wrapper I pick up the cake and it fills me with powerful energy, it feels like electricity coursing through my veins. In fact I happened to be holding a light bulb in my other hand and it would light up whenever I was touching the LBZ. The tea seemed to know I was in the mood for a 10 gram session, a good sized chunk removed itself from the rest of the cake, floated in the air till it settled in my gaiwan and proceeded to separate itself into it’s individual leaves. LBZ doesn’t smell of anything in the traditional sense. Wisdom, enlightenment and intelligence are what my brain registers as I hover over my gaiwan and sniff.

I grab my kettle, pour some hot water over the tea, drain my gaiwan directly into my cup and stare into what looks like the infinite. Grabbing my cup I bring it slowly to my lips for the first sip of his majesty….Reality melts from around me, replaced by something that can not be described in any words I know. The effect is like loading the universe into a cannon, aiming at my brain and firing. Kubrick probably drank this right before writing the end of 2001. All sense of time and self are gone. I am a being of pure energy travelling the cosmos. Eventually I come to on the floor wearing nothing but my goggles, having a full grown beard and still holding my cup. The clock reads a minute later and the date is the same. Time for myself has obviously passed at a much different rate than the world around me….

Having now tried the King of all puerh I can see why it’s so sought after. It’s an experience like no other but not one to be taken lightly. I suggest all who wish to try it read this carefully and be prepared.

7.5 grams 100 ml yixing. First the dry leaf long intact fuzzy leaves with a nice sheen, excellent material. They are extremely pungent, opening the tin filled my entire kitchen with the scent of the tea. Now for the steepings all i can say is HONEY BOMB. On the lid, in the cup, in the empty pitcher and especially in the taste. Thick sweet floral honey hits all parts of the mouth and throat and sticks. There are some hints of other typical yiwu flavors but they are in the background but the honey is driving, ain’t no one else touching the wheel. Needless to say but this is some very tasty brew. As the session goes on the honey subsides a bit but remains the dominate flavor throughout. 10 plus steeps and the tea is still oily and full tasting. Steeps are still short showing that the tea has plenty of strength.

Now the qi in this comes on relatively fast compared to most teas but slower than other CYH teas I’ve tried. Creeps in after the second cup builds to a nice buzz and remains at that level till a good hour after I stopped. Typical yiwu feelings of calm and relaxation (for me).

Very much enjoyed all aspects of this tea and I’m strongly considering a cake of this after I have a couple more sessions with it