Menghai Tea Factory

Menghai Tea Factory (Da Yi brand) is the institutional standard for compressed pu-erh tea — the largest and most historically significant pu-erh producer in Yunnan. Founded in 1940 by the Chinese National Tea Company, the factory has produced cake recipes (7542 for sheng, 7572 for shou) that have become globally recognised quality benchmarks. Their numbered cake recipes encode the recipe year and harvest grade.

Menghai Tea Factory's 7542 and 7572 recipes are the global reference points for sheng and shou pu-erh — as foundational to pu-erh knowledge as Bordeaux's first growths are to Bordeaux. Their vintage cakes, particularly pre-2004 state-enterprise productions, have achieved extraordinary collector prices at Hong Kong auction houses. The factory's Da Yi brand is the most widely traded pu-erh label globally.