I’m flying through the samples from Tea Encounter and the one I’m tasting today is a tea from the Tea Encounter brand. The 2019 Bang Dong is a sheng puer tea from this year’s harvest. It has been a long time since I used my delicate fish cups so I decided to use those during the session. You can see a picture further in this article.
Interested in the other teas from Tea Encounter? Click the following links to go to the articles:
- 2003 Yuanjiutang Ban Zhang Tea Tasting (Tea Encounter)
- Zheng Si Long 2015 Wa Long (Tea Encounter)
- Bai Yin Shan Yesheng Tea Tasting (Tea Enounter)
- 2013 Chen Xi Hao Gao Shan Zhai Tea Tasting (Tea Encounter)
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2019 Bang Dong
As you can read in the title, the 2019 Bang Dong is a tea from 2019. The tea comes from Bang Dong, which is a county and village in Eastern Lincang in Yunnan province. One of the most famous villages in the Bangdong area is Xigui. This is one of the most-hyped and expensive areas for new school puer, according to James from TeaDB (click here if you want to read the full article). He gives a lot of information about the difference between old school and new school puer tea so feel free to read the full article. It offers a lot of useful information!
I can see some stalks in combination with medium and rather large leaves. The stalks have a brownish colour while the leaves themselves are khaki green. I also spot some lighter greens in there. The aroma is fresh, but I can’t really say what it is exactly. It’s also a bit creamy and warming at the same time so it’s quite complex.
The aroma of the wet leaves is a lot sweeter than the dry leaves. It’s a smell that reminds me of something when I was younger but I don’t really know what. The colour is a beautiful green that looks really fresh and vibrant. The stalks are also in there, but less visible because the leaves have opened up completely.
Tea Tasting
- Water 90°C
- 6.2g for a 150ml Jianshui teapot
- 1 rinse
- 9 infusions
Don’t know where to buy tea online in Europe? I made a list of over 80 online shops and I keep updating it regularly. You can check it over here.
Infusions 1-3
The first three infusions were 15, 20 and 20 seconds. The colour of the liquor is light amber and the aroma is rather sweet and a tiny bit earthy during the first infusion. The citrus notes started out very subtle but were definitely noticeable during the third infusion. The first and second infusions were sweeter than the third one. I got a sweetness that was comparable to golden raisins. It was a pleasant combination of sweetness and refreshing citrus notes.
Infusions 4-6
The next three infusions were 25, 30 and 40 seconds each. I experienced different things during these infusions. The fourth infusion was a bit sharper and fresher without any bitterness. This made it really refreshing. The fifth infusion was quite the opposite. The fresh notes diminished and it became sweeter and slightly creamy. This one was more warming. During the sixth infusion, it went even further towards the warm notes.
Infusions 7-9
Infusion 7 was 45 seconds and the final two were long ones of around 3-4 minutes. No major changes during the 7th infusion as it was really sweet and warming. Infusion 8 and 9 became sharper and fresher again, while still being enjoyable.
Conclusion
This has to be one of the most fun sheng puerhs I have ever tried. Almost every infusion was different so the session was a true adventure. It started out rather subtle and fresh. It had a citrus flavour profile that was a bit creamy. The middle was really warming and soothing because it was a lot sweeter. This changed towards the end and the final infusions were a bit fresher again. This is a complex tea that has a lot to offer, which makes it really interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this session because it was full of surprises; it was both refreshing and warming at the same time.
Do you want to go on an adventure yourself? Click here to go the Tea Encounter store to buy the 2019 Bang Dong.
