Batch Numbers: What "101" and "201" Mean

A recipe code tells you which recipe a tea is, but 7542 is made every year, and more than once a year at that. To work out which year and which batch the cake in your hand is from, look at the set of digits after the recipe code: the batch number.

What a Batch Number Looks Like

The batch number usually follows the recipe code, separated by a hyphen or a space, as in 7542-501 or 7742-601. It's mostly printed next to the recipe code on the cotton paper or label, and sometimes also appears on the dapiao.

Reading Three Digits

For Dayi (Menghai Tea Factory) teas of the 2000s, a three-digit batch number reads like this:

A few documented examples:

• 7742 was batch 501 in 2005, batch 601 in 2006, and batch 701 in 2007
• 7542 had batches 801, 802, 807, and others in 2008
• 7542 had batches 501, 502, 504, and others in 2005

A higher batch sequence number means the tea was made later in the year, or that more runs were made. It's common for popular recipes to be made several times a year.

Reading Four Digits

By the 2010s, the common format had changed to four digits: the first two are the last two digits of the year, and the last two are the batch number within that year. For example, the first batch of 7542 in 2010 is written 1001, and the first batch in 2018 is 1801.

The switch wasn't clean, though. There are examples on the market of a 2011 7262 ripe cake still labeled batch 101. So three versus four digits can't be mapped neatly onto periods, and when you read a three-digit number, remember it could fall in different decades.

Numbers Recur Ten Years Apart

A three-digit batch number keeps only the last digit of the year, and that's where the trouble lies: 101 could be the first batch of 2001 or the first batch of 2011; 501 could be read as 2005 or 2015. The standard practice in the tea world is to read the batch number together with the other information on the packaging:

1. Production date: If the cotton paper or label has a full production date, go by the date.
2. Company name and trademark: The factory was restructured in 1996 and again in 2004, and the full company name and trademark version on the packaging changed with it.
3. Anti-counterfeiting features: Menghai Tea Factory began adding anti-counterfeiting features to its neifei and labels around 2005–2006; whether there are any, and which generation, can also narrow the range. See Neifei.
4. Cake format: For example, 7742 was 400 grams per cake in 2005 and 2006 and changed to 357 grams in 2007, so weight is also a clue.
5. The tea itself: Whether the color of the cake surface, the liquor color, the taste, and the signs of storage match the stated year.

One more point: Menghai Tea Factory's batch labeling was chaotic for a time around 2003, and numbers from those years don't necessarily follow the rules above, so be more cautious when reading them.

Do Batches of the Same Recipe Differ Much?

They may be nearly the same, or they may differ quite a bit. Batches of the same recipe are affected by several things:

• Raw material: Spring, summer, and autumn material differ within a year, and the order of batches may correspond to maocha from different seasons.
• Blend proportions: The recipe sets a direction, but the factory adjusts the actual regions and grade proportions according to that year's material.
• Later storage: Tea from the same batch goes to different warehouses after leaving the factory, and ten years later it will taste different.

Tea drinkers who have compared Dayi teas over the long term have observed the same thing: in some years you can hardly tell batches apart, while in others the differences are obvious. That's why collectors single out a particular batch of a particular year. Comparisons of the same recipe across years are in 7542, 8582, 7572: The Stories Behind Pu'er's Classic Recipe Codes.

Do Other Factories Use Batch Numbers?

Yes, but practices vary. Xiaguan Tea Factory also has examples of three digits added after the recipe code, such as 8653-602 cited in English-language sources, read as the 2nd batch of 8653 in 2006. Some other factories follow similar rules, some print only a production date, and many private factories and small brands have no batch numbers at all, distinguishing batches by production date.

When buying tea in Taiwan, the Chinese-language labeling on the packaging will have a manufacturing date or expiration date, which is the most direct time information; how to read these is in Production Dates and Shelf-Life Labels and Packaging Labels in Taiwan. How to read recipe codes themselves is in How Recipe Codes Work.

FAQ

What does the 101 in 7542-101 mean? It's the batch number: the first digit, 1, is the last digit of the year, and 01 is the first batch of that year. It could be the first batch of 2001 or of 2011, so judge it together with the production date on the packaging.

Is the first digit of a batch number the year? In a three-digit batch number, the first digit is the last digit of the production year. In the four-digit format common in the 2010s, the first two digits are the last two digits of the year; for example, 1801 is the first batch of 2018.

Do batches of the same recipe differ much? Not necessarily. The season of the material, blend proportions, and later storage can all cause differences; in some years the differences are small, in others obvious.

Do other factories use batch numbers? Xiaguan Tea Factory uses a similar format, such as 8653-602; many new brands and private factories have no batch numbers and distinguish batches by production date.