Having been aged a dozen years in Malaysia, the leaves are in advanced browning state while the tea is deep copper. Dry leaves carry a pleasant herbal undertone. The cake is littered with buds and many whole leaves are still attached to fat stalks. The cakes are stone mold pressed.
Brewed tea reminds me of old Xia Guan cakes; only without the smoke and much sweeter smelling. If you’ve eaten Gui Ling herbal jelly, you’ll immediately get what I meant. The fragrance is floral honey mixed with little old books.
After long period of aging, the tea is without any astringency or bitterness. It is delicate with some mineral taste. The tea is smooth, full and somewhat lively in the mouth. Salivation is quick but the huigan is slower. The tea itself is very comfortable to drink.
Footnote: Bang Dong township is in the district of Lin Xiang near Lin Cang city. Most famous village in the area is Xi Gui. Bang Dong area is geographically rocky. Its puerh is dubbed the rock tea of Yunnan in parody of Wuyi mountain tea. Bang Dong area generally has many hundreds of year old trees.
