Thursday, March 24, 2022

2018 Private Label Lao Ban Zhang Huangpian 250g Brick

I sampled this one not knowing it was Hunagpian but drinks like something between Huangpain and standard leaf.  Somewhere in the notes below I ponder if it is hunangpian but the leaves are not obviously huangpian.  This was given as a free sample but is also included in the In Search of Real Lao Ban Zhang tasting set at Puerh.uk.

Dry leaves have a sweet floral odour.

First infusion has a watery clear buttery faint floral approach that has a salivating mid profile and wet oily texture with light candy floral finish.  Very oily and mouthwatering.  Very pure dry stored flavours tastes so fresh.  Light candyfloss in the oily saliva 5 minutes later.

The second infusion has a pop of fruity fresh candy with almost fresh rain forest taste that appears briefly afterwards but not really just a strong very sweet and mouthwatering effect.  The thick onslaught of saliva strongly pushes lots of sweet candy taste out.  This tastes like a good Yiwu to me.  Lots of layered candy taste even 10 minutes later.  Qi is calm mild and feels very comfortable in the body.  Makes me feel calm and focused and happy.  The oily and layered and long sweetness is really nice.

The third infusion you can see the oily texture in the picture here… pungent rainforest onset with creamy sweet oily layers that follow.  The cooled down cup is very fresh rainforest taste with a thick oily sweetness layered in there.  The saliva producing is significant.  Thick oily buttercup sweet layers.  Nice mild spaced out calming Qi.  It isn’t that Laobanzhang though… tastes more like Yiwu with a thickness of Huangpian.  I would have guessed it to be 2020 material… quite fresh.



The 4th is oily thick juicy sweetness fresh forest tastes.  The cooled down cup is more pungent caramel sweet oily thickness with a faint mid-pungent taste lots of oily saliva producing slow faint rolling candy finish.  Nice chest sensations and relaxing feeling.

The 5th has a fresh forest oily taste.  The processing and storage feels a lot like the fresh Zheng Si Long Hao processing.  Lots of sweet candy thick oily layers over an emerging pungent and fresh forest tastes.  Really tasty!  Calm focusing Qi with fine sand under oily textures.  The cooled down cup gives off delicious and fantastic tropical vibrant fruity tastes.

6th has a bitter sweet fruity and fresh fruity onset with a slight fresh pungency and a nice oily mouthfeeling.

7th has an oily and mouth lubricating floral pungent even slightly bitter woody taste with nice oily fruity sweetness in the finish. Calming Qi and a bit spacy.  Sweet aftertaste in saliva oil.

8th has a floral fresh forest taste with an oily texture of sweet fruity fresh flavours the underlying mouthfeeling is dry but oily textures carry the sweet tastes.  Calming relaxation.

9th has a fresh fruity sweet taste oily sweet layers not too much pungent freshness but nice layers of fruity and creamy and almost caramel sweetness.

10th has a buttery creamy oily sweetness with some faint pungent coolness and woodiness slight faint bitter.  Oily textures over a slight sandy, dry mouth.  Relaxing Qi.

11th has a buttery oily fruity fresh forest and caramel buttery oily sweetness.  Mildly relaxing effect. 

The next day I get back to the teapot and the cool cup is still nicely oily and very flavourful fruity fresh tastes.

The 13th is still very very lubricating and oily sweet with mild coolness in the throat.  Very vibrant oily sweetness, fresh tropical fruity tastes.  Good stamina in these consistently oily sweet leaves.

14th this is the first infusion longer than flash infusion and sits over the leaves for a few minutes… very lubricating oily fresh tropical sweetness with a subtle cooling and creamy sweet finish. This puerh has very little bitterness even a longer infusions..

15th infusion is minutes long again and is unwaveringly oily and sweet there is a bit of fainter bitter but mainly very distinct oily fresh tropical fruits there is some increased saliva producing then a creamy sweet layered over the fruity oily sweetness the bitter lingers throughout in these long infusions.  These leaves are very consistent with great stamina but never boring due to the great taste.  Nice calming mild Qi in these leaves nothing too exciting.

16th is left to cool and has a lubricating fruity deliciously oily sweet taste faint bitterness and a coolness tries to punch through the oily sweetness…. Chill relaxing…



The long mug steeping is still bursting with thick oily juicy mouthwatering sweet fruity tropical tastes there is a base of mild bitterness with vibrant sweet pops of layered fruity sweetnesses.  This is a super delicious oily and vibrant puerh!  This is one of the best tasting younger puerh I have tried in a while…

Dry stored, tastes very fresh, tropical juicy lubricating oily tastes tastes like more like a 1-2 years sheng than 4 years but possible.  Does have many classic or typical Laoban Zhang qualities tastes more like Yiwu than Menghai to me.  Super delicious and easy to drink single estate with a very oily juicy and lubricating feeling.  Qi is just a mild relaxing Qi really…

Peace

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