I’m not fortunate enough to have tried 50s Red Mark but I have tried the 50s Pu Tian Gong which is reported to be similar. This tea is supposedly an attempt recreate the original recipe of the 50s red mark. I’m sure that in 50 years it will be liquid gold. As it stands now I’d take it over any 7542 I’ve had from the late 90s onward. This tea is powerful but smooth. Perfectly balanced sweetness and bitterness that’s never harsh. Strong storage notes that are entirely clean and positive. Strong woody, earthy spicy and woody, leathery notes that are never funky, musty or solventy like many humid stored teas. Deeply warming qi with good calm alertness but no jitters. At 15 years old this tea is already very pleasant to drink and I see it only improving over the next several decades…if it lasts that long. Tea this good that lacks collectibility is usually drunk more quickly. A great counterpoint to the drier Taiwan stored boutique Yiwu teas I typically consume. After consuming a good deal of Menghai area teas that have been aged in Malaysia, Taiwan, Guangzhou and least impressively Kunming, I’m convinced that traditional HK storage is the ticket with these teas and if anyone is sourcing, processing and storing these teas better than Yee On Tea I want to try them.
