According to XZH yearbook pics online, the material for this cake was a blend of LBZ (“老班章古茶園”), Yiwu (“易武正山”), and Guang Bie Lao Zhai (“廣別老寨古茶園”). No idea what the last one is, but BabelCarp says it’s “a small puercha growing village in the Hekai [tea mountain]”.
6.4g, 90 mL gaiwan, Brita filtered tap, boiling, 15s rinse.
Was going to write out notes for this, but I don’t think I’ll bother. Dominant medicinal flavor and warming effect, no grogginess. Needs some pushing a few steeps in. I can’t describe the medicinal taste well, but it’s another one of the TCM ailment cures that I remember having often as a kid. Okay aftertaste, sometimes particularly sweet. Some mushroominess. I can’t account for whether it’s placebo or not, but the LBZ may have contributed to a focusing effect. Who knows.
Purchased from some forum for something like $200 a while back for a mostly intact cake. The wrapper is extremely bug bitten and tea oil stained, but seems to have had milder storage overall. I have not seen any other English reviews on this tea, so possibly an underwhelming and overlooked production. Name translated into English would be something along the lines of “Choice formula/prescription”.
Liquour is a clean orange-yellow; rinse had quite a bit of saponins. Not too shabby a purchase considering Tony Chen’s stupidly high price annual price raises, but this wasn’t terribly enjoyable of a session. Will toss this back into Mylar and see what happens. Have heard mostly mixed reviews re: long-term XZH ageability, but this wasn’t enjoyable enough for me to want to try it again, much less finish it in the short-term.
Yunnan Sourcing sells a Guang Bie Lao Zhai cake.