2014 Chawangpu "Lao Yu" Xiao Bing Cha

Look in to the future

This Lao Yu is a bit different comparing to 2013 and 2015 model. Processed tea in the form of maocha was stored more than one year in Menghai. The final pressing into 200g cakes was done in January 2015. Maocha matures more quickly and also differently. This is a common process used by big tea factories as Xiaguan and Menghai Dayi to speed up aging of their fresh products. Loose leaves access more air and humidity and that is why tea matures faster than in pressed form.

In case of Lao Yu 2014, the tea had enough time to move forward and that’s why we can have a sneak preview of Lao Yu’s future. The tea from 2014 is actually more matured than the oldest Lao Yu 2013. You can easily see difference in brew’s colour coming from testers.



Rinsed leaves smell fruity as overripe fruits.

The first sip will surprise you with a nice sweet character. Lao Yu is coming from BaDa mountains and you can taste it there. After a while here comes expected bitterness and astringency. The final aftertaste is sweet.

You can find a slightly matured taste in this tea. Well it definitely doesn’t taste like 1,5 years old tea processed normal way and aged as cakes. First three steeping are dominated by great astringency. You can sometime spot a trace of smokiness as well. Later steeping are herbal and bitter.

The tea is giving a way many full and tasty brews (10+). The energy is quite pronounced. Well, at the moment I consdire Lao Yu 2014 as the best model of all three available Lao Yu teas …. I must admit that Lao Yu 2013 is also very good and it’s drawing close…

Lao Yu 2013 is now about 2,5 years old tea and out of this 1,5 year stored in Europe. Well, I would say that 2013 is more settled and there is more complexity in the taste. It also contains bigger fruity body. But it lacks this slightly matured character of 2014. There is still quite enough of chaqi and astringency.

Lao You 2014 is a very good tea. Storing maocha before final pressing was good for this tea. The processing of Lao Yu’s maocha is generally not perfect and you can feel some smokiness just after pressing. There is not much smoke left in 2014. Considering the price it is very good material. Recommending for aging. The price is $17 (2015). I am looking forward to observe this tea.

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