Six Famous Tea Mountains began production in 2002. Like many, founder Ruan Dianrong (1968- ) has Menghai TF connections. However, Ms Ruan’s four-year stint dealt mostly with establishing production standards and marketing. Her role in helping Menghai/Dayi and puerh more broadly develop a consumer base cannot be underestimated, being the first to establish commemorative cakes, puerh tea art, connect Menghai with puerh in the minds of consumers, set up Dayi branches throughout China, promote tea tourism, and to publish on puerh through major Beijing publishing houses.
From very early, 6FTM has taken standards in production highly, including within their sexy neipiao data on how clean from pesticides their offerings are, traditional art motifs, and poetry. They specialize in recipes comprised of a blend of materials from Hekai in Menghai and Fengqing in Lincang, but also offer an extensive line of Xishuangbanna productions from individual mountains. Anyone familiar with Yunnan gold or other hongcha from Yunnan will instantly recognize the taste in many 6FTM productions. This is because the most famous hongcha comes from Fengqing. The taste is quite similar to Daxueshan, both possessing a high floral character that is extremely popular.
Productions from before ’06 mark the golden age of 6FTM. This is the period when they were commissioned by Wistaria in the production of many of their famous offerings.
’02 Purple Mark Ripe
This is 6FTM’s iteration of the 7262 formula made famous by Dayi in the mid 90s. Comprised of big tree material, it is recognized as next-level ripe artistry. Intense dark chocolate notes. evocative of Guinness beer. Balanced bitterness and sweetness. Very conservatively stored. This offering still has a great deal of grit for those who favour in-your-face ripes. Bug-bitten wrapper. Stored since May ’21. 357g.
44¢
’03 6FTM & Zhongcha Green Mark
Comprised of Yiwu spring tips processed in old-school Yiwu fashion similar to the Menghai style. Moderate Guangdong storage from private seller. Sugars have emerged in moderately sweet production. Stored in LA since Autumn ’20. 357g.
81¢
’05 Yiwu Laoshu tuo
If there is one 6FTM offering to cut one’s teeth upon without breaking the bank, then this is it. Qi is deadly. Traditional Yiwu processing style and leaf-size selection, which is both more assertive and smaller than what became recognized with Yiwu processing emerging in the naughts. Taste as of ’23 has matured to express wicker and dried cherry-berry with a cooling note of camphor on the back end. Splendid production. LA stored since Nov ’21. 100g.
60¢
’03 Mansa
Bitter-sweet wood: the woody character is trademark Yiwu; the bitterness is not. This Mansa (what later came to be known as Yiwu Mt) is processed in the old school style, consisting mostly of what appears to be 4-5 grade-sized leaves. Aged tropical wicker along with complimentary juicy smoked prune note. Stored in LA since May ’21. 357g.
51¢
‘04 Silver Bud Tuo
Sweet peat and honey nose. Minerality mixed with light aged notes. Floral bitterness forthrightly present, resonating mushrooms, green melon, and flowers in the huigan. Active in cheeks. A creeper: friendly honey broth with hints of rose transform to a feisty bitter huigan with a real attack upon the blade of the tongue and tweak of cheeks. It almost wants to taste like dianhong, but there’s an overlay of vanilla along with light peat that dianhong doesn’t have. Moderate viscostity and moderately building qi felt mostly in the brain. Stored in LA since May ’21. 100g
45¢
| Size | 6FTM Green Mark, 6FTM Green Sample, Mansa, Mansa Sample, Purple Mark, Purple Sample, Silver Bud, Yiwu Laoshu |
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