We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“Spicy, herbal and slightly bitter. Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2014-laos-ban-payasi” Read full tasting note
“Realised I hadnt tried these yet & did a triple taste session. This was the fruitiest of the Laos ‘border teas’ but also had some weird bitterness occasionally. I wasnt bad though, and turned...” Read full tasting note
“From the Sheng Olympics 2016 (10s): pale straw color. Taste starts light but builds impressive power for a 1st steep. Taste is straw with hints of wood and black pepper. 2nd (10s): Wow: very...” Read full tasting note
“This tea tastes very mineral to me. Hardly any bitterness. Just a small amount that makes it quite pleasant. I’m not getting any apricot or fruity notes I get from some young shengs. Earlier...” Read full tasting note
Phôngsali is a province of Laos, bordering Yiwu, Yunnan. It is located high in the mountains, approximately 450–1,800 metres above sea level. Phôngsali is well know as ancient tea caravan in the past, is also one of the important origin of yunnan puer tea in history. In recent years, with the ancient tea market continued to heat up, more and more people set their sights on the border tea that come from unknown villages in Myanmar or Laos.
The ancient tea trees resources in mountain area are extremely rich, but the local tea making techniques are poor. Laos pu’er tea is seldom seen on the market. Many raw materials are bought by Yunnan tea makers and sold as more expensive Yiwu tea.
We made a trip to Laos in March and really got some nice tea from two villages .
Ban Payasi is another village, deep in the mountain. This place has many ancient trees and 50-100 years old tea trees.
Local people from Payasi didn’t want to sell fresh leaves. Most of people make maocha themselves. We carefully selected good materials from different families. If compare with other two cakes from Ban Komaen, the character of taste is quite different. Tea soup is light yellow with light herbal scent, this tea has unique cool feeling in mouth. Bitter-sweet and powerful, great tea for long term storage !
Company description not available.
Spicy, herbal and slightly bitter.
Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2014-laos-ban-payasi
Flavors: Bitter, Herbs, Spicy
Realised I hadnt tried these yet & did a triple taste session.
This was the fruitiest of the Laos ‘border teas’ but also had some weird bitterness occasionally. I wasnt bad though, and turned into a nicer tea a bit later. I think brewing times are important with this one. It had a cooling effect & tasted younger/sharper than the others, It was a little feisty with its flavours, perhaps a good one to age.
I didnt really take notes, I just tried them at the same time and noted which I preferred each round. This was my least favourite but I still liked it enough to pick up a cake, which shows how much I liked the teas from Chawangshop.
I’ve had a tong of this tea crocked for two years now. It is definitely in a fermentation stage and the taste is much more sour bitter now. Will be a few years before it is drinkable again.
I would like to age stuff here but I need to get a decent setup. My place is so dry. Good for clearing fishy puerh smells though :D
From the Sheng Olympics 2016
(10s): pale straw color. Taste starts light but builds impressive power for a 1st steep. Taste is straw with hints of wood and black pepper. 2nd (10s): Wow: very soft and sweet with grassy, somewhat floral notes. Very approachable, but not overly interesting. Fairly strong cha qi. Developed some structure (acidity and astringency) in 3rd/4th steeps. Still fairly straightforward, but more interesting than before. Gradually got more interesting in the next few steeps but I wouldn’t call it complex.
This would be an excellent introduction to sheng. It starts out gentle then gradually shows a bit more bite. Not something I’d want more of unless it was to put into the beginner’s TTB.
This tea tastes very mineral to me. Hardly any bitterness. Just a small amount that makes it quite pleasant. I’m not getting any apricot or fruity notes I get from some young shengs. Earlier infusions were thick and silky on the tongue – a bit creamy. It was a bit less on later infusions. A bit of sweetness. Overall a nice smooth sheng.
Flavors: Creamy, Mineral, Sweet, Thick
2016 Sheng Olympics
This is by far the smoothest raw pu’erh I’ve ever had; you can say border tea or whatever, but Chawang already remarked towards that (https://www.instagram.com/p/BAV5oDdxYFX/)
I’ve only had this Laos tea as of today, buy I’ll remark on it briefly. This doesn’t provide a feel, rather it provides a smooth taste that doesn’t deviate between steeps. I’m unsure how long this can go on… I brewed it 14 times and it tasted the same at 14 as it did at 1. Much of that may do with how I broke it up completely after soaking the leaf, regardless it keeps its taste throughout very well. There isn’t a remarkable taste nor did it provide a feeling as I said, but for what it is… I really can’t see how anyone could deny the value of such a tea as this.
I can easily promise that after I finish all three of the Laos cakes, I will be buying one of them for sure; unsure if it will be this one, we shall see which ones comes out. I’m just amazed at how well this steeps and how light it is because I love light tasting tea that allows me to continue to sip it for hours.
Thanks to Boychik for this sample! She knows what I like…we have very similar tastes! This tea has a hint of smoke, a bit of bitterness, but it’s smooth and has a medium oily texture…love the oily ones! The aroma is sweet and vegetal. Turns out, it’s not super sweet, but has a bit of complexity that I like. Boychik reminded me that this is not puerh, but border tea. Still tasty though, and that’s all that really matters to me. :)
