Pu Erh Raw Tea 2016

Pu erh Sheng Cha. Yunnan, Lao Ban Zhang

2016 Harvest

Coming from wild trees of tea aged 50-60 years.

Pu erh is supplied in whole 100g cakes.

This vintage of Pu erh is characterized by a particularly floral and fruity taste, a true palate pleasure! This tea can also be purchased just for aging. The more time passes, the more its taste will be round and subtle. Pu erh Sheng improves with time, becoming more delicate, unlike Pu erh Shu, characterized by a post-fermentation induced with high temperatures, which kill the microbial charge that instead gives Pu erh Sheng its acclaimed properties. In fact, the bacteria that Pu erh Sheng develops in post-fermentation turn out to be excellent allies for our health: they lower cholesterol, are draining, and help burn fat faster.

But in China, they are mainly drunk for their delicate taste. It is not easy to find a good Pu erh in Europe, often coming across low-cost Pu erh that tastes like earth and fish. This is the classic Pu erh Shu, where the induced post-fermentation was done poorly, resulting in a product of very poor quality and practically no properties. A good Pu erh is the careful work of wisdom, experience, and observation.

This tea should be prepared according to the gong fu cha method, which involves small repeated infusions with the same leaves, of short duration with a greater quantity of leaves. Before proceeding with the infusion, the leaves should be rinsed with hot water. The best teapots for Pu erh gong fu cha are the Yixing.

PREPARATION OF PU ERH

1. To prepare a Pu Erh teapot, first break the cake, this can be done with a knife, preferably with a Pu Erh knife. Obtain a piece of about 4-5g for a 200ml teapot. Try not to fragment the cake too much.
2. Heat the teapot with hot water that will then be discarded. This serves to heat the teapot and prepare it for infusion.
3. Insert the tea into the teapot and infuse for 10-15 seconds, then discard. This is the rinsing of the leaves that serves to open them and remove impurities and bitter notes.
4. Proceed with the actual tea infusion, which should not exceed 60 seconds.
5. After the first infusion, leave the leaves in the teapot (without water) for the other infusions. The second one is generally short (45-60 seconds), the following ones become longer. Multiple infusions should be done in the same day, otherwise, the tea will oxidize.

This infusion method follows the principles of gong fu cha, in which the quantities of tea in the teapot are increased and the infusion times are reduced. Its goal is to extract the best taste notes from the leaves.

LAO BAN ZHANG PU ERH

The village of Lao Ban Zhang is located in the large Yunnan region, southeastern China, in the Xishuang Banna province (西双版纳), BuLang mountain (布朗山). The area is located at an altitude ranging from 1600 to 1900 meters, often shrouded in mist, with a tropical climate that has an average temperature of 18.6°C throughout the year. The perfect climate for the growth of excellent tea.

TASTE NOTES

The Lao Ban Zhang Pu erh sheng are renowned for their fruity and floral notes, with a well-present astringent touch, ideal to be drunk just purchased or to continue aging and wait for the balancing of the more angular notes in favor of greater roundness.

In addition to Pu Erh tea, you can find other varieties of Chinese tea in the dedicated section.