2009 Guan Zi Zai Ban Zhang

This one is dedicated to Tea Goober, and his relentless quest to find quality Lao Ban Zhang. See product description here.

To be honest, I have purposefully been avoiding the Lao Ban Zhang samples I have, because of their reputation, and the ever-present question if what we're tasting is real Lao Ban Zhang, or if it's been mixed with filler from other areas (Lao Man'E, New Ban Zhang, Bing Dao, etc.). I'm at the point where it's not a question of if a particular cake is "pure" Lao Ban Zhang, it's question of what percent, because it's almost never going to 100%. It's unrealistic, because the area is only so large, and everybody wants it.

The second reason why I've been avoiding my Lao Ban Zhang samples is that I have seen "the truth." Simply, I have had the opportunity to taste a 100% Lao Ban Zhang cake. Okay, this was a private-private solo pressing, and everyone present (including pu-erh expert BBB) gave the general impression that this was the real deal. It had that bitterness that everyone and their mother associates with Lao Ban Zhang, but it wasn't as potent as one would think. Sure, it was extremely bitter, but the bitterness was fleeting, descending into a really awesome hui gan. It was very good tea, and I know what the fuss about Lao Ban Zhang is all about, because it really deserves the reputation that it does. Okay, so that experience created a set of expectations from my samples, and sadly these expectations weren't going to be fulfilled. So my Lao Ban Zhang samples sat in the corner while I danced with general merriment with the likes of Jing Mai, You Le, etc.

Third reason (I promise the actual review is coming soon) is that this cake seems too cheap to be what it claims, though even if it's 50-75% Ban Zhang, it might be worth it. The wrapper seems pretty enough too, and to be expected from the older brother of Yong Pin Hao.

The anticipation of expectations are right here in these leaves

I've only tasted one other Ban Zhang besides this one and the one mentioned above, the 2008 Lao Ban Zhang which was pressed as a side project of people from the Shuangjiang Mengku company. The 2008 disappointed me a bit, with its lack of fresh bitterness but it was still enjoyable enough with its bouquet of roses.

My first sip...and holy cow! This stuff is quite bitter. In fact, the word "bitter" appears in every sentence of my tasting notes, except for the first one: "dry aroma of leather and sweetness." But it's not an astringent bitterness, but it's the bitterness that I (and many other tea drinkers who employ Chinese) as ku. This is quite bitter, even more so than the private pressed cake that I sampled. The bitterness is quite present throughout the brew, and only in the 6th infusion does it "mellow" down. The bitterness is followed by a smooth/creamy and sweet hui gan, but it's slow...if that makes sense at all. But the bitterness sticks around, even in the aftertaste, as a constant reminder. It has a nice caffeine kick, and I feel my hands shaking and I have a slight cold sweet breaking out. Remarkable endurance, and though I don't keep track of how many infusions...it has been at least 15+ infusions, and still showing some slight bitterness!

It was interesting, and I wish I had more experience with Ban Zhang so I could "out" this one as being an authentic example or a "fake." Honestly, the bitterness didn't endear to me, and it stayed far too long than it had to. The mouth feel was pretty solid, and this certainly appealed to be more than most of the samples I have. But would I be willing to spend $48, when their $30 Jing Mai can satisfy me completely? Probably not. I know this review is making this tea sound lame, but it's pretty tasty...though if you're not a fan of bitterness, stay away. The aftertaste and hui gan is quite nice, and the bitterness itself itself of the offensive kind, it's bitterness but in a good way.

Tea Goober, if you want, I'd be more than happy to send you what remains of my sample (around 15 grams) as my donation to your quest to taste different Lao Ban Zhang. I also have a sample of the '08 cake version Lao Ban Zhang if you're curious to see if there are any differences between the brick and cake version.

*addendum* 11/7/09

Even though my initial impression of this tea may have been a little critical, after tasting the 2008 Mengku Lao Ban Zhang and the 2009 Yunnan Sourcing Ban Zhang I've been thinking more about the 2009 Guan Zi Zai Lao Ban Zhang. Out of all these samples, the Guan Zi Zai had the most "guts." I'm doing a blind competition tasting sometime soon, and hopefully it'll confirm this. I recall Hobbes said that the 2008 Menghai 7542-801 was like "being punched in the face by an old friend." (see here for details, scroll down to #1026) To put my spin on it...the 2009 Guan Zi Zai Lao Ban Zhang was like being kicked in the crotch by an old friend. Depending on what Tea Goober thinks of it, I may buy a cake of this with my next order.

*addendum* 11/8/09

Going back to the product description, it actually doesn't say Lao Ban Zhang at all! It just says Ban Zhang. So somehow in mind I automatically thought it was Lao Ban Zhang. I'm beginning to think that it may be harvested from Lao Man'E, which another area inside the Ban Zhang region. This is a pretty good thread about Ban Zhang, which also supports my belief that the maocha is from Lao Man'E: here
This would perhaps explain why this particular offering is so inexpensive compared to other Ban Zhang cakes. From both the product name, wrapper (at least from what I can see on the Yunnan Sourcing site), and product description don't refer to Lao Ban Zhang at all! I admire Guan Zi Zai's integrity and honesty in not fudging the facts about the provenance of their maocha.

2008 Mengyang Guoyan "Queen of Yiwu"

Interesting enough, the Chinese name for this is Yiwu Cha Huang, which translates to "Yiwu Tea Emperor." Modesty and humility are certainly not traits of pu-erh factories when it comes to naming schemes, I believe. Sadly, this tea is neither a king nor a queen, but rather it's more like a pretender to the throne. This is merely the review of a humble pu-erh neophyte, so maybe I'm not "getting it," or once again, this tea just doesn't sit well with me.

I had heard good things about this cake from the folks over at TeaChat (specific thread here). I mostly agree with the sentiments there, but whereas these qualities are described positively by that reviewer, those same traits are negative qualities of the cake in my mind. The leaves look gorgeous, and compression was nice in my chunk of a sample. It seemed like a nice tea: floral, sweet, a touch woodsy. Like many things in life, looks can be deceiving.

If only the tea tasted as good as the leaves look

The first three infusions did not bode well in my judgment of this cake. The mouth feel of the infusion is decent which borders on being thin, while the smoothness borders on blandness. Frustrated, I recalled that a lot of leaf was needed to make it tasty, so added about two grams of new leaf after the third infusion. It did little to help, and even when pushed hard, the tea still had little to give. It's a bit fruity and there's nothing offensive about it, but it lacks the punchiness that I like in my pu-erh. Soft and rounded, it might be tasty to people who like that sort of thing.

Disappointment seems to be the trend of these samples, and I'm only considering ordering four or five cakes of what I've tasted thus far. Thank goodness I didn't subscribe to the cake = sample theory, because even if a cake is relatively cheap, when it's bad it's just sitting there, serving as a reminder of how stupid I was. I was actually thinking or purchasing this cake right off the bat, just based on what I've heard. So glad I didn't. I've also vowed to myself that I won't purchase a cake outright unless it's a recommendation coming from people whose opinions I trust. Though I'm more likely to take the advice of what cakes to avoid, than what cakes to get.

Hopefully the trend of disappointment will end when I receive a spur-of-the-moment pu-erh purchase I made from Seven Cups, their 2001 Winter Yellow Green Cake. Looks ugly, doesn't it? I would never had even entertained the thought of ordering such an expensive cake, but a combination of things were at work behind this spontaneous decision: 1. BBB's glowing review (see here), 2. their 20% off sale (who can't resist a good deal) which is ending this month, and 3. staying up until 2 AM thinking about pu-erh. I hope this wasn't a rash decision, but I trust BBB and his taste (and I hope his opinion of said cake hasn't changed too much in the three years since that review).

2009 Guan Zi Zai Jing Mai Wild Arbor

See product description here

I've been sampling whole load of young sheng from my recent order, and I'm pretty glad that I didn't order cakes right off the bat - some of these are stinkers. Now, most of them are stinkers not because they taste horrible, but they weren't my cup of tea. As of now, I'm looking to purchase for immediate consumption...not worrying too much about storage. Since I'm going to be gone for two years, now's not the best time to start collecting. I also figure that in the near-future it'd be clearer what kind of cakes are going to age and which ones are not. Hopefully any cakes I buy will start to age as usual once I move them to a more suitable aging environment.

So, I'm reviewing this cake as it is, without considering if it's going to age well or not. I'm starting to find that I like pu'er with character, raw and fierce...and from what I've tried so far I'm really digging stuff from Bu Lang or Jing Mai. And I don't like many of the Lin Cang/Meng Ku samples that I have, but maybe I'm not drinking the right stuff, or stuff from this region doesn't fit my needs.

So, onto the actual tea. I've returned to this tea a few times, just to be sure that I like it enough to buy a whole cake. I think I'm sold. The product description reads that this tea's "bitterness is rivalled only by Bu Lang." Very nice

The remaining piece of my original sample

There's a nuttiness that permeates this tea. From the dry aroma to the wet aroma to the actual tea itself, it's always there. This seems to be a trait common to teas from this area, IIRC. I'm quite happy to distinguish that, but perhaps I wouldn't be in if this were a blind tasting between regions. There's also a "savory" element in the tea, which is also apparent in the wenxiangbei. Quite smooth and creamy, a slight bitterness in the tip keeps this tea interesting, and which also also compelled me to order a cake once I'm done with all the samples I have. It seems fairly durable, but I didn't keep an exact count of how many infusions it went through before descending into simple honeyed tea water (though I went through half a pitcher of water, which is fairly remarkable since a whole pitcher lasts for three sessions).

I have a fair share of samples from Guan Zi Zai, and they've all left me with a good impression so far. But I'm still a greenhorn in sampling young sheng, so perhaps my opinion doesn't count as much. Would be nice to see other peoples' impressions of offerings from this company, especially the ones that are up on Yunnan Sourcing, which are all 2009 cakes.

Overwhelmed with Tea

I've been pretty busy lately with the tea, and it's probably karma for venting about the tea ruts a while ago. But it's always better to have more tea than less tea, unless of course the tea in question is quickly perishable green tea. I recently met up with WY last Saturday, and we tried a wide range of different Oolong, mostly high roasted stuff, some Yancha, and an aged Baozhong. As always, I left with tons of samples of various high roasted TGY and Yancha (Thanks again!).

Soon afterward I became the latest to enjoy the Oolong Box Pass, courtesy of the folks over at Teachat. Some of the teas were things I wouldn't normally buy myself, but it's always nice to be part of a IRL tea drinking shindig, and it's a way for me to try to be as generous as others have been to me. Pay it forward is a way of thinking I strive to live by.

My order from Yunnan Sourcing also came on Saturday. I missed the mailman and he left me a "Sorry We Missed You" notice, which irked me, since I wouldn't get my package until Tuesday (because of Columbus Day). I am highly impatient, and I marched down to the Post Office at around 4:30 PM so I can grab my package when the carriers return back to the Post Office. I was scared for the worst, but luckily I returned home with a large package of four cakes/tuocha and 27 (!) samples.

I've tried all of the four cakes/toucha, and at this point I'm quite partial to the 7532 and the Xiaguan FT Baoyan Tuocha. I'm kind of disappointed in how "weak" the 2008 Xiaguan FT Instant Sensation is, but maybe I need more leaf. It's enjoyable to drink, but I was expecting something with a little more kick ... especially since it's a chopped factory cake. I've been thinking about how to tackle the samples, and I've decided to tackle these samples by region, starting with Bu Lang and Lin Cang. So far I like the 2009 Guan Zi Zai "Jing Xuan Bu Lang", which stands out a little more than the 2006 A-Gu Zhai Wild Arbor Bu Lang. The former has a better mouth-feel and bitterness (but a good way) than the latter. There's also some sort of "bean-like" aroma that I can't really describe.

I'm fascinated with the different flavors and aromas that come from a genre of tea that I had limited experience prior to this, and I'm also having difficulty conveying what aroma/flavor I'm detecting. To me, it seems that a lot of these teas I'm tasting tend to be more about the mouth feel, but some also have an interesting flavor as well. The 2005 Hai Lang Hao "Lincang Impression" has some kind of tangy fruitiness that caught me off guard.

I'm also finding that I find young sheng more enjoyable than most aged sheng (shocking isn't it?). I probably haven't had that kind of "aha" moment, but I prefer the flavor/aroma profile of young sheng. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it with young sheng, which I hear can cause stomach problems later on...so I'm balancing it with some other Oolong that I have, but it's so darn hard not to just plough through all my Yunnan Sourcing samples!

Impulse

There isn't a better title than this...and it's pretty self-explanatory. It hasn't even been a day since I posed the question before my readers, and I already found myself caving into the temptation. Between the advice of those on TeaChat (a cake = a sample) and the advice of WY (buy samples), I didn't know which school to follow. So I choose the middle path, buying a few cakes and a ton of samples. I figure I would buy some of the classics, and even if I didn't like them...it would be a good learning experience and give me a better understanding of some solid foundations. I picked the following cakes:

'08 8582
'08 7532
(I would've gone for the 7542...but I fear that its potency would turn me off completely)
'08 Xiaguan FT Baoyan Jincha
'08 Xiaguan FT Yiming Jingren aka "Instant Sensation"
Yunnan Sourcing Sampler (Just because it's nice to support your vendors, and the Half-Dipper tasting event made me curious)

Even though others might say that single-mountain cakes may not age as well as blends...but unlike many others out there, I'm not buying to collect, I'm buying to drink now (well, I might hold a few for long-term storage). Don't have the space/money to build a pumidor, so I'll just let nature take its course for now, and in a few years I'll get around to buying/assembling one. A few years isn't going to kill a cake, in my opinion. So anyway, I'm interested in tasting the different mountains, and maybe get a feel for their distinctive qualities. I didn't even know where/how to find recommendations for cakes that would be representative of their region, so I just emailed Scott from Yunnan Sourcing and said, "I want to sample cakes that are representative of the major estates: yiwu, nannuo, bulang, bada, lincang, jingmai, etc. What suggestions do you have?" He emailed me back in about 15 minutes and produced the following:

1. 2009 Guan Zi Zai "Ban Zhang Wild Arbor" Raw Pu-erh 25g
2. 2009 Yunnan Sourcing "Ai Lao Jue Se" Raw Pu-erh tea 25g
3. 2009 Yunnan Sourcing "Yi Wu Da Qiu Feng" Pu-erh tea 25g
4. 2006 A-Gu Zhai Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea * Bu Lang Shan 25g
5. 2009 Mengku * Wild Arbor King * Raw Pu-erh tea * 25g
6. 2009 Guan Zi Zai * Jing Mai Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea * 25g
7. 2007 Zhen Si Long "Autumn Harvest Yi Wu" Raw Pu-erh 25g
8. 2009 Yong Pin Hao * Stone-Pressed Manzhuan tea cake 25g
9. 2009 Guan Zi Zai "Jing Xuan Bu Lang" Pu-erh tea * 25g
10. 2009 Hai Lang Hao "Yi Wu Zheng Shan" Raw Pu-erh tea 25g
11. 2004 Hai Lang Hao "Big Snow Mountain" Pu-erh tea * 25g
12. 2009 Guan Zi Zai "Zao Chun Nan Nuo Shan" Pu-erh tea 25g
13. 2005 Hai Lang Hao "Lincang Impression" Raw Pu-erh * 25g
14. 2006 Jinuo Shan * You Le Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea * 25g
15. 2007 Hai Lang Hao * Jing Mai Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea 25g
16. 2007 Hai Lang Hao * Bu Lang Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea 25g
17. 2008 Guoyan "Queen of Yi Wu" Premium Raw Pu-erh tea 25g
18. 2008 Lao Ban Zhang Wild Arbor Pu-erh tea * 25g SAMPLE
19. 2008 Yong Pin Hao * Stone-Pressed Yi Wu Wild Arbor 25g
20. 2005 Lincang Tea Co "Wild Arbor King" Pu-erh tea * 25g
21. 2007 Mengku * Mu Ye Chun * 001 * Raw Tea Cake * 25g
22. 2002 CNNP * Bing Dao of Mengku * Raw Pu-erh tea * 25g

So including the Yunnan Sourcing samplers, I have 675 grams of pu'er to sample. I think I'm going to have a crazy September.

And I found out that I don't have to start paying my student loans until January instead of November, which is the reason why I was tightening the belt. So I get to have both options, and next week I'll be putting in an order of high fired TGY from Aroma Tea House.

*NOTE*
I love living in California because it's the closest part of the coast to China...which means that any shipment from China will come to me quicker than it would to anyone else (except people on the island or something). Waiting anxiously...my last order via EMS arrived about four days after it shipped