2006 Green Peacock Lao Man’e

This 2006 Lao Man’e sheng puerh was pressed by the Banzhang Laoshu tea factory in Menghai, as part of a higher-end traditionally made series of cakes. Since this was pressed before the really big price increases for material from Lao Man’e, and since it is from a less famous factory, we are able to offer this at a very low price compared to more recent Lao Man’e productions. This is a challenging tea in the sense that it can become quite bitter if not steeped carefully. It begins gently, with a thick texture and lots of resinous pungency and fragrant wood. In the later steeps, a controlled astringency in the development melts into sweetness. Quite strongly energizing and uplifting. Storage is on the drier side of natural Taiwan storage. If you liked the 2004 Bulang King, this is simultaneously more subtle and more powerful, but in the same vein.

357g cake, wrappers range from perfect to mildly bug bitten.