From the spring harvest in the outer Banzhang villages
This lot comes from the forests of Bulang Shan: in March 2024, from a small, high-elevation cluster of villages an hour’s walk from the famed Lao Banzhang nucleus, the so-called outer villages where the same bitter genetic lineage persists but often sells at a fraction of the core zone’s prices.
During the first flush, the maocha was selected from a cooperative of fifteen families cultivating trees between 80 and 120 years old. The leaves were hand-plucked by local Bulang farmers, wilted under spring sun, and pan-fired in woks over wood fires, a technique that locks in a bold, smoky edge. The maocha rested in loose form until May, when it was lightly steamed and stone-pressed into 357-gram cakes at a small workshop near Menghai.
This tea’s heavy bitterness is a marker of exceptional aging potential. Similar outer-Banzhang cakes follow the same path: the aggressive start softens into deep, medicinal complexity over years of storage. This 2024 pressing is offered as a canvas for long-term collectors and as a daily meditation for those who love the raw, unapologetic character of young Bulang sheng.