2009 Lao Ban Zhang Premium Raw Pu-erh tea cake

This tea cake has increased in price 2 and half times since I bought it which indicates how precious this little cake is. It’s a very deceptive, mercurial tea—the first 30 second infusion is sweet and fruity with a touch of camphor and wheat. But then the gloves come off and the tea becomes a powerhouse of flavor (teakwood, grapefruit) and bitterness (in a good way). Even at six years of age, this is a very young and unruly tea that has legs. I don’t think I’ve ever had such an intensely flavorful sheng—now it’s just a matter of seeing how the components come into balance.

5g, Brita tap in 90 mL gaiwan boiling. 10s rinse.

I didn’t purchase my partial cake from YS (given the annual price increase factored prices, to more or less quote a review on there: “if you have the money why not” but I still paid a pretty penny for this and this was one of my priciest/g sheng purchase at the time), so this may be a prior storage thing instead of LBZ thing but the taste is really bizarre in a way I can’t describe except eau de old overperfumed house and feet. Underneath that, this remains quite bitter (which tbf is how it’s supposed to be?) and not too comfy to the stomach and still feels young and rough around the edges. Taste aside from that and the minty fruity sheng taste, not too exciting. Mushroominess weaves in and out of the background as LBZ is supposed to have. Aftertaste is okay; can last and extend to the throat depending on the steep. LP’s LBZ Maocha was very much tame and pleasant compared to this; this is also stronger in body effects. Texture isn’t ever great and thins out quick, but 1st steep was prickling and warming on the face and steeps 2-5 brought some heating on upper back and forehead sweat. Past that, effects start to taper off steadily, while the taste drops off significantly.

This is quite nice. Has the characteristic LBZ smoothly bitter background with a touch of camphor and cocoa. Also has the qi you’d expect from such a tea. My only gripe is that it’s not as generous as I’d like. For me, 6 steepings and its cashed. This is a brew that you want to get 20 steeping from. Think I’ll let er sit a few years and see how she evolved. I bought a cake before the price increase. Don’t know if I’d pay the current price.

All this talk of LBZ made me want to try one of my samples ive been saving for a rainy day, so I broke this one out. Also because ive got two sleepeze tablets (diphenhydramine hydrochloride) and one should knock me out at a decent time I thought, what the hell, lets go.

Quick rinse, first couple of steeps & I can smell the leaf from across the room. Prunes, smoke, camphor & just the right amount of dankness. A bit murky

Taste is soft but powerful, deep & sweet aromas from the liquor. I love these rounded shengs. Nice toungue numbing already, sweet taste, its vegetal but I cant work out what. Like deep pastel shades of dark brown green mixed with sparkly sweet overtones. It was balanced nicely, I liked the thickness as well. Everything just ‘right’.

And the bitterness is just slowly creeping in. I was expecting a more bitter tea but it took a while for the raw to show itself, and even then it wasn’t as strong as I thought it would be. At about steep 10 I was just leaving the gaiwan to do its thing. It never went off the scale, I found it to be quite forgiving in that respect.

All in all a nice session. I liked the first 5 steeps the best, the sweet prune & dank camphor was nice. Hefty price tag though!

Also this was the last of my sample, not quite sure how much but could have done with a bit more leaf to fully appreciate the flavour.

Dry leaves smell of pipe tobacco and prunes, very pleasant. Wet leaves smell very vegetal with a hint of the dry leaf aroma. Rinsed for 15s, then 10 minute rest.

Steep/Time: Notes
1-3/10s: Bitter and vegetal for all three. It’s not the case for all teas, but I think 6g of leaf maybe too much for this little pot. I’ve removed about half of the leaves as I think 3-4g would be better.

4/10s: Waaahhh! That makes a world of difference! The tea is now sweetly astringent. Still has the vegetal quality about it, but it’s quite good.

5/10s: Surprisingly buttery smooth and sweet.

Got off to a rough start with this one, so no cha qi. I’ll give it a shot again tomorrow.

The Trails of LBZ, Case 1 of 6
(Liquid Proust search for his favorite laser beam zensheng)
A lot of chatter revolves around the three letters LBZ so I went through my stash and found five samples and bout another. A lot has been said about the vibes that this tea provides and I want to test out as many as I can; if you have some and would be open to a swap please PM me!!!

The dry leaf has nothing speaking to me so I went ahead and gave it a quick bath. The freshly wet leaf smells kind of murky and I don’t like it very much, however after a few minutes the smell is appealing. This was kind of odd to realize as I don’t know what changes the aroma in a freshly bathed leaf versus one that had dried off a bit.
The first steep threw me off as I was expecting something a little more upfront with me as I invited it into my house. First thing I noticed was the texture; pretty thick. Rather mild to the taste, which I favor, but even into steep two there is no tingle or warmth in my mouth anywhere. Liquid is going down quickly as I sip it with a nice smooth taste; just wish the texture left something behind for me to feel. With no bitterness and a creamy texture, I’m looking forward to some more steeps… just hope I end up upside down or feel different.

On steep four only 35 minutes of being home from work and my mom calls because she has a flat tire and my dad is out of town. Putting this trail on pause…
Random story time: So I drive through 40 minutes of traffic to get my mom, which I’m 100% okay with because I love her and all, but… she never informed me that the van doesn’t have a spare tire. This van didn’t even come with one, it just has a large deep trunk; come on!
Anyways, I started back on this tea by a flash steep. First two steeps were as I just remembered two hours ago; thick and easy going. Notes of squash and roasted vegetables arose (for me at least). Still no lingering mouth feel or body warmth, but I think I have some tea high coming along because my neck is becoming a spring by the sixth steep; for those who are curious on that amount, it’s roughly 2 ounces per steep so I’m at 12 ounces.
At this point I’m curious to see the maths of this tea. $170 for a full cake at YS which is 250g, so it’s at .68 cents a gram; therefore I am going to push it to about 15 steeps and write more because the taste is staying without bitterness and slightly roasted light vegetables with a thick texture.
So… DAYMN, this tea just kicked my ass. While there was no warmth at the sixth steep, at about the tenth steep I realized that the top of my head was sweating and that life was sideways. Overall qi feeling is a bit different than the 2011 Bang Wei that turned me into a wet noodle. This certainly is strong and it makes my head feel like it was put into something and knocked on its side.
Sadly it’s teas like this that make me contemplate if oolong really is the best type of tea. See , these crazy strong raw pu’erh tend to provide a feeling that is not explainable until someone tries it.
Really hoping the other three I have from YS and then TU are similar because I foresee myself buying all sheng with the word bang in it.
Random questions:
1. Anyone else drive without a spare?
2. Where else should I shop for LBZ?

Smoky sweet and fruity to start. Wet leaf aroma is intense and lovely. Very slight bitterness in early steeps that gets more intense with later steeps. Camphor, spice, and mouth numbness. 4 or 5 steeps in and I have spontaneously begun to sing. The cha qi just about starting to take effect when my wife slides a plate of poached salmon and broccoli sauteed in garlic and olive oil under my nose, and I realize that I am starving.

After dinner I resume my drinking. While I am not normally one for food/tea pairings, I have to say that the chilled honeydew melon I am currently enjoying is a lovely counterpoint to the smokey spice of this hot tea. It’s nearly 8:30pm and I’ll probably regret continuing too much more as I can feel the caffeine and think about running a few laps around the neighborhood. But then I remember that I do not run unless I’m being chased by a bear or a serial killer.

In sum, seeing as I’m still a pu noob this tea is probably the most “aged” sheng I’ve ever had. It’s a bit too much on the smoke/bitter end of the spectrum for me, but I am glad I got to try it.

Apropos of nothing, do professional tea drinkers have to stop and load the dishwasher after their wife makes dinner? #firstworldteaproblems

This is a very interesting selection from Yunnan Sourcing recommended by a few whose opinions I value. Reportedly a special production by the Mengku Tea Factory made with material from 400-500 year old trees. According to YS, the tea is 100% Ban Zhang Wild Ancient Arbor. The leaves of the cake appear to be clean, thick and stout. These leaves yield a dark gold tea liquor which is bright and clear. There is an enticing floral-fruity scent on top of a smooth woody base which is long lasting and powerful. The sip is full and complex yet strongly sweet. There is a pleasant bitterness but this quickly dissipates then a full, delicious, sweet taste dominates and remains in the mouth for quite some time. Dominant presence in the mouth – the tongue and mouth tingle after just a few small sips. The Qi comes forward after just one cup and builds over several infusions. I find this to be a very enjoyable tea.

This is obviously top quality leaf. Very impressive.
Dry tea is fragrant. moderately compressed. After rinse, a satisfyingly strong, very pleasant and elegant tangy-fruity floral aroma emerges. The elegance of the aroma is a common denominator of quality old tree material, from my limited experience.
Sweet, thick tea liquid with penetrating aroma and lots of vitality in the mouthfeel. Very satisfying. This one really hits the spot and leaves little to be wanted.
Little bitterness/astringency for a young sheng. Poweful qi. Strong caffeine kick and psychoactive effect. Pleasant at first, then a bit unsettling.
Now I understand what all the ban zhang hype is about.
Compared to other old tree premium shengsthat i’ve tried of the same vintage, this one might have the strongest flavor and aroma, second only perhpas to a sample I once received of a $300 cake from royalpuer.
Its qi reminds me of the 2011 nano mountain old tree tasting set from jk tea shop, though the flavor is much better.
The refined flavor and aroma is similar to the top quality teas you get from essence of tea.
$10 for 25 grams is a decent deal.
If you like raw powerful shengs, give this a try.
I probably wont reorder this because I like the calming effects and warmer nature of old sheng, though I might buy a newer (cheaper) vintage of this tea and age it for 12 years or so.

Excuse the simile but this felt like the cadillac of raw Pu Er. I have not had very many raw and sadly this is my “oldest” raw pu er, sad I know but I am still learning. I was so used to super young bitter, smoky, sharp petrol flavor, with a mouth drying after taste but this tea had a heavy mouth feel, it was quenching instead of throat drying, after taste was a little light but had a pleasant sweetness, also the slight smokiness disappeared after the first steeping. I was so cautious because I was used to the super bitter/smoky young sheng that after bracing myself and tasting this tame sheng I upped the steeping times to 30 seconds then a minute then two minutes at which point it of course it got a little bitter but I was stunned a sheng was drinkable with longer than flash steepings.

This is my first youngish sheng and I look forward to trying older and older through the years. This tea had a great qi and a very pleasant soothing brew, it was such a comfort after drinking the fast and hard super young shengs I was accustomed to that felt like a bare bones two seater fun to drive on certain occasions but you feel every bump from hard suspension and not suited for everyday practical driving, this felt like an old caddy boat with the numb suspension and cornering of a semi. An eye opening experience for me and it makes me excited for all like aged samples I have accrued recently.