The 1995/96/97 Zhenchunya Hao are a series of famous cakes made by Lv Lizhen (from Taiwan) in collaboration with former Yiwu village head Zhang Yi. They were made in the midst of a several decade run of pu’erh factory dominance and were created as a callback to the Haoji era predating WWII, where brands (SPH, TQH, FYC) based in the six famous mountains/Yiwu area made pu’erh. The ZCYH also signifies the beginning of a new era of pu’erh where smaller, boutique operations started to operate eventually growing into what the pu’erh industry is today.

• Supposedly some of the earlier batches of 1995 were trial runs. There is also supposed to be considerable batch variation. This batch was made in 1996 and pressed in 1997 with materials from Manxiu, Luoshuidong, excluding Mahei.
• Lv Lizhen continued to press pu’erh later under his own label. As did Zhang Yi (Shunshixing).
• Major thank you to Linda Louie of Bana Tea for selling me a sample of this to drink with Denny and to write this up.

Age & Storage

One reason I sought out the Zhenchunya Hao was to get an idea of how boutiques are aging. It is now possible to find Taiwanese boutiques (CYH, YQH, XZH, BYH) with tea around 20 years old. But it is very rare to find 25+ year old boutique tea. The ZCYH is very close to 30 years. It’s also a tea with a mixed reputation and not necessarily unanimous praise.

For anything significantly aged, storage plays a key component in how the tea presents. In the episode recorded, Denny and I were not familiar with how the tea was stored although it was clear it was kept dry. After we recorded the episode I asked Linda and received the following information:

1. 1997-Early 2000s – Hong Kong w/Vesper Chan.
2. Early 2000s-2017 – Kunming.
3. 2017-2025  – Los Angeles

Preparation

I kept the sample in my pumidor open for several months before our episode.

I tried to calibrate my tastes and had some of my favored early 2000s Yiwu boutiques before the session, teas like the 2003 Wistaria Zipin, 2003 Chenyuan Hao Tongqing Hao, and 2004 Biyun Hao Manzhuan.

A couple things I was looking out for:

1. Sleepy or dying. While I don’t have prior experience with this to compare with boutique teas there’s an air of uncertainty about their aging trajectory.
2. Aged oolong-notes. I’d heard murmurs that this may have some aged oolong notes.

Further reading:

1. https://marshaln.com/2006/08/friday-august-11-2006/
2. https://marshaln.com/2006/12/friday-december-1-2006/
3. https://vieillesvignes.substack.com/p/aged-tea-exploration-beginnings-of

Brewing

I brewed in a gaiwan, about 5g:75ml. Why a gaiwan for such an old tea? I have been using a gaiwan very consistently and I think there’s something to be said for brewing in your comfort zone. Oftentimes the best brewing device is the one you are currently using the most. I kept the steeps short and slowly pushed them out as I saw necessary, boiling before every steep. The leaves were already looseish. I don’t have a great feel for the compression of the cake but I’d guess it is looser than factory tea (stone pressed).

The Session

Steeps 1-2.

Starts out very concentrated and dense. This tea is very much alive from the get-go! Thick but not oily. The taste is heavy wood with a nice sweetness that really lingers. Resin, tree sap, very impressive aftertaste. The aftertaste I feel tips its hand at being an Yiwu tea. Rewatching our video, I think my solo session is starting out even stronger.

Steeps 3-4.

Loses a touch of density but more brightness comes out. A bit of cherry combined with the wood. These steeps are the most reminiscent of aged oolongs. A very pungent and intense aged oolong. The aftertaste is very nice and coats the back of the mouth and throat, very deep. Denny and I noted some slight tanginess in our session, which do not show up here.

Steeps 5-7.

As I add time it picks up back some density. Note-wise it moves away from the brighter notes into pine and resin, and refined, antique woody notes. There are hints of brightness but the brightness albeit less so than our prior session. Having the full dose on my own I am struck by the strength of the tea.

Steeps 8-10.

Done a bit later in the day. Variation on what has happened earlier. These are very pleasant steeps that are very woody and reasonably active and felt deeply.

Steeps 11+.

Done over the course of a couple days. Similar to what has come earlier.

Processing

I do not detect much evidence of oxidation. The leaves are thick and plump, not brittle. The wet leaves indicate that these were significantly rolled, especially compared with what is often sold by boutique operations these days. The rolling is something that Linda had also mentioned to me. This tea hints at a couple aged oolong vibes in its brightness if you look closely, but mostly feels like a 20 year old boutique pu’erh with solid strength.

Most Similar Teas & The Next Chapter

Of the teas I had ahead of time, it’s really not too similar to any of them. Due to the drier storage, it is actually a bit less matured than most of those 20-25 year old boutiques that have been aged predominantly in Taiwan. I think the biggest hints I have are a previous session I had with the unofficial 2000 Zhenchunya Hao made by Chen Huaiyuan (CYH boss, who was mentored by Lv Lizhen) and perhaps the 2003 Chenyuan Hao TQH Reproduction. The 2000 tea was much less bright and more mellow than the 1996 and had moved into very woody territory without the brighter notes that the 1996 ZCYH sometimes had. I think it is plausible that this tea moves in that direction. The depth and lasting sweetness remind me a bit of Zipin but that’s not an uncommon Yiwu characteristic either.

One note that is not present here is zhangxiang, something that is missing from quite a few Taiwanese boutique productions. I don’t know if that necessarily signifies a negative, but it is a difference between many of the standout factory productions I’ve had.

Final Thoughts

This tea easily exceeds my expectations. Perhaps I have been too trained on the softer boutique teas that came later, but the strength and density of the tea should not be underrated. While it isn’t the 1988 Qingbing in strength this isn’t just a delicate boutique and has a strong backbone behind it with high quality aftertaste and depth. I would not be comfortable saying this is way better than the highest rated teas I had in my Yiwu Mega-Report but it is definitely amongst the best teas featured there. The tea is also very lively and I think could certainly be aged more. Big thank you to Linda for your generosity!