Menghai Wei Shu Bing

Classification and Origin

Category: pu-erh (普洱茶, pǔ'ěr chá)

cake (饼茶, bǐngchá), classic weight 357 g

Menghai County (勐海县, Měnghǎi xiàn), Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture (西双版纳傣族自治州, Xīshuāngbǎnnà Dǎizú zìzhìzhōu), Yunnan Province (云南省, Yúnnán shěng)

large-leaf variety of the tea plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica (大叶种, dàyèzhǒng)

Type: ripe (post-fermented) pu-erh — 熟茶 (shú chá)

Facts

Facts: Interesting Facts

• The standard cake weight of 357 g is linked to the tradition of "seven cakes" in a stack (七子饼, qīzǐbǐng): seven cakes made up about 2.5 kg.
• Factory numbering is still in use: the digits 1, 2, 3, 4 in codes indicate Kunming, Menghai, Xiaguan and the factory in Pu'er respectively.
• Recipe 7572 is often called the "benchmark" (标杆) of shu pu-erh, against which other ripe teas are measured.
• There is an ongoing discussion as to whether "Menghai flavour" can be reproduced outside Menghai: proponents of "microbial terroir" believe it cannot.
• Despite the centuries-old history of pu-erh, shu pu-erh is a young tea: the wet-piling technology appeared only in the 1970s.

In conclusion:

Menghai Wei Shu Bing is not a brand and not a specific factory, but a designation of style: ripe pu-erh in cake form, embodying the recognisable "Menghai flavour" with its warm sweetness, dense body and clean fermentation note. Behind this term lies a combination of Yunnan large-leaf raw material and the special post-fermentation environment established in the workshops of Menghai — two factors that together create the character of the drink.

For the practitioner, the conclusion is simple: one should orient not by the inscription but by the cup. A transparent wine-red infusion, a thick rounded taste, a distinct sweet return and an absence of mustiness — these are the honest signs that you have before you a truly worthy representative of the style. Such a tea is good bot

History and Culture

industrial wet piling (渥堆, wòduī) for accelerated fermentation, perfected in 1973–1975

Menghai Tea Factory, founded in 1940 (originally as Fohai Experimental Tea Factory, 佛海实验茶厂; Fohai being the old name of Menghai)

7572 — the classic shu cake that became the "tuning fork" of the style

Botany and Raw Material

Camellia sinensis var. assamica (大叶种, dàyèzhǒng)

from pruned bushes to tall-stemmed trees, including old-growth plantings

large, leathery, with pronounced venation and noticeable bud down

maocha (毛茶, máochá) — a rough green tea of sun drying

Terroir

Climate: subtropical monsoon, average annual temperature around 18–19 °C, precipitation around 1300–1400 mm per year

approximately 21°28′–22°28′ north latitude and 99°56′–100°41′ east longitude

from around 535 m in river valleys to approximately 2400 m on peaks; tea gardens predominantly at 1200–1800 m

Bulangshan (布朗山, Bùlǎng shān), Nannuoshan (南糯山, Nánnuò shān), Bada (巴达, Bādá), Mengsong (勐宋, Měngsòng)

Production

picking → withering → fixation of green leaf (杀青, shāqīng) → rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn) → sun drying (晒干, shàigān) → maocha

wet piling (渥堆, wòduī) lasting around 40–60 days with periodic turning of the piles (翻堆, fānduī)

sorting, steaming (蒸压, zhēngyā), forming the cake, slow drying

Organoleptic Profile

dense, dark brown with a burgundy hue, often with golden tips

from dark red to chestnut-red, transparent, "wine-like"

warm, with notes of dried fruit (jujube, prune), seasoned wood, sometimes camphor and "sticky rice"; clean, without mustiness

dark brown, even, reasonably elastic

Taste: thick and smooth, with a sensation of oily density (稠, chóu) and a pronounced sweet return (回甘, huígān)

Chemical Composition

Amino Acids: partially transformed, reducing the initial freshness

significantly reduced during fermentation, roughly to 10–15%

increase, imparting the dark colour of the infusion and softness of taste

preserved, around 3–4%

increase, giving roundness and sweetness

Health Notes

unlike the "cooling" sheng pu-erh, shu is traditionally classified as a "warming" tea

the fermented infusion is considered gentle; it is often drunk after meals

in Chinese tradition it is associated with helping to digest fatty food (消食, xiāoshí)

Brewing

soft, freshly boiled

95–100 °C, full boiling water

approximately 7–8 g per 100–150 ml

1–2 quick infusions (洗茶, xǐchá) to "awaken" the leaf and remove dust

first ones 5–10 seconds, thereafter gradually increasing the time; a good cake sustains 10 or more infusions

Teaware: gaiwan (盖碗, gàiwǎn) or a Yixing clay teapot (紫砂壶, zǐshā hú) that holds heat well

Storage

Container: original paper wrapper and cardboard, without hermetic packaging

Humidity: moderate; excess provokes mould, excessive dryness retards ageing

dry, clean, ventilated premises away from extraneous odours and direct light

Price and Authenticity

very wide — from inexpensive factory cakes of the middle segment to high prices for aged and branded items (for example, old Dayi)

"Menghai flavour" as a marketing label applied to teas without a real connection to the region and profile

Dayi (大益) is actively copied; packaging, codes and holograms help, but the decisive criterion is organoleptics