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“(backlog) Mellow and sweet with some astringency mid-session – light, clean and easy to drink. I could consume 200g of this, but unlikely to buy it because… reasons. If you’re shopping on a tight...” Read full tasting note
Lao Yu (老妪) : old woman
Material for this cake came from a small Bulang minority village in Bada mountain. This village have very small quantity of tea trees that grow in the forest. Trees are relative old, but farmers cut the branches when trees get too tall. Tea trees are kept at easy-picking height because the tea is picked and made by old women in this village. They follow ancient ways to produce tea. Many of them make tea only for themself.
We selected and bought good materials from different families. They picked one bud and two leaves. This tea is nice example of old-time puer tea and traditions of Bulang minority.
2014 cake is a bit different with previous year. We keep nearly one year loose leaves “maocha” in Menghai town and pressed in Jan. 2015. Stone pressed in small tea factory.
Taste of this tea is full, strong with bitterness, huigan is fast and sweet.
Production date : March, 2014
Harvest Area : Bada, Menghai
Company description not available.
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Chawangshop(backlog)
Mellow and sweet with some astringency mid-session – light, clean and easy to drink. I could consume 200g of this, but unlikely to buy it because… reasons. If you’re shopping on a tight budget and want something easy-going, it’s a superb deal ($0.085/g you really can’t go wrong). If your preferences lean towards the aggressive, or you plan to age it, the “old tree” bada ($0.1/g) is probably a better buy.
I tried it and didn’t like it at all. It was bitter, astringent, sour without any sweetness. It’s like you and me were drinking too different teas.
Huh! That does sound pretty different. Could be parameters, how our palates are tuned, or maybe even different processing/material between batches.. My sample is gone, so I can’t go back to try again.
It struck me as a boring tea for my taste, and I don’t mind bitter/astringent!
It is definitively bitter, it’s clearly written in the description on Chawang Shop website.
But it’s the kind of bitter that converts to sweet pretty fast.
That bitterness was something I actually look for, transitioning from coffee.
That said, if you use short infusions, this tea is truly mellow and easy to drink.
Not the most interesting tea but it’s my current daily drinker : at work (not paying as much attention to what I’m drinking as I should with tea), for that price, it’s actually quite nice as far as I’m concerned.
At least, it’s as clean as tea comes : no smoky taste (unlike the 2015 cake of the same tea), no funky business whatsoever.