Ben Youngbaer

On my recent, 5-week trip to China, I tasted countless sheng and shou Puers. I have some good ones, some not so good and a few fantastic teas that I needed to buy.

This bing was easily my favorite tea of the whole trip. We were at the largest tea market in Kunming when we found the Six Famous Tea Mountains shop. We told the owner we worked in an american tea house(her mother has written many books about this history of the company btw) We tried 4 or 5 teas with her and this tea was the standout.

The appearance of the leaves has shifted from a vibrant green to an autumn yellow in its young 7 years.

The bing comes apart easily but with a small amount of force needed. to keep the leaves intact, I used my hands instead of a pick.

The leaves are so long that I can’t fit them in my sheng pot without rinsing the leaves and having the moisture pull them down like noodles in a shallow pot of water.

The aroma of the wet leaves is like dry hay blended with some oak bark. The undertones of fruit come through the woodiness only slightly.

The first infusion is a rush of complex flavors of apricot, raisin, a little bit of cinnamon and a finish like a barley wine.

Each new brew was quick, even after 15 brews, I was still under 30 secs. now in my 26th or so infusion, the flavors are muted and the brew time has gone up to 3 mins just to get that much flavor out.

It will be hard for me not to drink this tea, but I want to see what these flavors do in 5-10 more years. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to find more before then?!