Re: What Pu'er Are You Drinking
Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 4:13 pm
Gotcha. This wrapper is blank aside from the colorful printing on the front.
That something being "勐海普洱茶" or "Menghai Pu'er Tea". This wouldn't seem like it would be useful, except for the fact that this phrase isn't normally printed on the front wrapper. So a tea with a yellow tea-character on the front with "Menghai Pu'er Tea" printed underneath, in Traditional Chinese characters using the old-style 80s English font, no QS or SC code, and an embedded ticket with a yellow mark that says 勐海出品 or "Product of (maybe produced by) Menghai". I don't know what that tea is, but I'm sure that there are enough things it isn't that someone out there could help you narrow it down.
To my somewhat-ignorant eyes it would appear to be a replication/commemoration of the "Big Yellow Mark" teas originally produced in the 90's (also 80's? I don't know the timeline for this production). The actual thing doesn't, to my knowledge, have any of the pinyin or English writing on it and the Chinese characters are in a larger font (see here for a putative specimen). I'm not sure when Menghai Tea Factory (aka Dayi/Taetea) began producing this specific homage but I believe that is the general intent.mbanu wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 5:05 pmThat something being "勐海普洱茶" or "Menghai Pu'er Tea". This wouldn't seem like it would be useful, except for the fact that this phrase isn't normally printed on the front wrapper. So a tea with a yellow tea-character on the front with "Menghai Pu'er Tea" printed underneath, in Traditional Chinese characters using the old-style 80s English font, no QS or SC code, and an embedded ticket with a yellow mark that says 勐海出品 or "Product of (maybe produced by) Menghai". I don't know what that tea is, but I'm sure that there are enough things it isn't that someone out there could help you narrow it down. :D
This Da Huang Yin (Grand Yellow Mark) Iron Mold tea cake has been stored in Guangdong province in natural storage warehouse since mid-1990's. This is a special edition of the famous Da Huang Yin cake from the 1970s by China Native Products Imp. Exp. (CNNP) in Yunnan Province.
The tea cake mainly uses medium/big arbor tree leaves in its recipe, which gives it a strong "Qi". It provides a clear, dark reddish-brown liquor when brewed. The woody, sweet taste of the tea gives one a very comfortable, yet stimulating mouth-feel.
DIRECTIONS
Pu-erh Tea is a special product of Nan Nor mountain, in Yunnan Province, China. Having the advantage of the local weather and rich soil, the tea when infused gives a rich redish colour fragrance. Its mild and natufral sweet taste serves so well as a thirst quencher; it is also a good asperetif and a relief to hang-over with digestive and carminative properties. Recently it has been discussed by medical experts that the Pu-erh Tea may be used as a dissinfectant for internal use, and effective cure for dysentery.
This rare and valuable beverage will serve both as a tasty drink and a medicinal curative, refreshing and invigorating.
PACKING BY: TEN FINE TRADING CO. LTD.
1/F., FLAT B, 227 - 233 DES VOEUX RD., W., HONG KONG
PRODUCT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
I realized there are two things I can add that might be interesting. First, the tin is lined in paper, which I am not used to seeing. Not just a paper liner underneath the double lid, but paper liner along the sides of the tin. (Is this supposed to be helpful for loose pu'er, or is this something that was originally done with all Hong Kong tinned teas?) *Edit: To clarify, not a paper package in a tin, but rather slips of paper.mbanu wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 8:36 pmToday it is some "Tin Find Brand Nor Sun Pu-erh Tea" from the Ten Fine Trading Company Hong Kong, as featured in the 1990 Kit Chow and Ione Kramer book, All the Tea in China. The tin is pristine, though, so I think this is just an active blend with old-time packaging. As I doubt I can do any better than MarshalN's 2008 review, I will just say that I enjoy it.
My standard SeaDyke Ti Kuan Yin red-label tin has come lined like this since I first started buying my own supply in the 1980s. Not sure why, but clearly not a tradition limited only to Hong Kong.mbanu wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 9:19 pmFirst, the tin is lined in paper, which I am not used to seeing. Not just a paper liner underneath the double lid, but paper liner along the sides of the tin. (Is this supposed to be helpful for loose pu'er, or is this something that was originally done with all Hong Kong tinned teas?) *Edit: To clarify, not a paper package in a tin, but rather slips of paper.
A reminder of why I love tea so much. Thank you.
That's really interesting! My local stores usually only had gunpowder and jasmine tea in tins, so the paper packet yellow-label Sea Dyke was my version. What could the purpose be, I wonder? I would have figured the paper would be more of a risk for taints than the tin... Maybe they were worried about condensation? Maybe a "tin design quirks" thread might be fun.debunix wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 11:14 pmMy standard SeaDyke Ti Kuan Yin red-label tin has come lined like this since I first started buying my own supply in the 1980s. Not sure why, but clearly not a tradition limited only to Hong Kong.mbanu wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 9:19 pmFirst, the tin is lined in paper, which I am not used to seeing. Not just a paper liner underneath the double lid, but paper liner along the sides of the tin. (Is this supposed to be helpful for loose pu'er, or is this something that was originally done with all Hong Kong tinned teas?) *Edit: To clarify, not a paper package in a tin, but rather slips of paper.