2005 Gan En Lao Banzhang Puerh Tea

Beautiful huge leaves in this low pressed cake, a color of "old" puerh (despite his relative young age) that makes you thirsty, and the smell is associated : fragrances of old and spicy woods.
After two rinses and a first brew, I get a beautiful and very clean liquor.
In the mouth it is quite interesting from both the fruit (which ones ?), wood, a surprising vitality, and a really long aftertaste, which is spread throughout the area mouth / nose / throat ...
In the end, it is a very classy, consistent tea, but I am not really keen. This is a (very) good tea, but I feel a sense of unfinishing, a little something that makes it good, but nothing more.
The feeling of drinking a good puerh, but less exciting than the others, of the same year, from less prestigious areas, and also 10 times cheaper ...
I tried to extend brewing times, a little bit, then a lot, then shorten them ... I am not able to make a brew that I could describe as delicious to wahouuuu, or perfect.
In short, feeling somewhat mixed, in perspective, because after all I may have missed the brewing of this puerh, and then it was clearly recommended "For Those Wishing to know the true taste of old tea tree Banzhang Lao."
Maybe the old tea trees of LBZ are not for me. In any case, not at £120.00 per cake. (Posted on 26/11/2011)

This is one of my favorite young puerhs. It is exceptionally pure and sweet, with no bitterness whatsoever in the mouth. The aftertaste goes on and on. Nice warming effect on the body, gentle and relaxing Qi. The colour of the soup is a magnificent shade of old gold or, to keep it on the poetic side, the tone of a beautiful sunny day in Autumn.

I bought two of these cakes when EoT first stocked them in 2009 I believe it was. Recently I bought a bit more and it is very interesting to see the difference between the two lots, how the one that has spent more time in Asia is rounder in the mouth but less floral; while the one stocked at my home in Italy is less round but the taste is definitely more intense. Gives me some extra hopes on stocking puerhs in a (very) dry climate... I'll keep my fingers crossed!

(Posted on 13/10/2011)

I find that this tea reminds me of EoT own cakes in their purity. There is no intense bitterness and heart thumping (caffeine rush) cha qi that some vendors would have you associate with Banzhang. There is a nice active mouthfeel which is really the highlight of this tea. I believe that this tea is a great tool to gauge other supposed LBZ laoshu teas by. (Posted on 16/09/2011)

I feel like I am still trying to figure this tea out. Perhaps I am still trying to figure LBZ tea out actually. The flavor of this tea is less pronounced that other puerh, at least to me. I'm beginning to think that that is true of LBZ tea in general though. This tea does have some sensations in the mouth though, which I think is more characteristic of an LBZ tea.

I strongly suggest that you try a sample before ordering this tea. It is rather different than other puerh. (Posted on 12/09/2011)

I got a cake of this for over a year and it has been stored at home in the UK ever since. The soup is golden orange colour an indication of gaining a bit of age and no longer has that grassy feel like most very young cakes. The soup has good texture or mouth feel about it with nice long lingering gentle huigan. It has a very typical Banzhang taste as it has been aged for 6 years, I find it has more interesting characters than a newer Banzhang. It's a better Banzhang than a few others I have tried. A little bit of citric but that is fine for me. If you want to know what Lao Banzhang should taste like, have some samples and this tea would give you some very good ideas. (Posted on 11/09/2011)

My review (in french) is here : http://vacuithe.blogspot.com/2011/08/gan-en-lao-banzhang.html (Posted on 29/08/2011)