I was recently told by a tea acquaintance that Laoshan is 'not a good area for tea and that this tea can't be very good.'
I beg to differ! I found this to be a really nice, mild, creamy and milk chocolate tasting tea. There was more sediment than I am used to but not much of a deterrent to me.
I don't know that with all the teas I have yet to try I would buy this again right away but I know I want to explore a lot more roasted oolongs!
From Verdant Tea comes the following information on this offering from Mr. He's tea farm...
This tea is the He Family's answer to the challenge that oolong is only for southern China. Despite Laoshan Village only having fifty years of tea cultivation and oolong being the most technically demanding kind of tea in the world to produce, Mr. He comes through brilliantly. It takes his entire family an entire day to process a single five pound batch of this tea. The careful kneading and rolling brings out a beautiful, pure expression of the minerality of the soil and the water.