2009 Ban Zhang Chun Qing

Opening the pouch and selecting five grams, a gentle sandalwood and citrus stem aroma rise. The first scent off the rinsed leaf is briny, green, and pushes towards delicate paler fruits: plum, apricot, pear, and pineapple. The first two steeps are rather light, but by the third, the excellent quality of this tea has revealed itself, mouthfeel. A silky, glossy, smooth coating texture runs over the tongue, holds in the back of the mouth, and then swells and steams a while longer. A slight ethereal hint of spearmint or wintergreen alights on the roof of the mouth. Lacking that raucous, dry parching sensation that both the Bu Lang and the You Le had, I revel in the delightful heaviness of this tea.

The flavors are solid and delightful in fresh, ripe, light fruit, but for me, this tea takes it home with a thick, coating, almost syrupy rich soup. The texture shows itself as a warm pleasing, gentle, and calm grip of theanine settles over me. I could linger on this sensation, the delicate flavor and the rich texture of this tea until all time has been lost.

Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=344

The Trails of LBZ, Case 6 of 6
(Liquid Proust search for his favorite laser beam zensheng)
Seeing only two samples on the us site for YS of this sold out cake… I had to.

Getting off work and picking out one of the few LBZ I have left was an easy decision, but I didn’t know which one to drink. Well, I bought this sample to split with a friend so I decided to drink some prior to packing some away. Prepare for a pretty in depth review:
Upon brewing this tea I noticed that there was a lot of broken leaf with much debris coming out of each brew. Once the first few steeps were in front of me side by side I ended up looking at the leaf while smelling it. Nothing unique or noticeable about the aroma, but the leaf had a semi orange tint to the veins which I have yet to see; whatever that means. The first few brews had a soup like texture to it. Starting off it wasn’t that appealing because there was a lingering tart to the taste which I really did not care for; it’s similar to astringency, but think of it like that after tang that raspberries have.
Roughly steep 7 to 8 there was quite a change in the hue of the liquid. I’ve never had a leaf brew so contrasting between just a few steeps when it has been going for a little bit. First thing I noticed was a change in the after taste and the mouth feel. Earlier on the liquid left its impact on the back of the tongue and the top of the mouth. These new steeps towards the middle hit the front of the mouth and lingered with a new taste similar to sugarcane while the earlier ones were much like apricot sweetness. As it become lighter, I found myself enjoying it more. For reference, I kept the steeping time the same instead of raising it as I brewed the leaf out; this is how I do!
Getting towards the double digits, around steep 12, there is a drop off in texture and the liquid becomes easier to drink as the tea taste starts to fade and the low key sweet notes pop a bit more. Such a transition was odd for me because I would expect the sweetness to fade and a little bitterness to come out or the tea to go flat.
At about steep 15 I decided that when I wrote this review I wouldn’t even talk about the way the tea made me feel because the most important part about this tea has been the taste. Between the changing of taste to the tenderness of the last steeps, I really found myself drinking this as if it was dessert in a way. Interestingly enough I think I’ll have to say that the 2012 Wild Monk will be moved to the second best sheng I’ve had and that this will go to rank number one. There is just something about the ending steeps of this that are so light and yet so tasty that make it a delightful journey as you steep through it.
This is one of my first $6 sessions that I can say was truly worth it. Most of the time I am drinking a treat due to the price it ends up being unique in the way that I am thankful to have tried it but will not purchase any more. This being sold out sucks . This is a cake I would save and purchase for $240…
p.s. I cashed out my loose change and had $51.41 so if anyone is willing to purchase the very last sample the the us sight has of this, I will pay you back. There PayPal payment on the us sight is giving me an error and if it’s there tomorrow I’ll try again… I want it!!!

Very easy to separate into a nice pile of unbroken leaf. Primarily whole long, healthy-looking leaves mixed with only a few pieces and stems. Pleasant aroma from the dry leaf. The wet leaves smell sweet – honey-like but a complex and full aroma. Clear, deep gold tea liquor. The scent of the liquor is surprisingly light – leather and tobacco with sweet and floral notes mixed in. Crisp, bright and clean flavor in the sip. Lighter at first but it intensifies in later infusions. A quiet sweetness with a complimentary spiciness. Full and powerful mouthfeel. Good texture throughout the first 5-6 infusions and then it fades. A pleasant bitterness builds which eventually becomes mouth drying. Nice aftertaste but it does not linger too long. Good Cha Qi and the tea left me with a welcomed calm energy. I only picked up a sample from YS because these cakes have been sold out for a long time. Even if the cake was still available, I doubt that I would purchase it for the tea lacks the complexity and durability I would expect of material from the Banzhang area.

http://jakubtomek.blogspot.com/2011/09/2009-ys-ban-zhang-chung-qing.html