Category: Bana Tea Company

Bana Tea Company’s 2020 String of Pearls raw sheng puer is 5 gram Dragon Pearls from old growth trees in Mengsong, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. I got one as a free sample with a previous Bana Tea Company order. Leaf and Steeping method The tea has a zesty wild honey vegetal scent. Compression on the dragon pearl is tight so I used the whole 5 grams, paired with a 75ml tea vessel. The easiest way to steep a tight compression tea like this is to use boiling water. Pour directly on the tea, pour out the rinse and leave the lid on… Continue reading, hoot!

I bought 2020 The Sea sheng cake blind. I heard it was good, but also I find I cannot go wrong with Bana Tea and Vesper Chan as the quality is high. 2020 The Sea Sheng is a blend of Menghai and Lincang old arbor trees. This sheng won the Three-star Superior Taste Award 2020 from the International Taste Institute in Brussels! Leaf and Steeping Method The cake has a strong fruity scent of apricots. My gongfu ratio is 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, steeping with boiling water. After a rinse, it has a sour fruity… Continue reading, hoot!

2019 Still Love You is a special shou puer that is made of, “…100 to 200-years-old, and adding an infusion made from Agarwood and Sweet Rice Scent Leaf,” from Bana Tea Company. Sweet Rice Scented tea isn’t too uncommon, but Agarwood is, at least here in the west. I haven’t had Agarwood in tea myself. A few times I had a chance to try I wanted to shell out for an outrageously priced tasting session of around $85 for an agarwood shou. This 100gram cake is $18 at this time. “Infusion” is likely the keyword here to make the price… Continue reading, hoot!

I purchased Bana Tea Company’s 2018 Mengsong Spring Sheng Puer a few months ago. This tea is from 100 year old trees in Mengsong. When I see a Vesper Chan production on Bana Tea’s site, I never hesitate to purchase as they are always reliably excellent teas. Leaf and Steeping Method 2018 Mengsong Spring’s leaf smells lightly floral sweet but also has a savory tang to it. Do we have another sweet and sour sheng? I did gongfu style tea brewing, using 1 gram of leaf per 14.5ml of vessel size. That extra 0.5 was an extra bit of tea that broke… Continue reading, hoot!

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… Continue reading, hoot!

I have enjoyed all of Bana Tea’s shou puer. At the last winter sale, I bought a whole bunch of teas from Bana Tea. This 2016 Red Sunset Twin Ripe puer caught my eye as it was a Vesper Chan tea and a 2 pack! I felt I didn’t need 2 cakes, so I split it with James TeaDB. It was simply 1 wrapper over 2 x 200gram cakes stacked together, so it was easy to pass the second cake away. This shou/ripe puer is grade 2-3 Bulang material. The fermented material was rested in Menghai for 2 years before… Continue reading, hoot!

For my last Bana Tea Company order, I bought  2010 Kang Yang Chun Liu An on a whim. I don’t own any Liu An so I wanted to play with it. I didn’t want to go all in on a basket, as cool as they look. This particular tea’s material was selected by Tea Master Vesper Chan. I’ve found most teas I’ve had of his were great, so it was a safe purchase. The 100 gram option is packaged in plastic inside a box. Dry Leaf and Steeping Method The dry leaf scent is of tires and red grapes. I haven’t… Continue reading, hoot!

I was excited to see that Bana Tea Company recently released some new teas. One of the teas was 2017 Little BingDao. Every BingDao tea I’ve had I’ve enjoyed a lot, so I swooped in and did a quick order at Bana Tea Company. 2017 Little BingDao is a 200 gram cake. The fine print is this tea isn’t a BingDao, but in adjacent to but also in Lincang. The cake came packaged in a box. Not sure if the boxes come standard as this is the first time I’ve ordered online from Bana Tea Company. I do miss going… Continue reading, hoot!

This tea was another Bana Tea Company purchase during my time at the 2015 Los Angeles Tea Festival. I don’t remember whether I sampled the 2008 Bana Tea Company Limited Edition sheng at the festival, but I’m not a hard upsell on a cake that is in the $50 range. The 2008 Bana Tea Company Limited Edition Sheng is a 200gram cake of Jinngu Mountain material. Dry Leaf The Limited Edition Sheng has a light sweet dry scent. This cake is also lightly pressed so it was fairly easy to break pieces off. The ticket wasn’t pressed with the tea but also came with… Continue reading, hoot!