This cooked (shu pu-erh) comes from Bangwei village of Lancang County in Yunnan. Bangwei is an essential name for pu-erh as it is where the first transitional ancient tree (between the wild and cultivated tea type) was first discovered. The transitional tree found here is now 1000 years old according to this source.
This tea was harvested in the spring of 2018 from tea trees which are around 100 years old. I have already reviewed a few other teas from the same tea-growing family. They produce about 4-ton tea every year, and 600 kg of it is shu pu-erh. They also make excellent sheng, black and white teas.
Even though it is not a mature tea (my pu-erh expert tea friend would tell me that one should wait at least 8 years for a shu pu-erh to get decent), I found its soup very easy to drink. I expected the aromas and the taste to be earthy, which was not highly pronounced. Indeed, I smelt and tasted starchy notes which I found interesting.
The wet piling stage, which is the most critical step for shu pu-erh processing for this tea was more than 50 days. It usually is around 45 days, and if the farmers went for a more extended period (it is not in their interest), there must be a reason for that. Perhaps, this improved the smoothness of this tea.
Another interesting info about this tea is that it has a very dark liquor. I do not know what can explain this.
Tea Profile:
Type: Pu-erh (Dark)
Origin: Bangwei village, Lancang, Yunnan
Harvest time: Spring 2018
Leaf colour: Tones of brown
Liquor colour: Dark bordeaux
Tea Aroma: Starch and woody
Tea taste: Thick soup with starchy and woody notes
Steeping/brewing: Place 5 g tea leaves in 100 ml water at around 100°C. Steep for 10 seconds. To each consecutive infusion, add 5 seconds. You can infuse the leaves up to ten times.
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