2001 Xiaguan Green Mark King Bing

This is a well-known Xiaguan production from 2001, a special 450g cake commissioned by Ye Binghuai (葉炳懷), an influential Guangdong tea merchant who created several famous cakes including the 1999 Big Green Tree, 2001 Yiwu One Leaf and 2001 Green Sun, commissioned from the Menghai factory. Mr. Ye continued to commission teas under his “XY” label from Xiaguan and Menghai.

This 450g cake is sometimes incorrectly labeled as an 8653 recipe, but it is not a standard Xiaguan production.  It does not have the characteristic Xiaguan smoky profile, and the quality of the raw material is significantly higher than what one usually finds in an 8653.  The tea is oily, resinous, with a bittersweet woodiness and a great deal of strength.

Each cake is approximately 450g, and the wrappers are slightly bug-bitten as shown in the photo.  20 years of natural Taiwan storage.