Highlights:
- Better material than usual Baoyan Jinchas (special order)
- Mid 90s puerh with strong thick taste and impressive Qi
- HK storage followed by dry taiwanese storage provides for an aged but clean storage experience
- Obtained from taiwanese collector way below market price, which we pass on to you
Xiaguan Baoyan Jinchas are a staple of aged puerh – cheap and cheerful, they age from undrinkable to pretty great. The older we go back in time, the better material these jinchas use. Usually, by the late 90s, material used was a bit too weak.
However, these Baoyan jinchas from Xiaguan use better-than-average material (you can see in pictures the leaves are not as chopped up as usual) which give it very strong taste (still has significant bitterness), and with the storage being pretty clean even though it’s so advanced, the combination is great.
Elsewhere, late 90s versions of this jin cha sell for up to £470/$600 (see in the gallery images). If you like old puerh, this is a tea to have.
Strong mind-stopping Qi, dark red infusions, very affordable: this tea ticks a lot of boxes.
The only issue with this tea is that it’s very tightly compressed. We sell a pre-broken up version too. Sample cost is a bit higher than usual because it takes quite some time to break up.
250grams nominal weight, ~220-230g actual weight.
Francis (verified owner) –
This one is a face melter for me. I don’t really know too much about these xiaguan productions, and am very curious about the material and where its from. But this one has very strong astringency with lingering sweetness. And also the added bonus of a kick to the head.
Oto Bayer (verified owner) –
for the first time it didn’t take me very much. Yesterday it was a shock. I finally understood what old tea is. Completely serious
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Dean (verified owner) –
Excellent depth, trad storage done well, spicy finish, stimulating, cleanish storage. Recommend
Robert Clarke (verified owner) –
This one had me stumped !
I did not get the strong astringency others got . I did get the unexpected sweetness.
I palyed with different temps and times, all were good. On the fifth steep I had water just below boiling and steeped for 1 min ( 5g of tea in gaiwan). Strong ,but still no strong astringency.
Has initail earthy smell and taste , but then , the sweetness hits you and lasts some time. It also made my mouth water..
Chris (verified owner) –
Instant satisfaction, super thick and sweet from first infusion. Really hit the spot that I’ve been craving for! Mind blowing Qi, you won’t be disappointed about that. I’m saving up to obtain another because this one isn’t going to last long.
did anyone notice in the very late steeps banna peel and rice starch? obviously it was subtle, and I enjoyed.
Stefan (verified owner) –
Brews super dark, thick and soft. Very active in the mouth with a feeling of strong sweetness, but without being overly sweet. Great mouth feel that lasts for many infusions. No astringency as mentioned by others. Calming energy. Need to order a second one…
Guillaume C. (verified owner) –
It so happens that I have tasted several XG Baoyan Jinchas from the late 1990s (both dry-stored and HK-stored) and this one seems (to me) superior to those (very good) teas you can find for something like four to eight times its price (from approximately .5$/gram to 4$/gram or so, depending on the amount you can buy). It is _strong_, really strong, it goes to the chest (those struggling to put a face to the name ‘Qi’ really should try this). I have not found a lot of astringency at all, even in long, 100°C steepings. A lot of patience. Warmly recommended.