21 July, 2010

1999 Changtai - Yichanghao "Yiwu"

Here's a tea that gives me hope - the hope that our young shengpu will turn into something lovely.


1999 Yichanghao Yiwu
Houde named this "zhuan" [djoo-an] after the style of characters (seal script) used by Changtai on the wrapper.
However, nearly all Yichanghao cakes are like this.  Its actual name is the equally uninspiring "Yiwu Qizi Bingcha".

Having bought this sample from Houde over two years ago, I thought it high time that I stopped neglecting it.  The poor thing has been sat in its plastic wrapper for that entire period.


1999 Yichanghao Yiwu
Good leaves, whole and dark, with a strong Yiwu aroma

I like Changtai.  As long as you steer clear of the numbered recipes, their "premium" brands (though not terribly expensive, relative to other producers) can be very reliable.  Perhaps that's just my preference for chunky, challenging pu'er - they're not particularly elegant, but they are big, bold, and they age nicely.  Their Yichanghao brand is very reliable.  Their Jifengyuan and Qianjiafeng [ch'ean jee'ah fung] brands are less familiar to me, but seem similarly decent based on my limited exposure to them.


1999 Yichanghao Yiwu
The brew still has shades of yellow remaining in it, when first poured from the pot


This is, I think, the oldest Yichanghao that I have encountered.  It's a delicious tea.  Given the various other Yiwu cakes I've had from the same brand of younger age, I very much hope that they will age into something similar.  It's not unreasonable to assume that the production has been fairly stable in terms of quality and processing, and so my hopes are quite high.

It just lasts forever, and won't give up.  While still showing signs of youth, having a (very welcome) bitter twang in the finish, this has developed a heavy, wooden character that combines very well with its potent Yiwu straw-like sweetness.

It marches on and on, and I eventually run out of spring water before the leaves run out of strength.


1999 Yichanghao Yiwu
Homogeneous colouring indicates a lack of "interesting" blending or processing

Be of good cheer!  Buy strong, properly raw shengpu and maybe it'll end up like this.  Wouldn't that be something?

Ten years isn't so long in the grand scheme of things...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks the same?
http://www.teahouse.com.hk/main.htm

Hou De is selling US $320 per cake, I wonder what Lau Yu Fat Tea Shop would sell it for.

apache

Anonymous said...

Oops, just notice that the link is not directly link to the item, you need to click on the goods section to get to it. The URL just stay the same.

apache

Anonymous said...

Hi, let's hope something equally aged and good will surface in Singapore in the near future, but not at such astronomical price. Regards, Keng.

Hobbes said...

Dear Apache and Keng,

I suspect $320 might not be the best bargain in the world!

Then again, this is a little too old for me to buy from Taobao with confidence. Local teahouses are the only way to go, such as that in Apache's link.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Anonymous said...

I'll give Lau Yu Fat Tea Shop a call at the weekend see what price they quote me. Will let you know.

apache

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that there was no yi chang hao before 1999.

This cake is my prefered from houde. The highest quality cake of the famous 99' yi chang hao series can be found in a shop in Paris at a price about 170€ (price in may 10', it may be higher now). But storage is not so dry.

Hobbes said...

Thanks, chaps. I'd love to see what the cost is from the HK shop, in particular.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Anonymous said...

I have just called Lau Yu Fat Tea Shop and talked to the shop owner, he quote me HK$ 1800 per cakes (approx. US$ 232). They said it was dry store. I brought tea from them before, for a couple of 400g cakes, the shipping cost to the UK is HK$ 190. It is cheaper than Hou De, but still an expansive cake.

apache

Anonymous said...

D'oh! I always spell "expensive" wrong!

apache