{"title":"map-banpen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"spring-2005-banpen","title":"Spring 2005 Banpen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAncient Tea Gardens of Ban Pen Village in Hekai area, Menghai\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAged in Pu'er City, dry storage, controlled environment\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWarming Cha Qi that will make you sweat\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!-- split --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis cake was carefully aged in Pu'er City, with controlled humidity (not above 70%). The tea was stored in large quantity in the tea shop of my friend, Luo Yong Sheng, who's father has collected teas since the early 2000's. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea brings us back to the origins of the modern puerh tea culture. Before that time, people thought plantation tea was the new standard, making beautiful leaves and achieving a much higher yield than the quaint ancient tea gardens, considered a relic of the past. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2005 was the turning point. More and more buyers started visiting the tea mountains in search of 'gushu' leaves. In this early stage of development, the locals had a prime access to good material. The towns were small, the roads were in poor shape, you needed local connections to do the trade. Luo Yong Sheng's father surely had connections, and a car that could brave the challenging dirt roads. He collected leaves from Banpen village, a back-then remote village, south of Menghai, 3km away from Lao Banzhang, another unremarkable village lost in the vastness of Yunnan's countryside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eHere is an idea of what it looked like back in 2010, Banpen had already started developing at this point, and, being close to Lao Banzhang, had a good reputation.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"banpen village main road in 2010\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/218_1024x1024.jpg?v=1662555340\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"tea factory in banpen in 2010\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/230_1024x1024.jpg?v=1662555367\" style=\"float: none;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg style=\"float: none;\" alt=\"puerh tea drying on bamboo mats in banpen\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/239_1024x1024.jpg?v=1662555395\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis cake is about as old as it gets for ancient garden material. 17 years of aging in Pu'er City.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rinse gives out of hint of wet storage, probably early in the tea's journey. It was then stored for at least eight years in dry conditions, with a humidity of less than 70%.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis remnant of wet storage actually gives the tea a certain charm. It has deep woody notes that might take you on the coast, exploring the shipwreck of an old pirate. This is the image I got when I first tried this tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mouthfeel opens up and reveals a brilliant sweetness. This tea will make you comfortable, its Cha Qi sends waves of heat rippling through your body. You can feel this used to be an aggressive tea, but it has gain a lot of wisdom over the years. The mouthfeel is thick. You can extract bitterness if you push the tea, it will tickle the tongue and vanish into sweetness quickly. You'll be able to enjoy it for over a dozen brews, it suits very well late stage brewing. If you're sensitive to Cha Qi, you'll probably feel a bit high at the end of the session.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"puerh tea cakes wrapped in a bamboo tong\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/DSCF1245_1024x1024.jpg?v=1662555458\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Farmerleaf","offers":[{"title":"357g cake","offer_id":43324625911995,"sku":"05年 班盆 357克","price":356.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"20g sample","offer_id":43324625944763,"sku":"05年 班盆 20克","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/products\/DSCF1247.jpg?v=1662555295"},{"product_id":"spring-2024-banpen","title":"Spring 2024 Banpen small trees","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBanpen village, 3km away from Lao Banzhang\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eApril 2024 harvest, natural tea gardens\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBanzhang taste, good intensity, balanced profile with animal fragrance, medium bitterness and good huigan\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI had always avoided Banpen, to me,  it was only a village to pass through on the way to Lao Man E. I had visited before, back in 2010. At that time, only Lao Banzhang was popular, and it's only 3 km away from Banpen. At that time, during the gold rush era, Lao Banzhang already commanded a much higher price than the surrounding villages, and the forgery was unhindered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho cared? You always got an influx of new buyers willing to pay a lot for good leaves, and inexperienced in the trade. They would head straight to Lao Banzhang in search of the best tea. As a result, the good tea from the satellite villages was bought by the Lao Banzhang farmers to complement their harvest, it was mislabeled and sold to happy customers who would come again. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is why, despite having one of the best terroirs in Yunnan, I avoided the area, until covid came...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs you know, the economy of China has been struggling these last couple of years, and the Pu-erh tea industry can feel it. The wealthy people save on luxuries, they probably have truckloads of tea at home anyway. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe satellite villages suffer the most from this dynamic. They used to supply the fake-still-good tea. Now that a lot of buyers don't show up, the famous villages such as Lao Banzhang can still sell their own harvest, but they don't need that much extra tea anymore. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe satellite villages to Lao Banzhang: Banpen, Ba Ka Noy and Xin Banzhang, suddenly find themselves short of customers. They are now willing to sell the good stuff in their own village at a reasonable price, based on quality, and not on the Lao Banzhang price. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in 2010, I had spent the night in Banpen. I went to Lao Banzhang with a friend from Jingmai, we expected to be invited to a farmer's house there, but it turned up we didn't look like serious buyers. With the huge number of visitors there, the traditional Yunnan hospitality was compromised, and I totally understand that. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithout a vehicle, and as night was falling, our only option was to walk. Banpen was only 3km away. When we arrived there, we met a friendly man from Anhui. He had just set up a factory in the village, it was brand new and quite fancy for the time. We spent the evening drinking tea and slept in the warm drying house, surrounded by tea drying on flat bamboo baskets. On the next day we left, and somehow, we didn't keep in touch. Such a serendipitous encounters happen a lot during the tea trips, we even get used to it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack to September 2024, I am on a road trip with Ai Ni Pa, the guide who manages our tea tours. On the way from Hekai to Lao Man E, as we crossed through Banpen, I felt like I would like to stop and meet people there. I hadn't tried a good Banpen in a while. If our visitors on the tours wanted to stop there, we'd at least have a contact. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI drive in the tiny village roads for a couple of minutes, it's gotten much bigger now! I'm happy to see the farmers being so successful. I see a random, decent-looking tea factory, I stop the car and we walk in. The tea boss greets us, with an accent quite foreign to this region. We sit at the tea table and think his way of speaking is familiar, so I ask him where he's from. He said Anhui, while staring at me for longer than usual. After a five second pause, we are both filled with joy. It was the same guy who hosted me fourteen years ago!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring all that time, Peng Xia kept running his tea factory in the village. He sells mainly small tree tea to large factories. We had a great tea session, talking about the evolution of the area and tea business. The tea we had was very well processed, and it is hard to believe it comes from natural tea gardens. Its intensity is a testimony to how good the soil is in that place. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe opted for the spring tea, he only had 30kg left, we bought it all. We're very happy to be offering this tea here, it carries a personal significance to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural tea gardens, planted in the 1990s, grow at 1700-1800m, they are characteristic of the menghai taste, and quite close to Lao Banzhang tea in overall profile. The soup feels medium-thick, the upfront bitterness quickly leaves a sweet coating in the mouth, and the fragrance is muted and leathery, similar to Bulang Shan tea. You'll love this one for its balance, it's just a great Pu-erh tea overall. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/20241128201819.jpg?v=1732796312\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Farmerleaf","offers":[{"title":"357g cake (12.6oz)","offer_id":46377014984891,"sku":null,"price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"20g sample (0.7oz)","offer_id":46377015017659,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/DSCF5003.jpg?v=1732793984"},{"product_id":"spring-2025-banpen","title":"Spring 2025 Banpen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBanpen village, 3km away from Lao Banzhang\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eApril 2025 harvest, natural tea gardens\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBanzhang taste, good intensity, balanced profile with a good bite, medium bitterness and good huigan\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea has a moderate thickness, good fragrance and feels quite lively in the mouth, although not as deep as Ba Ka Noy or Lao Man E tea, more aggressive than Hekai. It is a good daily drinker if you like the Banzhang profile on a budget.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eBanpen, a satellite village of Lao Ban Zhang:\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI had always avoided Banpen, to me,  it was only a village to pass through on the way to Lao Man E. I had visited before, back in 2010. At that time, only Lao Banzhang was popular, and it's only 3 km away from Banpen. At that time, during the gold rush era, Lao Banzhang already commanded a much higher price than the surrounding villages, and the forgery was unhindered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho cared? You always got an influx of new buyers willing to pay a lot for good leaves, and inexperienced in the trade. They would head straight to Lao Banzhang in search of the best tea. As a result, the good tea from the satellite villages was bought by the Lao Banzhang farmers to complement their harvest, it was mislabeled and sold to happy customers who would come again. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is why, despite having one of the best terroirs in Yunnan, I avoided the area, until covid came...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs you know, the economy of China has been struggling these last couple of years, and the Pu-erh tea industry can feel it. The wealthy people save on luxuries, they probably have truckloads of tea at home anyway. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe satellite villages suffer the most from this dynamic. They used to supply the fake-still-good tea. Now that a lot of buyers don't show up, the famous villages such as Lao Banzhang can still sell their own harvest, but they don't need that much extra tea anymore. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe satellite villages to Lao Banzhang: Banpen, Ba Ka Noy and Xin Banzhang, suddenly find themselves short of customers. They are now willing to sell the good stuff in their own village at a reasonable price, based on quality, and not on the Lao Banzhang price. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in 2010, I had spent the night in Banpen. I went to Lao Banzhang with a friend from Jingmai, we expected to be invited to a farmer's house there, but it turned up we didn't look like serious buyers. With the huge number of visitors there, the traditional Yunnan hospitality was compromised, and I totally understand that. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithout a vehicle, and as night was falling, our only option was to walk. Banpen was only 3km away. When we arrived there, we met a friendly man from Anhui. He had just set up a factory in the village, it was brand new and quite fancy for the time. We spent the evening drinking tea and slept in the warm drying house, surrounded by tea drying on flat bamboo baskets. On the next day we left, and somehow, we didn't keep in touch. Such a serendipitous encounters happen a lot during the tea trips, we even get used to it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack to September 2024, I am on a road trip with Ai Ni Pa, the guide who manages our tea tours. On the way from Hekai to Lao Man E, as we crossed through Banpen, I felt like I would like to stop and meet people there. I hadn't tried a good Banpen in a while. If our visitors on the tours wanted to stop there, we'd at least have a contact. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI drive in the tiny village roads for a couple of minutes, it's gotten much bigger now! I'm happy to see the farmers being so successful. I see a random, decent-looking tea factory, I stop the car and we walk in. The tea boss greets us, with an accent quite foreign to this region. We sit at the tea table and think his way of speaking is familiar, so I ask him where he's from. He said Anhui, while staring at me for longer than usual. After a five second pause, we are both filled with joy. It was the same guy who hosted me fourteen years ago!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring all that time, Peng Xia kept running his tea factory in the village. He sells mainly small tree tea to large factories. We had a great tea session, talking about the evolution of the area and tea business. The tea we had was very well processed, and it is hard to believe it comes from natural tea gardens. Its intensity is a testimony to how good the soil is in that place. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe opted for the spring tea, he only had 30kg left, we bought it all. We're very happy to be offering this tea here, it carries a personal significance to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural tea gardens, planted in the 1990s, grow at 1700-1800m, they are characteristic of the menghai taste, and quite close to Lao Banzhang tea in overall profile. The soup feels medium-thick, the upfront bitterness quickly leaves a sweet coating in the mouth, and the fragrance is muted and leathery, similar to Bulang Shan tea. You'll love this one for its balance, it's just a great Pu-erh tea overall. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/20241128201819.jpg?v=1732796312\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Farmerleaf","offers":[{"title":"357g cake (12.6oz)","offer_id":46694403932347,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20g sample (0.7oz)","offer_id":46694403965115,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1318\/5761\/files\/DSCF6462.jpg?v=1749521596"}],"url":"https:\/\/farmerleaf.com\/collections\/map-banpen.oembed","provider":"Farmerleaf","version":"1.0","type":"link"}