TSHU020 - Menghai Shucha 1996

Product detailed description

Overview
This ripe pu-erh tea was produced in the Menghai Tea Factory (Menghai Chachang 勐海茶厂) in the early 1990s as a product intended for the Xizang Tea market. The note (Bianxiaozhuan 边销砖) refers to the Yunnan province border, where the Xizang Autonomous Region is located. The tea was made from mixed tea leaves (Huncai 混采), a standard method for processing tea at that time. The tea is sold as 250 g tea brick (chazhuan 茶砖) and was dry-storage in Jinghong City in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region in Yunnan Province. This tea is packed in traditional bamboo husk, the same material used for packing tea cakes (筒 tongs). 

Tea sourcing and background
This tea was generously provided by Qiong, who predominantly sourced her teas from her relatives living in Menghai Region (勐海 Menghai). She belongs to the Han tribe (汉族), and we have known each other since 1998, when Shanshan used to work at the Jinghong night market. In 2015, she opened her first small tea house in Gaozhuang (告庄), a famous tourist hotspot with a vibrant night market in Jinghong City. After COVID-19, she moved to a new place near Gaozhuang (告庄), where she continues her tea business with a special focus on shengcha, shucha, baicha and hongcha from Menghai Region.

In early 2025, we visited Qiong's tea house several times and brought this tea brick since we only had a limited quantity of this tea. While we had already tasted this brick with several tea lovers in Prague (since 2020), we were delighted with its smooth and rich taste, which was served in the Yixing teapot. Unlike some more rough and earthy shu puer teas from Menghai, we want you to show how the shu puer can be scaled up to such heights, which will better describe the deepness and complexity of Xishuangbanna teas.

Suggested preparation
To better develop the taste of this aged shu puer, Wang Qiong recommends sinking tea in unglazed teaware (e.g. Yixing, Jianshui, Nixing, Dai...) for longer time during the waking-up phase (i.e. first two infusions, which are supposed to be poured out without drinking) until the tiny bubbles will entirely disappear. This will help to better develop the taste of your tea and enhance its thickness. This way is especially suitable for aged and strongly compressed teas.

Tea profile (akt. 16-03-2025)
The tea was evaluated in the 180 ml / 150 ml porcelain gaiwains, which are more neutral for analyzing the taste of tea. We used the standard Banna brewing method (95-99˚C, depending on the altitude) and used 7-8 g of tea (1 g = 18-25 g, depending on the tea type and form), a standard dosage suitable for drinking with more tea lovers. We used the tap water from Prague 1 (a mix of Káraný, Želivka and Podolí) and a charcoal-based filter to soften the water.

The tea is tested on a monthly and biennial basis. This helps us to better understand the tea ageing process in European conditions (similar to those in Kunming, a capital city of Yunnan Province) and sort out various interferences such as weather conditions, year seasons, mood, etc. Although any tea evaluation is very subjective and strongly depends on personal sensitiveness as well as many other factors (see above), our goal is to tangibly describe the tea for all tea lovers who cannot visit us at our Tea Chamber and personally taste the tea with us.

To describe the tea, we narrate the taste according to familiar European flavours and standard Chinese terminology. Although such an approach may simplify unique taste nuances that you can find only in Xishuangbanna and may not fully interpret the scope of all tea properties, we plan to elaborate more detailed reviews and comparisons in separate articles in the future. 

• Aroma:  A spicy-woody hint with brown sugar notes
• Colour: The tea turns from dark orange-brown tones to transparent red-brown shades
• Body: Smooth, rich and complex
• Taste: Sweet pastry (hot chocolate brownies, semolina pudding with cacao powder and grain brioche with grapes) with nutty and fruity tones
• Aftertaste: Strong sweetness and pleasant mouth-water feeling