Zhongcha 7581 Shu Pu-erh (Ripe Pu-erh) Tea Brick 2018, 250g | Yunnan

A ripe pu-erh brick from Zhongcha (中茶, China Tea), carrying one of the most important recipe numbers in all of pu-erh: 7581. Read the standard way, 75 marks the year the recipe was set (1975), the 8 the leaf grade, and the 1 the Kunming factory code. 7581 is the benchmark shu brick, one of the earliest ripe pu-erh recipes ever made and a reference point the whole category is measured against. This is the 2018 pressing, in a 250 g brick.

As the original ripe brick recipe, 7581 is the textbook example of clean, classic shu character. [Confirm tasting notes — a Zhongcha 7581 typically shows wood, aged-wood sweetness and a clean, smooth earthy depth with none of the rough pile-ferment edge.] The brick form ages slowly and evenly and is easy to break and store.

The liquor is deep chestnut to red-brown, clear and glossy, with a soft texture that coats the mouth. Across infusions it stays stable and generous, holding its character through many steeps while the quiet sweetness grows as the session goes on.

A piece of pu-erh history that is also an excellent everyday shu: dependable, smooth, and from one of China's oldest and most respected tea houses. Equally at home in a focused gongfu session or a thermos, ready to drink now and steady to keep.

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