Since there is a 999 cake[1], I always thought it had to do with the grading, but [2] says that the 888 is used for being 'lucky'. Comparing with [3], it seems that there are different cakes (but from the same region) with the same number.
Anybody knows the truth behind these 888, 999 and perhaps 666 cakes? :)
Did you also see the "0648" and "0678" cakes on eBay?
I can see the 888 being seen as lucky by the Chinese. But it seems like the numbers are merely product IDs. Maybe a blend number.
Since it's printed on the package rather than stamped or handwritten I'm stretching far enough to assume that it's been associated with that collection of bricks from the moment they were first pressed together.
--Blair
Hi Blair,
Well, AFAIK, a four-digit identifier tells us [1:2] the year in which the blend was created, [3] the leaf quality [4] the factory number.
So a '0648' cake would have its blend created on 2006, with fourth-grade leaves by the factory identified by the number 8 (Haiwan, I guess).
I guess you are right. Perhaps the 888 was a particularly good blend that other producers started to copy, and the 999 was another try. Besides, tea grading in a region called "lawless and wild" seems unprobable :)
Perhaps they started packaging like this not long ago.
Another grading system also seen on eBay: 642 cake, which is composed of leaf grades 6 in middle, 4 on back, and 2 on the face or some such combination. I think that's carried by dragon tea house.
other factories seem to copy recipe numbers to hope they're own version will sell better, like changtai, which releases a 7542 cake.
Chunming factory also does 702 and 902...and i'm not sure how these are numbered.
of course, the obligatory caveat: recipe numbers don't really point to much of a recipe, even within a factory, as the leaf source, leaf quality, and production methods seem to change often. . .will 2006 7542 age as well as the legendary cakes from years prior? And that's not a rhetorical question, necessarily, btw, and I think has been asked before :)
K> Hi Blair,
The 888,999 are made by the DeHong WuLiang tea factory. That seems to be the only cakes they make. The 999 is embossed on one side with the tea character on the other. The 999 is the hardest cake I have. I use a piece of it to widdle away at other black cakes. If the wrapper ever gets lost you know who made it. One of these days I'll get the 888. There is a 66 made by the 6FTM. I haven't seen a 666.
Jim
PS Google was act> Since there is a 999 cake[1], I always thought it had to do with the
No, the leaf quality this year is not as good as years past, plus the quality standards are lower, just about any maocha on the market gets readily snatched up nowadays.
You are dead on the money about the recipe numbers meaning very little, they really haven't meant much since the privatization of the Tea Factories. It is more marketing now than anything else.
To the best of my knowledge 888 is not a code. It simply represents good luck. I have tried the 888 cakes and I like them, as far as shu pu goes. Never tried the 999 but I have read that it is an iron cake which accounts for the hard compression.
_________ Mike
Interesting. Is the leaf quality declining, or just this year crop was bad?
different superstitions. 8 sounds like the word 'fa' which basically means 'earning a lot of money'; it's considered a good luck number if you want to be rich. 9 is the number of the king and 6 is it's inverse; so they are considered lucky numbers as well.
As for the cakes, dunno.
See, I was once told that too by a vendor. Since then, I've been told it's used only for cataloguing to be able to identify a certain batch of tea that was made by a factory. Some of the numbers are supposed to correspond to certain factories, but I am not sure.
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.