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Jip Eu Xin Ban Zhang left, in all photos |
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interesting how pale the XBZ is, and how dark the Viet Sun tea is |
I'm reviewing and comparing two interesting looking tea versions from completely different sources and areas. One is a third version of sheng from Viet Sun, the other reportedly from a village near the famous Lao Bahn Zhang origin, given to me by the owner of my favorite Bangkok Chinatown shop, Kittichai of Jip Eu.
Let's start with the Viet Sun description, from here:
Tủa Chùa Tall Trees Maocha Autumn 2024 (it had been $30 for 100 grams, but it's sold out now)
A tea from the most sought after tea area in Vietnam, Tủa Chùa in Điện Biên province.
This area can be difficult to source tea from due to the high local and international demand. We were lucky to get a bit from a collector who has been aging this batch since 2024.
This area has some of the biggest tea trees in Vietnam and many are allowed to grow tall. This area is close to Laos and has a different climate than many other tea areas in Vietnam giving teas from here a unique profile. It it very dry and sunny for much of the year here.
This area is known for its signature orchid/ citrus flower fragrance with a citrus, fruity, forest almost tobacco range of flavor. This tea brews up quickly into a rich golden brew. Low-medium bitterness and astringency with heavy sweetness. Strong floral huigan that will start to build after a few cups.
Note that I'm not carrying through the correct accent variations in this area name. It's a bit disrespectful to the language form, but that doesn't add any meaning for anyone outside of Vietnam, and I am writing this in English.
This huigan effect gets mentioned in this review, but it built up from being a significant effect from both teas (seemingly), so if anything it was a bit much.
There is no listing for the Bangkok Chinatown sheng pu'er, of course, but this listing from Yunnan Sourcing passes on background about the area:
2012 Yunnan Sourcing "Xin Ban Zhang" Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake
First flush of spring 2012 material from 60 to 100 year old wild arbor tea trees growing in Xin Ban Zhang village. Xin Ban Zhang is the neighbor village to Lao Ban Zhang and the tea from here shares much character with Lao Ban Zhang tea. The bitterness is a bit more persistent with Xin Ban Zhang. The leaf structure, mouth-feel and aroma is much the same. An intense cha qi accompanies the drinking experience. This intensity is the perfect fuel to transform this tea through the years.
That lists for $439 for a 400 gram cake; so much for ever trying that. They sell a 10 gram portion for $17, so that's not so much buy-in just to try it.
We can't really draw any parallels between teas only sharing a village origin name, but this other version might be from wild arbor material, and we might expect significant bitterness, and a floral nature. It wasn't bitter in the way described, but there's more on that in the review notes.
I found a small England based vendor selling a cake version from there, which they describe in comparable ways (that sounds pretty good):
Xin Ban Zhang Sheng Pu-erh (2019, listed for 36 pounds for a 200 gram cake, equivalent to $95 for 400 grams)
Xin Ban Zhang Sheng Pu-erh is a 2019 vintage raw pu-erh harvested from 100-200 year old tea trees in Xin Ban Zhang Village. Compressed into 200g cakes, it is a smooth tea with a complex mouthfeel. The sweet fruity flavour has a tannic base with a lasting citrus aftertaste.
...Authenticity and pricing issues aside, Lao Ban Zhang pu-erh is highly regarded for the powerful characteristics of the tea as well as the history of production in the area that goes back over 500 years. By contrast Xin Ban Zhang pu-erh has not gained such notoriety and presents a much better quality to price proposition.
Xin Ban Zhang Sheng Pu-erh raw pu-erh comes pressed in small 200g cakes and displays a complex bold mouthfeel with rich multi-layered flavours. It produces a clean liquor with a fruity and lightly woody aroma. This sheng delivers the expected strong character and lively Cha Qi. There are mineral and woody umami flavours and notes of hay, dried exotic fruits, apricot kernels and yuzu zest. The interplay between savoury and sweet flavours then progresses onto a lasting sweet yet lightly tannic finish.
Some of that overlaps with these notes on this version. They don't even mention bitterness, which would make sense with that input being moderate for this Xin Ban Zhang version I'm reviewing. Probably that's an old listing, relating to availability and pricing from 6 or 7 years ago, but it's still interesting as an area and type reference.
Usually I don't show packaging, since there isn't much story value there, but it's interesting the Chinatown version was pre-packaged in relatively small amounts. I should have asked how much they were selling that for; maybe I'll add it in a later edit.
Review:
Jip Eu Sin Bahn Zhang: there's an interesting heavy mineral tone to this, with some connection to vegetal range, and also quite a bit of complex floral range. It's interesting that it would start out so strong; this is barely wetted yet. I'll add more of a list next time; I'm rushing this. Thinking back, during editing, it's hard to say how rushing the review--related to having limited time, since my wife got back to town later in the morning--affected my impression and what I wrote.
Viet Sun Tua Chua: richer and deeper flavors, also with significant warmer mineral tone, but warmer floral range, and probably a good bit of fruit. They're not exactly similar, but it's interesting how category themes overlap, even though the aspects themselves don't. These are both really nice teas. How the light mineral and limited vegetal range in the other one evolves will determine how good it is, and for this one it just needs to fill in a bit of intensity, since the rest is already fine.
XBZ #2: more of the same, just way more intense, even though I brewed these fast, under 10 seconds, and the proportion isn't that high (maybe 7 or 8 grams, in a 100 ml device, so just normal for me, but still a bit high). Mineral sort of stands out the most, which is unusual. It connects to both vegetal range and floral range, maybe with floral tones standing out more. Mineral is more intense though, heavy, but in a lighter taste range form. Sweetness is good, pronounced, it helps the rest balance well.
It comes across as reasonably refined, and definitely complex and intense. Aftertaste carries over, and significant bitterness is at a level that balances well. It's nice. Maybe it misses a little of that solid blast of floral range of other LBZ that I've tried, but it's not completely dis-similar. Bitterness plays a different role, but that part is complicated. There's a hint of dryness, that pairs with the heavy mineral effect. It's not unpleasant, but it is a little unusual.
VS Tua Chua: mineral picks up in this, along the line of the scent of an artesian well, almost leaning towards soapiness, but not quite to that. It's unique. Tones are warm; sweetness is good, and warm floral tone and some fruit stand out. It's clean in effect. Feel is rich and aftertaste intensity is good. It's a bit less bitter, but that's moderate for both, really.
I really like this style of sheng, the way that warm tones, rich flavors, and complexity all combine together. Maybe a year and a half of aging brought it to this kind of balance point. It has depth; the flavor seems strong, but it runs deep more than it's a forward facing rich flavor range. Of course the effect in the other is kind of opposite; the lighter tones stand out, even though the lighter mineral does express good depth.
Jip Eu Xin Bang Zhang #3: interesting! Not so different than the other rounds. This mineral range stands out as much as any tea I've ever tried. Floral range is pronounced. You have to like pretty strong tea to get this, but for a sheng drinker that's a selling point, a positive feature. A hint of dryness come across as feel structure, matching the mineral range.
VS TC: warmer, richer tones. Heavy mineral is also pronounced in this, just in a deeper range, maybe at a slightly lower level (relating to intensity, but I do tend to use a spatial analogy for which aspects seem more forward and what represents depth, at times). This has a perfume-like quality, the kind of theme that often applies to really good Wuyi Yancha oolong. It's often along the line of cognac, how it comes across, but it can be also be more aromatic, resembling perfume, as in this case.
Both of these are intense enough that a flash infusion of both should be interesting and pleasant, maybe not backing off too much intensity, but trying them as light as they can be.
Jip Eu XBZ #4: it's still really intense, flash brewed. Sweetness still stands out, and mineral base. Again mineral is the strongest aspect, so it doesn't come across as a grounding base, as typically occurs. Feel lightens in the sense of dryness shifting a bit to richness. It's not really astringent in a conventional sense, but it definitely has structure. This doesn't really remind me of other tea versions that I've tried; that mineral forward character is unique.
VS TC: much richer and warmer, but again it's funny how heavy floral themes and pronounced mineral echo the other tea, but in a completely different form. This does seem a bit like natural growth tea versions I've tried before.
Flavor range is a little unconventional, which is actually typical, heavy on floral range bordering on fruit, with some unique spice input. Some sort of novel root spice, I guess that would be, maybe not completely different than turmeric. The feel isn't as challenging as in turmeric, and it comes across much differently as a balanced part of other flavor range, than turmeric itself. Someone else might interpret this as resembling an incense spice, or it could also include that, and a half dozen unique flavors might balance against each other.
In the Viet Sun website description one part is described as tasting like tobacco, and this aspect range I'm struggling to place might relate to that.
A different interpretation could see this as resembling fruit. The heavy mineral, sweetness, and overall complexity leave it open to lots of different interpretations. Feel is rich, and somewhat full, but not at all challenging. Both of these teas contribute good aftertaste experience, which can seem a bit much taken together. Drinking two relatively intense, sweet, mineral intensive, complex teas together can be a bit overstimulating. Either or these would be fine for a nice extended 45 minute session.
Both teas mentioned strong huigan or aftertaste expression in their descriptions (or at least the type-typical nature of Xin Ban Zhang is described in that way in other references cited). It definitely applies for both of these.
Combined notes on the fifth infusion: things got too busy to keep up detailed notetaking; my wife returned from Hawaii this morning, so there's a lot of running around and shouting.
Both transitioned to include an interesting new flavor note. For the Sin Bahn Zhang it was a touch of mint, and for the Tua Chua menthol. It's interesting how these are relatively completely different teas, but the aspects that they express parallel each other, just in quite different form. They're both pretty good too. This kind of hectic review form isn't good for trying to narrow that down, and combined tasting has been interesting, but it's a lot to take in, trying two teas that are this different.
Conclusions:
A few general comparisons might help place these teas, beyond the aspects descriptions. They both seem to be of good quality, and I can't really use more description of that to place them.
The Xin Ban Zhang tea doesn't seem so close to Lao Bahn Zhang character, but not completely different. Those--that I've tried, which shared a lot of character range--are marked by pronounced floral tones, which is almost fruity, within a certain bright and rich range, good sweetness, and pleasant bitterness, not really light or heavy, but in a good balancing form. Lots of sheng expresses a light mineral base, but it's almost never in as primary an aspect form as for this Xin Bahn Zhang version, as a main thing that you taste. This tea evolved positively, but not really for a long extended cycle, related to it starting to draw out a bit more vegetal bitterness not too long after these rounds, a green wood sort of flavor marking the end of the most pleasant range of the brewing cycle.
It's hard comparing the Viet Sun Tua Chua to the other Y Ty versions I've just tried. It's a little older, a part I didn't remember from the order, a year and a half old per the label, versus being new. Tones were definitely warmer, and it lacked that bright freshness of new maocha (which just means loose sheng, in this usage). It was really complex, and flavor range was distinctive.
It also might not have lasted as long as those other two versions, although I didn't brew these out completely, at time of writing these notes. It was great for novelty; more natural growing conditions sheng tends to often express different flavor range, and this represented that. I'm probably indirectly referring here to "wild" plants that have drifted some in genetic range, versus an input from having other plant types around, although who really knows about any of that. The tea is however it is, and the rest is as much story line as reliable cause and effect.
So these were really nice, and especially unique. These reviews sometimes seem to go in cycles, and I seem to claim that everything was just amazing for review after review, or else more ordinary, as a running pattern. These were exceptional, but the other two Y Ty versions stood out even more, to me. And the last Wawee Thai sheng I reviewed represented a personal favorite style, and a good version of one at that.
For teas this complex and unique I will probably experience them differently over multiple tastings, and these notes will only work well for a snapshot of a first impression. For that reason rushing this particular tasting isn't for the best, because I was already trying to cover a lot of novel ground with them.
Even though I'm saying that I probably liked the other Y Ty and Wawee teas more these are definitely worth trying, and represent two other very unique styles. More flavorful and distinctive natural growth origin teas are a completely different kind of thing (the Tua Chua version), and this Xin Ban Zhang version was unlike pretty much anything else I've ever tried, related to mineral range being so intense. It wasn't necessarily too strong, but it didn't play the normal supporting role in that taste experience.
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