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18 January, 2011

2009 Changtai "Zhengpin Banzhang"

What say you to my new piece of essential chadao?


New Chadao
Gurgle snooze hiccup

It brings the gurgles, hiccups, and (yes) snores of my dear son to the tea-table, so that I can keep an eye on him, or even an ear on him, as he sleeps while I'm drinking.

Thankfully, the system requires me to push a button in order for him to hear me.  This is an advantage when I am screaming in agony after drinking harsh plantation tea.

Such as today's Banzhang, from Changtai.  It's their bottom-of-the-ladder production, "zhengpin", which is one grade below their "jingpin" that I wrote about recently.


2009 Changtai Banzhang Zhengpin
Red leaves aplenty in this modern Changtai blend

The higher-grade jingpin opened with a very lovely introduction of actual Banzhang, before fading into plantation grimness.  This cake skips the introduction and gets straight to the plantation.


2009 Changtai Banzhang Zhengpin
Small leaves and fragments abound

You know that I love Changtai.  This is one of the first times in memory that I can remember actually disliking one of their cakes.  It has almost nothing to commend it, being a slog of plantation green-brown characteristics from beginning to end.

The soup is a solid orange, which justifies my raised eyebrows at the red leaves in the blend.  There are the barest hints of Banzhang, with its hints of clean, sweet leather, but I get the impression that this tea session is simply man vs. bush.

It's a genuine education to compare the various grades of Changtai, keeping the region and the year the same - thanks to Kenny for providing this sample, as he so kindly did with the "jingpin" version.

5 comments:

  1. Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs

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  2. Walnuts and pears (a huge box of several tong of 2010 Nadacha) that I just brought back from my office, teetering on my bike, down the hill :)

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  3. I wonder what his royal cuddliness will reach for when those teeth start coming in? This flashing-lights technological gizmo, or one of your lower shelf tea cakes?

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  4. when I first saw it, it reminded me of a new-fangled guitar tuner.

    Hooray Hobbes!


    -The Green Poet

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  5. My cakes need protection from tiny hands, quite so :)

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(and thanks)