2005 Lao Banzhang Sheng Tai Tuo Cha: Old School, Clear Storage, LaoBanZhang

This is the first in a series of free Laobanzhang samples giftedfrom Paolo of Puerh.uk in my first order and offered for review.  Some of these are from the “In Search of RealLao Ban Zhang” series that he offers.  Its kind of a cool idea that has been overlooked by Western vendors as of late.  Its name implies that maybe they are not 100% or pure LaoBanZhang but some kind of search or journey with some LaoBanZhang-ness to them…. Sounds pretty fun… most of these samples are for sale at Puerh.uk but others are not yet offered.  I sampled these without reading the descriptions… after finishing them I will put a ranking together…

Dry leaves smell of smoky meaty BBQ odours.

First infusion has a light buttery clear and clean floral taste with some very faint smoky mesquite BBQ nose in the finish.  Elegant and clear with nice mind focusing energy right off the bat.  There is a subtle creamy sweetness.  Nice oily mouthwatering effect.

Second infusion has a pure creamy floral taste that builds the oils in the mouth it has a super faint BBQ finish but is primarily elegant and pure creamy sweetness with a very soft mild velvety texture.  Nice soft velvet-chalky fine feeling in the mouth.  Deep mild mind euphoria… this type of Qi certainly feels a bit like Lao Banzhang to me.

The third infusion is left to cool and gives off a pure sweet creamy oily taste that is really clear and nice.  There is a fine full velvety-chalky mouthfeeling.  Nice floral almost tropical fruity taste.  Creamy oily sweet taste.  Nice dry storage on this one gives the tastes a clear pure feeling.  The oily saliva returning taste holds the creamy sweetness in the aftertaste.  Very faint fleeting background smoke.

The 4^th has a very very faint smoke and watery creamy sweet taste upfront.  It is subtle and elegant and pairs nicely with the oily expanding textures of creamy sweet pure tastes.  Strong-ish deep euphoria type of Qi that you would expect from Laobanzhang.  Deep sighs and good uplifting.

The 5^th infusion has a watery juicy creamy sweet onset with an oily mouthfeeling there is a subtle smokiness to it in the aftertaste.  Nice saliva returning creamy sweetness.  Nice pure taste and feeling overall with some faint face, jaw sensations.

6^th is left to cool and gives off a creamy sweet subtle faint smoke creamy oily sweetness.  There is a nice saliva returning. 

7^th has a creamy lubricating oily simple sweet onset with a background late emerging smoke.  The Qi is becoming less strong and has more of a mind slowing relaxation now.

8^th has a buttery creamy taste with faint smoke.  Still oily and saliva returning but less so and coarser mouthfeeling.  Relaxing more than euphoric Qi now.

9^th has a longer 30 second infusion and is a subtle caramel creaminess still really nice clean pure tastes the smoke seems to fade as the infusions go on.  Nice creamy solid sweetness with still nice oily textures.  Pretty satisfying with the subtle faint background smoke.

10^th 60 second infusion then left to cool is a bit smoke, a bit bitter, a bit woody, a bit melon rind but mainly smoky in this longer infusion.  Not much sweetness left.

11^th is a long few minutes long infusion but is mainly just watery smoke now with lesser sweetness coming out in the aftertaste.

It’s a pure and even simple feeling puerh but has nice elements of clear pure taste with the creamy sweetness and subtle background smoke with a decent oily mouth salivating and lingering oily creamy buttery sweetness.  Its Qi has a bit of euphoria to it but not much at all of the Lao Ban Zhang bodyfeeling.  By the sixth infusion the Qi is more of a generic relaxation with a bit of euphoria.  Tastes like an older school processed factory tea at its core.  I like this tea for what it is… I wonder about the price?  Might be just paying for the location here.  Dry storage is nice on this and does it well.  I would have guessed this to be 2007-2009 Kunming or other drier storage… still possibly 2005 but a longer shot for me.

Peace