The tea of the year 2025. It is a raw pu erh, a Banzhang. Unknown factory. Produced in 2005, this tea was stored in the hot and humid climate of Malaysia.
When I first sampled the tea, I assumed it was a from the Bulang region of Yunnan. The tea was very strong and aromatic. It had a light fruity aftertaste with a lighty bitter background. I was shown the cake and it was a banzhang tea. Banzhang pu erh is located in the Bulang region. as well and there are many similarities in taste and aroma.
The tea was produced in 2005 just before the pu erh price bubble broke in 2007 and just before banzhang became a craze in the pu erh tea market.
20 years of storage is a long time to wait for the tea to ferment or age to a sweet and mellow drink. A tea expert in USA.... in his own opinion thinks that a 21 year old cake stored in Seattle might only be a rough equivalent of a 7 year old cake store in Guangdong. I am more generous as I think it is a 2 to 1 ratio. That a 20 year old USA stored tea is equivalent to 10 years of Guangdong storage.
This banzhang tea had 20 years old of Malaysian storage. . It would meant that the tea would take 4 decades of USA storage to reach the taste and aroma of the local storage here.
Too mind boggling. I am thirsty.
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