2015 Chawangpu Bada Lao Yu Xiao Bing

Old Woman the third time

This tea is called “Old Woman” after grannies who are harvesting this tea in one of Bulang’s village in Bada mountains. This is actually the third continuation of Lao Yu tea. The first Lao Yu was produced in 2013 and you can read about it here. The second Lao Yu 2014 is a bit different and you can read more here.

The first sip is sweet with slow approach of astringency. After swallow you can feel dryness in your mouth and bitter and herbal taste.

The other infusions are full, strong and thick. Outstanding bitterness mixed with fresh herbal and flowery taste. Great astringency. There is a little smokiness in the aftertaste.

Processing of Lao Yu is not quite perfect. The material comes from different families, which are preparing maocha by themselves. The quality can vary even in the single cake. It depends how carefully the material was homogenized. When I was comparing all three Lao Yu in testers (3g / 1 minute), Lao Yu 2015 was very smoky almost as burned. I don’t know if there was just a piece of burned tea in my cup. I haven’t tasted the same intensive smokiness in many other preparations in Gong Fu Cha style. Well, Lao Yu 2013 was also a bit smoky at the begging and now the smoke is absolutely gone.

Again, I have to say that this is great tea full of energy. Very stimulating energy, even with a flustering effect, it is quite something and your hard will beat fast. Well, there is this little smokiness, but I am not afraid of it to the future. It will be gone soon. I recommend this tea for aging. The price is superb $12.50 (2015)

Was this review helfule? Yes / No