Puer from Lao Ban Zhang: a thousand-year-old tradition of tea making

The climate and composition of the soil, the culture of cultivation and collection, the process of harvesting tea raw materials and methods of drying the leaf - any of these factors can affect the taste and quality of tea infusion. However, the Chinese consider the origin to be the main factor in assessing the drink. Therefore, the cost of tea is largely determined by the place of its cultivation and collection.

What is special about Lao Ban Zhang Puer?

Every year, the villagers of Lao Banzhang harvest 50 tons of tea leaves. But despite this amount, the sheng puerh cakes from this area are extremely rare in open sale and have even become a collector's item. All the tea is sold out literally immediately after its packaging - it is bought by the richest people in China and around the world.

The reason for such popularity and dizzying prices for small flatbreads are the conditions of cultivation and procurement of raw materials:

• The village of Lao Ban Zhang is located high in the mountains - 1900 meters above sea level. The air here is clean and humid, and for more than half a year there are thick fogs, which contribute to the cultivation of large-leaf varieties.
• A tourist wishing to get to the village will have to travel 50 km along a dirt mountain road. There is no other way - Lao Ban Zhang is completely cut off from civilization, and its residents carefully preserve the traditions of their ancestors, many of which are connected with the cultivation and harvesting of tea.
• The tea trees in Lao Ban Zhang are not traditional plantations with cultivated soils, but rather plantations located in the jungle, among wild vegetation. Many of them are over 200 years old.
• Among all the popular plantations of Yunnan, Lao Ban Zhang stands out for its special soil composition. Yellow loams with the richest mineral composition predominate here. Therefore, many connoisseurs of local tea are sure that the secret of their health and longevity lies in the constant use of tea leaf infusion.

The methods of harvesting maocha, the tea raw material, also played a significant role in the popularity and formation of high prices for Lao Ban Zhang sheng puer . All the leaves are hand-picked by representatives of families of one nationality, the Bulans (Chinese: 布朗, pinyin: bùlǎng), and dried according to a secret technology that is passed down through generations. Tea has been made here for over 2,000 years, and during this time nothing has changed in the culture of its collection and harvesting.

Ancient trees and new plantings

One of the key secrets of the high demand for sheng puer is the age of the trees from which the leaves are collected. Nowadays, in the village of Lao Ban Zhang, they are kept records like real bookkeeping:

• The forests and gardens around the village contain 78,555 trees that are over 100 years old;
• 70,866 trees celebrated their 200th anniversary;
• 37,076 tea trees have a history spanning 500 years;
• And the most valuable and carefully preserved are 9412 trees, which are more than 800 years old.

But the rapid rise in the price of sheng puer from this area has awakened in the Bulans the desire to grow even more tea. Therefore, every year countless bushes are planted here, the cost of maochi from which is lower than from ancient plantings.

Lao Ban Zhang Sheng Pu'er is divided into three categories according to price:

• Tea obtained from raw materials from centuries-old trees is sold at the highest prices;
• Forming passages that combine tree leaves and young bushes helps preserve the taste characteristics and reduce production costs;
• And finally, the most inexpensive is pu-erh obtained from the “young replenishment” of the tea region.

Therefore, you should not be fooled by the low prices for Lao Ban Zhang tea.

Such a discrepancy in prices is explained not only by age, but also by the availability of bushes for harvesting. After all, in order to get raw materials from the most ancient trees, villagers have to overcome a difficult path through the jungle and mountains, and then climb to the enormous height of the tea tree, which often reaches 10 meters. After all, the best leaves, large and juicy, with a rich aroma, are located at the tops of the branches.

Climatic features of the region

Antiquity, culture and pesticide-free cultivation are good. But why is the taste of sheng puerh so special? After all, wild growing conditions often lead to the crushing of the harvest and the appearance of undesirable tastes of bitterness and sourness.

But with the sheng puer of the lost Chinese village, things are completely different. A significant role in the formation of the taste of the tea is given to the climatic conditions of its growth:

• A significant proportion of the trees in Yunnan Province are "bitter" varieties, which impart a characteristic astringency to the drink. And only in the drink obtained from the Lao Ban Zhang plantations does the bitterness quickly turn into a sweet aftertaste. Connoisseurs of tea traditions associate this fact with the highland location and warm, humid climate, which contributes to the growth of especially large leaves and the loss of bitterness.
• For more than half a year, Mount Bul An (Chinese: 布朗山, pinyin: bùlǎng shān), where the world-famous village is located, is shrouded in thick fog, which helps the aromas mix. Therefore, the aftertaste of sheng pu-erh clearly reveals sweet fruity notes.
• A dry year is a real disaster for tea producers: the leaves become smaller, the bitterness increases, and the harvest is sharply reduced. In the village of Lao Ban Zhang, this almost never happens - the air temperature rarely rises above 25-28 degrees, and in combination with fog and rain, it guarantees tea of the highest quality.

Many experts associate the special taste of puerh from this area with the original methods of caring for tea trees, which were passed down to the Bulans by inheritance. All the features of cultural cultivation among the lush vegetation of the jungle are kept in the greatest secret.

Tea monopoly and prices for sheng puer

Despite its centuries-old history, the drink from Lao Ban Zhang received its deserved popularity only in the 50s of the 20th century, when a cake of tea was presented to the leader of the proletariat in China, Mao Zedong. From that moment on, a real war began among factories to obtain the most valuable raw material.

Representatives of many factories and plants headed to the secluded village. And only in 2007, its residents signed an agreement for exclusive production with the Chen Sheng factory (Chinese: 陈升茶厂, pinyin: chénshēng cháchǎng). Of the 117 families whose tea business is passed down through generations, only 28 refused the agreement and to this day have the right to sell maocha to other factories.

The exclusive right and the creation of a tea monopoly significantly affected the cost of sheng puer. As the only representative, the Chen Sheng factory determined high purchase prices for cakes, and the growing demand only drove them up. More than half of the harvest does not leave the borders of China every year - this type of puer is extremely valued in its homeland, so for foreign connoisseurs Lao Ban Zhang has become a luxury item and a collector's item.