2005 Mengku Rongshi Tea Factory Guhua Cha

I recently came across this Mengku Rongshi raw puer cake again and was reminded that it was the first puer cake I ever owned. My boss at the English cram school where I worked after first arriving in Taiwan in 2006 gave me a cake as a gift. At the time I didn’t know anything about puer, but I remember enjoying the tea. Nearly twenty years later, revisiting it, the flavor and texture remain much as I remember—still very appealing. 

Over the years I’ve developed a fondness for teas from Mengku Rongshi Tea Factory, especially productions from the early to mid-2000s. One thing I particularly appreciate about many teas from this period is that they are labeled 無公害, meaning cleanly grown and free from agricultural contaminants. In my experience, these teas tend to feel especially clean and vibrant.

This tea has seen natural storage over the years, though on the drier end of the spectrum. The dry leaf and early infusions show a touch of storage character, which fades after the first couple of steeps as the tea opens up. The result is a tea beginning to show some aged character without the storage notes being overwhelming.

“Guhua” indicates that the leaf material was harvested in autumn. In the cup it shows the firm bitterness typical of Mengku material, along with some astringency that is balanced by the salivation that follows each sip. The texture is satisfying, with a lingering sweetness in the throat and strong chaqi.

It feels fitting to offer the first puer cake I ever owned on the site now, nearly twenty years later—the tea that first drew me into puer.