What is Pu’er Tea? Origins, Taste And More

While exploring the world of tea, you might have stumbled upon one of the most elusive and intoxicating tea from China, i.e., pu’er tea. In this guide, we are going to learn about this vintage tea, a great treasure from China. Hence, we will explore this tea’s first historical existence, unique processing technique, vast flavor profile, and key brewing instructions.

ORIGINS OF PU’ER TEA

It was more than 1000 years ago, demand for the green tea had grown exponentially. Tea was already being transported in compressed cake forms and sold to areas like the Himalayan region. Merchants used to bring green tea to Pu’er (a city of Yunnan province in China) and then sell it in bulks.

Transporting tea from Pu’er to other areas took months. During this long journey, tea absorbed humidity. Gradually, this damp tea, that also had natural living microorganisms changed its appearance and taste due to the natural process of fermentation. The resulting tea was named after the trading city of Yunnan. Over time, this tea became famous for its exceptional taste and medicinal properties.

Related Article: Learn the History of Tea in China, the Birthplace of Tea

HOW PU’ER TEA IS MADE?

Genuine pu’er tea comes only from the Yunnan province and is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis var. assamica. There are two different processing techniques that can produce either sheng chá (raw pu’er) or shou chá (ripe pu’er). Let’s understand this processing in more detail.

First Stage

1. STEP 1: Fresh Leaves
2. STEP 2: Withering
3. STEP 3: Fixation
4. STEP 4: Rolling & Drying
5. STEP 5: Rough Tea – máochá

Firstly, the tea leaves go through the withering process for a very short time. Later, leaves go through fixation, i.e., quickly pan-roasted at a temperature that is enough to halt the oxidation but not kill the natural microorganisms. Finally, leaves are rolled and sun-dried to produce a rough tea known as máochá.

Second Stage

1. STEP 1: máochá
2. STEP 2: Natural Fermentation
3. STEP 3: Sheng chá

or

1. STEP 1: máochá
2. STEP 2: Induced Fermentation (Wet Piling)
3. STEP 3: Sheng chá

In this stage, most of the magic begins as it involves the process of fermentation that gives this tea its distinctiveness. Many think of black/oolong tea as fully/semi-fermented tea. However, it is an inaccurate use of the term fermentation as it is the process of oxidation and not fermentation that takes place for these teas. In reality, pu’er tea is the only true tea that undergoes the process of fermentation.

Máochá (not yet fermented) can be sold as young sheng chá. However, tea masters often use máochá to make either aged sheng chá or shou chá.

Usually, aged sheng chá can be made by compressing máochá leaves and then allowing it to ferment naturally in a carefully regulated environment. Depending on the process used, it takes 10, 20, or 30+ years to reach the desired tea taste. When the tea is ready, producers halt its fermentation process.

As the aged sheng chá gained popularity, tea masters developed a new processing technique. Instead of waiting for years, wet piling technique was used to accelerate the fermentation process to produce shou chá.

This new method is to pile máochá indoors and manipulate its water content. After checking the daily status, producers may decide to turn over the leaves and add more water. Eventually, the amount of water added and the intensity of leaf shuffling in each pile influences the microorganism activity, altering the tea’s final taste. After almost three months, when shou chá is ready, tea masters dry it naturally to halt further fermentation.

Related Article: How Tea is Produced? Tea Processing and Production Steps

PU’ER TEA TASTE

Unlike most of the teas that lose their flavors over time, this tea is one of its kind, as the taste becomes better as it ages. Which means if stored properly, the older the tea is, the tastier it can become. Apart from age, flavors may differ based on the environmental conditions of the growing region such as soil composition, climate, and neighboring plants. Moreover, whether it is the withering time or the storing ambiance, each tea factory uses its inherited recipe and unique processing technique. Thus, the taste and the quality of tea produced by different factories would not be the same.

This tea has a very vast flavor profile. Especially, in the case of young sheng chá, flavors drastically evolve with time. Thus, even using the same tea will result in a different taste after months or years. To understand the flavors in more depth, we can look at two of the varieties readily available in the market. 

VARIETIES OF PU’ER TEA

As mentioned above, tea masters can use natural fermentation or induced fermentation to produce two types of tea i.e. raw tea (sheng chá) and ripe tea (shou chá).

• Sheng chá: Generally, young sheng chá has a resemblance to a green/white tea. It has vegetal, floral, and fresh flavors with a slight bitterness. As the tea ages, it may start resembling black tea as the taste will become more smooth, earthy, and mellow with a long-lasting sweet aftertaste. With time, notes of honey, orchid, and lotus may become more prominent. In some cases of aged tea, you can also sense the notes of mushrooms, herbs, hay, or tobacco.

Young sheng chá has a yellowish-green liquor that becomes dark reddish as the tea ages for years. Whether it is young or mature tea, liquor is always clear and never cloudy.

• Shou chá: People consider it as a replica or an imitation of aged sheng chá. The taste is similar but lacks the freshness. It has a clear dark red liquor that is neither muddy nor opaque. Since it takes less time to produce this variety, it is relatively less expensive.

Once processed, both raw and ripe varieties can be sold as loose leaves or compressed into many different shapes. Some readily available shapes in the markets are cake shape tea (Bingcha), brick shape tea (Zhuancha), and bowl/nest shape tea (Tuocha).

HOW TO BREW PU’ER TEA?

Below we have given some guidelines for the western style brewing. Use these as a starting point,  improvise as you wish and brew a cup of tea according to your preference.

1. Take high-quality fresh and pure water.
2. Use water that is around 200-212° F.  Exact temperature would depend on the age of tea and the variety you use.
3. Use 3-6 g of tea per 6 fl. Oz water. Later, adjust this amount based on your preference. If using compressed tea, use a special knife to pry horizontal flakes of the tea to minimize the leaf breakage.
4. Before actual steeping, use hot water to rinse the tea leaves for a few seconds. Immediately discard this water. Tea rinse is essential to removes impurities and any unwanted flavors. It also helps the tea leaves to “wake up”.
5. Steep for 3-4 minutes. To prevent any heat loss, cover your tea while it steeps.
6. Usually, this tea can withstand multiple infusions. You can have almost 10-20 infusions with high-quality tea.
7. To enjoy the traditional flavors from the very first sip, avoid adding milk, lemon, sugar, or honey.