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This was another of my sipdowns from either late 2020 or very early 2021. I also think that this may have been the only pu’erh I tried in the last 12-18 months. I could be wrong, but I do not remember trying any others. Now before I get into the meat of this review, I would like to say that a big part of me kind of doubts that any of this leaf material was actually Banzhang material. I have no way of knowing for certain, and Longyuanhao does seem to be one of the more reliable pu’erh producers, but Banzhang is frequently used with various degrees of duplicitousness as a descriptor for any number of pu’erh teas that may or may not contain any authentic Banzhang material or replicate any of the traits associated with actual Banzhang tea. It should come as no surprise that as Banzhang tea became more valuable, numerous producers started releasing teas they described as Banzhang teas. Most have little if any Banzhang material. I would be shocked if that were not the case with this particular tea. All of the above being said, this was not a bad tea. It did not strike me as being particularly wonderful, but it was a rock solid basic sheng.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 fluid ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of hay, straw, alfalfa, smoke, petrichor, seaweed, and corn husk. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of almond, pickled cabbage, green bell pepper, sesame, sour cherry, and grilled corn. The first infusion added aromas of grass and crabapple. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up flavors of green wood, smoke, corn husk, grass, hay, grilled corn, pickled lettuce, pickled cabbage, seaweed, green bell pepper, and crabapple that quickly gave way to subtler impressions of sour cherry, cream, almond, and petrichor. The bulk of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of minerals, cedar, chestnut, pine, lemon, and grape leaves. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of sour cherry, cream, and almond emerged in the mouth with impressions of cedar, minerals, chestnut, pear, orange zest, grapefruit, green apple, lemon, pine, grape leaf, alfalfa, and radish in tow. There was also a subtle sesame note that came out here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, green wood, grilled corn, smoke, pickled lettuce, hay, grass, radish, orange zest, lemon, and grape leaf that were chased by lingering hints of chestnut, almond, green bell pepper, sesame, crabapple, cedar, corn husk, and green apple.

This sheng displayed a unique aroma and flavor profile, but unfortunately, I found the tea liquor to be a bit thin and sharp in the mouth. This was basically a bitter, woody, vegetal, and citric tea, and I would have liked to see a bit more sweetness and nuttiness. I think that would have made this tea come across as more balanced. Overall, this was not a bad tea. I just kind of doubt that it was what it was advertised as being and feel that it was missing a few little touches that would have made it more appealing.