Enjoying Unique Pu'er...An Enchanting Tea Experience...

Pu'er...Demystifying this Valuable Tea Opportunity...

Pu'er tea, or Pu erh tea, offers a drinking experience distinctly different from the classic teas we have become familiar with...Different from what current-era teas have evolved to and what we conceptualize as Tea.

Why does it matter, and why would one venture out of their tea comfort zone into something different and strange?

Because it is SO worth it.

 Whether you are passionate or have a mild curiosity about tea, Pu'er tea will bring you a new dimension and appreciation for what tea is, as well as a glimpse at what tea was like when people first began steeping tea leaves.

So, just what is Pu erh tea?...

I love to start this conversation with a passage from Ukers in 1935, upon the realization of the wonders of Pu'er tea:

Mother Nature's Primeval Tea Garden:

"Before any thought was given to dividing this land into separate states, it consisted of one primeval tea garden where the conditions of soil, climate, and rainfall were happily combined to promote the natural propagation of tea..."

Yunnan province in southwest China, the home of Pu erh tea, is the epicenter of the region botanists have identified as the likely origin of the tea species.

Tealeaves have grown on Ancient Tea Trees there for millennia, and have been harvested, consumed, and traded by mountain villagers as part of their indigenous culture. 

It all begins with the leaf material...Maocha...

Unique to the harvested tealeaves of this region is a natural microbial fermentation, induced by molds, bacteria, and yeast on the surface of the leaves that combine with internal enzymes.

The result?...

The maturation and fermentation of the leaves results in an enhanced, mellow, silky mouthfeel that continues to improve over time.

Combine this natural, time-induced nuance with the inherent clean, herbaceous-vegetal, smooth mouthfeel and earthy, rich-garden-soil, autumn-leaf-pile, roasted, sweet undertones, and you experience a character like no other tea type.

In China, this darkened tea is considered heicha, translated as black tea. This is why what we in the West consider black tea is called hong cha or red tea in China.

There is more that makes this tea ultra-desirable...

The reputation of Pu erh tea goes way beyond excellence in the cup and the mouth...

Pu'er tea has gained a reputation for digestive and cardiovascular benefits, amongst the typical advantages of the tea plant. Digestive health, arterial health, neurological health, and cholesterol health are all considered health strengths of Pu erh teas.

See Our Pu erh Tea Selections Here...

Demand grows...The development of Ripe Pu'er...

In the 1950s, after the Chinese Civil War, British-controlled Hong Kong saw an influx of mainland Chinese refugees. With the population shift came a growing desire for the Pu'er teas of south Yunnan. There was a demand for more Pu erh tea, particularly the mellow, aged version.

The demand increase led to the development of a standardized process for the darkening of the tealeaves that sought to recreate the effect of aging the pu erh tea.

By the 1970s, this process had reached Yunnan, the origin of the leaves, where it further evolved and was refined into an art form in its own right.

The process of artificial aging (similar to the idea of short-term composting), known as wodui or wet pile, does not directly duplicate the nuance of the naturally aged Pu'er. However, it produces a second amazing, delightful category of Pu erh tea.

Pu'er Tea Factors...What to Know...

Raw vs Ripe

As a result of the Pu'er tea evolution, we now have the original, naturally aged version we refer to as raw, in Mandarin sheng or qing, and the ripe, known as shou or shu.

Both versions will naturally age and develop over time after the initial processing of the tealeaves. The raw begins with maocha, specific, crude, down-covered leaves, that are sun-dried and naturally aged. The ripe also begins with maocha, but undergoes artificial aging or darkening before its natural aging begins.

Loose or Pressed?

Long before the development of ripe Pu'er tea, the reputation of raw Pu erh tea and its digestive and cardiovascular benefits spread throughout Southeast Asia and beyond, to far-reaching places like Mongolia and Tibet.

Heavy, meat-rich diets in the grasslands and plains made the digestive properties of Pu'er tea highly desirable and led to an understanding of the cardiovascular advantages as well.

Pu'er City became not only the namesake for the region's tea, but also the primary origin of the Tea Horse Road, on which tea caravans would take months-long journeys to deliver the infamous tea to far-away places.

Tea packed in burlap sacks was vulnerable to spillage and pilfering, giving way to the development of pressed plates or Beeng Cha stacked seven plates high and wrapped in bamboo sheaths, called tongs, that were then bundled into loose-woven bamboo baskets, which would become saddlebags for horses, camels, and people to carry on the Tea Horse Road.

Today, Pu'er tea is available both loose and pressed, and the pressing of Pu erh tea has become a cultural technique for transporting, collecting, and aging.

Two styles of tea gardens...

Today, leaves are harvested from wild-grown arbor-style gardens consisting of younger, older, and ancient tea trees and cultivated gardens grown from native genetic material.

While arbor-style gardens create challenges in harvesting leaves from trees of varying sizes, cultivated gardens are groomed to optimize production and harvesting.

Which Pu'er to drink?...

Raw, ripe, young, aged, arbor, cultivated, loose, pressed...

With Pu'er tea, there is a lot to know and enjoy, and no rush to know it all.

We purchase Pu erh tea to experience and enjoy it, to get the health benefits, and maybe to collect and appreciate.

Understanding the background of the tea enhances the experience and may help guide you in choosing Pu erh teas you will enjoy.

In the cup, raw will be clean and herbaceous-vegetal, with smooth mouthfeel and earthy, rich-garden-soil, autumn-leaf-pile, roasted, sweet undertones...I like to steep raw Pu'er with water temperatures typically used for green teas, around 175°F, and to steep to a medium amber color...

See Raw Pu'er Selections Here...

Ripe will be more robust, a deeper amber broth with rich, earthy tones, leaving the lighter, vegetal character of the raw behind. Ripe Pu erh tea will be sweet, smooth, and soothing with an aroma of petrichor - the scent of the forest floor after rain. For ripe Pu'er tea, I like to use black tea temperatures, from 195-210°F, then steep to a deeper amber color...

See Ripe Pu'er Selections Here...

 

Put your mind at ease...

Relying on your tea purveyor for suggestions, guidance, and knowledge of Pu'er teas will confirm that your choices are right for the Pu'er experience you would like.

With Pu erh teas, the fact that they age with time opens an unfortunate possibility of misrepresented and copied teas. Trusting your source is encouraged when it comes to Pu'er teas, especially aged...

Pu'er...Pu erh...Which is it?...

In ancient China, villagers in the 14 Famous Mountains surrounding Pu'er City would bring wild-grown tealeaves into the city to trade for other goods. Thus, the regional mountain tea was named Pu'er tea.

The Mandarin Chinese Pinyin romanization is Pu'er. The Wade-Giles romanization system translates to Pu-erh or P'u-erh. In Hong Kong, factoring in the Cantonese influence, the local translation sound would be Bo-lei.

All this to say, the nomenclature is another factor that makes this tea all the more mystical...

Pu erh teas, particularly raw Pu'er teas, remain as they have been for centuries. They are a precursor to the modern-era teas that have evolved or developed from this leaf material and style. With each sip, Pu erh teas are like taking a step back in time...

See All Pu'er Selections Here...

See Raw Pu'er Selections Here...

See Ripe Pu'er Selections Here...

Steeping Perfection...