Menghai Yan Pu 2018 Banzhang Qing Bing

This tea

Sheng pu'er from the Menghai Yan Pu tea factory in 2018. The tea is called Banzhang Qing Bing, or Green Cake of Banzhang. Banzhang is a village in the Menghai region of southern Yunnan that is famous for its pu'er tea. The price of tea from the village has risen to record highs. However, this tea is of a slightly more ordinary quality and the origin of the leaf material is certainly not very close to the famous village itself. The tea still has a strong, unyielding flavor that Banzhang is famous for. The tea has a nice sweetness and, despite its young age, it has already aged in the humid climate of Guangzhou. Excellent value for money!

Taste

The tea has an intense, slightly leathery and, in a strange way, rubbery aroma and taste. The tea has the unyielding intensity that the Banzhang region is famous for.

Infusion

Detach the leaves from the pressed tea with a sharp tool for brewing. You can use a kitchen knife, for example. The spike-like shape works best, as it breaks the leaves less. Pu'er tea is infused with boiled water. You need about 4-6 grams of leaves, which is a generous tablespoon of loose tea. The tea leaves are rinsed first. Hot water is poured over the tea leaves and allowed to brew for about 10 seconds. This rinsing water is poured off. This rinsing helps to make the tea clear and reduces the stronger fermentation taste and smell on the surface of the leaves. The tea can be infused using the so-called gongfu technique, using a teapot of less than 300ml and brewing the leaves several times. In this case, the length of the brews should be about 30-60 seconds. The number of leaves can also be increased, which reduces the brewing time to 10-20 seconds. If you have a larger teapot or only want to brew one time, the brewing time should be 3-5 minutes. Adjust the amount of leaves to achieve the desired strength.