Last week, I had a visit from a customer who received a tea gift from a cousin in China. The tea was wrapped in silk and beautiful boxes and came in the form of two pressed discs. She had never experienced such tea before and didn’t really know what to do with the two discs. I had the pleasure of unpacking the tea and was very excited when I saw the quality. My response to her was that she should either save the tea as an investment potential or drink it for the sake of its flavor and health benefits. She chose to taste the 7-year-old Sheng Puerh. The infusion resembled soy sauce, but the flavor was of vanilla – a true sensual experience.
I love puerh for three reasons: the enjoyment, the health benefits, and the investment potential. Puerh is becoming very popular worldwide. Originally, it was popular in Tibet and Mongolia, where puerh was exchanged for horses for many years. Later, it became sought after in Hong Kong for its health benefits and its mystical quality of slow, natural fermentation, which causes the flavor to improve with age. During the Cultural Revolution, many of the old puerh cakes were destroyed. This has now caused a demand for old puerh.
What is Puerh? In short, it is a simple tea from ancient trees and bushes made by old people. It has remarkable qualities.
Puerh is famous for its health benefits and is consumed daily in southern China and Southeast Asia by older Asians seeking to maintain their health. It is said to be effective for digestion and metabolic issues. The French are currently researching how puerh maintains a healthy level of cholesterol.
In 1973 in Guangzhou, a process was discovered to ferment puerh for about 60 days. Originally, it was to deceive tea drinkers in Hong Kong into believing they had bought tea that had been aged for many years, thus allowing prices to be inflated.
Puerh’s popularity has now spread from Hong Kong and Guangzhou to Taiwan, Beijing, Shanghai, and Southeast Asia. The popularity of puerh has even begun to spread to the USA and Europe. All puerh teas start with the same base. The fundamental ingredient is called Mao-cha. Mao-cha is harvested and allowed to dry naturally in the sun. Yunnan is the only tea-growing province in China that has a consistently clear blue sky with plenty of sunshine. This is one of the reasons why the tea plants grow so large in Yunnan.
Originally, all tea comes from Yunnan, but you would be surprised to know that the tea plant is called Camellia Sinensis Assamica. The reason is that when the British discovered this variety growing in India, they called it Assamica and believed it to be wild, but in fact, it had been planted along the old Silk Road, which ran from Yunnan to Burma in Assam. Although the source of the issue has been clarified, the old tea trees in Yunnan have retained the incorrect name. Much of the puerh produced today is said to be made from wild tea trees, but this is not the case. Wild tea trees are known to make people quite ill, and what is called “wild” in connection with puerh is actually old tea trees that have been cultivated. They are usually over a hundred years old. The age of the tree can be determined by measuring the trunk. Trees are often drastically cut back to increase yield, and several bushes have been planted at a very rapid pace. Tea planting is beneficial for the environment in Yunnan, as it has suffered from deforestation for sugarcane planting. Sugar, which is a very profitable crop in the short term, can quickly strip the soil from the mountains and, due to erosion, rapidly wear away the topsoil of entire mountainsides.
Harvesting and Production of Puerh Tea The quality of Mao-cha is the most important factor in producing puerh. The ideal mao-cha consists of two leaves and a bud. Farmers typically deliver their mao-cha to towns and villages, where it is purchased by local producers. Although relatively large areas may be preferred locations for certain producers to buy their mao-cha, puerh cultivation is carried out by small farms. As puerh has become more popular, many farmers have pruned their old trees into low bushes that provide a better yield, so the number of old trees is decreasing each year. Most commercial puerh is a blend of Mao-cha from different areas, and there are a few producers who will reveal the areas in Yunnan from which their mao-cha originates. This information increases the value of the tea over time, and we try to provide this information when we can. The tea grows in high mountainous areas, and the mao-cha is transported to the villages once a week to be sold. The process has not changed in centuries.
Generally, there are two types of puerh: Shu (black, cooked) and Sheng (green, raw). The raw or Sheng (green) puerh is made from mao-cha, which is lightly steamed and pressed into cakes.
It is the sheng puerh that showcases the magic of puerh. It changes slowly over time through a natural fermentation process. The microbes present in the mao-cha that were not destroyed during sun-drying work their magic over about 8 to 10 years, and raw puerh tea transforms from green to black. It is the Sheng that becomes most valuable over time and begins to reach full maturity after about thirty years. Puerh tea is a sensual, mysterious, dark, fermented tea that possesses a robust, earthy, rich character.
Puerh is often a favorite tea among truly dedicated tea drinkers. This ancient tea typically starts with a long range of leaves from extraordinarily broad-leaved tea trees. This tea, whether loose or compressed into cakes, retains just enough moisture to allow it to ferment slowly over time. For this reason, puerh is best stored open, so that oxygen can continue to fine-tune the tea.
Shu puerh, or cooked black puerh, is more complicated. In 1973, due to a lack of old cakes following the destruction of all old tea during the Cultural Revolution, a process was developed to accelerate a uniform aging process. This process has been kept secret but is relatively simple. Large piles of mao-cha are moistened and then covered with a large canvas cloth, creating a sort of compost effect. Inside, the heat generated creates a rich environment for the growth of microbes that thrive in the tea leaves from the Yunnan rainforest. The art lies in turning the pile at just the right time; the leaves must be evenly distributed and not clump together. It is important that the tea does not end up tasting like an old cellar. After the tea is cooked, it is sorted for quality, with some pressed into cakes and others sold as loose puerh.
Judging the Quality of a Puerh Cake When you want to buy puerh, there are some very general guidelines. Look for uniformity in the leaves throughout the cake, and pay attention to the compression of the cake. It should not be too tight or too loose. Check the color; for a cooked cake, it should be dark with red undertones, while for a green cake, the leaves should be dark green with silver undertones. Smell it if you can, and pass on it if it smells like a farmer’s sock. Only buy puerh from a dealer you trust. There are many good puerh teas, but there are certainly also many bad ones.
If you want to learn more about puerh, you can sign up for one of Simply Tea’s tea tasting courses.