Classic Recipe: 8582

A genuine 8582 shows a deeper gold to orange-tinged liquor, a fuller and more robust body than the finer-grade cakes, and a bitterness carried on noticeably larger, coarser leaf when you look at the spent leaves. The larger leaf grade is the whole identity of this recipe, so a thin or delicate cup labeled 8582 is suspect. As with every famous Menghai recipe, the wrapper is not proof and relabeling is common, so judge body and material in the cup and the wet leaf. The trade-off of coarse-leaf material is that it can read rougher and less immediately aromatic when young, which is expected rather than a fault. What you are buying is structure for aging, not early polish.

8582 is a Menghai (Dayi) blend of Yunnan large-leaf assamica, distinguished within the recipe family by its emphasis on larger, more mature grade-8 leaf. The recipe dates to 1985 and is generally described as having been developed in connection with a Hong Kong trading partner for a market that valued robust, storage-oriented cakes, though accounts of the exact commissioning arrangement vary. The coarser material is not a lower-quality choice but a different one: larger leaves carry the compounds that, given years of dry storage, transform into the depth this recipe is prized for.

Gongfu: 6-8 g per 100 ml in a porcelain gaiwan, 95-100°C, one brief rinse, then flash steeps of 8-12 seconds early, extending gradually; the coarse leaf is more forgiving of a slightly longer steep than tippy material, but short steeps still show the cleanest conversion. Expect 10-12 infusions. Western: about 3 g per 200 ml, 90-95°C, 2-3 minutes for the first steep, re-steeping two or three times.

Recent-year Dayi 8582 sits in the same broad band as the other raw recipes, roughly €10-22 (about $11-24) per 100 g for standard batches, with first batches and notable years higher. Aged 8582 moves into collector pricing.

Prices reviewed June 2026

8582 is a classic candidate for long dry storage: its larger-leaf material is widely credited with a high ceiling for aged depth, so stable moderate-humidity, odor-free storage over many years is the point of buying it. It tends to reward patience more than the finer-grade cakes do.

Aged 8582 from documented years is a respected category of collectible sheng, valued precisely because the coarse-leaf structure rewards long storage; authentication and provenance dominate pricing at the top end, as with all famous aged Menghai recipes. Recent-year cakes bought to age yourself are the accessible route.