Maaaa. The pu nerds are citing four digit again!!! This time with the most famous recipe of them all, 7542. One of my regrets early on in my pu’erh journey was the heavy focus on more boutique teas. I got some exposure to factory tea and more traditional pu’erh, but the pathway wasn’t open towards many different avenues of pu’erh like it is now. I could’ve forced my way into more, after all Dayi isn’t some unknown quantity, but frankly did not prioritize it. Since the return of the blog, I’ve had an occasionally controversial but deliberate focus on more factory-related content.

My History w/7542

Prior to 2026, I’d had a number of 7542s, including a handful of the more famed versions. Teas like the 1988 Qing Bing (1989-1992 Dry Stored 7542), the 1997 Shuilan Yin, the 2001 Jianyun (Simplified Character) and quite enjoyed it. Despite all this, 7542 has never been in my regular rotation and I don’t think I had a firm grasp on the recipes evolution throughout the years. For instance, before drinking the recipe repeatedly I don’t think I would’ve been able to place a 2010 7542 vs a different generic Dayi. The famed ones I’ve tried were mostly out of the price range and impractical for regular brewing. The famed ones are also not really representative of run of the mill late 2000s or early 2010s 7542. I bought a tong of 2010 7542s during the pandemic but I never found it inspiring enough to really drink regularly. My goal with this was to dive deep and get a better feel for what is likely the most famous pu’erh recipe.

Storage & Batch

This is important enough I wanted to stick it high up. Storage is extremely important! Especially for factory teas. The conception of this drinking report originally started out as a blind, but I found it to be such a mess that I decided to release this as a more conventional report. A big cause of the chaotic mess is that storage is a big ingredient for why a tea takes a certain profile. Without holding storage constant, it’s much trickier to get to the bottom of something like 2010 7542 vs. 2011 7542. At that point, the storage can be a more powerful factor than the actual tea material.

Dayi teas change hands a lot. Even from Taobao, the same vendor can have a variety of storage. In the end, I opted for the brute force method of trying teas. The blinds were not without purpose but I found I was getting a bit lost in the sauce and constantly trying to guess the tea (and not particularly well). I’d often get the caliber of tea about right but the specific guess wrong. The blinds are something I might revisit now that I feel I understand the recipe somewhat better.

The batches add an additional element. In some years they seem to only matter a little, in others they seem to matter a lot (see 2005 or 901 7542). I think in general the storage is more important than batch, although both can be quite important. And batches almost certainly do matter especially in the mid 2000s and for famous batches like the 901.

I only had the stomach to bring on teas that are at least a dozen years old. Sorry.

In a year there are often multiple batches, especially of a popular recipe like 7542. These are usually signified by an 01 (first batch) or 02 (second batch) or 03 (third batch) at the end of the tea name. For instance a 2006 7542 601 is the first batch of 2006.

The Teas

2013 Xiaguan 7543 (C)

Starting out with a Xiaguan. What a betrayal! The tea is featured because it is XG riffing on Dayi. Thanks to ghostinthetoast for sending it my way.

Diesel, tobacco. Fairly dark. There’s some texture here that makes it feel non standard. Good resinous activity, moderately bitter and the body is mostly just moderate. This does not really feel like a 7542. If you are a taobao enjoying value maxxer, this may be worth a pickup. I do think it punches a bit above its weight.

2011 7542 (C)

From a GD taobao vendor. This is OK. Has a decent body and some grape/sugarcane sweetness that might indicate a bit of oxidation. Not a ton of bitterness. It evens out to a bit more of a standard profile as it brews out.

2011 Jin/Gold (B)

I’d had this described to me as a superior 7542 and to some extent I get that, but this also feels quite different from the 7542s of 2010/2011 and frankly would benefit considerably from more time. Perhaps it is closer to some of the more acclaimed batches such as the 2005s. This has a darker base, like the Xiaguan. Has some wood and grain but becomes very tobacco dominant as it brews. The tea feels bigger and a bit sharper up front. It’s really not bad, but needs a lot of time even compared with the rest of the set. Decently strong mouthfeel and presence. This has the potential to rise in my rating but I grade based off how the tea is now not its future.

2010 7542 1001 (B/C)

This has gotten quite a bit of circulation in the west, mostly thanks to Teas We Like and more recently Quiche. The tea sort of like the 2011 has a grape like, sugarcane sweetness in the initial steeps. It becomes a bit more properly what you’d expect from a 7542 as it brews out. Sturdy body, fairly mild bitterness. Due to the crazy prices of Dayi in 2020-2022, I do see why something like this would stand out as an affordable, good-enough tea, although I think there’s virtually no chance this reaches the levels of even something like the 601 7542.

2009 7542 901 (B)

This is an interesting one. It demands a significantly higher price than later batches from 2009 as well as the surrounding years. Alex of Taiwan Tea Odyssey compared this with other 7542s and found it was a bit more boutique feeling. And drinking these in close succession, I agree that it is different than the other years. The tea offers better pungency and more texture that become quite obvious brewed side by side.

Is it worth the price difference? If you are remotely value oriented, not in my opinion. But it does seem like a more likely bet than the 2007-2008 or 2010-onward 7542s. I’d also say it is a different beast than the Jin.

2008 7542 807 (C)

From Taobao. Teas like this are extremely inexpensive right now (under $30 on taobao) although you’ll need to suffer through potentially drier storage. It has a sturdy body but is still pretty green. More sugarcane, florals, nutty. Sort of like the 2007s it feels a bit shallower than the 2005-2006.

2008 7542 802 (B)

Can post-reform Dayi hold up to good old traditional storage? Yee On decided to find out. While the tea is nothing special the answer is mostly yes. It offers more or less exactly what you’d expect. A  pungent tea that has been smoothed out by age. There’s a relatively low amount of sweetness but there’s good body and a strong textured mouthfeel.

2007 7542 704 (D)

Rough rough rough! This was from TSH a few years ago and was frankly just too green and feels too weak and thin. 2007 has a pretty awful reputation and I can see why. The 704 7542 has a sugarcane like taste accompanied with sourness. Very unimpressive. I do have a hard time attributing blame to storage and material but it’s likely both in this case.

2007 7542 701 (C)

Sent by Mr. Green who got it from Taishunhe. Thank you! It feels shallower than 2005/2006 other teas with a smaller body. A bit less sweetness on this one as well, but does feel at least stronger and in a bit better spot than the 704. The woody pungency does remind me of the earlier years, just lacks more of the expansive feeling. Certainly weaker, thinner, more taxed material in this one.

2006 7542 603 (B)

Pretty similar to the 502 and 504 in structure. There’s a strong pungency up front that gives the tea a really strong mouthfeel before it starts to level off. This one is a little drier stored than those two, so it gives a little less wet wood and chocolate and a bit more incense.

2006 7542 601 (B)

From Taishunhe. Relatively dry stored. The profile of it is a bit clearer and better than the 603, but not enough for me to raise its rating. Still has a bit of plum, antique wood resin. A decent enough aftertaste. Solid tea. It isn’t quite as big as the 502, but the there is some resemblance. I’d easily take this over the 2007, 2008, and 2010 I’ve tried. Although maybe the 901 could beat it. Not sure.

2005 8542 501 (B)

From brigmbg on Discord, and previously from Mr. Jin. Thank you sir! This is a bit drier stored than the 502 and 504 7542s I own. Tobacco, wood, a bit sharper, grassier, with a narrower profile. It’s still pretty classical and I’d definitely take it over some crappier 7542s. This particular one needs some more time but it has nice enough structure and I think it’s a pretty good value for the price.

2005 7542 501 (A)

The fancy white thread one. Thank you Toby! This is nice, nicer than the 502 and priced accordingly. Basically it offers a somewhat similar structure to the 502, but is more potent. While it isn’t necessarily overwhelmingly bitter it has a stronger mouthfeel, resinous activity and an impressive intensity with more mouth coating. It almost leaves an anesthetic numbing feel by the end of the session. Absolutely a tea that would be hard to follow in a session. The depth of the aftertaste is also good and it coats further into the throat than the 502. It’s interesting because it is clearly a very good tea but I’m not sure it is quite the same as the earlier era too. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the strength of it is quite unique.

2005 7542 502 (A/B)

I am quite happy with this one and have quickly drank down a good chunk of a cake. Thick, textured mouthfeel. Woody, chocolatey, antique, slightly wet wood. It has a strong taste to it and is quite straightforward. I’ve always been more of a 8582 guy, but part of it is the lack of availability of teas like this, which unfortunately remains hardish to find.

2005 7542 504 (B)

How is the 502 better? It is simply stronger, richer compared with the thinner 504. Otherwise these teas are pretty similar. This has also undergone a bit danker storage. Pretty ready to drink now.

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2003 Purple Dayi GD 7542 (A)

Guangdong stored. I really like this tea. It has good strength and I think it’ll continue to age well. Probably stronger than the traditional Yun, good bitterness that all converts. Great, engaging texture. Lots of sweetness and salivation. Depending on the session can have some incense. I had this alongside the 1999 Dawen and it holds up pretty well. I also blinded this with the 2001 Traditional Yun 7542 and I think it is roughly the same level.

2003 Purple Dayi TW Natural 7542 (A)

Taiwan natural storage. Foresty, thick, oily. Very healthy body, and a more mild bitterness than the GD stored one. The GD stored tea (in my opinion) has a greater clarity of character with a more focused intensity. That being said there is still much to enjoy here.

2003 Purple Dayi 7542 via Houde (A/B)

This is my least favorite of the three Purple Dayis but I still find plenty to enjoy even if it does not come close to passing the speed test. It is definitely green and needs time. It starts out a bit thin but builds up in the first few steeps crescendoing to a healthy amount of bitterness and a nice mouth coat. It has a bit of that candied powdery texture throughout that is in the TSH version as well.

2003 Blue Dayi 7542 (A)

Roughly on par with the Purple. Maybe a bit stronger, although storage is a confounding factory. A bit drier stored than the GD . Not much smoke, but a good strong density here. Can feel its strength in my cheeks. Moving a bit beyond hay into more of a refined antique wood. Can feel the depth and sweetness coating the mouth. Great stuff and too bad it is quite expensive compared with other options.

2003 HKH Serious Formula “7542” (B)

I kind of knew what would happen here having this in sequence with 7542s. This is a decent tea that is not really a 7542 at all. It lacks the strength and pungency of any of surrounding year 7542s. Never quite found a spot for this in my pu’erh rotation, but I would not fault anyone for buying this as a good drinker that hits a nice age to quality ratio.

2001 Traditional Yun 7542 (A)

Very classical. Antique wood, resin, incense. Good thickness. Moderate, healthy bitterness throughout. There’s some light fruit going on here, maybe a darker plum sort. The aftertaste is also the sort you want, expansive reaching down into the throat. I’ve had alternating excellent and merely good sessions with this, although I’m inclined to blame myself for some of that. In recent sessions this hits the spot.

2001 Simplified Yun 7542 (S)

Very nice Malaysian stored version from Max of Teas We Like. I think this represents the pinnacle of this report and somewhat better than the other pre-reform 7542. Has that distinctive Malaysian spice aroma. Resin, tobacco, some mouthcooling. Leaves quite an impact on the mouth. Can get a bit sour. Moves into a bit more of an antique wood (as opposed to the more humid, darker wood of the Dawen). Overall brighter, stronger, and deeper feeling than that. The storage combined with the raw tea strength make for a dynamic and complex experience.

When I had this with Max it was the winner of the blind taste, even when put up against four pretty heavy hitting teas.

1999 Dawen 7542 (A)

I had this with Max of Teas We Like when I visited Hawaii where it sat amongst a number of good Malaysian stored 1999-2001 teas. This one has been mostly Taiwan stored and even with the storage it maintains a high degree of strength. Having it on its own I quite like it. I do see the lineage here from this tea all the way up through the 2005 versions. It’s a slightly wetter antique wood taste with mushroom. Quite strong and the aftertaste extends into the throat. Causes a good amount of salivation. Very satisfying tea.

Takeaways & Changing Over Time

The 7542 blend has changed significantly throughout the years. This can be attributed to two primary reasons (a) production quantity ramped up, watering down the leaf quality + overtaxing the tea plants and (b) demand for more quickly drinkable tea that does not need to be traditionally stored. Dayi has also shifted towards the numbered recipes representing more of their lower-end material, something that I don’t believe was as true in the 1990s or earlier. This has all resulted in the 7542 blend getting demonstrably weaker. Depending on the storage (a huge factor), 7542 can have a few different profiles but one I associate with 2005 and earlier is a strong, pungent mouthfeel that almost feels too strong for the initial steeps that eventually softens as you get into the mid steeps. This is not something that I find for the majority of the post 2006 products. Maybe the 901, but even if you don’t consider price I’m still uncertain on its future.

Teas like 2007 and 2008 7542 (despite being nearly 20 years old) are very inexpensive (like $0.10/g), partly due to crashing Dayi prices (they were more $$ 5 years ago) but also because they aren’t great teas and never will be. At one point these were like stocks but now these are seen (correctly) as overproduced, humble, greenish factory tea. Another confounding factor is storage standards which have gotten drier as time has passed, with notable changes in the 2000s.

There’s also a bit of a shift during the reform period. I like the 2005 7542s (502 and 504) I’ve tried but they don’t quite capture the power and expansiveness of pre reform 7542 like the 2003 Purple Dayi or Traditional Yun.

7542 Timeline as I see it:

• Pre-2004 – Expensive but good if you can find real Menghai TF. At some point before dry storage became more common in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the recipe was almost certainly intended for the more intense traditional storage.
• 2004-2006 – Dayi reforms in 2004. Rather than a complete drop off a cliff the quality remained decent for at least 2005 and to a lesser extent 2006.
• 2007-2008 – Pretty bad. 2007 in particular many of the teas are just not that good.
• 2009-Onwards – The famed 901 is seen by some as a return to form. Otherwise there are some functional but not great teas in this range.

Recommendations

The pu’erh market is certainly not completely efficient in matching tea quality to price but when it comes to the most famous factory and recipe, it’s not exactly unknown ground so I do think quality will at least somewhat correlate with pricing especially when we are comparing Dayi to other Dayi. The fakes remain a problem if you are picking up tea. Certainly do not trust unvetted vendors peddling the cheapest version you can find. Storage is also important. Make sure you’re vetting the storage before going too deep in the water.

• Value Pick – The 2010 7542/2011 7542 remains a good value at $50. 2009 7542 is a better tea, but not really worth the 3-4x price difference. I don’t think this will ever be that great of a tea, so I wouldn’t bother buying a huge amount for aging and I still don’t get very excited in the morning if this is on the tea schedule but it’s mostly fine. These two give a decent idea of what 7542 is about at a very modest cost.
• If You Can Afford It – Honestly anything pre-reform (pre-2004) is worth trying if you can get it from a verifiable source, assuming it is reasonably stored and you can afford it. One of the criticisms I got of my pro-factory propaganda in recommending mid 2000s teas is that they don’t necessarily represent what makes the earlier era of factory tea special. Especially if you aren’t very price sensitive this is fair enough. So why not go for the good stuff? These are not value picks but there are qualities to these teas that are hard to find in post-reform Dayi. Quiche is probably currently the best place to sample them. If you want to talk yourself into it these are about $1.5-$2/g. So you are still talking sub $10 for a nice factory session. Again, it struggles a bit against other options but if you want a good 7542 these are it.
• The Moderates – 2005/2006 7542. There is some ground in between these two. By 2007, the quality of the 7542 had degraded significantly and 2007 7542 is a fraction of the price of a decent batch of 2005 despite being barely younger. These teas (with the exception of 501) represent an area where quality wasn’t quite as good as earlier but still solid enough. Even within this narrow window, 2006 tea is significantly cheaper (and also lower quality) compared with most batches of 2005 7542. And within an even narrower window, the 2005 and 2006 batch quality differs significantly (i.e. 502 > 504). Things were changing quickly in this period. You can find a later batch of 2006 7542 for around $60-70 from a reliable Dayi seller on Taobao.

VOATO & Which 7542 Make it Into My Rotation?

Over the past year I’ve drank a fair bit of 502 7542 and I do think there’s a spot in my rotation for some of these teas. The 502 hits that mid point of being not too expensive but still pretty tasty.. There is a bit of a hard cut off as most of the post 2006 teas I do not think would pass the speed test and find a spot in my rotation.

My Average Factory Tea Owned would be a solid B rating (say 2006 Dayi 8582) so, something like the 502 would be a +.5.

Stay tuned for even more Menghai Tea Factory propaganda in 2026!