Mei Leaf / Chinalife - 1600 Year old Pu-erh

I nominate you! haha

I had suspected he may very well sell good tea. He’s been in the tea business for something like 15 years as I understand it. You don’t stay in the tea business for that long by selling bad tea. I just doubt his claims on several products. They might well be tasty teas I just don’t think his claims are truthful.

If you like the tea, great! But the chances of his claims re: age of the trees being true is about 1/100000000000. And that’s being generous.

I see cakes of Tiger Spirit are out of stock now; only samples left. It would be great to have at least one review of that tea, otherwise it will just go down as a thing of legend.

If he really did fake it intentionally there may be a 2016 Tiger Spirit, just wait. And the Sacred Owl is also unlikely to be from 1000 year old trees. When buyers will pay ridiculous prices for tea from such aged tea do you think he could afford to sell it so cheaply. I would expect a cake of 1000 year tree tea to go for at least $400 or $500 and they probably wouldn’t chance ruining the leaves by making it into a ripe tea. I would like to believe in his sacred owl tea but I just don’t.

The cakes seem to be back in stock, at least when I clicked on the link just now.

The thing that makes sacred owl unlikely is the same thing that makes ripe Ban Zhang Tea nonexistent, the leaves are so valuable almost no one who buys them is willing to risk ruining them in a batch of ripe tea gone bad and sometimes an entire ripe batch is screwed up and essentially worthless. If you have 1000kg worth of maocha worth $800 to $1000 per kg are you going to risk it in a ripe batch. This is the same reason a tea recently offered on Yunnan Sourcing is so rare, a ripe Lao Man E brick. This brick is only plantation material but the leaves are still very valuable because they are Lao Man E. The leaves in Sacred Owl, if real, would be worth much more than this one.
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/2016-hai-lang-hao-teas/4365-2016-hai-lang-hao-lao-man-e-ripe-pu-erh-tea-brick.html

An example of the price of a real LBZ gushu is this one by Yunnan Sourcing. It is quite a few times the price of the LBZ gushu by Mei Leaf.
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/hai-lang-hao/4078-2016-hai-lang-hao-lao-ban-zhang-gu-shu-ancient-arbor-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake-400-grams.html

You’re right about the cakes being back in. They must have sourced a few more.
I see your point about the Sacred Owl in that it does seem rather cheap. Ditto for the lbz. Btw, that yunnan sourcing tea is their most expensive tea!

My point in posting the Yunnan Sourcing LBZ was to point out that the Mei Leaf LBZ was way below market price for LBZ by a wide margin and either is a fake or he dramatically underpaid the tea farmers for their harvest. Neither is a good thing to do.

Allan, thanks for sharing those links. It does seem from those of you with wisdom about this stuff that his claims are unlikely to be true. I am going to err on the side of giving him the benefit of the doubt about not intentionally misleading …. I think I will purchase samples of those two you shared so that I can taste some truly ancient tree puer alongside those from CL I ordered. :)

Faking tea is more common than you realize. Mei Leaf would not be the first or the last to fake a tea. Some of the worst fakes show up on an Aliexpress search for puerh tea. The best example is fifty year old ripe tea offered for perhaps $9.99 or so. Ripe tea was invented in 1973 but that does not stop some Aliexpress vendors from advertising even older ripe tea. This raw tea is an example of a really blatant fake. Real tea that age, even if not very good, would go in the high four figures at least.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Made-in-1960-Raw-Pu-Er-Tea-357g-Oldest-Puer-Tea-Ansestor-Antique-Honey-Sweet-Dull/2011373190.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.206.DxmWkh&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_4_10065_10068_10000009_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10060_10061_10062_10056_10055_10054_10059_10099_10078_10079_427_10073_10103_10102_10096_10052_10050_10051,searchweb201603_4,afswitch_3&btsid=f67b88f9-3de8-41b7-a3a4-d8c077539705

Wow! I’m sure intentional fakes do abound. I have loved finding all of these great small vendors that seem very transparent and trustworthy. I kind of thought CL was one but perhaps not as much as I thought… I at least have some everyday drinkers from them that I do love!

Crimson Lotus is good. I have not seen any fakes on his site and his tea is usually quite good. I ordered a few teas from them during the Black Friday sale when he had 10% off. To my knowledge he doesn’t offer any of the sorts of tea likely to be faked either. He doesn’t have anything from 1990, or Lao Ban Zhang village, or 1000year old tree, etc.

Yeah, Crimson Lotus seems really great. I’ve ordered a few things from them.

Another thing about fakes too, sometimes they are still good tea and if you didn’t pay more than you think it’s worth then it’s ok sometimes to buy something you think is a fake.

Exactly what I was thinking! I don’t care about the actual age of the tree as long as I like the tea and am comfortable with what I paid for it.

I pulled the trigger and will let you know how they are.

mrmopar This man will give you an analysis of that leaf that comes from years of experience and a lot of respect. Looking forward to reading about them.

^ Can’t wait!

I just grabbed the in-stock stuff. A couple of them were still sold out.

I also notice that the photographs of their people picking leaf are up high in the tree so you can’t see the circumference at the base, the measurement they were using to determine age.

This thread has definitely boosted his sales! I’m a little wary about the restocking bit…if he could only get a tiny bit of maocha, farmer direct, how does he suddenly have more cakes? I suppose he could have added stock from his retail store to his web inventory or something…

Anyway, I’ll wait for mrmopar’s opinion. I trust his palate implicitly!

Hopefully I can make a determination. You all give me too much credit! If it is good in the cup that is he main reason to drink it. Old tree or young tree it has to taste good first. Fingers crossed..

@mrmopar, did you buy a whole cake or a sample on the Tiger Spirit?

Tiger Spirit was out when I bought the samples. It was back in stock as of yesterday and I emailed them about adding some to the order since it hasn’t shipped. No reply as of yet.

I noticed they released a video which included an update on Tiger Spirit. It’s limited.
https://youtu.be/9S366nOMc_Q

Tiger order was placed. They replied to my query.

Good. I think Tiger Spirit has been removed so perhaps you got the last one.

T-shirts of it are available though, which makes it live on:
http://chinalifeweb.com/shop/product/tee-tgmm/

They were nice. They combined my orders and sent a refund on shipping on the second one.

They are very nice. When they got a shipment of Bai Ji Guan in October, it wasn’t the same tea they agreed to buy. He gave it away since he couldn’t sell it because it wasn’t to his standards. It was sent to me free of charge with no shipping. I’ve bought most of his teas, and they are some of the best I have ever had, including the sacred owl. I have a cake of Tiger Spirit that I haven’t tasted yet, and I’m glad I bought it when I did. They are just about out of it, and are looking for a replacement to start selling. The Sacred Owl was, the way Don described it, an experiment by a grower he knows and because he couldn’t make as much money on it will not be doing it again. Maybe Tiger Spirt is made from 1600 year old trees, and maybe it isn’t, but Don Mei is not cheating people. His tea is amazing, and he is doing everything he can to teach people how to correctly brew and cherish fine teas. I’m looking forward to the reviews of his teas on here. I know they are going to be highly regarded. No, I don’t know him, or work for him. I have however learned more about tea, and how to properly brew from him from his videos than I ever knew before.

Just watched a little of that new vid—they’re definitely aware of this thread and it’s a response to what’s been said here for sure :) Hi Don and Celine! I’d like to see what the Tiger Spirit is like but I’ll let everyone else check it out since I have pu erh coming out of my ears over here right now! lol.

@tealifehk Interesting that you think that. It’s a shame they weren’t impressed by the 2016 Tiger Spirit could-have-been leaves and settled for a measly 500 year old tree instead. Anyway, their latest video is worth a watch just for a laugh: https://youtu.be/nGLFWGJQhXU

They are in. Should I put them in the pumi for a while or get to them quick?

I say give them a fair chance. A few days in the pumi :)

I received an order today too and have the same question. I think I will try it now with the thinking that it will only get better.

This would tempt me if I hadn’t already been tempted twice by discounts from Yunnan Sourcing. I have a Lao Man E ripe that hopefully will arrive in a few days and some old ripe puerh that just shipped. Three different ripes from the 90’s. Two of which I have already tried and were excellent. One that is yet a mystery to me.

they say tiger spirit is low stock in one of their videos. someone try it and report back… for science.

I couldn’t bring myself to buy it… I think I have already spent a little too much lately on “tuition tea.” Joining Steepster has been very educational – just went down the rabbit hole reading the whole Verdant 1800 year old tree thread here and on Reddit and feel a little chagrined at my trust in Verdant and Chinalife. But oh well.

But I did take advantage of the sale to buy some more of the Amber GABA Oolong, which I have really been enjoying.

Yeah in most cases claims above 500 year old trees are false or at least impossible to prove. And when tea from such old trees doesn’t sell for a small fortune I’m doubly suspicious. There is little doubt that actual 1600 year old tree tea and the grower would have many buyers competing for the leaf. It is doubtful that Mei Leaf could buy it for so low a price that they could charge 150 pounds. If Mei Leaf were charging more it would lend a little bit of credence, but not much.

We have all bought ‘Tuition Tea’, part of the curve.

Hey Bobby! That’s very generous of you. I typed out a longer reply earlier, but I’m the impatient type and hate retyping replies. lol.

Rui is in the UK and would be a good judge of the quality of the Tiger Spirit. What was the Sacred Owl experience like?

OK, I’ll gladly send out a sample to Rui. This year I am planning on buying less volume and trying to get good quality. I know a higher price is paid through a UK shop, but I am assuming/hoping that the premium on price is worth their effort of testing and sampling and curating a decent collection. ChinaLife was going to be a part of my change in purchasing style for 2017, so I am particularly keen to get other peoples feedback.

The Sacred Owl was very interesting. I brewed it too light on the first session, but feel I got it right second time around. It can really take some heat and brew time. Zero astringency, very rounded. Dried red dates / goji berry notes. Loose compression, very large leaves. I’d say that I’m glad I bought it.

The Sacred Owl may very well be an excellent tea but the odds that it is from 1000 year old tea trees is slim at best. The farmers would have many competitors for purchasing such leaf and it is doubtful that Mei Leaf could get it for such a low price.

Good to hear about the Sacred Owl. I have a cake of that, too, I haven’t tried yet. As long as its yummy, I don’t mind that I bought it. Who cares how old the tree really was. :)

I agree with that attitude, if the tea tastes good and wasn’t too expensive than it is worth it. I wish tea sellers would sell a tea for what it is and not think they have to make up false claims to sell a tea. If a tea is good it will sell.

Exactly.

The thing I like about Yunnan Sourcing is they don’t make up any false claims about their teas.

The tea in the cup never lies. Old , young or in between. if it tastes good I will drink it.

Thank you guys for the sample offer but that is not necessary as I have one of the initial cakes sold about a year ago. The reason I have abstained from this conversation is because very young shengs are not my cup of tea (I am a Yiwu lover). Anyway a couple of minutes ago I chipped off a fair amount from the back of the cake and posted a couple of pictures in Instagram. My id is a._rui and please just send me a permission request as it is a private account. I’ll be trying the tea sometime this weekend but meanwhile enjoy the photos.

Since there are few of us living around London why don’t we meet up in Chinalife one weekend as they have Gong Fu facilities?

How many of us do you think there are in London area?

Why? Are we planning a protest outside the shop?!

Yeah ive made a placard & bought a megaphone.

Nah, i’m just interested in how many of us there are around here anyway

I’ll be in London in six weeks or so—my first time in England, and Im a British Citizen!

You should smuggle some black market tea in. Kilos of puerh wrapped around your waist under a big jacket

lol. How much tea can actually be brought into the UK?

I don’t know actually! Never had enough good tea to need to know

I don’t want to sound like an overly cynical broken record but I can’t emphasize enough how little the chance of an amazing discount is.

I’m not saying the tea is bad, but the odds of the trees being that old are minuscule.

Did you read the Verdant 1800 y/o trees thread on Steepster?

Gushu material has a very distinct mouthfeel and energy. Try comparing some samples of young plantation material and gushu material from a trusted source, it’s a good step in ones tea education!

And a very amazing discount it would be, those leaves would probably sell for over a thousand dollars a bing at market rates, just a educated guess.

The Tiger has landed. Careful it doesn’t bite.
I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

^ this pretty much. I’ll also state that I don’t really agree with the sentiment of buying this or giving any money to this sort of marketing.

Verdant’s big lie sold out as did this. It’s gotta be discouraging for no-BS pu’erh sellers to see these big tree marketing claims be rewarded with business..

Looking at the leaves first hand…. I think they might be from 2000 year old trees. Maybe jesus planted them ;)

So I tried the tea this morning and took some more photos https://flickr.com/photos/30847866@N06/sets/72157674867834694
It tasted different to other raw pu erh that I’ve had before. Very easy drinking. It was very steady and really good. Low on the energy, I didn’t feel like I had a caffeine headache afterwards. Fairly long aftertaste (but not the longest I’ve had). I believe this will be exceptional once it has some proper age on it. Glad to have it in my collection.

The label states Bing Dao. It says it has been rewrapped but this happens a lot more than people think. It is a ‘Pasted’ wrapper that was done a lot in the past. As long as the tea is good it speaks for itself. Mine will arrive soon as it is in Jamaica NY.

‘Rewrapped’ doesn’t sound commensurate with getting it pressed for yourself from maocha you bought in the mountains

It could have been one they sourced and pressed and then put their wrapper on. I may have read it wrong.

Gotcha. I don’t read Chinese so we really need someone who does to check it out

I can do a little but I am nowhere as adept as I should be.

Thank you, that fits the description then. From Rob’s description it does sound like it could be gushu tea, and decent stuff. I’d like to try some

Many thanks for the translation Wei. I’m looking forward to mrmopar tasting notes. Irritatingly I don’t have enough experience to determine much about the tea. Still wondering what Rui thinks too.

I know! I don’t actually really believe the age. I completely agree with you… it makes zero sense and doesn’t really add up. However I have tried tea from the seller before, I like watching his videos and I most likely would have bought the current premium sheng from him (regardless of the claims of age).

Yeah, that’s why I said. Either enjoy other cheaper puer or accept the chance and gamble. This is not the first time or the last this happens. But I’m sure they have good tasting teas. I’ve bought my share of fakes, some knowingly, other I was duped. But I’ve learned along the way, and now I make my own gambles. HOWEVER, at this point if I as a buyer can learn this much about tea that I can say this is most likely cheater or cheated situation. It does say a lot if a seller is still capable of claiming it. :/

I will know in a few days. My samples are in Jamaica NY.

Looking forward to it. I bet it isn’t a bad tea, I bet it will be like last time where it was a ‘Meh’ tea sold as Gushu.