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Pu'er - stored tea with character
Pu'er is tea that has been aged for some time to allow the flavor to mature. The original process requires years of storage for the tea leaves to develop the right flavor. In the 1970s, a new process was introduced to speed up the maturation process. Since then, we talk about 'raw' pu'er and 'cooked' pu'er. Both varieties are available as loose leaf tea and pressed into cakes. The taste is full-bodied, often with an earthy note.
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Pu'er - frequently asked questions
Sooner or later you come across pu'er tea (普洱茶), but what is it and where does it come from? We take a closer look at that here!
What is pu'er?
Pu'er is actually a place (city and county) in the Chinese province of Yunnan. It's home to a class of teas that are becoming increasingly popular, and so it's also known as pu'er tea, or pu-ehr as it was previously written.
To complicate matters, we should mention that there are many different kinds of pu'er, and different ways of dividing them. For starters, there are light and dark varieties. Pu'er is available pressed into cakes, but also as loose leaves.
Green pu'er
As I said, there are two main types, so we'll start with the lighter one. In Chinese, it's called sheng, meaning "raw" or green pu'er. This is the original type, with a tradition going back thousands of years!
Drying
When the weather permits, the leaves are spread out to dry in the sun for a day. The heat is said to destroy the enzyme polyphenol oxidase, which makes the tea less likely to oxidize.
Sorting and storage
The leaves are sorted by size and stored while waiting for the next step in the process. This often takes place in a different location.
Vaporization and shaping
The leaves are steamed to soften them. Then the leaves are pressed into molds. Most common are round cakes, but other shapes are also available. The cakes are then dried and stored for several years. A slow fermentation takes place, which causes the green leaves to slowly darken.
Dark pu'er
Dark pu'er is known in Chinese as shu, meaning "cooked", and is a more recent process. It is said that it was originally created to mimic ancient pu'er cakes. That's not quite the case now, and it takes on a flavor of its own.
Forced fermentation
After the first drying, the leaves are spread out in a thick layer and moistened with water. The leaves are covered with a cloth and the temperature rises to around 60°C, at which point microorganisms start fermenting the leaves. It is allowed to last 1½ to 3 months for the darkest varieties.