2003 Changtai Bamboo Spring

Big thanks to Mr Mopar for the opportunity to try this tea. For starters, this is the first aged bamboo tea I’ve tried that exhibits any real bamboo flavor and that’s clearly made with quality material. The soup is super thick and the storage is clean. The initial smooth bitterness and bamboo essence remain constant through a dozen of so steeps. This is followed by a woody, slate like mid taste with slate remaining in the finish. I typically get slate notes from LME teas but this tea lacks the thunder of any Bulang teas. It’s soft like an Yiwu but not quite. If I had to guess the origin I’d guess a blend from western Yiwu with a fair amount of Youle providing the woodiness. The stems are thick and robust indicating old tree material. The qi? Well this stuff calmed my ass down on a frustrating day in which I’d have been tempted to chuck my computer out the nearest window and left me grinning about the events that created these situations…a sure sign of a good tea. I’m learning that there is a good reason that pre 2004 Changtai teas sell for WAY more than post 2004 teas. There’s no comparison in the quality. Sure some of stuff from 04 onward is good for the price but the earlier stuff is in another league entirely. This isn’t a tea I would drink every day but if it were available on the open market I’d probably by a tube for those times I had a hankering for something woody and bambooey (is that a word?) with happy qi. I have a tube of bamboo stuffed jinggu from 2017 aging in my hotbox. If it’s this good in 10-15 years I’ll be a happy camper.