99 Ghost Blue Mark
The emergence of the 99 Ghost Blue Mark has intricate connections with the custom-made 8582 and 8592 by Nantian Company in Hong Kong. In the mid to late 1980s, the custom 8582 and 8592 seven-child cakes by Nantian Company were a great success in Hong Kong, leading tea merchants in places like Hong Kong and Guangzhou to see an opportunity.
In August 1994, Hong Kong tea merchant Wu Shurong approached Shenzhen Fuhua Company, a subsidiary of the Provincial Tea Company, to produce a batch of high-quality puerh tea. Fuhua Company took this order very seriously, acquiring over 70 tons of tea materials, and initially pressed a batch of tea cakes, which were roughly shaped and thus nicknamed "cow dung cakes."
The 99 Ghost Blue Mark is a continuation of the cow dung cakes and the Indigo Large Blue Mark. With the experience gained from pressing the cow dung cakes, Fuhua Company used raw materials from 1992-1994 from areas like Menghai Banzhang, Yiwu, and Mengsong, mimicking the style of the printed tea packaging from the past, to press the Indigo Large Blue Mark. The Large Blue Mark series became a benchmark for custom teas in the 90s.
The 99 Ghost Blue Mark, also known as the 99 Ghost Face Blue, gets its name from the text printed on the tea cake, with a unique deep purple-blue hue, hence the peculiar nickname "Ghost Blue Mark" given by the market.
The label of the 99 Ghost Blue Mark completely imitates the packaging of the printed teas from the 50s to 60s, featuring from right to left in traditional Chinese characters “
中國茶業公司雲南省公司” (“Yunnan Provincial Company of the China Tea Corporation”) with the Zhongcha logo in the middle, and below in small traditional characters “
中茶牌圓茶” (“Zhongcha Brand Round Tea”)
printed in a deep ink blue, as mysterious as its history.
printed in a deep ink blue, as mysterious as its history.
Who produced the 99 Ghost Blue Mark? Some say it was the Menghai Tea Factory, others claim it was the Xiaguan Tea Factory. However, based on existing information, it's not possible to trace back which factory produced the 99 Ghost Blue Mark. The Provincial Tea Company only handled orders and issued production plans, and its subsidiary factories included Menghai Tea Factory, Xiaguan Tea Factory, Kunming Tea Factory, and Fengqing Tea Factory, making it hard to pinpoint exactly which factory made this batch.
The label of the 99 Ghost Blue Mark uses a thick, grid-patterned paper, making it highly recognizable. The 99 Ghost Blue Mark is blended with materials from Banzhang and Old Man'e, resulting in a large cake face, with a diameter of about 20 centimeters, giving it a grand feel in hand. The sides of the cake are even, resembling an iron cake. The overall aroma of the tea cake is excellent, with a high fragrance that can be smelled even through the cotton paper.
The 99 Ghost Blue Mark is beloved by seasoned tea collectors for its intense and robust taste. The blend of Old Banzhang and Old Man'e gives it a thick and concentrated flavor profile, with strong bitterness and astringency, quick saliva production, and a lasting sweet aftertaste, making it a benchmark of the 90s Blue Mark series.