A Tea Addict's Journal

The retaste project 17: 2005 Yichanghao Mansa

September 11, 2013 · 5 Comments

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, tea was cheap. Puerh was considered very cheap tea, and things like the Laotongzhi, admittedly a very regular cake, would fetch about 25 RMB on the market. The vaunted Dayi, which is now attaining mythical status, was only slightly more expensive. In those halcyon days of plentiful and cheap tea, Yichanghao was among the new stars that promised greatness. They rapidly expanded from their initial foray into tea production in 99 to an important player by 2005. Times were good.

Fast forward half a dozen years, and now there are persistent rumours of imminent collapse of Changtai Group, the company behind Yichanghao. Fact is, ever since the 2007 bubble burst, Changtai hasn’t been doing much – at least, not much that anyone has paid any attention to. They still produce tea every year, but they haven’t had a “hit” for a long, long time.

It was in those blissful days when I bought this thing

Compared with the photos I took right after I bought this cake (romanized as Mengsa, because that’s how the characters are sometimes written, but not on this particular cake), it’s pretty obvious that it has aged a little bit over the years. The tea was stored in Beijing for a year, then for the rest of its life has been in Hong Kong. I haven’t had a chance to drink it since buying it, until a few days ago, anyway. I bought two cakes, of course, and this seems to be not the one that was pictured, but I’m sure they were similar in colours. The liquor is suitably dark.

I thought, when I bought it, that this cake has aging potential. Well, six years later, I can report that the cake has indeed aged. I think my taste is a little more… picky than it used to be, so I am not judging the teas with the same yardstick. Having said that, it’s a cake with this age that’s still generally better than most of its counterparts from relative big factories from 2005. It hasn’t gotten worse, and it has a nice, rounded taste. It’s a bit on the thin side, all things considered, but since I didn’t pay great tea prices for it, it’s hard to expect great tea from it. I seem to remember paying something around 60-80 RMB for one cake at the time, which was ok, but not terribly cheap. Well, now you can find this tea on Taobao for about 300, but RMB has appreciated by almost 30% since then, so it’s actually about 5x the price I bought it for. Is it still worth it at these prices? In the context of new tea prices, absolutely – for a couple cakes anyway, and for more immediate consumption. I wouldn’t invest thousands for tongs of this stuff, but as a drinker and something to be had casually, it’s not bad, so long as the storage conditions are broadly similar and the tea hasn’t been dried out or been stored way too wet.

There is a taste among many Taobao cakes I’ve bought that are of this low-mid price range with 5-7 years that I really hate – I suppose it might be what people describe as “straw” which I find to be the precursor to thinness and blandness. I can see a hint of that here – just a hint, whereas a lot of times that is the dominant taste in cakes. I wonder if it has to do with the temperature and humidity that it’s stored at. I don’t know what the Taobao vendors’ cakes will taste like, it might be interesting to compare, but I don’t feel like throwing 300 RMB at it just to give it a try.

Categories: Teas
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5 responses so far ↓

  • Tatiana Becker // September 18, 2013 at 4:20 am | Reply

    It’s too bad the Changtai Group isn’t doing so well now. Their Qiang Jia Feng is a pretty interesting one. And speaking of aging tea- do you happen to know of any tea that ages well, and works well for a delicate digestive system? For many people, aged tea seems to be pretty rough to handle.

    • MarshalN // September 18, 2013 at 4:41 am | Reply

      Aged tea should be easier on the stomach, if anything. What have you been drinking? It’s hard to recommend something without knowing the drinker.

      • Brenian Tvplease // September 18, 2013 at 2:03 pm | Reply

        hi Marshal,

        Have you tried out “Lao Tong Zhi’s”,
        “Jia Ji”, “Te Ji”, and “Jing Ping”?

        I’ve kept some from 2010,
        and although it’s a young tea,

        I feel that it’s a good tea to keep,
        keep in mind, I keep tea to drink, NOT to invest,

        but like so many of your blog posts,
        There’s never enough tea to keep!

        I’m storing my tea’s in old Pots made to store “Kim Chi”,
        and some old pots that were made to store “Rice”,

        I’m in Malaysia right now,
        and the humidity level is around 60~70% with a good stable temperature or warm in the morning and cold at night,

        So the aging process is quite good,
        “Chen Guang He’s” tea are not bad but are very expensive,

        not to mention “Da Yi” but their pricing has gone up the roof,
        hopefully there’ll be no bubble,

        so for now, I’m enjoying more of “Lao Tong Zhi’s” brand,
        I love you blog, but could you write some MORE articles about storage?

        I’ve read all your old ones!

        Thanks

        • MarshalN // September 19, 2013 at 12:41 am | Reply

          Laotongzhi is ok – I mean, it’s very cheap plantation stuff. It’s the low end of the market and the quality reflects it. I don’t think it’s really worth stocking up – if you want some, just buy some. If you run out, buy more. It’s pretty easy to find and prices don’t go up.

  • Hindsight | A Tea Addict's Journal // May 15, 2015 at 11:38 am | Reply

    […] couple years ago I retasted a cake that I bought when I lived in Beijing. At that time I thought the cake was ok – not […]

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