2008 Bangwei "Laoshu" Maocha

Where did this little avian fellow come from?

Rushing in from the pre-dawn cold, I revisit a tea generously provided by Nada some time ago. He notes that it originates from a single old tree in the village of Bangwei, which is near to Jingmai ("nutty!"), in Lancang Xian [County]. Given how hard it is to verify the origins of one's tea when buying via the internet, it's a real pleasure to have a knowledgeable tea-traveller provide some benchmarks by which I aim to calibrate my tastebuds.

Pictured below, in colours helpfully bleached out by a strong overhead lamp, you can hopefully see that it is particularly tippy, with about half of its volume comprising white-furred leaves. Unsurprisingly, it has a creamy aroma, like yinhao [silver hair] pu'er.

The brilliant yellow soup (below) appears to be quite cloudy, it being stuffed full of silver hairs. The aroma is long indeed, being sugary fruits. Enduring scents are a good sign, as they indicate that there's some real content to the tea, which is what I'm after. I find myself sniffing tea quite a lot, these days.

When I was in Teasmith, the assistant kindly proffered me a cake to examine, to which I instinctively stuck a probing nostril. I scared her, and she quickly withdrew the tea! I must remember to avoid being abnormal outside the confines of the home.

A late, almost metallic, bitterness arrives suddenly in the finish, of which there was absolutely no hint in the mouth. It dwells in the throat, enduring and oily. The whole tea is tart, fruity, sweet, and exceedingly potent.

After just a few small cups, my hands and arms are flushed and blotchy. Remarkable.

This tea is a sugar-sweet animal that runs for the cover of the back of the mouth, as if it were running to the safety of a cave, and which then makes loud noises while it dwells there.

"Very fragrant, and clearly present in the throat. Very sweet! The fragrance is like having a flower in your mouth: you can taste it, not smell it."

Perhaps single-dimensional, it is simple, but very pleasant. And oh-so-potent. I can well believe it came from a single old tree, given its knock-out punch.

The sun now up, I head back out into the garden, laden with laoshu [old tree] chaqi...

---

Addendum
June, 2015

This has been in a little plastic bag for some six years!  Somehow, despite my neglect, it is settled, orange, and strong.  It tends to clog the filter of the teapot (!) and therefore overbrews, but with some manual dilution with water in the gongdaobei, it is fine.