Master's Collection: 2000 Yichang Hao sheng puerh

2000 Yichang Hao is a contemporary classic. The tea was made by Changtai tea group that started in 1998/99, just as we stepped into the "newborn" era of puerh described by the privatization of the puerh market, a greater focus on batch-based and single garden tea, an era of boutique style tea makers with greater interest in old and often abandoned tea gardens (as well as a greater appreciation of and processing shift towards young more green type of raw puerh consumed directly after production and not meant for long term storage). Changtai has produced many of the collector cakes of the current era and is highly esteemed among aficionados. We managed to procure a few of these cakes years back and been occasionally sharing them at some special tea events. It has become a very pricy tea over the years, with Poly Auction House in Hong Kong recently selling a batch of 84 cakes (30kg of tea) in original unopened wrapping for 50 000 eur.

This is our fifth master series release - a curated offering of small portions of aged teas from a byegone era. Rare leaves, gathered over the years of travel and personal connections across China and Taiwan, usually just a few tins of each tea available in total. This is a unique chance to glimpse back in history, learn and appreciate tea in its beauty. We strongly advise to treat these teas as a tea experience, not as a mere drink - taking enough time and attention, making many steepings from the same leaves, using best available water (be it natural spring water collected by yourself, or good quality bottled / filtered water) and a small teapot in less than 200ml size to preserve the aroma, flavour and essence. Generally these teas are packed in amount for 2-3 special tea sessions.