Spring 2009 Nannuo

Ancient Tea Gardens of Ban Po Old Village in Nannuo Mountain, Menghai Aged in Pu'er City, dry storage, controlled environment A powerful tea, partially aged, and yet so lively! This cake was carefully aged in Pu'er City, with controlled humidity (not above 70%). The tea was stored in large quantity in the tea shop of my friend, Luo Yong Sheng, who's father has collected teas since the early 2000's. The tea was bought directly from the farmer in 2009, Luo Yong Sheng's father bought mao cha in the mountains and had it pressed himself. Here are pictures of Banpo Lao Zhai and its surrounding gardens taken in 2010. This is real aged Gushu, something quite hard to find nowadays. The leaf quality is equivalent to our high-end modern pressings, and the storage was expertly done, something very hard to find in Pu'er City, where such an old tea would have typically stayed in the mountain for a while, exposed to the environment; then brought back to the city and stored in a warehouse with regular humidity spikes. Under Luo Yong Sheng's care, the tea aged with sufficient humidity, which allowed it to keep its original strong profile (Banpo village is known to produce the most powerful tea in Nannuo Mountain). Yet, you can feel this tea never got too wet. The fragrance is woody and the liquor flows down the throat in all cleanliness. The Huigan (throat sweetness) is very refreshing. The tea starts to get camphor-like notes, we can expect them to develop further as the tea keeps aging. This tea has a powerful body feel and will make you sweat moderately. It has all the characteristics of a high quality tea with the extra refinement brought by 13 years of proper aging.