Daxueshan 2001

For lovers of aged sheng

You've read correctly. This is not a joke. This is not a drill. This is a lightly fermented, aged shu pu'er from Mengku Daxueshan, capable of bewitching enjoyers of aged sheng. Gabriele sourced it off of none other than Pak Shui Ching, also known as the "godfather of pu'er tea."

There is a lot to unpack what makes this tea special, but any special tea has to stand on its own merits. When tasted blindly, one might mistake this tea for a humidly stored sheng pu'er that is 5-10 years older. Only the first infusions might give away the true nature of this tea with their delightful dankness reminiscent of wet bark and moss. But soon, the tea starts doing something unusual for a shu pu'er: It transforms from steep to steep! As if peeling away layers of an onion, it reveals mildly cooling herbal notes similar to fennel and dill, as well as a forest honey sweetness. Throughout, the changing aspects of the tea are grounded by a balanced interplay of earthy, mineral and umami notes that can only be likened to a hearty mushroom stew.

The material for this tea is from one of the three Daxueshan ("Big Snow Mountain") in Lincang, likely the mountain range located in the west of Mengku, as this is the only Daxueshan that Pak Shui Ching has reportedly visited to source tea from. It was then only partially fermented, as was typical in the earlier years of shu production, and then stored in humid Hong Kong for over 20 years, before being sourced for Nannuoshan. Watch in the Youtube video below when we met Pak Shui Ching and sourced this tea.

Written by Dominik

The tea master

Pak Shui Ching, born in Anxi, Fujian in 1955, is a revered tea expert and entrepreneur, celebrated as the "Hong Kong Pu'er Tea King" and President of the World Tea Culture Exchange Association. Starting his journey in Hong Kong in 1982 with just 100 yuan, he rose to dominate over 60% of the city’s Pu'er tea market through his visionary approach to aged teas. His career reached a turning point in 2002 with the acquisition of the now-legendary "88 Qing Bing," a batch of Pu'er tea that he identified for its transformative potential despite initial industry skepticism. This tea became a cornerstone of his success and solidified his reputation as a master of Pu'er tea. Over decades, Pak Shui Ching has amassed an unparalleled collection of rare teas, including the world’s oldest Pu’er, dated 1875. Few cakes are stored at the National Museum in Beijing and some are at the Hong Kong warehouse we visited! Recognized among the "Top Ten Outstanding Pu'er Tea Figures in the World," he remains committed to advancing the global appreciation of tea as both an art and a heritage.