2017 Menghai Tea Factory "8562" Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake
8562 is a classic "Da Yi" ripe pu-erh tea recipe first release in 1985. It's a blend of wet piled tea with an average of grade 6 tea leaves (click here to learn more about Ripe Pu-erh Tea grades). As is typical of Menghai Tea Factory pressings, lightly aged teas are used to moderate the wet pile taste that ultra new ripe pu-erh teas tend to have.
This is a ripe pu-erh tea with a long history of production and enjoyment. It's a good for aging and will gradually gain complexity and texture with age!
8562 Batch 1701
357 Grams per cake (7 cakes per paper wrapped tong)
More about Menghai Tea Factory and the Da Yi Brand:
Menghai Tea Factory (勐海茶叶厂): Menghai Tea Factory was formally established in 1940 by a group of over 90 tea professionals with origins from all over China. It is possibly the oldest specialized tea factory in Yunnan Province. Because of this, it has a solid reputation that is well respected by Pu-erh tea enthusiasts. It is located in Menghai county of Xishuangbanna (西双版纳) prefecture, which is renowned for being one of the birthplaces of Chinese tea culture. They were one of the first two tea factories (along with the Kunming Tea Factory) to come up with the 'wodui' (渥堆) method of ripening pu'er tea in 1973, and have a series of recipes that are undisputed as some of the finest ripened Pu-erh teas available. Formerly under the umbrella of the state-run CNNP, they went fully private in 1996 and adopted the 'dayi' (大益) logo. 'Dayi' means 'great benefit', which is meant to point out the great benefit that tea has on the body, the spirit, and human relationships.