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Ripe Puerh 熟茶
Introduction
The very first concept that will intrigue beginners to puerh tea is that there are two distinct kinds of puerh
-sheng (raw) (puerh that has not been fermented in the factory prior to sale); and
- shou (ripe) (puerh that has been fermented in the factory prior to sale).
The process of making shou tea was invented by Mr. Zou Bing Liang 邹炳良(then Director and Chief Engineer of Menghai Tea Factory) and Ms. Wu Qi Ying 吴启英 (then President of Kunming Tea Factory) in 1973, although mass production only occurred from 1975. Wu explained that a strong motivating factor behind trying to invent this process was to discover a method of making raw tea palatable to the increasing size of the Hong Kong, Macau and Japanese markets so that she could generate an income stream for the poor farmers and put their children through education. "Some farmers did not even have a chair in their home and the cotton on their beds were torn and worn out. The price of tea in Yunnan was far below other tea in coastal cities and something had to be done to address this."
Wu passed away on Aug 19, 1995. Zou left Menghai in 1996 and, with a couple of old comrades from Kunming Tea Factory (notably Ms. Lu Guo Ling 卢国龄) set up a company called Anning Haiwan (海湾 or "Bay") Tea Factory Co., Ltd. (popularly known as Laotongzhi 老同志 or "Old Comrades").
Menghai is currently owned by Bowen Investments Limited (博文投资有限公司), a venture capital firm which acquired the assets of Menghai Tea Industry Co. Ltd and Menghai Tea Factory on Oct 25, 2004.
Mr Zou Bing Liang (R) in 2007; Ms Lu Guo Ling (R) in 2007 (Source: hnheicha.net)
Ms Wu Qi Ying (file photo)
Photos
Chenshenghao 陈升号
2009 Bulang
2009 Yiwu
CNNP 中茶牌
2008 7581
Diancha 巅
2009 Bulang
Dr Tea
2009 Brick
Laotongzhi 老同志 (Anning Haiwan 海湾 Tea Factory Co., Ltd.)
2009 Old Arbor 901
2009 No. 1 Recipe (一号熟饼)
901
2009 Classic (經典) 1999
Menghai (勐海 pinyin: měnghăi pronounced merng-hi!) Dayi 大益
2009 7562 901
2009 7572 901
2009 7572 902
2009 8592 901
2009 Yun Ding (云鼎) 901
2008 Old Tea Stubs (老茶头）
2008 7632 801
2008 8562 801
2007 7262 703
2006 7562 601
2006 V93 601
2005 7262
2005 7552 501
2005 Golden Needle White Lotus (July 2010)
2005 Star of Menghai (Aug 2010)
1994 Dayi Brick (Apr 2011)
1990s 7562 (Feb 2011)
Shuangjiang Mengku Tea Co., Ltd. (popularly known as Mengku 勐库)
2009 "Leisure" Brick Tea
Sunsing
2006 "Master Yang" Recipe
2009 XGT006 Tuocha