TSNG071 - Yibang Shengcha 2006

Product detailed description

Aged sheng puer from Yibang Tea Mountain (倚邦山). Tea was harvested in Spring 2006 and compressed in Spring 2017. Yibang Tea Mountain is third largest tea mountain (360 km²) in Mengla County (勐腊县), where more than 12.000 people lives (2019). The tea leaves come from mix of ancient and mature tea trees (huncai 混采), which were collected across Yibang tea gardens at the elevation about 1300-1400 m.a.s.l. The cover has minimalistic design with Chinese characters (Tusi gongcha 土司贡茶) reffering to a high quality tea used as a "gratuity" (=tribute, tax) for tribal chieftans and other local elites appointed by local governments within Yunnan Province (云南省).

The tea was generously provided by Liang, a certified tea master (2013, Shenzhen), senior tea mentor and lecturer at Xishuangbanna Jinlanling Vocational Training School (西双版纳金蓝领职业培训学校) since 2019 who source her teas across twelve tea mountains within Xishuangbanna. During our work trip to Xishuangbanna at the beginning of 2025, we spent quite a lot of time tasting, testing and consulting various aspects of local teas. Additionally, we conducted several interviews with her and discussed contemporary trends in Xishuangbanna tea industry. 

Aroma:

• Wet + dry leaf (Shicha 湿茶 + Gancha 干茶) - countryside scent with earthy tones
• Cup aroma imprint (Guabeixiang 挂杯香) - nutty, spicy and sweet honey tones

Color:

• Initial phase (< 5 infusions) - transparent orange-golden shades
• Development phase (> 5 infusions) - brighter ochre-honey shades

Taste:

• Initial phase (< 5 infusions) - rare woods (camphor wood, santal wood and mahagon wood) and countryside fragrance (wet leather, wet wood, light wild animal musk) with mild mushroom tones (crispy portobello mushrooms and saffron milk cap mushrooms)
• Advanced phase (> 5 infusions) - nuts with remaining hard-skin (pecans and walnuts), ground spices (cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg) with tones of loose powdered dark sugar and old crystallized honey
  

Body: 

• Thickness (Naipao 耐泡) - solid vitality, which will allow you to make more infusions
• Texture (Chunhounongyu 醇厚浓郁) - smooth and very delicate layers
• Astringency (Se 涩) - none
• Character (Kutianjiaozhi 苦甜交织) - similarly like other teas from Ybang Mountain, this tea rapidly brings intense sweeteness and provides different degrees of exotic flowers, stonefruits and honey (character of the Yibang Mountain). Since it is an aged sheng puer, we will now wait for the taste evolution in the upcoming months, where taste, fragrance and character can significantly change after the arrival in Europe
• Balance (Zonghe pinghengdu 综合平衡度) - differences between particular layers of flavours are gradual and symmetrical (i.e. no suprise changes in between the infusions)

Aftertaste:

• Sweetness (Huigan 回甘) - strong and intense sweeteness within hours
• Mouthful feeling (Shengjin 生津) - intense mouth-water-feeling within hours
• Energy feeling (Nenglianggan 能量感) - noticable boosting, warming and calming effect within hours