TeaHQ

Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh

Sheng from Lao Ban Zhang village on Bulang Mountain, the most expensive pu-erh village in Yunnan. Its reputation rests on an aggressive bitterness that resolves into an unusually powerful returning sweetness, and on the fact that almost nothing sold under the name is genuine.

Dark tea and pu-erhBold intensityDemanding to appreciate老班章
Brew at 98–100 °CUse 5–7 g per 100 mlFirst steep 8sGongfu brewing (gaiwan)Full schedule and equipment →

Character

Genuinely difficult on first meeting — the bitterness is severe — and the returning sweetness that follows is what the entire price is about.

Flavour
Vegetal, Sweet, Smoky
Aroma
Fresh
Mouthfeel
Full bodied, Bitter, Rich, Complex
Complexity
Layered
Notes
bitter greens, sugarcane, camphor, smoke
Aftertaste
Powerfully bitter, then an overwhelming returning sweetness.

Bold intensity: full-bodied, astringent or bitter enough to lead the cup.

Provenance and production

Origin
China
Region
Lao Ban Zhang, Bulang
Oxidation
Not applicable
Post-fermentation
Natural ageing
Harvest
Spring
Processing
Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Sun-drying (shai qing) → Compression → Ageing and storage

Authenticity: The most counterfeited tea name in China by some distance. Annual genuine production is a small fraction of what is sold, and there is no way to verify a cake from its appearance.

Brewing

No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.

Common mistakes

  • Judging it from a long first steep — this is a tea that has to be brewed short to be legible at all.

If you like this

Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.

Editorially linked

Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.

  • Nannuo sheng pu-erh

    From the balanced middle of young sheng to its most extreme expression. Expect severe bitterness and an equally severe returning sweetness.

  • Bulang sheng pu-erh

    Same mountain, and Lao Ban Zhang is the village the general Bulang character is named after.

Similar sensory profile

Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.

  • Sheng maocha

    Shares 7 descriptors with Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh: vegetal, smoky, sweet, full bodied, bitter, complex and fresh.

  • Xigui sheng pu-erh

    Shares 6 descriptors with Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh: sweet, vegetal, full bodied, rich, complex and fresh.

  • Matcha

    Shares 5 descriptors with Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh: vegetal, full bodied, rich, bitter and fresh.

  • Shan Tuyet

    Shares 5 descriptors with Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh: sweet, vegetal, smoky, full bodied and complex.

  • Yame gyokuro

    Shares 5 descriptors with Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh: vegetal, sweet, full bodied, rich and complex.

  • Aged Liu Bao

    Shares 4 descriptors with Lao Ban Zhang sheng pu-erh: sweet, full bodied, rich and complex.

Compare this tea with another

Written comparisons

Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.

  • Cheap vs expensive pu-erh — Price in pu-erh tracks a small number of specific claims, most of which a buyer cannot verify. Knowing which they are is the only defence.

Journeys featuring this tea

  • Exploring pu-erh — Someone who has had one pu-erh, could not tell whether it was raw or ripe, and wants the map.
  • Exploring Yunnan tea — Someone who knows Yunnan for pu-erh and not for anything else it makes.