Power corrupts, a familiar story

2008 Banzhang Gushu raw puerh

Hubris, excessive power, contains the seeds of its own destruction. This is a common story in history and all around the world. The power of the Roman empire led the emperors to employ foreign mercenaries, because Roman citizens preferred to lead an easy life, which led to Rome sacked by German barbarians. A similar story happened to Song Huizong, the Chinese emperor of the early 12th century. His government spent so much money that it literally created the first monetary inflation! He then had to fight an internal revolt against taxation (Fang La), which weakened the empire when the Jurchen invaded the North of the country. Closer to us, this is the list of the top US firms in the Dow Jones index 40 years ago:  

Allied Chemical, Aluminum Company of America, American Can, American Express Company, American Tel. & Tel., American Tobacco, Bethlehem Steel, Du Pont, Eastman Kodak Company, Exxon Corporation, General Electric Company, General Foods, General Motors Corporation, Goodyear Inco, International Business Machines, International Harvester, International Paper Company, Merck & Company, Inc., Minnesota Mining & Mfg, Owens-Illinois Glass, Procter & Gamble Company, Sears Roebuck & Company, Standard Oil of California, Texaco Incorporated, Union Carbide, United Technologies Corporation, U.S. Steel, Westinghouse Electric, Woolworth.

Only a few firms remain in this leading index today. It's very difficult to stay on top over long periods. With lots of power, overreach is a real threat. We can also see this in the tea business.

Banzhang puerh is a good example of the ups and downs of tea terroirs. In the case of puerh, the key factor of quality is the gushu, old tree quality. When this region was first discovered in the mid 2000s, the cha qi was so impressive that it quickly gained a reputation for being the 'king of puerh'. These trees had not been used often to make puerh in Yunnan. Most of the production came from the Yiwu area in the Xishuangbanna prefecture. This place had been famous for puerh since the end of the Qing dynasty (with an interruption due to WW2). The demand for gushu puerh grew so quickly after 2003 that tea businesses started to search for new places with healthy old trees.  

Banzhang emerged quickly as the most famous terroirs with its incredibly powerful Chaqi (a customer called the qi of my 2008 Banzhang "Incredible! Almost mystical! What a tea!") This fame pushed the prices of Banzhang puerh through the roof. This in turn attracted less ethical businesses who aim to satisfy the large demand of Banzhang puerh at non Banzhang prices with not Banzhang puerh. In turn, the village barricaded itself to prevent leaves from coming from other regions and being sold there as Banzhang tea. This aims to protect those who go there to purchase their tea locally. You record from which house number you sourced your tea.    

Unfortunately, it's not just greedy businessmen from outside that are a threat to Banzhang. The other threat comes from within. That threat is overexploitation of the trees. The higher the prices, the higher the incentive to harvest large amounts of leaves. People can resist a lot of things, but not temptation! If your village has been extremely poor for a long time - and Yunnan is still one of the poorest province in China-, then we can understand that ancient Banzhang puerh trees have been subjected to heavy harvestings in the last 20 years. So, even the official Banzhang gushu puerh has seen its quality decrease little by little. We can feel it in the lighter taste and in the thinner leaves from recent harvests. 

This story is quite common to new tea areas. Top quality is hard to maintain. Usually, there are ups and downs along the way. If you came for the easy ride, you'll soon be disappointed. Tea  requires discipline and humility. But it's a real pleasure to enjoy what many people consider the king of puerh picked at its peak. 

Perfect for the Christmas season!