An Introduction to Pu-erh Tea

Jan 21

An Introduction to Pu-erh Tea

In many people’s eyes who consider themselves connoisseurs of tea, Pu-erh tea is in a completely different world as “ordinary” tea. True Pu-erh tea all starts out as a mostly unoxidized green leaf that is specifically harvested from the Yunnan province of China and only from Yunnan. Along with the tea only being from Yunnan, they only harvest leaf from tea trees rather than bushes that have been trimmed back where most tea originates. Some trees are close to a thousand years old and still producing tea. These tea trees are a specific variety of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis var. assamica, but all you need to know is they are slightly different in chemical composition which makes it ideal for aging.

It can be in two forms, cooked (ripe) and uncooked (raw). Raw Pu-erh is directly compressed while cooked goes through a fermentation process, or “ripening,” before it is compressed. Most of the tea is compressed into various shapes, the most common is a cake or “bing”, but some is kept as loose tea and sold in that form. Pu-erh is very sought after because of its ability to age just like wine would although loose Pu-erh does not age much, and cooked is meant to be drunk immediately although it can be stored for further aging as well; raw Pu-erh is the ideal tea for aging.

Among those who are familiar with Pu-erh, it is important to keep in mind that not all Pu-erh will age well, although high quality ones will, and sometimes a Pu-erh will never be good no matter what. Just like fine wine, the quality of the product you end up with is a result of the quality of the product that you put into it. This means starting with the highest quality leaf, processing it correctly, and also storing it properly. Although these are good guidelines to go by most of the process of finding a good Pu-erh is the same as finding any good teas, experimenting, trying different ones, and following your personal tastes.