Bitterness and Sweetness are two factors that are ever at odds when tasting tea. In fact, the fascinating phenomenon of huigan (returning sweetness) is a product of bitterness that turns into sweetness. In Chinese there is a saying for this, which not only refers to a good tea, but also to life, 先苦后甘, Xian Ku Hou Gan, which means, “First bitter, then sweet”.
Laoman’e is the quintessential bitter tea in the Bulang mountains south of Lao Ban Zhang just outside of Menghai in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. It is a village that seems built around a massive temple at the top of the mountain ridge, a small sacred place where most every Bulang youth will 出家, Chu Jia, or renounce the world to live a monastic life for a year or more.
When we first had Laoman’e we thought there was something wrong with the sample we were sent, ‘How can a tea possibly be this bitter?’ We thought to ourselves. About midway through the session, the bitterness began melting into sweetness (a very mild bitter sweetness for sure), and we began to feel the immense power of the leaves.
This year, when visiting Laoman’e with our friend Sandan, who lived as a monk in Thailand for many years, we discovered that there is a bitter puer and a sweet puer that they make up in the mountains. Xiaoyu, the tea maker told us that the bitter tea trees are all found behind the slopes of one of the two temples, the sweet tea found in the hills behind the other temple. This sense of natural balance and harmony really captivated us, and we couldn’t resist buying a kilogram of each of these teas to provide this sampler to taste the bitter and the sweet sides of Laoman’e Gushu.
While Laoman’e has some excellent Qiaomu, or old arbor, we went big for this sampler and bought exclusively gushu material. We are so excited to provide this tasting opportunity, as well as to sample these teas ourselves.
In the box:
- Laoman’e Sweet Gushu Maocha- 15g
- Laoman’e Bitter Gushu Maocha -15g
Both these teas were picked and processed before April 12th in Spring of 2025.
Which will it be?
Bitterly Sweet, or Sweetly Bitter?
Let us know.
~ORT
