In celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday, we were fortunate enough to taste Song Pin Hao(宋聘号), a 100-year-old pu erh tea gifted by a tea enthusiast, and FONG’S TEA is taking this opportunity to offer you the chance to share this tea culture.
More Than 100 Years of History
Song Pin Hao – a long-established brand of Puerh tea, has enjoyed a great reputation in the Pu erh tea industry for its excellent quality and unique style since it was founded during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1875 to 1908). It is not only an important representative of Puerh tea culture but also known as the “King of Tea”, which is unique among many brands.
It was originally built in Shiping, Yunnan, and later joined with Qian Li Zhen Hao(乾利贞号) and merged to become Qian Li Zhen Song Pin Hao(乾利贞宋聘号). With its superb tea-making skills and rigorous quality management, Song Pin Hao has gradually risen to prominence in the Pu’erh tea industry and has become one of the three most recognized names in the industry for antique tea.
Collection
Later generations of Song Ping Hao round tea were mostly merged with “Qian Li Zhen Song Pin Hao”, whose trademark carries the words “Qian Li Zhen Song Pin Hao” and the “Ping An Ru Yi” logo, and differentiated by color as ‘Red Label Song Pin Hao’ and ‘Blue Label Song Ping Hao’.
In 2018, a tube of Song Pin Hao blue labels sold for HK$13,328,000 at an auction held in Tokyo Central Hong Kong.
Feel
Song Pin Hao Blue Label is a Raw Pu Erh Tea, that puts about 13 grams of weight, with 200ml of water being the most appropriate ratio. As the tea has been stored for a hundred years, the amount of water used should be slightly increased to fully utilize the essence of the tea.
The tea broth has a deep brownish-red color, which is one of the manifestations of old tea that is more than 50 years old and naturally stored and transformed.
Pu erh tea that has not experienced moisture damage and has been naturally stored and transformed has a clear and bright tea broth.
Although Song Ping Hao Blue Label has been around for a hundred years, the aroma is very distinctive when brewed, with a unique floral and plum flavor. The bitter flavor of Pu erh tea immediately changes to sweetness, and after 4-5 cups, the whole body feels warm, and Cha Qi(茶气) is very obvious, which is one of the manifestations of top-quality Pu erh tea.
The history of pu erh tea is worth exploring for all Chinese tea lovers. FONG’S TEA is honored to have a group of like-minded tea enthusiasts, and we will continue to share and bring you more and more different Chinese tea culture.
