2005 Bangwai Single Tree Puerh

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Introduction

This tea has given us more than a little uncertainty. In a tea world of fakes and exaggerated claims, how do we introduce a tea with a such an extraordinary claim that we’d normally write it off as impossible under any other circumstances?
The claim is this – at the time of making a larger batch of Bangwei ancient tree tea the producer purchased and pressed separately the leaves from the king tea tree in Bangwei. These cakes are made entirely from this single tree.

Normally this wouldn’t be so exceptional but this tree, generally estimated to be around 1700 years old, in more recent years has become very famous – the leaves are pretty much unobtainable now – reserved for government officials or auctioned for astronomical sums. In those days though it didn’t have the same prestige and since he was making larger batches of tea, it was possible to purchase these leaves at the same time.

We debated about this for some time – do we repeat the story unchallenged, or do we abandon the story and just sell the tea for what it verifiably is – an excellent, though expensive, pure ancient tree tea? From our side, knowing the producer, the types of productions he was making and his tendency to do some special things that very few others were doing at that time, we would have to say that we tend to believe the story of this cake. We’ve known him for over 10 years and he has been otherwise reliable, humble and straightforward.

From your side, as a customer, without the benefit of a personal relationship with the producer to base your trust on – we recommend that you sample first and if you like it, buy the tea based on that. For those who want to say it’s impossible, fine – we won’t argue. For the tea lovers though – here’s a tea that is really excellent – something special.

Tasting Notes

The surface of the cake has ‘crabs legs’ (a type of parasitic plant that grows on some ancient tea trees) pressed into the surface. These also come from the same single tree.

The tea has a hint of smoky taste – in comparison to modern processing during the kill green stage of processing the fire was a bit too high. This has not negatively influenced the exceptional quality of the tea itself. The liquid is super refined and gentle, melting in the mouth with plenty of lingering sweetness.

The energy of the tea is strong. As with exceptionally old trees of this type that we’ve tried, rather than being an up front stoney kind of energy, it’s deeper – more calm and peaceful, slowly building up before becoming unmistakably present, grounding and comfortable throughout the body and mind. This is one of the most special ancient tree puerh teas from this period that we’ve tried. We are happy to have a chance to offer it to you all.