Bolaven Nang Bua Saa Khav

Description

Bolaven Nang Bua Saa Khav is a white tea from Laos, a country that is not widely known for producing tea. It comes from small tea garden of Mrs (Nang) Bua Li Lam. Saa Khav means ‘white tea’ in Lao. This tea is grown on Bolaven plateau, which is a remnant of an extinct volcano, making the land very fertile and lush year round. Carefully hand processed from young tender buds and blended with a small amount of pandan leaf, it produces a creamy, sweet and woody taste with notes of vanilla. It is picked by the farmer to order and is from the Summer 2024 crop.

Although Laos is not well known for its tea, there is some belief that the camellia sinensis tea plant originated in the larger area covering southern Yunnan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. There are many ancient trees scattered around the wild forests of these countries. Some of the oldest living specimens of the Assamica varietal, which is also known as the big leaf (大葉) varietal in China, are found in the region. Unlike the Chinese, who have created a wide range of tea varieties, and the Thai and Burmese who use the plant in cooking, the Lao people have not developed the usage of the leaf. The main local crop is coffee, but recently tea is starting to be grown commercially but still in small quantities. A lot of the tea leaves that are picked in Laos end up in Yunnan Province of China where unscrupulous tea makers and sellers pass it off as the more expensive and rare local pu-erhs. This passing off of ‘cheap’ Lao tea as ‘expensive’ Yunnan pu-erh is enabling local Lao farmers to realise that there is great future potential in Lao tea.

The tea plants that are found in Mrs Bua Li Lam’s garden are direct descendants of trees that were planted by the French in the 1930’s, when Laos was still part of Indochina. Wild (shan) trees were taken from northern Laos and planted down in the more fertile Bolaven Plateau, yet still around 1,000 metres in altitude. Mrs Bua Li Lam’s trees, which number only about 70, grow semi-wild in her back yard and were inherited from her mother. Some of the trees are over 15 metres tall and she only harvests them if there are orders for tea. They grow without fertilisers or pesticides, the use of which would actually be a waste of money, since the tea trees are very well acclimatised, and are very robust plants.

The Bolaven Nang Bua Saa Khav white tea is blended with a little amount of pandan leaf, sometimes known as asian vanilla. This adds an intriguing dimension to the tea, delivering a creamy vanilla taste that is associated with pandan. This is a very traditional way of making tea in Laos – pandan is often added to the tea to create a flavour that is more interesting and comforting. While this would make a great white tea without the pandan leaf, Mrs Bua Li Lam insists on following the age-old tradition of adding pandan to this particular Lao white tea.

This Bolaven Nang Bua Saa Khav consists of neat young silver buds that are mixed with a small amount of green pandan leaves. It produces an aromatic liquor with a sweet and biscuity note. If you are a fan of our award-winning Khao Hom Fragrant Rice Oolong, there is a certain degree of similarity, especially in the fragrance. The easy-going taste of this white Lao tea is lightly woody and sweet with notes of wheat, cereals and sweet pastries. Thanks to the addition of pandan, it definitely features a hint of vanilla as well as a sweet aftertaste. This is a very unique white tea – delicate yet flavoursome at the same time.

It is best brewed with water at 80°C for 2-3 minutes and should be brewed multiple times.