Bang Laa

We recently returned from Laos where we found this tea. This tea is interesting, from a cultural and geographic standpoint as well its smokey taste. This tea is grown in a village near Phongsali, in northern Laos. These hills are tucked along the border with Yunnan China. The tea is processed by wok firing, rolling, steaming and then pounding into a bamboo form. Often stored above the household fire its smokey flavor reminds us of Lapsang Souchong.They’ve been making it this way ‘since the ancients’. This is a unique tea, probably the first time a tea like this has been offered in the US. Here's a picture of Sebastian with a basket filled with the finished product.