Laobanzhang King Tree Garden 2020

For lovers of controlled strength.

Like its predecessors, this precious Gushu Sheng Pu’er comes to us from the ancient tree garden of house no. 55. While the tea made from this garden has already proven its worth on its own merit, it also bears mention that this very garden houses the king tree of Laobanzhang, the oldest tea tree in the entire village.

The fragrant leaves of this tea provide the first hint towards its processing style—a higher temperature, shorter Sha Qing which is typical for the Menghai area. A sharp and clear fragrance of citrus fruits, flowers, and watermelon rind with a hint of spices fills the room as soon as the leaves come into contact with boiling water. Another hint to its processing can be found in the colour of the tea soup: despite being a few years old by now, it’s clear with a vibrant yellow-orange color. Much like other teas from this area, a citrus bitterness is present from the very first sip—but here, it’s restrained at first, as if holding back its true strength. On subsequent steeps, this bitterness comes to the forefront, but it doesn’t dominate the experience. It becomes clearer and more defined, playing “in the pocket” and finding its precise spot in the arrangement. This tea is a slow burn that doesn’t reveal everything it has on offer at once. It’s powerful, but it will take its time to display everything it has on offer. Like an iron first clad in a velvet glove, it gently envelops you at first with its rich and viscous texture, charming you with a long-lasting and heavy aftertaste that can be felt sinking down the throat and reemerging as sweetness after a while. As you’re still busy taking sip after sip and focusing on these pleasant and complex characteristics, the tea’s strength has already spread from your body’s core to all extremities, buzzing like an electric current. This combination of refined flavour and nigh-overwhelming power is what makes Laobanzhang so special, and this tea is a perfect representative.

We only have a very limited quantity of this tea, as it is meant to combine with the Cha Ping 2020 for a comparison between two top-tier representatives of Gushu in Xishuangbanna, one from the Menghai area, the other from Yiwu.

Written by Sigi

Authenticity

Laobanzhang is one of the biggest names in the world of Pu'er, with many fake teas being sold under that label online. To make sure that Nannuoshan can offer an authentic product and to show you what it looks like, Gabriele visited the garden this tea comes from himself, where he took this this video.