CHINA'S SECRET BREW
Pu-erh - The Tea that Ages Like Wine

High in the mountains of Yunnan, China, in an area believed to be the birthplace of tea some 4700 years ago, there are groves of ancient tea trees. These trees, some as old as 1700 years, flourish naturally under pristine temperate conditions. They are primarily cultivated, tended and harvested by the Chinese ethnic minority groups called Bulang, Dai and Hani tribal groups.

These tea trees are of a broad leaf version of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) native to the southwest region of Yunnan China (Yunnan Dayeh). Because of the inherent qualities of these leaves, the tea does not lose its flavor with time like other teas. Instead, like wine, Pu-erh tea's taste improves with each passing year, becoming more flavorful, more complex and more mellow. It is perhaps because of this singular feature, the capacity to improve with age, that Pu-erh is also called "a drinkable antique." High quality Pu-erh is in short supply as it is coveted and hoarded by tea connoisseurs in China and Asia. Relatively small amounts of good Pu-erh are left for shipment to tea lovers in the West. Indeed, Pu-erh is a secret treasure yet to be discovered for many outside of Asia.

THE LEGEND OF PU-ERH TEA

According to historical accounts, sometime during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), merchants began packing these large tea leaves into compressed bricks (see our video on pressing tea cakes). These bricks of tea were easier to transport by pack animal than cumbersome loose-leaf tea. Because of the long distances and difficult terrain, it would be months before the tea would reach its destination, whether that would be Tibet, India or faraway Beijing. Something miraculous occurred during the extended delivery periods and the varying climatic conditions: the tea changed. Not only did the color of the tea transform from green to dark teak, but also the taste of the tea became livelier, richer and smoother. During its months of travel, the tea underwent a fermentation process whereby microbes acted on the tea, causing biological and enzymatic changes. The resulting tea, known to Chinese as Pu-erh, became highly sought after, first by royalty, high officials and the literati, and later by tea connoisseurs.

Pu-erh tea is named after a town called Pu-erh located in central Yunnan. Pu-erh did not produce tea; rather, it was a trading post where all teas produced from the nearby tea mountains were sold and traded. For easy transport, teas were compressed into cakes or bricks and transported to different parts of China and Asia by horse caravan. Later, all teas traded in this town came to be known as Pu-erh tea.

SHAPES AND PACKAGING

One of the unique features of Pu-erh tea is its distinct packaging and the various shapes into which it is compressed.  Unlike all other teas, Pu-erh tea can be in loose-leaf form or pressed into a cake, brick or other shape. The most common shape of Pu-erh tea is the round cake (Beeng Cha). Traditionally, each cake weighs 357g, although the cakes manufactured in recent years have also come in larger or smaller sizes.

After compression, each cake is wrapped with a sheet of paper made of natural fibers. The cakes are then bundled into dried bamboo leaves, usually in a stack of seven.  This is called a “tung.”  This centuries-old method of packaging Pu-erh keeps the tea clean, compact and helps facilitate the fermentation process.

Other common shapes of Pu-erh tea include the dome-shaped bowl (Tuo Cha), the square/rectangular brick shape (Cha Zhuan) and the pumpkin-shaped bowl. In reality, Pu-erh can be made into any shape or pattern. Yunnan Agriculture University, College of Pu-erh Tea even has a panel of decorative with fancy designs screens made of Pu-erh tea.

TWO TYPES OF PU-ERH

While most teas, by and large, are best consumed soon after production to retain both their aroma and flavor, Pu-erh can be aged and refined like wine. It undergoes a fermentation process (either naturally or artificially) where microbes act on the tea leaves over time, causing the leaves to darken and the flavor to change to become smoother and more complex. Depending on the conditions and the environment of aging, the taste can transform through various stages, from being fruity, floral, grassy, to being earthy, woody and nutty.

There are two major types of Pu-erh tea: "Raw Pu-erh" and "Ripe Pu-erh". These two Pu-erh types are distinguished by their respective fermentation processes. Both types of Pu-erh are made from the same raw materials (mao cha) - freshly harvested leaves that have been wilted, either fried manually or tumbled through a heated rotating cylinder, kneaded and sun dried in open air. The term "Raw Pu-erh" refers to loose leaves, tea cakes or bricks made from raw materials without additional processing. Raw Pu-erh can be consumed immediately to enjoy its fresh, floral or fruity flavors, or it can be left to age in a natural environment to achieve a mellower, smoother and more complex flavor. Naturally aged Raw Pu-erh teas, particularly those made from premium raw materials, are the most sought-after by tea connoisseurs.

"Ripe Pu-erh" offers an alternative to having to wait ten to thirty years for the Raw Pu-erh to mature and achieve the aged flavor that is popular among many Chinese. In the 1970's, the industry developed a method to artificially accelerate the aging process by "cooking" Pu-erh tea. This "cooking" process, called "wo dui", involves incubating the tea in a moisture-rich environment where microbial activity causes the temperature to rise, drastically intensifying the fermentation process. This process typically takes a few months to complete.

Here is a comparison between a raw and a ripe Pu-erh:

Time required achieving full fermentation:
Raw: 20-30 years.
Ripe: A few months.

Taste differences:
Raw: Young raw-Pu-erh shares similar characteristics as green tea. As the tea ages, it becomes more complex and is famous for its stronger mouth sensation and long-lasting aftertaste.
Ripe: Earthy and mellow. Aged ripe Pu-erh becomes smoother and the earthy flavor transforms into sweet plum flavor.

Color of the brew:
Raw: Golden yellow to burnt orange, depending on the age of the tea
Ripe: Dark chestnut Appearance of the leaves: Raw: The brewed leaves of raw Pu-erh are more intact, plump and soft. Ripe: The brewed leaves of ripe Pu-erh are generally broken, black in color and no longer soft.

Whether fermented naturally or manually, studies have shown that the microbial activity in Pu-erh tea offers probiotic health benefits that no other teas offer.

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING PU-ERH TEA

Determining the quality of Pu-erh tea requires some basic knowledge and experience. The quality of Pu-erh tea is based on a number of factors: area of production, leaf source, the grade of the leaves, methods of cultivation, the time of year it is harvested and the conditions under which it is stored.

Area of production:
Good quality Pu-erh tea comes from the four major Pu-erh producing regions in Yunnan, namely Simao, Xishuangbanna, Boshan, and Lincang. These tea producing regions are situated in the southwestern corner of China, bordering Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Leaf source:
Pu-erh teas can come from leaves harvested from arbor tea trees (qiao mu), tea bushes (guan mu) or wild tea trees.

Like regular trees, arbor tea trees have a main trunk with branches growing from the upper part of the main stem. Arbor tea trees were mostly planted by seeds, allowed to grow naturally without pruning and having deep roots. Many tea aficionados favor Pu-erh tea from arbor tree because they believe the infusion made from the leaves of these trees to be richer in flavor and possessed of stronger energy (qi).

Tea bushes are propagated through cuttings. They do not have a main trunk and the branches are spread out like a fountain. They are typically found in tea plantations and are kept small for easy plucking. Wild tea trees can be found in deep forests near border regions. However, it is hard to ascertain whether the wild tea trees are truly wild in the sense that they were grown without human intervention, or they were planted by people generations ago but had since been abandoned. Pu-erh tea made from wild tea trees is reputed to possess complex flavors.

	Cultivation methods: 1) Plantation style (taidi cha): Tea plantations are comprised of cultivated tea bushes planted neatly and densely in plateaus or hillside terraces. The bushes are always kept small and most require fertilizers and pesticides. Plantation bushes can yield large quantities of tea and are thus able to meet the demands of mass production. This is the most common type of Pu-erh tea in today's market.
	2) Old-growth or ancient tea gardens (gushu cha): The old-growth tea gardens are comprised of arbor trees planted through seed selection and grown in higher altitudes among other forest plants. Planted via traditional methods, these trees are grown organically, utilizing resources provided by nature and maintaining the ecological balance. Most of the trees in these tea gardens are hundreds of years old. The old-growth tea trees are limited in their yearly production, but the quality of tea harvested from these trees is thought by tea aficionados to be superior to those of the plantation bushes.
	3) Sustainable farming tea (shengtai cha): This type of cultivation method is aimed at a return to traditional organic farming practices. Tea trees are planted from seeds and are not pruned. They are also properly spaced with fruit trees planted in between to impart fruity flavors and to provide shade for the tea trees. Fertilizers and pesticides are rarely used. These tea trees are generally under 100 years old.

Season of harvest: Pu-erh is harvested during spring, summer and autumn. New buds break in late March before the first rain. This "First Spring Tea" is considered the best crop of the year. The leaves are then picked two more times before the monsoon season. Leaves harvested in autumn are generally second to the spring harvest but superior to the Summer harvest in quality.

Grades: Pu-erh can be categorized into ten grades, from one to ten. The grades are determined by the time of harvest, the amount of buds, freshness of the leaves. The lower numbers represent young leaves closer to the bud and the high numbers represent older leaves farther down the branch. A bud and two leaves are considered the most desirable combination. Many tea cakes feature a blend of several grades to attain a desired flavor. This blending is usually disclosed by the tea producer. In other cases, there may be less benign reasons for producers to blend several grades of tea together.

PROPER PU-ERH STORAGE

Like wine, Pu-erh tea can be aged for many years and aged Pu-erh can appreciate in price. However, time is not the only criteria in selecting a good aged Pu-erh. A superior Pu-erh tea for brewing requires that one start with a good quality "raw tea" that is carefully and properly preprocessed, and then aged under optimum storage conditions.

Tea Master Vesper Chan, a pioneer in Pu-erh dry storage, states that the ideal conditions for storage are an environment with between 50% and 60% humidity and a temperature range of between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. As different parts of the world vary in their weather and humidity, Pu-erh teas stored in different environments yield different results. For example, Pu-erh teas stored in relatively dry places like Beijing or Los Angeles may age to become more aromatic, but will take longer to achieve the smoothness that teas aged in more humid places like Hong Kong or Guangzhou will exhibit.

Pu-erh tea should not be exposed to excessive humidity for prolonged periods of time or its taste can become flat and dull. During the season when humidity is very high, opening the window to allow fresh air in the room is advisable. Pu-erh tea should be stored well above ground level and be given good ventilation. If you have a large amount of tea, it should be rotated once every six months to even out the tea's exposure to fresh air. Extreme variations in temperature should be avoided.

Pu-erh tea has a tendency to absorb odors in the environment. Avoid storing your Pu-erh tea in kitchen cabinets or near moth balls or around other items that emit strong odors. With regard to the appropriateness of using a humidifier in places with low humidity, Master Chan opined that it would be fine to use one a few hours once a month to promote faster fermentation. Lastly, if you are storing a variety of Pu-erhs, always store the raw Pu-erh and the ripe Pu-erh separately in order for the respective teas to retain their own unique aroma.

There are two kinds of storage conditions:

Dry storage: Dry storage refers to Pu-erh tea being stored in a dry and natural environment, thus allowing the tea's aging process to occur slowly. Although Pu-erh tea that is in a dry storage environment takes longer to age, it retains the original flavor of the tea, while offering more nuances and characters over time. As such, dry storage is much preferred. Almost all renowned and quality Pu-erh tea cakes have undergone dry storage.

Wet storage: Wet storage refers to tea merchants storing Pu-erh teas in a very humid environment for the purpose of speeding up the aging process. Wet stored Pu-erh not only loses the tea's original characters, it may have an offensive, biting astringency to it. Some teas from wet storage may be even harmful to one's health.

TASTE PROFILE OF A RAW PU-ERH

Raw Pu-erh made from old-growth arbor trees possesses an array of aromas and flavors. The most common are camphor, lotus, orchid, dried jujube, dragon eye (longan) fruit, plum, ginseng, and areca. The different taste profiles in Pu-erh have to do with the grade of the leaves, the stages of aging, and the other types of trees that are grown in the general area. As the old-growth arbor tea trees have very deep roots, over time, the roots of the tea trees would intertwine with the roots of other forest trees nearby and absorb the fragrance emitted from the other trees.

Sometimes, the taste profile will transform from one flavor to another in between brews of the same tea or one may experience a bouquet of flavors within a single brew. Many Pu-erh aficionados would agree that the best taste is obtained at around the 4th or 5th brew, when the leaves are totally unfurled and the flavors are released.


TASTE PROFILE OF A RIPE PU-ERH

As ripe Pu-erh has undergone full fermentation, much of the bitterness and astringency inherent in the tea leaves have dissipated. Ripe Pu-erh is generally earthy, nutty or woody. Good quality aged Pu-erh should be mellow, smooth and offer a sweet (sugarcane or plum) aftertaste (hui tian). Poor quality ripe Pu-erh is flat, dull, thin and may have an unpleasant odor.

ELEMENTS OF PU-ERH APPRECIATION

• Appreciating the aroma of the tea
• Observing the clarity and color of the brew
• Appreciating the texture, the body and the flavor of the tea
• Savoring the aftertaste of the tea. The two adjectives commonly used by Chinese to describe the aftertaste are “hui gan” and “hui tian.” Hui gan refers to a cooling sensation that penetrates the entire mouth and in the back of the throat. "Hui tian" refers to the subtle sweet finish of the teas.
• Feeling the “qi” of the tea – a warm and comfortable sensation that envelops one’s body, enabling one to relax.

HOW TO BREW A GOOD CUP OF TEA

Making the perfect cup of tea is something different for everyone. Whether a cup of tea is good or not often depends on personal preference. Some like their tea strong and others like it light. In general, water quality, the quality of the tea leaves, the amount of tea leaves in relation to the amount of water used and the brewing time, all play an important role in determining the flavor of a cup of tea. We recommend filtered water or mountain spring water as tap water often contains various chemicals and minerals, which can cause the tea to become dull and flat. Many people like to brew Pu-erh tea using a small Gongfu style teapot (150 ml to 250 ml) and brew it for a short time. This method extracts the flavor from the tea leaves slowly, allowing the tea leaves to remain flavorful, even after multiple infusions. Use between 5 to 8 grams of tea leaves. Before brewing, rinse the tea with boiling water once and discard the water immediately. (For aged Pu-erh or ripe Pu-erh, we recommend you rinse the leaves twice.) The purpose of rinsing the tea leaves is twofold: to rid the tea of impurities and to loosen and expand the dry leaves, preparing the leaves to readily release the aroma and flavor of the tea. Once the tea is brewed to the desired strength, immediately decant the tea out of the teapot or separate the tea leaves from the tea; otherwise, the tea concoction will become too strong and subsequent brews will be too weak.

To optimize the flavor of the tea, refer to the chart below for recommended infusion times. Feel free to adjust the infusion time to suit your preference. If you use a bigger teapot, the infusion time should increase accordingly. 1st infusion: 10 seconds 6th infusion: 2 min. 2nd infusion: 20 seconds 7th infusion: 3 min. 3rd infusion: 30 seconds 8th infusion: 4 min. 4th infusion: 40 seconds 9th infusion: 5 min. 5th infusion: 1 min. 10th infusion: 6-8 min. Using proper temperature water is a key to tea brewing. We recommend that raw Pu-erh under 5 years old be brewed with lower temperature water (85 degree centigrade) to minimize the bitterness in the leaves. Ripe Pu-erh or older Pu-erh can be brewed with water at boiling temperature.

Other Ways to Enjoy Pu-erh Tea:

Pu-erh tea can be consumed by itself or mixed with flower teas, such as rose, osmanthus, or chrysanthemum. Flowers add a nice floral aroma and taste that makes the tea more interesting and enjoyable. Goji berries, high in antioxidants, may also be added to serve as a natural sweetener.

I encourage you to try and experiment different combinations to make your tea drinking experience more interesting and rewarding. Click here for recipes submitted by fellow Pu-erh enthusiasts.

RETAIL OUTLETS

In addition to selling online, we proudly sell some Bana products in the following museum gift shops in the southern California area:
• The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana ( www.bowers.org )
• The Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena ( www.pacificasiamuseum.org )
• The Craft & Folk Art Museum is offering the Bana Miao Jackets (www.cafam.org)
We recommend that you call the museum gift shops to be sure they have the product you want in stock.