Overview
The tea collection principle of Cloud is that no matter whether it is a product from a famous tea factory or not, it will become one of the collectible items of Cloud's Tea Collection as long as it is a Puerh with good quality and aging capability.
2011 is the centenary year of 1911 Century Revolution of China. The Puerh leading tea factory, Menghai Tea Factory, launches a remarkable Puerh tea gift set for commemorating the Century Revolution happened a hundred years ago. This set of tea provides a theme for tea lovers to gather a tea party. Tasting through the whole set of tea may arouse tea lovers' interests to the history of the event.
The TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea is very special. It consists of 4 huge tea cakes (1911g x 4), 2 raw cakes and 2 ripe cakes. The literal meanings of these Chinese tea names are meaningful. The tea names are related to the event. Cloud has translated their literal meanings in the later part of this article so that overseas tea lovers may understand why the tea cakes are so named. Since the whole set of tea is actually a combination of 4 different styles of Puerh, it is a good idea to write the Internet Articles in 6 parts, as follows:-
1. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Overview & Background Information Part 1/6
2. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Weie Zhongshan (Raw) Part 2/6
3. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Jiangshan Meiren (Ripe) Part 3/6
4. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Huanghe Qingshan (Ripe) Part 4/6 (To be translated)
5. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Bainian Huigan (Raw) Part 5/6 (To be translated)
6. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Summary & Comments Part 6/6 (To be translated)
No Obsession or No Underestimate of any Commemorative Tea - We Should Judge a Tea by Quality
Collecting Puerh teas for years, Cloud is not obsessed by commemorative teas. Although Puerh tea cakes, sometimes, are produced for commemorative purposes, hoarding them forever without brewing is meaningless. Puerh tea cakes are compressed for ultimate appreciation. Those young tea cakes stored by Cloud right now are under aging process. They will be good enough to be appreciated in the future. Cloud also expects some of them will age into ultimate teas. It is not hurry to brew them at this moment. To be concise, Puerh tea will be brewed eventually after many years of aging. It is important to store those teas with aging ability. Otherwise, after 15 - 20 years, it turns out that the tea you hoard carefully for years is not as good as expected. Obviously, this is a waste of time, money, storing space and your precious storing effort.
Compressed Puerh tea cakes are born to be brewed after years of aging. Therefore, only the packaging appearance and gimmick cannot touch the heart of a tea connoisseur. It must be aged into a real good flavor. Last year, Cloud missed the opportunity to purchase enough quantity of 2010 Golden Era – The 70th Anniversary Commemorative Raw Tea Cake of Menghai Tea Factory for future consumption. It was inexpensive at that moment. 2010 Golden Era drew Cloud's attention again to the teas of TAETEA (Dayi) or Menghai Tea Factory. Cloud notices that TAETEA starts to be serious about its commemorative tea cakes. Apart from memorializing the event, TAETEA will also choose great raw materials (Mao Cha) to compress their commemorative tea cakes. These good quality tea cakes are what Cloud wants to collect and hoard. Having the experience of 2010 Golden Era (i.e. failing to purchase when it was launched), Cloud no longer underestimates the remarkable commemorative tea cakes produced by TAETEA (Dayi).
Although it is almost a cliche, Cloud must state it again, "You will only know how it tastes after you buy it, brew it and drink it." That is reason why Cloud will not comment on those Puerh teas not being tasted personally.
At this moment, Cloud is sure that tea novices, tea lovers and tea connoisseurs would like to learn more about this set of tea. Is the TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea good to appreciate? Is it being able to age? Is it worth the money? Cloud will give details and comments in TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Summary & Comments Part 6/6.
Apart from appreciating the whole set of tea, learning a little bit more about the Century Revolution is also the purpose of this commemorative tea set. Therefore, Cloud wrote a page for this overview and background information. The following information is all from the Internet. Cloud just selected some main points. Tea lovers can search for more on the Internet.
Official Statement of TAETEA
Cloud would like to quote the official statement from TAETEA (Dayi).
DISCLAIMER: The Chinese version is a direct quote from TAETEA (Dayi) official website. However, there is no official English translation. The following English translation is provided by Cloud. Should there be any discrepancy, Chinese version shall prevail.
TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea is the first tea product of Master Tea Series of Dayi Tea Group. It has the highest standard and quality among all the 2011 TAETEA (Dayi) products. The unique product rationale and meaningful tea names give the collectible and cultural values. Every set of TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea consists of 4 huge tea cakes, naming them as "Weie Zhongshan"(巍峨中山), "Jiangshan Meiren"(江山美人), "Huanghe Qingshan"(黃河青山) and "Bainian Huigan"(百年回甘). These 4 independent tea cakes can be combined as a whole set of tea. Appreciating the tea sequentially will tell the story and the underlying spirit of Chinese nation. This set of tea is produced from finely selected raw materials plucking from core areas of ancient mountains of Menghai in accordance with the technique of Dayi tea production method, which is the National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Every huge tea cake is carefully hand-made. In order to commemorate the greatest moment of 1911, the tea cake adopts a special weight specification at 1911g. It is a globally limited supplied commemorative tea set which is unique and limited with extraordinary meaning. Therefore, it is a must buy item for appreciation and collection. It is also a good choice as a gift for friends and relatives.
The whole set of tea inherits the traditional combination of Puerh tea - Raw and Ripe tea. The 2 raw large-sized tea cakes, "Weie Zhongshan"(巍峨中山) and "Bainian Huigan"(百年回甘), are compressed by naturally aged precious arbor raw tea materials carefully selected by TAETEA. Both huge tea cakes are grand and elegant with white tea buds. The tea broth is clear with slight yellow orange color. It tastes rich and thick and full of slightly aged aroma with remarkable layers of taste. Another 2 huge ripe tea cakes, "Jiangshan Meiren"(江山美人) and "Huanghe Qingshan"(黃河青山), are fermented from selected high quality raw materials plucking from Bada and Bulang organic tea garden of Menghai Tea Factory. After several years of natural aging, both large-sized tea cakes are full of golden tea buds on the surface. The tea broth color is amber like with elegant aged aroma. The tea has pure, rich and balanced tastes.
Reports from Online Media
The following information is quoted from the online media.
DISCLAIMER: The original text was in Chinese. The following English translation is provided by Cloud. Should there be any discrepancy, Chinese version shall prevail.
TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea is the first tea product of Master Tea Series of Dayi Tea Group. It has the highest standard and quality among all the 2011 TAETEA (Dayi) products. Every set of TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea consists of 4 huge tea cakes, inheriting the traditional combination of Puerh tea - 2 Raw and 2 Ripe tea, naming respectively as "Weie Zhongshan"(巍峨中山), "Jiangshan Meiren"(江山美人), "Huanghe Qingshan"(黃河青山) and "Bainian Huigan"(百年回甘). The unique product rationale and meaningful tea names give the collectible and cultural values. The gorgeous packaging amazed the guests in the press conference. The tea can be appreciated independently or as a set. When 4 large-sized tea cakes are pieced together, the Chinese calligraphy 1911 (一九一一) printed on the protective box respectively will connect and form a piece of art.
From the above information, it is noted that TAETEA definitely has put and invested a lot of effort and resources into the TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea. Particularly, TAETEA introduced a commercial for this special set of tea. This was the first commercial for promoting only one specific tea. Generally speaking, they make commercials for the entire TAETEA brand. This indicates that how important this tea set is. However, Cloud is of the view that appreciation is the highest priority overriding any other promotions. Therefore, Cloud must reinstate that you will not know how it tastes unless you buy it, brew it and drink it.
Century Revolution & The National Soul Of Hundred Years (Official Commercial)
Here is the link to the 60 seconds official commercial of TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea:-
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjgzMTk0Nzc2.html
Backup link from Sina Video (if the above link fails to play):
http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/56416794-1830536012.html
Fine Collectible Gift; Presented By The Chinese Nation (典藏之選 禮獻中華)
Overall Packaging Characteristics
The appearance of the whole set TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea is not only stunning, but also solemn and imposing. The design is unique and unprecedented. When 4 large-sized tea cakes are pieced together, the Chinese calligraphy 1911 (一九一一) printed on the protective box respectively will connect and form a piece of art.
The protective case was carefully designed for protecting the huge and heavy tea cake inside (1911g each). Protective soft edges were installed so that the edge of tea cake would not be crushed under normal transportation. Every box is enclosed with a piece of translucent tracing paper. By printing the descriptions on the tracing paper with silver ink, it states the story and details of each tea name.
After removing that piece of translucent tracing paper, you will find a tea QC certificate (Photo: A1984). This little piece of QC certificate is usually enclosed with a stack of TAETEA tea. However, there is only one tea cake in each protective case. Shall we still call this little piece of paper as a "stack ticket"? This is interesting.
Apart from the stack ticket, a leaflet with more detail information about the tea is also enclosed for your collection (Photo: A2025). When you unfold the leaflet, you will find a complimentary bookmark. These bookmarks are unique because the printing styles are perfectly matched with the each tea cake respectively. As a result, when you have collected the bookmarks from each tea cake, you can piece them together and the Chinese calligraphy 1911 (一九一一) will show up (Photo: A1980). This is special and beautiful.
After reviewing the outlook appearance, Cloud has to examine and taste the teas in order to see whether they worth the money. However, before starting the Cloud's Tea Review (In-depth), let us take a glance to the main points officially made by TAETEA.
Key Summary from the Official Statements
- The first tea product of Master Tea Series of TAETEA
- The highest standard and quality among all the 2011 TAETEA
- Having collectible and cultural values
- Four independent tea cakes being able to combine as a whole
- Finely selected raw materials plucking from core areas of ancient mountains of Menghai
- Technique of Dayi tea production method - the National Intangible Cultural Heritage
- Special weight specification at 1911g
- "Weie Zhongshan"(巍峨中山) and "Bainian Huigan"(百年回甘) being compressed by naturally aged precious arbor raw tea materials carefully selected by TAETEA
- "Jiangshan Meiren"(江山美人) and "Huanghe Qingshan"(黃河青山) being fermented from selected high quality raw materials plucking from Bada and Bulang organic tea garden of Menghai Tea Factory
First Impression
With no doubt, the packaging of TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea is so beautiful. It is attractive to the consumers, TAETEA fans and tea collectors. However, Cloud is a practical collector. Since the rigid protective case is just a box which cannot be brewed, the tea itself is the key which worth the price. Scanning through the Cloud's Tea Collection, Cloud mainly hoarded aged teas in which there were many Zhongcha Brand under Menghai Tea Factory. When Cloud chose these collectible tea items in the past, the strict criteria were the aroma, tea broth and the taste of tea. These constituted the keys of a collectible tea. Packaging is only a small credit. Certainly, a tea cake needs an outer wrapper. But, the most important issue is whether the tea is good to drink and age. Cloud's Tea Collection always strictly complies with this principle.
By the end of 1990's, Cloud collected young Puerh tea for future consumption in accordance with the tea quality oriented principle. Cloud chose those early batches of Yichang Hao. At that time, Yichang Hao was a very young raw tea less than 1 year of aging. Besides, Changtai was only a small tea merchant in 1999. It was not a tea factory or a tea group as tea lovers knowing today. A decade has gone. Today is 2011. Cloud proves that as long as you hoard the right tea (i.e. being able to age), the tea will give you a staggering and unbelievable taste which may not be easily purchased from the open market. In fact, those home-stored potential young teas purchased 10 years ago were expensive at that time. Even though the purchasing price 10 years ago is regarded "cheap" today by comparing the current market price, you still needed great impulse to buy them at a considerably high price 10 years ago. One of the most remarkable and successful home-stored teas by Cloud is the "Year 2000 2.5KG Yichang Hao Huge Tea Cake" (Internet Article: Year 2000 2.5KG Yichang Hao Huge Tea Cake - Cloud's Daily Yiwu Tea [23 April 2011]). This Yichang Hao was also a large-sized tea cake weighing 2.5KG each. After more than 10 years of carefully hoarding, it offers stunning flavor and aftertaste. Besides, it is hard to find one in the open market because early tea connoisseurs keep these good teas for their daily self consumption and no longer resell them to the market.
As a result, Cloud always reminds tea beginners, "Buy the Right Tea and Store Them Properly." Don't buy teas with low intrinsic value. The most important aspect is the tea quality. Storing those round disc things without tea quality is purely storing occupying your precious space, but not hoarding or aging. After many years, those things still taste ugly so that they will just have low market value even though they are old enough.
The statement "Buy the Right Tea and Store Them Properly" implies the sequence. Before you learn how to store your teas properly, do you know you are hoarding the right tea? If the teas you intend to store for years do not age as expected, what is the meaning of providing a right storage environment? Cloud is not going to say that cheap or inexpensive teas are not good enough to age. Among thousands of tea cakes, some of them should have very good potential. They are cheap or inexpensive just because the market does not realize how good they are. Tea connoisseurs are always eager for those inexpensive teas with high intrinsic value. To be concise, do you know how to distinguish a good aging potential tea from those mediocre or even bad teas?
Certainly, expensive teas are not equivalent to absolute good teas. Some outrageously expensive teas are just the mark-up price by unfaithful tea sellers. Therefore, Cloud understands that what tea lovers would be keen to know. Whether the TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea is as good as what TAETEA claims in the official statements or not? That is to say, is it the highest standard and quality? Is it the most important teas of TAETEA in 2011? All these must be answered by careful appreciation. Without brewing one and having a sip of them, one will never know.
As the TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea has high collectible value, tea lovers may be reluctant to chip off some pieces from such huge tea cakes for sipping. TAETEA understands the dilemma so that they prepared an official mini package, the trial pack (Photo: A2082), providing four 100g mini tea cakes of each style. The official trial pack is not for sale officially. It is given to every TAETEA official dealer for customer free tasting. Unfortunately, too many tea lovers were interested in tasting such a remarkable tea set. With just 400g samples in total, there was no more free tasting sample left for Cloud to taste when Cloud went to the official dealer. At last, paying banknotes for a full set (1911g x 4) is the last resort to obtain samples from the market.
Although some may of the view that it was a pity to ruin the integrity of such a beautifully compressed huge tea cake, Cloud always opines that chipping off, brewing and then finishing the tea is truly the purpose of a compressed tea. If those tea cakes are just hanging on the wall like mural without tasting them personally, they are just decoration. Sometimes, when Cloud breaks up a 20-year aged tea cake, it costs more than RMB9,600 (US$1,500). If that is the amount affordable to you, buy it, break it and then drink it. It is meaningless to buy some teas which are over your budget so that you are reluctant to chip some leaves off. This violates the rationale of tea drinking. If you do not taste the teas personally, you will never know how it actually tastes.
Besides, the reason why Cloud needs to sample from the 1911g huge tea cake rather than the trial pack is that the tastes might be a little bit different due to the size of tea cakes. It is because the time of steaming during compression and the time of drying between the 1911g and the 100g editions are not the same. In order to understand the true taste of the final product, it'd better for Cloud to purchase a complete set of huge tea cakes as the standard reference sample.
Now, Cloud definitely says that there is ONE set of TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea being opened and chipped off. That is the set collected under the Cloud's Tea Collection.
If you want to learn more about this centennial tea set, you may click the following link to read:- [P.S. There are video clips under the articles of "Weie Zhongshan (Raw)" (巍峨中山) and "Jiangshan Meiren (Ripe)" (江山美人).]
1. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Overview & Background Information Part 1/6
2. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Weie Zhongshan (Raw) Part 2/6
3. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Jiangshan Meiren (Ripe) Part 3/6
4. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Huanghe Qingshan (Ripe) Part 4/6 (To be translated)
5. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Bainian Huigan (Raw) Part 5/6 (To be translated)
6. TAETEA Century Revolution Centennial Tea - Summary & Comments Part 6/6 (To be translated)
1 September 2011 (wrote in Chinese)
28 September 2011 (translated into English)
Cloud (Hong Kong)
[Cloud's Tea Collection - Internet Articles]
http://www.cloudsteacollection.com/html/webart/webartframeset_e.html
Cloud's Tea Collection - Private Tea Album
http://www.cloudsteacollection.com
All Relevant Photos:
