This episode I drink a tea that I own quite a lot of, the 2013 Xiaguan Love Forever Paper Tong. This tea has become fairly popular in the specialized western pu’erh in the last couple years. Despite being pressed six years ago, the tea material is older (from 2003) making this a tea with significant age on it. The tea is also special to me as my wife and I were gifted a tong of this on our wedding day from the tea community.
The tea itself is quite strong, with a very dense taste and a long lasting mouthfeel. It is also not really like other Xiaguan teas as it was made by Feitai (FT) under the Xiaguan label. While it is semi-aged, this is a tea with a lot of potency to be aged in the future. In the video I also go over a bit of the history of this tea and talk a bit about the bamboo tong version, which is not as good.
Rating: 6.3
7 responses to “2013 Xiaguan FT Love Forever Paper Tong Raw Pu’erh [Inbetweenisode 188]”
James,
Thank you for reviewing this tea. I have been on the fence regarding it for one of this year’s tea purchases. Like you, I am trying to control myself and restrict my buys to a few cakes a year. From your review it sounds like a tea that I might like.
Regards,
Thanks Karl. If you like strong tea, this one is at least worth trying. The material is now 16 years old and the price is still quite reasonable IMO.
I bought a cake of this from Emilio at the Jade Leaf about 1 year ago and have really enjoyed it. It can definitely be strong but it’s one I never tire of drinking. Strangely enough, at times it has reminded of several aged Baozhongs that I’ve had, mainly from the dark plum/dried fruit notes I get with this tea. Maybe that’s just me. But regardless, I find it to be a great tea and worth purchasing.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing Nick.
I can kind of understand that aged Baozhong comparison. It’s on a different level of punchiness and density, but the flavors could be somewhat similar.
Cheers,
-James
James,
Does the tea taste like it has been sourced and curated before sale?
Whatever you say big guy.
Hi there,
You mentioned ‘Marco’s rating system’ when you gave this tea your rating. What is that? I don’t think I’ve noticed these ratings on the teas you review until very recently.
Thank you!