7262: A More Tender Ripe Tea

Among Menghai's classic ripe teas, 7262 is the more "delicate" one. Its material is a little finer than 7572's, with a smooth liquor and bright sweetness, and many people remember its refinement after a single taste. It's also the exception most often discussed when it comes to recipe code rules.

What the Third Digit "6" Means

In the usual reading of Menghai recipe codes, the third digit is the grade of the main material, with lower numbers meaning more tender leaf. 7262's third digit is 6, meaning mainly grade 6 material; the fourth digit, 2, stands for Menghai Tea Factory.

Compared with other ripe teas:

So "a more tender ripe tea" means that among these classic ripe teas, 7262 uses finer material. It doesn't mean it's bud-grade "palace" ripe pu'er. For grades of loose ripe pu'er, see Grades of Loose Ripe Pu'er.

Why 7262 Is an Exception

By the rules, the first two digits are the year the recipe started, so 7262 should read as 1972. But that reading has a major contradiction: the Dayi Group's chronology says artificial wet-pile fermentation of ripe tea was proven successful only in 1973. With no mature ripe tea process yet in 1972, a 1972 ripe tea recipe is hardly possible.

The tea world has a few accounts of 7262's origins:

• The majority view: 7262 is a ripe tea recipe that appeared and went into mass production only in the 1990s, and "72" doesn't stand for a year.
• Another view: the first two digits are just a code carried over by numbering habit, with no connection to an actual year, so there's no need to force the rules onto it.

Dayi groups 7262 with 7542, 7572, 8582, and 8592 as the "five classic recipes," but its published chronology doesn't state when 7262 began. So the safest understanding is that 7262's third and fourth digits follow the rules, while its first two digits are an exception. The recipe code rules as a whole are explained in 7542, 8582, 7572: The Stories Behind Pu'er's Classic Recipes and How Recipe Codes Work.

What Makes 7262 Good

Tea drinkers commonly describe 7262 like this:

• Liquor: bright red, with good clarity.
• Aroma: a clean ripe aroma with sweet and jujube notes; the tender material often brings a touch of glutinous sweetness.
• Mouthfeel: silky and smooth, with moderate body, never stuffy.
• Sweetness: brighter and more lifted, unlike the low, deep sweetness of 8592.
• Spent leaf: a higher proportion of buds and young leaves, reddish brown in color.

If you find 7572 a bit coarse and 8592 too heavy, 7262's refinement may be just right. For ripe pu'er aroma vocabulary, read Terms: Pile Taste, Nuo Aroma, Sweet Aroma, Caramel.

Is 7262 Still Made?

Yes. Menghai Tea Factory (Dayi) has continued to produce 7262 in recent years, and you can find versions from different years on the market, such as a 2011 batch and a 2018 7262. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, other factories also issued ripe cakes under the "7262" name, blended in the Menghai style.

So when you see 7262, check two things first:

1. The producing factory: which company is named on the package.
2. The production year: check the production date or batch number; for example, "101" means the first batch of that year.

How to Brew 7262

A more tender ripe tea can be brewed a little more gently:

• Gaiwan: 6–7 grams in 110 ml, boiling water at 100°C, rinse once.
• Pouring off: 8–12 seconds for the first few infusions. Pouring a little faster gives the silkiest liquor.
• Later infusions: lengthen gradually once the leaves open; you can get 8–10 infusions.

Steeping too long can make the tender material brew too strong and lose its silky character. Full ripe tea brewing guidance is in How to Brew Ripe Tea.

Does 7262 Suit Storage?

Ripe tea completes most of its transformation during wodui, so 7262 is ready to drink once made. After 2–3 years, the pile taste fades and the liquor gets cleaner; with longer storage, aged notes slowly emerge, but the change is smaller than with raw tea. For thinking on storage, see Should Ripe Tea Be Aged?

FAQ

Is 7262 a 1972 recipe? Generally not. Ripe tea processing was only proven successful in 1973, and most accounts say 7262 is a recipe that appeared in the 1990s, so the first two digits don't stand for a year.

What's the difference between 7262 and 7572? 7262 is mainly grade 6 material, a little finer than 7572's grade 7, with a silkier liquor; 7572 is more balanced with a bit more body.

Is 7262 raw or ripe? Ripe.

Can I still buy 7262? Dayi still produces it in recent years. When buying, just confirm the producing factory and the production year.