Tea Exploration By Region:

Puerh and other heicha
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klepto
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Sun Sep 13, 2020 3:11 am

After having some fine conversations on TF about puerh and the various subregions I decided to go all Dora the Explorer(tm). I'll be trying teas by subregion. I haven't found a complete in depth map so far but I've started tasting teas from some famous places:

Ban Zhang in the Bulang mountains(Menghai):
Apologies if I get confused by all these subregions and such. Learning more about this is also part of the fun.

banzhangyoujicha.jpg
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2018 FuHai "Ban Zhang You Ji Cha" (Banzhang Organic)

I could smell the leaves easily even through it was double wrapped. The dry leaves smelled like tart candy.
Fired up the 80ml porcelain gaiwan and began steeping this tea. The wet leaves smelled somewhat like sour patch kids.
I heard so much about this area, supposedly the puerh is a huigan monster. I took my first sip and a gripping bitterness caught hold of my throat. The bitterness had a strong bite that filled my entire mouth but as I swallowed it transitioned into a deep sweetness. Neither the bitterness, nor the sweetness were overpowering the other but very balanced. I normally don't notice qi in tea but I got pins and needles all over my upper body for a second and I got the sedation feeling. I can't wait to put this in a yixing teapot to see the diff. I can still feel the bitterness, it still has a hold of me.

Here's how King Tea Mall describes the tea:
Using strictly selected spring tea leaf from organic arbor tree in tea plantation near LaoBanZhang village.

Round tea cake with thickness. Fat and strong tea threads with clearness. Thick and strong tea flavor with mellowness.

Well balanced bitterness and astringency and both retreat fast. Huigan (returning sweetness) comes fast with momentum.

Long lingering tea flavor with refreshness.

Rich ChaQi.

Guangzhou dry storage.
I have a second cake from Ban Zhang but haven't tried it yet:
2011 XiaGuan "Ban Zhang Lao Shu" (Banzhang Old Tree)
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Are there any places you think I should try? I'll probably be sampling from two different sources from the same area.
Noonie
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Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:35 am

@klepto that sounds like an interesting, and possibly expensive, idea. But I like it!

What I think would really highlight a regions ‘taste’ over another is if the tea was from the same year (that’s at least one possibly differentiating factor you can lock down, there are many more of course).

I’m still too new to Pu to be able to taste some of the flavours that would highlight a regions flavour profile.

Not to give you work to do :lol: but putting all this into a spreadsheet may be helpful
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klepto
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Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:09 am

Noonie wrote:
Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:35 am
klepto that sounds like an interesting, and possibly expensive, idea. But I like it!

What I think would really highlight a regions ‘taste’ over another is if the tea was from the same year (that’s at least one possibly differentiating factor you can lock down, there are many more of course).

I’m still too new to Pu to be able to taste some of the flavours that would highlight a regions flavour profile.

Not to give you work to do :lol: but putting all this into a spreadsheet may be helpful
Good idea, it could for sure be expensive but I will be sampling for the most part. A spreadsheet would be ideal for this. I probably won't be able to pick out every flavor/nuance but would have a good idea of the general profile. Yes, this is a lot of work but I will know which places have the tea that I love the most. Education can be fun :D

Next places on my list: Hekai, Naka, Bulang(general), Youle(general), Mangzhi(general), Melanghe
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Balthazar
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Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:35 am

Another "complicating factor", albeit a hard one to fully mitigate, is that the wrapper may not tell the whole (or half) story about where the tea material comes from. E.g. the Banzhang teas, are they 10% Banzhang and 90% "Other Bulang" (or a completely different are such as Lincang)? Hard to say (although the price tag can usually give a good indication of how much of the material really comes from Expensive Village X and how much is filler from surrounding or completely different areas).

Still, it should be a useful (and most important, fun) exercise. Look forward to following your journey!
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klepto
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Sun Sep 13, 2020 2:25 pm

Balthazar wrote:
Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:35 am
Another "complicating factor", albeit a hard one to fully mitigate, is that the wrapper may not tell the whole (or half) story about where the tea material comes from. E.g. the Banzhang teas, are they 10% Banzhang and 90% "Other Bulang" (or a completely different are such as Lincang)?
That makes purchasing puerh difficult in general. Some places that had some great tea don't any longer but they are still using the name. Such as Lao Ban Zhang and Xin Ban Zhang. You had coca cola and it was great but now we have new coke!! :D Sometimes you have to rely on rumours of what a cake of puerh has in it.. ::sigh::
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klepto
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Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:49 pm

I'm drinking tea while there is a Hurricane coming on shore 30 miles from me :mrgreen:

2011 XiaGuan "Ban Zhang Lao Shu" (Banzhang Old Tree)
banzhanglaoshu.jpg
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Nothing to see here, tastes like a regular aged sheng. There was no huigan, no bitterness that fills your entire mouth.
Probably used like 2% ban zhang leaf or none at all. I pushed the amount of leaf to no avail.
:x :x :x
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Bok
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Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:00 am

klepto wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:49 pm
no bitterness that fills your entire mouth.
Why'd you want that?
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klepto
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Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:03 am

Bok wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:00 am
klepto wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:49 pm
no bitterness that fills your entire mouth.
Why'd you want that?
Honestly, its the shift where the bitterness turns to sweetness. The bitterness melts away. I hadn't tasted anything like it so far.
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Bok
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Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:07 am

klepto wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:03 am
Bok wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:00 am
klepto wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:49 pm
no bitterness that fills your entire mouth.
Why'd you want that?
Honestly, its the shift where the bitterness turns to sweetness. The bitterness melts away. I hadn't tasted anything like it so far.
Got it. That makes more sense :mrgreen:
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klepto
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Sat Sep 19, 2020 9:56 pm

TdC 2015 Hekai in Bulang(Menghai):

This was an eye opener, a delicate delicious treat. The liquor was a very pale orange. You could smell the raisins from the wet leaves. The tea was very oily and slid down my throat with ease. It took many steepings until the spice and dark fruits came out fully. I need to find another source and get more tea from Hekai. The aroma was also very enticing. TdC says it came from Guan Bie village. 3 grams used from a 80ml porcelain gaiwan. I have a nice 100 gram mini cake of this one.
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klepto
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Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:27 pm

2015 Bulang in Bakalong(Menghai):
I have another bulang from the same timeframe to compare it with that I'll try tomorrow.
Bittersweet, not like bitter then sweet such as hui gan/hui tian but bittersweet like cocoa.
It tasted like cocoa with some herbal notes. Sadly it looked like they chopped off a piece of the cake and put it in a sample bag.
the_e
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Tue Sep 29, 2020 5:17 pm

TeaDB has a post and further articles on this: https://teadb.org/yunnan/

A fun exploration to do! I think its great to challenge oneself to identify regional characteristics in blind tastings. I had a lot of fun trying out the various Yiwu villages from Teaurchin's pressings. Even harder is trying to figure out what is in a blend!
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