Today’s tea review is Bana Tea Company’s 2018 Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou puer. It is of 300 year old tree bulang material. The tea leaves were fermented with local mountain spring water and stored for 3 years before pressing.
Bana Tea always has some of the best shous. I didn’t hesitate to purchase a 100gram cake for $39. I later realized, “Oh man, that is expensive for a shou!” The 100g cake is deceptive and smart, I don’t mind dropping $40 on a good shou. $80 for a 200g or $142 for 357g cake likely would have made me pass on blind buying.
The wrapper is pretty standard Vesper Chan looking, complete with a whole lot of watermarked Vesper Chan heads.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaf smells shou like a moist garden section near the lumberyard. It is a nice mix of earth and wood. No funky or fish notes, nor anything off whatsoever.
I used 1 gram of leaf to 13ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped with boiling water. The hot leaf smells like hot sandy earth.
Tasting of Bana Tea Company’s 2018 Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou Puer
First and Second Infusion: Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou impressively steeps up a clear dark ruby tea.
The flavour is crystal rock sugar sweet, dark and smooth. Really clean tasting shou too, I almost feel my beak is too dirty for it. It sips in bright, but not too sharp tasting, sweet leaning a touch woody, but it is so crisp and clean, I almost can’t tell.
The body is heavy, like drinking and feeling your body sunk from the weight. The texture is oily and black ice slippery.
Third and Fourth Infusion: I honestly don’t know the words to this shou, it has a mysterious quality to it. It’s speaking in a thick accent and uses the same words I know but I cannot understand it. It is rich, dark, yet also not earthy? It is so clean, thick, and rich. Some sips have a bittersweet chocolate quality, but it’s minimal bitter and certainly the good chocolate. I think chocolate pops into my head as it sips like melted chocolate in terms of texture.
There is certainly some energy in this tea as I’m just scramble brained trying to drink this and figure out what is going on.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: I figured it out. This tea tastes like I am drinking it out of silver because it is so bright and clean.
Now let’s try it in silver! Ha! It tastes pretty close, but a bit sweeter. It actually adds more salivation while in silver.
This round tastes a touch of more dark, like that stick part of the incense that already burned down.
Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Infusion: It is getting sweeter. It is like rock sugar and candy caramel, in minerally spring water. It has a creamy slick to it, and the texture is still oily and thick.
My stomach feels very lined. Like I ate all the deep fried creamy foods, without the grossness. The energy has made me feel ultra focused. I can probably crochet a fricken doily out of thin thread I’m concentrating so hard. I also wouldn’t care how much I hate crocheting with blinding thin thread as I feel pretty dang good right now.
Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Infusion: Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou is slipping here, as I am steeping these over 5 minutes. The flavour is caramel sugar sweet, with a crazy oily texture. Some sips I have wisps of wood and incense. How is this still thick and oily this long into the infusions? Usually, teas will get thin before infusion 10.
I am totally tea drunk at the end of this. Time keeps slipping away and my brain is just so focused on drinking each sip of this tea.
Fifteenth Infusion: The last infusion went on for 20 minutes. It is simply sweet minerally and oily in texture. It is thick until the end.
Comments
I would confidently say Bana Tea Company’s 2018 Enchantment of Ancient Trees is one of the best shou I’ve had in my life so far. The quality is crazy good, and simple but thick and crazy enough to make you drink it slowly to savour. This session took me 2 hours to do. And I was using a 60ml gaiwan. This tea is drinking melted chocolate and each sip just makes you draw it out.
I’d call Enchantment of Ancient Trees Shou puer a must for shou fans. However, I can see it not being for some who prefers their shou dank, bookish, or earthy motor oil tasting.
The 100g cake makes it easier entrance fee to ride vs if it was a 200-357g cake or a 500g brick like other expensive crazy shous that are out there. I likely wouldn’t have purchased an $80 200g cake blind like this, but now that I’ve tried it, I’m ready to purchase another cake or two as it is killer.
