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“2006 Fall Lao Ban Zhang Raw – 5.08g in 200mL at 208 C with a 10s rinse 10 min rest. Dry leaves smell fruity as of apricot or preaches. Wet leaves smell of raisins, apricots and tobacco. The aroma...” Read full tasting note
“The Trails of LBZ, Case 5 of 6 (Liquid Proust search for his favorite laser beam zensheng) Drinking this last night was probably the most disappointing tea time that I have had in quite awhile. I...” Read full tasting note
“This is a lovely smooth sheng. Getting fruity sweetness and nice natural tasting body and aroma. It doesnt taste aged in a forced way, just mellow and lovely. I cant place the flavours very well...” Read full tasting note
“This is probably my favorite raw puer to date. It is squeaky clean and mellow, and carries a sweet pungency that I enjoy in young sheng. While clearly aged, this tea doesn’t carry much in the way...” Read full tasting note
2006 Fall Lao Ban Zhang Raw 400g
Members of the Mengku Tea Factory made an expedition to remote are near Banzhang mountain to obtain the leaves for these cakes. The leaves are from trees 400 to 500 years old that were heavily cut during the Cultural Revolution. The trunk is still intact and in the 35 years since the trees have continued to grow and produce excellent quality Pu-erh with that special Banzhang taste and penetrating perfume-likearoma. When brewed is golden yellow and takes 15 or more infusions,each infusion with it’s own taste and gradually less bitter and ineffably sweet.
The cakes are made from the highest grade Ban Zhang raw material and are entirely Fall 2006 production. The price of premium Ban Zhang raw material has surpassed other tea mountains, because it is the most sought after. Many producers use just 10% to 20% Ban Zhang material to give their blended cakes enough “oomph” to make them taste good.A little more background. I have known these sellers since 2005. They were one of the earliest distributors of Shuangjiang Mengku tea in Kunming and were my suppliers for Mengku products in 2005 and 2006. The Lao Ban Zhang teas were something that they did themselves as a side-project. Since they did not identify their teas, I just started calling the teas “Mengku Lao Ban Zhang”. They started sourcing teas from this area of Ban Zhang in 2003, again in 2005. In 2007, they produced a Lao Ban Zhang tea of spring material and used the “Chun Jian” style wrapper of Shuangjiang Mengku but instead of"chun jian" written on the wrapper, it was written “Lao Ban Zhang”. This wrapper was produced in very limited quantities and was sold entirely to “Bank of China – Yunnan Branch” for gifting purposes.
This years harvest has a sweet rounded taste but there is a heavy stimulating feeling after drinking it! You might want to have a sit down after drinking a round of this “cha qi” rich tea!
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2006 Fall Lao Ban Zhang Raw – 5.08g in 200mL at 208 C with a 10s rinse 10 min rest.
Dry leaves smell fruity as of apricot or preaches. Wet leaves smell of raisins, apricots and tobacco. The aroma of the wet leaves is heavenly!
This tea is produced by Members of Mengku Shuangjiang Tea Factory, but I purchased it from Yunnan Sourcing.
Steep/Time: Notes
1/15s: The very first thing I notice is the mouthfeel. From the very first sip it has a sort of numbing/tingling sensation on the tongue. A little vegetal, very mild like water from steamed or boiled broccoli with a note of honey. A prominant bit of sweetness that really blossoms at the back of the throat. No bitterness detected.
2/15s: Sweet, vegetal with a really smooth finish. Just enough astringency to make it crisp to the tongue. No bitterness. Detecting a little bit of something fruity already. Very good. May be feeling the first hints of cha qi, though it could be wishful thinking.
3/20s: Same as previous though the cha qi still hasn’t come on stronger.
4/30s: This is a lovely tea as far as taste goes, but the cha qi is of the mellow sort.
5/45s: A bit more bite and more fruit in this cup. Much more astringency, but it’s perfect! I should have been giving longer steeps from the start maybe. Ride that edge of astringence and bitterness to get some really amazing taste. Big apricot and date notes here.
6/60s: Cha qi leaves a light tingling feel throughout the body now, but I’m wondering if I’m not feeling as much since I’m running on very little sleep at the moment. Still geting the tingling sensation on the tongue.
7/60s: Much sweeter with notes of dates, currants and apricot.
8/90s: This is a very good tea, I just wish it had more punch in the cha qi department.
9/120s: Sweet grass and apricot with the tingling mouthfeel. Interesting bitter note just as you swallow that melts into more sweetness.
10/180: Actually got a bit of bitterness in this cup. Pushed the leaves too much on this one. Still good.
I really have to try this tea again when I’m better rested. Right now I don’t really feel tired though I should, but I can’t say one way or another if that has an affect feeling the cha qi.
The Trails of LBZ, Case 5 of 6
(Liquid Proust search for his favorite laser beam zensheng)
Drinking this last night was probably the most disappointing tea time that I have had in quite awhile. I brewed up around 7g around 12 times and decided not to review it then because my remarks were really negative.
The 2009 and 2007 that YS offer has quite a strong kick to it where it was almost like it wasn’t tea; just… kicked my butt.
This however, being a $400 cake I saved it towards the end, ended up just…. okay, taste wise this was the smoothest and more aged but it lacked any ability to make me stumble to the bathroom. There just wasn’t any feeling coming about because of this tea which is why I’m going through these LBZ; eventually I’ll find my best and have a cupping here in Columbus with many people to make them all lose their minds.
Unsure why this didn’t do anything for me, but as for the aging and taste it was good. If it wasn’t for my experimenting to find something that about knocks me out, this might have been a great tea… but probably not something I would buy at the price range due to my finances.
This is a lovely smooth sheng. Getting fruity sweetness and nice natural tasting body and aroma. It doesnt taste aged in a forced way, just mellow and lovely. I cant place the flavours very well but it is really nice.
But oh is it a strong one. ive got the jitters like I would from a coffee and that affects my enjoyment. Literally after each small cup I can feel it come on and im buzzing like a bee. I didnt get through many steeps at all today because It took me ages to get over each one. And there wasnt much leaf used either. perhaps 3-4g
Highly recommended for people who can take a stimulating qi hit ok, and have the money to spend on it.
Flavors: Apricot, Sweet
Getting a little tea drunk, eh? Ha-ha.
I thought it was too strong with the stimulant effect, I prefer a smoother ride with some relaxation. It was fast acting like doing a shot :)
I know the feeling. I was drinking through a 2005 CNNP Yunnan Pu-erh the other day in between shifts, and felt incapable to drive to work!
I’ve been stepping it back a bit and sipping on Oolong and Green teas….Getting tea drunk is something for days off. Ha-ha.
yeah, im an oolong & white tea man really.. but since the sheng olympics ive just been ruined by too much puerh :D
This is probably my favorite raw puer to date. It is squeaky clean and mellow, and carries a sweet pungency that I enjoy in young sheng. While clearly aged, this tea doesn’t carry much in the way of aged fragrances other than a very mild earthy character and a tiny hint of mushroom on the fragrance of the brew. Otherwise its just smooth sheng goodness.
To be honest I’m disappointed that I like this tea so much… but only because now I want to buy more and its just too expensive for me.
If anyone has any recommendations on teas that approach this flavor/aroma profile, I’m all ears!
Thany you to the generous Steepster friend who gave me this sample. This is good tea, excellent. There was just a little bitterness in the early steeps but just barely noticeable. It was sweet and smooth from the beginning. I steeped this twelve times and it showed no signs of giving out. This is no weak tea. This is among the smoothest puerhs I have ever drank.
I steeped this 12 times in a 120ml gaiwan with 5.7g leaf and 200 degree water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, and 3.5 min. I still have the leaves in the gaiwan and may go back to them tomorrow.
My, my, my – ain’t this fine? A very generous Steepsterite provided me with a sample of this delightful sheng. Sarsonator and I were saying this morning we were going to search out teas with great cha qi and from now on and just buy those. Sarsita! Here’s one!!!
This is nicely sweet and delicious with a velvety qi that makes me hum. More (and the song!) on my blog at: https://atasteofmzpriss.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/2006-fall-lao-ban-zhang-ancient-tree-raw-pu-erh-yunnan-sourcing/
Thank you so much awesome Steepster friend.
I do not drink this tea for the taste (although it is good) but rather I enjoy this one for the great cha qi. It has never let me down. Strong enticing aroma coming from the dry leaf and the scent of the brew is sweet. Good character pleasant tobacco taste mixed with a very nice sweetness. Full in the mouth with no bitterness in the finish. Typically the qi hits me after the third infusion as it did today. I was shocked to see the current price (understandable given the current market demand for authentic LBZ) since I paid less than half this amount when purchasing my cake from Yunnan Sourcing in June 2014 .
