Raw Pu-erh Tea

Our 2018 Blang Special Collection Pu’er Raw Cake combines sun-dried Shaiqinmao tea leaves (Yunnan big-leaf variety) from ancient tea trees grown on the Banzhang and Mannan tea plantations in the Blang Mountain area. It is produced by Fuhai Tea Factory in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.

The tea leaves of the tea cake come from both Mannan and Banzhang plantations located in Blang Mountain area. Mannan Village is located in the northwest of the Blang Mountain area. The tea plantation is not as rich as other, more well-known tea gardens; however, its tea resources are very ancient. Pu’er tea from Mannan has a very wild taste, a pleasant bitterness with an impressive and long-lasting, sweet aftertaste. Mannan Pu’er tea itself is ecstatic, making people feel open-minded. Banzhang village is also located in the Blang Mountain area. The tea produced here is bitter but with a very impressive, sweet aftertaste with a dominant mellow aroma.

This tea was made by YULIN company, located in Menghai County, the tea origins from the virgin forests in Xishuangbanna, Yun Nan province, China.

YULIN Company is very famous for its handmade ancient pu-erh tea, the material of its pu-erh mostly is pure ancient pu-erh tea tree leaves and only the freshest tea leaves are chosen instead of low-quality Shaiqinmao tea leaves (Yunan big-leaf variety). YULIN’s lowest picking standard is “one bud two leaves”, which means they are very strict with the quality of their pu-erh tea. Some of their pu-erh tea cakes are even made with the “one bud one leaf” standard.

During the production process, they only allow local ethnic-minority masters who know the local ancient pu-erh tea trees best to make pu-erh tea cakes in their villages. All YULIN pu-erh teas are handmade.

The right formula of Pu-erh tea cake and the technology of fermentation are the two key factors for making high-class Pu-er teas. They are also the core values of Da Yi Tea craftsmanship, which has also been nominated as the national intangible cultural heritage of China. While Da Yi 7572 is well-known for its fermentation technologies, Da Yi 7542 is well-known for its formulation technologies.

Normally, Pu-erh tea is formulated by mixing the same grade tea leaves from different origins, blending the different grade of tea leaves from the same origin, or combining tea leaves produced in different years. This allows us to maximize the quality and taste of Pu-erh tea. Due to the exquisite formulation craftsmanship from Menghai Tea Factory, Da Yi 7542 has a surprisingly stable and premium quality. Although there are many novel formulation technologies nowadays, it keeps its unique and classic taste. The Da Yi 7542 has also become the most classic raw Pu-erh tea cake and become the standard/benchmark of Pu-erh raw tea.

The batch number of our Da Yi 7542 is 810.

What is 7542?

 7542 is its serial number. The serial number of Pu-erh cakes has a special meaning. The first two numbers refer to the tea formula used. The third number refers to the grade of tea material used – the smaller the better. The last number indicates a particular tea factory.

Therefore, for this tea cake, the ‘75’ means the formula of the tea cake was developed in 1975 year. ‘4’ means the grade of the tea leaves is level ‘4’ and ‘2’ means it is produced by the Menghai Tea Factory.

Pu-erh made from more delicate tea materials would taste fresher because it is rich in amino acids, and the best Pu-erh is rich in health-supporting substances and strong in flavour. However, it is important to know that Pu-erh made from higher grades of tea is not necessarily the better or more expensive. Pu-erh made from lower-grade tea materials could also have a very aggressive aroma which is attractive to many tea lovers. The aroma of Pu-erh would get stronger when it is aged. When aged, lower-grade of Pu-erh can taste much better than the new and high-grade Pu-erh, and of course, aged Pu-erh will normally be more expensive.