Bitter End Pro 2026 Spring Laomane Raw Puer
Price range: $18.00 through $495.00
- Description
- About Laomane
- The Powerhouse
- Additional information
- Reviews (3)
Description
The gushu upgrade to I’ve Got the Power Raw Puer (formerly Bitter End), this tea delivers everything you would expect from quality Laomane sheng, but with the added depth, texture, and cohesion that older tree material brings. Strong Laomane character is present – the kuwei, huigan, and body – but pulled together into a more complete package.
What stands out most is this tea’s balance. While gushu from this region can easily lean aggressive, this tea holds it together well across a session, with the bitterness doing its job without dominating or hindering the fragrance. The texture is thick and the soup full, developing from brew to brew in the way you’d hope from material of this quality.
For those already initiated into the world of Laomane, this is the obvious next step. In addition to a deeper flavour, this tea also packs some serious energy/chaqi. Those seeking a tea with strong body effect need to look no further.
$0.99-1.20/gram
Picking Period: March 25-30
Region: Laomane, Yunnan
One of the five villages that make up the Banzhang villages, Laomane separates itself from the domineering and renowned Laobanzhang, with a more noticeable kuwei (pleasant bitterness).
Even though the region has both bitter and “sweet” varietal tea trees, both can be considered firmly on the bitter side of the tea scale, and in most cases are picked together to give a more complete overview of the land. The only time bitter trees are picked separate are for commissions, some gushu, or single tree pickings (danzhu).
When blended with tea from some of the other villages, like Banpen, Laomane also plays a key role in dialing in a “Laobanzhang” flavour.
We spent considerable time in Laomane this year, not just drinking tea, but taking part in the local Bulang New Year celebration as well (泼水节). As a result, we came away with a healthy selection of teas from the region that span several processing styles. Laomane teas are unique regardless of how they’re processed, which makes comparisons between these even more captivating.
For a direct comparison of the same material in various forms and deeper dive into all things Laomane, we highly recommend picking up a set that includes our sheng, shou, white and black teas, all in a convenient one-click package.
And for a comparison between varietal, we recommend comparing this tea with our 3X Selected Trees (bitter varietal).
For a more approachable version of this tea, those who are bitter-curious can opt for our Soft Power, which is comprised of the huangpian pickings (older yellow leaves that are sorted out) and has reduced bitterness.
Additional information
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3 reviews for Bitter End Pro 2026 Spring Laomane Raw Puer
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grifty –
Hits harder than the 3X for me. Seriously, the 3X is a softie compared to this one for me. Maybe my taste buds are weird!
Anyway, Bitter End Pro is thick and strong and punchy, giving a good huigan payoff, which I do manage to notice despite feeling like a mind blown emoji…
mineralitea –
Got a sample of this tea as part of the Treat Yourself 2026 Raw Puer set. Strong, brothy, and with unrelenting bitterness.
DKB (verified owner) –
The bitterness is really intense! But I found that, strangely enough, doing slightly longer early brews and the shortening through the first four brews or so, actually set up the arc very well, and gave more depth of flavor around the bitterness. (When I started with shorter steeps early on, I just got bitterness and much less character around it.) After some experimentation I ultimately was finding some beautiful vegetal and savory notes, though I generally prefer sweeter and more floral shengs. I used 4.5g of leaf for about 70ml of water, and started sometimes with a 15-second first brew, sometimes even with a 20-second first brew, decreasing the time from there and only ramping up again when things thinned out later in the session. This worked pretty well. The mouthfeel is amazing and definitely borderline overwhelming, but the sessions I had with this tea were ultimately really great, and, I thought, full of much more distinctive character than the other “upgrade” shengs from the Treat Yourself set.