Spring 2012 Lao Man E Shengtai

Natural tea gardens from Lao Man E village, Bulang Shan, Menghai Aged in Pu'er City, dry storage, controlled environment The bite of a classic Bulang tea with a twist on the fragrance 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 2012 and aged in Pu'er city since then. You can feel the quality of the material used, it is a mixed picking. In 2012, they had just started converting the conventional tea plantations into 'natural tea gardens'. This tea probably comes from such gardens. They are a mix of the bitter and the sweet varietals. Here are a few pictures of our visit to the village back in Summer 2012, it has changed a lot since then. The houses are larger, the roads cleaner and the tea trees in the natural tea gardens have grown to a taller size. Ten years of aging have partially transformed the initial bitterness into something unique. It is not sweetness as you'd find in some young teas. The liquor feels very active on the gums from the first brew. The bitterness ramps up as the session goes and vanishes quickly into that 'aged sweetness'. This tea is a teenager, it has a lot of potential for further aging. The aroma has changed and is the testimony of a very clean storage. No wet-storage taste, only variations of fine woods. Perfect if you like strong and long-brewing tea with a bit of age.