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.
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:
I have a second cake from Ban Zhang but haven't tried it yet: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.
2011 XiaGuan "Ban Zhang Lao Shu" (Banzhang Old Tree)
Are there any places you think I should try? I'll probably be sampling from two different sources from the same area.