Jingmai vs Menghai
Two Yunnan pu-erh areas that stand for two different things: Jingmai for old forest-interplanted gardens and an unusual floral sheng, Menghai for the factory where wet-piling was industrialised and the reference shou style was set.
growing region
What is being compared
Point by point
| Aspect | Jingmai | Menghai |
|---|---|---|
| Position | A Lancang mountain area. | The county at the centre of pu-erh manufacture. |
| Elevation | Roughly 1,200 to 1,600 m. | Roughly 1,000 to 1,700 m. |
| What it is known for | Very old tea gardens interplanted with forest. | Industrial-scale processing, and the shou style other ripe pu-erh is described against. |
| Characteristic sheng | Distinctly floral and orchid-scented, which is unusual among pu-erh origins. | The stock behind a great deal of both sheng and shou; Menghai Da Ye is the cultivar name. |
| Shou production | Not what the area is known for. | Where wet-piling was industrialised in the 1970s. |
| What a wrapper claiming it is buying | Garden age and forest ecology, both hard for a buyer to verify. | A processing lineage and a house style, which is easier to taste. |
The short answer
Jingmai claims are about the trees and Menghai claims are about the factory, which is why one is much harder to check than the other. A Menghai-style shou can be judged in the cup; an old-garden claim largely cannot.
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