Mao Cha 毛茶
Exploring China's nuanced practice of tea darkening, a modern trend unfolds, with a delve into post-processing revealing striking difference
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Pu'er Tea
Chinese pu'er is a complex tea originated in the endless fields of Yunnan Province in southwest China, the area where most believe the Camellia Sinensis plant was first discovered. A powerful tea with noticeable effect on the human body, compared to other types of tea, and constant references in Chinese medicine. Pu'er tea 普洱茶 (also written Pu'erh tea) is a modern name, named after a tea town in Menghai district of Yunnan, divided into two groups: Sheng Pu'er (Raw) and Shu Pu'er (Ripe).
raw puer
Sheng Pu'er (Raw Pu'erh)
The original version of pu'er tea, sheng pu'er 生普洱 in some places is still being produced in traditional methods by tribes and ethnic groups throughout Yunnan province. It is estimated that sheng pu'er is the earliest tea exists today, closest to the tea produced in earlier days. The method of producing the raw tea is quite similar to the procedure for green tea (tea with long history of its own). The essential difference is in the natural and refined way in which the leaves are being dried, keeping the leaves' enzymes alive along with a slight percentage of moisture, which together allow a slow fermentation process that extend the shelf life of the tea and improves it. The result is aged raw pu'er that has darkened to shades of brown, gray and black, producing a reddish brown liquor. The qualities of a well-aged pu'er place it at an extraordinary level of prestige and high value.
ripe puer
Shu Pu'er (Ripe Pu'erh)
Shu Pu'er, or Ripe Pu'erh 熟 普洱, is a later version of pu'er, an industrial version of ancient post-fermentation methods of tea leaves, which were already exist in various growing areas in China for centuries. Well known teas such as Hei Cha 黑茶 (Chinese Black Tea) from Hunan province shares the same final process as shu pu'er. In the 1970's, when tea production in Yunnan became more commercial, the term "Pu'er" became official, named after the same well-known tea town.
These are the same raw sheng pu'er leaves that undergo another process of "fast fermentation" under controlled humidity and heat conditions, a process known as "wet pilling". The result is a journey through time, dark, moldy young leaves that seem to have fermented comfortably for many years. What was probably a source of scams has become a new genre in tea, with unique medicinal values, such as warming the inner body, and aiding the digestive system and blood circulation. Today, shu pu'er is widely the most preferred Chinese tea by foreigners, probably due to its strong character and dominant flavors which are more suited to the western palate.
Growing Areas
Lincang
Yunnan
Xishuangbanna
Yunnan
Yongde
Our Pu'er Tea
Our Pu'er tea is coming from small, family owned farms in numerous villages along southern and western Yunnan, and it's the largest share in our tight tea collection. The search for authentic and unique types of pu'erh has become one of our main focuses. The journey and exploration between the different types of pu'er that are grown and produced in different terroir conditions, yields each season a different and challenging tea that goes down to details and nuances that make sheng pu'er sourcing an adventurous mission that never ends.
We continue to step foot and expand our local supplier range with each visit to our favorite tea district. We track and accompany the tea growing from the initial picking and sorting stage, in order to choose by ourselves the finest raw material from hundreds of different versions we drink every year. This is the only way we are able to bring a refined collection of our favorite pu'er, after undergoing strict testing at Eurofins Lab in Taiwan, carefully packaged in eco-friendly materials and stored in our warehouse under dedicated conditions for tea aging.
Our Pu'er collection includes different versions of Shu Pu'er and Sheng Pu'er, young and aged from different harvest years, which we age ourselves in a dedicated warehouse and under optimal conditions for improving the tea in its original form. We take extreme caution and responsibility when it comes to ripe pu'erh, which is today considered the most sensitive tea in the tea industry due to the use of fungus (mold) in its production with not a few cases of negligence in its production and the appearance of fake teas. Aside from the rigorous testing that each of our teas undergoes, we do not work at all with industrial tea that comes from factories, but only with a familiar raw material from those private farms that attach great importance to the raw material from which the ripe pu'er is produced. The result is a limited supply of rare and exclusive boutique versions of pu'er tea, original and safe to drink.
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