2019 Tea Encounter Bang Dong: Fresh and Easy Budget Drinker

This sample for review came to me for free but goes for $71.39 for a proper 357g cake (or $0.20/g)- this one is definitely a budget puerh offering…

The dry leaf odour is a really faint woody almost creamy odour.  Looks like there is some twiggy material in there for depth and good measure.

The first infusion starts off with a sweet melon juicy spacy almost wood taste which evolves into a very faint pungent then more melon and creamy sweet taste.  The mouthfeel is oily and slippery.  The taste is spacious movement of flavours here.

The second infusion starts off a bit spicy with a tingling lips and tongue feeling.  There is a melon taste in there a mild pungent and returning creamy sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is sticky and tingling and the pungent taste open the throat to a mid-depth.

The third infusion starts a juicy evolving woody melon taste that turns into a creamy sweetness with melon.  There is a moderate woody base taste underneath it all.  The taste is very spacious.  There is a mild astringency in the mouthfeeling and throat so typical of Bang Dong.  The Qi is a super mild happy feeling qi.  I can feel a bit in the head and mind it’s a mild sensation.

The fourth infusion has a fruity juicy sweet onset paired with mild wood tone underneath.  There is a faint pungent then a returning creamy sweetness.  There is a melon fruity taste that lingers on the breath as the throat is stimulated by a very faint astringency which nicely opens it up.  The mouthfeel is almost sticky, a bit tingling and faintly astringent.  There is enough of a sensation in the mouth that is keeps the spacious taste interesting.  The returning unadulterated melon creamy sweetness here is really enjoyable and lingers for a long time.

The fifth infusion starts off with a juicy fruity taste with faint woody base.  There is a mango like fruity taste, almost mandarin orange.  The pungency triggers a creamy returning sweetness that triggers a deeper throat feeling and the aftertaste is very long fruit here- melon, mango, creamy sweetness.  The aftertaste is real nice but not overpowering, but definitely long in the throat.  Qi starts to feel relaxing on the mind.

The sixth infusion onset is a creamy sweet juicy fruit taste with a faint woody base.  The sweet creamy taste extends in the aftertaste and brings melon, creamy sweetnesses.  The tastes is very clear and unadulterated, it isn’t overly strong but isn’t weak either.  It is a harmonious taste going on here.  The mouthfeeling and throatfeeling are a very mild astringency and slight sticky tingling.

The seventh infusion has a nice clear distinct fruity onset of almost mandarin orange almost mango like taste.  The mouthfeeling is slightly tingling and sticky but mild-moderate.  The throat opens to a mid-level depth and a creamy, fruity, almost candy like sweetness is long on the breath.  The Qi is mellow and relaxing and a bit happy.

The eighth infusion has an uninterrupted fruity, creamy, melon/orange onset the depth of uninterrupted sweet tastes are super enjoyable.  There is a mild pungency and deeper throatfeeling which allows the sweet tastes to expand- melon, mango, mandarin orange, almost grapey, creamy sweetness.  The taste here especially the aftertaste is really nice not overpowering, but unadulterated and pretty long.

The ninth presents both slight mild wood and fruity sweetness the taste becomes more muted here.  More woody in taste throughout with sweet tastes weakening.  The 10^th is much the same, it starts off woody almost fruity, then drops quickly without a mid-throat stimulating feeling adding to the depth.  The 11^th infusion has a touch of bitterness initially, then more fruity than the last two infusions.  The mouthfeeling and throatfeeling drop off and indicate that this one needs a bit of pushing now…

The 12^th infusion was pushed to 30 seconds and pushes out a nice thicker fruit taste without pushing more bitter or astringency out.  It adds a bit to the aftertaste with the fruit taste found in their faintly again.

The 13^th infusion I push for 60 secs and it delivers a slightly woody but mainly juicy fruity taste.  There is some pungent with creamy mandarin orange finish.  This is nice.  The mouthfeeling has a slight tingle and slight chalky.  The 14^th I push for a few minutes and get a really delicious fruity taste with creamy and pungent and very slight woody.  The sweet flavours are still interesting here and the throat kicks into action with a little pushing.  There isn’t hardly any bitter or astringency so it works.

The 15^th I push for a few more minutes and get an almost soapy fruity type of taste with slightly astringent dry wood.  The mouthfeeling and throatfeeling are a bit drier here and with less depth.

This Bangdong has a nice taste and decently long aftertaste for its price.  The Qi is a relaxing mild type, a harmonious and happy Qi common with my experience with Bang Dong puerh.  The throat is nicely simulated and leads to a nice long fruity sweet aftertaste.  Its stamina is not its strength but can be pushed pretty hard because of its very mild bitter astringency.  This puerh is nice to drink now because of its mild nature. 

This Bangdong fills a gap in the Tea Encounter line up as being a puerh that is very budget friendly while still fresh and young and made to drink now.  At $0.20/g it is also is significantly lower than any other Western puerh vendors Bangdong offerings such as 2019 Yunnan Sourcing Bangdong that I have not sampled.  These days its becoming more rare to find a fresh, all spring, single origin, non-blended puerh for a price this low.

Peace