Thread: Samples: Pu-erh and White tea

Xiaguan tea-growing region

This tea growing region includes Simao, Baoshan, and northern Lincang areas that covered Mengku, Changning, Yunxian, Jingdon, Jinggu, Mejiang, Zhenyuan, and other places. High altitude and high temperature with less rainfall, tea grown with fresh spring water tends to be of more fragrance, slightly bitter, yet with faintly acidic flavor.

Menghai tea-growing region

Menghai tea-growing region covers Xishuangbanna area, south of Lancang River (the name changed to Mekong River in Vietnam), including Jinghong, Bada, Bulang, Banzhang, Nannuo, Menglong, Mengsong, and Mengzhe areas. Lower altitude, but higher temperature with more rainfall, tea in this region features strong aroma, higher bitterness, and great fragrance.

Six Famous Tea Mountains
Throughout Yunnan's tea producing history there have been references to six famous mountains renowned for producing the best tea in the region. Historically, the Six Famous Tea Mountains were located north of the Lincang River and were named after six items left behind by Zhugeliang, then Prime Minister of Shu in the Three Kingdoms period. According to legend, Zhegeliang taught the people of southern Yunnan the art of harvesting and making tea. The names of these historic mountains were Youle (copper gong), Mangzhi (copper boa), Manzhuan (iron brick), Yi Bang (wooden clapper), Gedeng (leather stirrup), and Mansa (seed-sowing bag).

For various reasons, the names and locations of these six mountains shifted gradually through time. Perhaps the same name was used by different groups for different mountains. Some confusion may have resulted from the fact that the names recorded were Chinese translations or phonetic approximations of native languages used in the area.

We do know that of the mountains considered to be the famous Six by the mid-twentieth century, many had fallen into extreme disrepair due to large fires, over-picking, or neglect. As a result, in 1962 a new group of Famous Six Tea Mountains were named based on the best tea producing mountains at the time - Yiwu, Jingmai, Menghai, Nannuo, Bulang, and Youle. All of these mountains had been famous for many years, one of which, Youle, was a member of the original Six.

Throughout the years, another Famous Six were designated from south of the Lincang River and include some of the mountains from the 1962 list. These are Mengsong, Nannuo, Menghai, Bada, Nanqiao, and Jingmai.

Of course, southern Yunnan is full of tea and mountains and there are several others that, though not included in the Six, are renowned in and of themselves for their tea forests. Banzhang, Bangwei, and Ailao are three such mountains whose teas are as distinct and flavorful as any of the Six, yet are not as well known.

As in poo-err?

You can be honest Netsurfer, you're among friends...you only created this thread to boost your post count, didn't you?

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

As in poo-err?

yup, with the accent on the second "sy LA ble"

Originally Posted by JMS

You can be honest Netsurfer, you're among friends...you only created this thread to boost your post count, didn't you?

Now that you mentioned it... yeah, it seemed like a good idea. However, this takes a lot more work than saying "Welcome to SRP!" to the new folks on the board.

Here is a blog with some great information on Pu-erh tea and lots of reviews. Ancient Tea Horse Road

Here is some information on Pu-erh tea that I borrowed from Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas - Green Tea, Wulong (Oolong), Tea, Puer Tea, White Tea, Jasmine Tea, Black Tea, Yixing Pots. Hope you find it interesting:

"People enjoy and collect puer tea for three main reasons including enjoyment of the tea, overall health benefits and the investment potential. It became popular outside of the traditional markets of Tibet and Mongolia, where for many years it was exchanged for horses, when it became sought after in Hong Kong for its health benefits, and for its mysterious quality of slow, natural fermentation, that causes it to improve with age. During the Cultural Revolution a lot of the old cakes were destroyed increasing the rareness of aged puer. In 1973, a process was invented to create fermented puer from 40 to 60 days.

Now puer has spread from Hong Kong and Guangzhou, to Taiwan, Beijing, Shanghai and within China. The popularity of puer has even started to spread to the US and Europe. All puer starts out the same. The basic ingredient is called mao cha. Mao cha is harvested and allowed to dry in the sun. Yunnan is the only province that grows tea that has a lot of sunshine and blue skies in China. One of the side affects of all this sunshine is some very large leaf tea plants. All tea originated in Yunnan, but you might be surprised to know that the tea plants are called Camellia Sinesis Assamica. The reason is that when the British found the variety of tea growing in India they named it Assamica and believed that it was wild, but it had actually been planted along the old Silk Road that ran from Yunnan and Burma into Assam. Even though the origin issue has been cleared up, the ancient tea trees in Yunnan have kept the inaccurate name.

A lot of puer produced is said to be made from wild tea trees, but this is not the case. Wild tea trees are known to make people pretty sick sometimes, and what is called wild by puer makers is in fact old tea trees that have been cultivated, and are usually over a hundred years old. The age of the tree can be determined by measuring the trunk.

Of course the quality of the mao cha is an important factor in puer. The ideal mao cha is not oxidized and is two leaves and one bud. Farmers typically bring their mao cha to towns and villages where is purchased by local buyers and sorted and then purchased by puer producers. Although relatively large areas may be favorite places for certain producers to buy their mao cha, the cultivation is done by small farmers. Since puer has become more popular, many farmers are cutting their old trees to create bushes which have a better yield, so the number of old trees is decreasing every year. Most commercial puer is a blend of mao cha from different areas and there are some producers that will reveal the areas in Yunnan where the mao cha originated. These kinds of details enhance the value of the tea over time, and we try to supply this information whenever we can.

There are two general types of puer, cooked and raw. The raw or shen (green) puer is made from mao cha and steamed and pressed into cakes. It is the shen puer that demonstrates the miracle of puer. It slowly changes over time through a natural fermentation process. The microbes present in the mao cha that are not destroyed during sun drying work their magic and over 8 to 10 year raw is transformed to cooked, green to black. It is the shen that is most valuable over time and starts to reach is full maturity after around thirty years. Puer teas are elemental and mysteriously dark, fermented teas which are robust, earthy, rich and grounding. Puer is often a favorite tea of the truly dedicated tea drinker. This aged tea usually begins with a variety of leaf from exceptionally broad-leaved tea trees. The more mature leaves are used to make a crude dark oolong tea. This tea either left loose or punched into cakes is then permitted to retain barely enough moisture content that the tea continues to ferment slowly over time. For this reason, puer is best stored open so that oxygen can continue to refine the tea. In understanding about grades, it is wrong to assume that the 1st grade is the best grade for puer. There is only an incidental correlation between the grade of the puer and the quality of an individual cake. For example, some of the most sought after tea is made from mao cha that is larger still than tenth grade tea. It is always a question of taste. Of course if a lot of expensive buds are used in a cake, it will drive the price up, even if it is not considered a good candidate for aging. So don’t be strictly guided by the grade, think also about the uniformity and tightness of compression and intelligent thinking about mao cha blends."

There has been such a positive response to this offering that I plan to expand the offering in the future. Look for future updates!

Enjoy!

Here is a podcast on Pu-erh tea that I found on the Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas - Green Tea, Wulong (Oolong), Tea, Puer Tea, White Tea, Jasmine Tea, Black Tea, Yixing Pots site:

http://www.sevencups.com/2007/12/07/...video-podcast/

Enjoy!

Here is the Pu-erh tea podcast (part 2) that I found on the Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas - Green Tea, Wulong (Oolong), Tea, Puer Tea, White Tea, Jasmine Tea, Black Tea, Yixing Pots site:

http://www.sevencups.com/2007/12/14/...video-podcast/

Enjoy!

I have borrowed this from Pu-erh, A Westerner's Quest

"Puerh History and Culture

Puerh History

Preface

As with most things Chinese that have been translated for the Western World many things get lost in the translation, many concepts are incomprehensible to the Western mind, and many misunderstandings are perpetuated. In addition to those difficulties Puerh History is often debated, argued over, and mis-communicated even in Chinese circles. There are many books on Puerh History written in Chinese and very few of them agree with one another. So please keep all of this in mind as you read the following accounts, or any others for that matter! I have collected this data from many sources over many years. Portions of the Historical facts on this particular page came from a friend of mine who paid to have the original Chinese text from various Puerh Bingchas translated.

The Tea Horse Caravans

One of the more colorful aspects of Puerh history is the Tea Horse Roads and the Caravans that traversed them. Tea products made in Yunnan were transported by mules and horses in long Caravans along established routes that became known as the Tea Horse Roads. Traders from Tibet, Laos, Burma, etc would trade for tea in the tea markets of Pu-erh County and then hire the Caravans to carry the tea back to their respective homes.

It was the logistics of transporting tea via these Caravans that inspired merchants to start compressing the tea in the first place, it was easier to handle and they were able to get more tea on each horse that way. This form of transportation was relatively cheap, but the transportation lead time was quite long since the Caravans traveled very long distances at a very slow speed. It was quite by accident that they discovered that Pu-erh actually tasted better at the end of the journey than at the beginning. Recently experiments have taken place that retraced the old routes via horseback. They loaded up the horses with tea and modern instruments to measure the temperature, humidity, etc that the tea was exposed to in hopes of understanding the aging process better.

During Ming and Qing Dynasty there were five main "Tea-Horse Roads". The first and most traveled one is from Pu Erh (the place) to Kunming and then to other inland provinces in China, all the way through Beijing. This route was later extended to reach Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The second Tea Horse Road is from Pu Erh to Xia-Guan and eventually to Tibet. This route later connected to Nepal. The third one reached Vietnam. The fourth one reached Burma. The fifth one reached Laos. This was a major form of trade in those days and Pu-erh was literally traded as a form of currency.

Though the Caravans no longer exist, the rich culture and history prevails to this day. The old tea Horse Roads are quite the tourist attraction in China and you can still find remnants of three well-maintained routes today in Pu-Erh County. Many footprints of mules and horses can be found on those roads, as well as sign posts, and other famous landmarks. These are the roads that made Pu-erh famous.

Noteworthy Facts


* The most classical Puerh Tea is the Bingcha, recorded in Yong-Zheng 13th year in Qing Dynasty (1735). Each tea cake weighs 7 Liang (357 grams). Seven cakes make 1 Tong (wrapped in leaves), weighing 49 Liang. It was sold in nice places and also was exported abroad. It was re-named as "Yunnan Qizi bingcha - Yunnan seven cake tea" during the Cutural revolution.
* Head Tea (aka Golden Melon) is shaped like a ball, weighing between 2 Liangs and 10 Jins ( 1 Jin = 500 grams). They were mainly for domestic trade or serving as tributes to emperors. Stacks of Golden Melons progressing in size from gigantic to small are considered to be a status symbol.
* Mushroom shaped tea appeared in 1912. It was invented at that time in order to prevent the tea from going mouldy during the transportation. It was produced in Xia-Guan and Fo-Hai (two cities in south China) with the trademark "Bao-Yan". The production was then stopped in 1966. In 1986, the production was resumed due to the request of Buddhists in Tibet.
* In 1940, the Chinese State owned company CNNP started to manufacture Pu Erh Tea with a trademark "Zhong-Cha" at the Fo-Hai Tea Factory (now called "Meng-Hai Tea Factory"). Later, Yun-Nan Tea Company and Guang-Dong Tea Company also produced the same brand and started to export abroad. There were varieties such as red-label, green-label, yellow-label, small-letter and big-letter etc.
* Brick Tea was mainly produced in the Si-Chuang province prior to 1949. It is now also available in other provinces as well.
* Standard Tuocha tea were defined to weigh 100 gram each. Five make 1 Tong.
* Black Puerh Tea was invented by Kunming Tea Factory in 1972/73 and was manufactured in Xia-Guan Tea Factory ever since 1976. It is now manufactured in many different factories and is by far the most popular type of puerh sold.
* Yunnan Tea Company standardized the trade number for Pu Erh Tea in 1976 for the purpose of export. Each bingcha has 4 digits: the first 2 digits indicate the manufacturing year, the third digit indicates the leaf grade, the last digit indicates the tea factory (e.g. Kun-Ming 1, Meng-Hai 2, Xia-Guan 3, Pu Erh 4). The loose-leaf tea has 5 digits with the third and fourth indicating the class level of raw materials. Examples of early trade numbers for Puerh Tea are 7452, 7562, 7572, 75671, 76563.
* Meng-Hai Tea Factory started to use the trademark "Da-Yi" around 1978. Xia-Guan Tea Factory started to register the trademarks "Song-He" and "Nan-Zhao" in 1992.
* At the beginning of 1990s, many small tea factories were born. Some of them started to use class level 3 (or even higher) raw tea (which was only available for emperors in the past) instead of level 6 (or even lower) raw tea (which was the traditional material for producing Pu Erh Tea).



Puerh in the future

Today the emphasis is twofold. On one hand a significant amount of scientific research is being done on the effects of puerh on the human body, the microbial activity involved, and the science of developing mature puerh faster. On the other hand recent economic affluence has created a new middle class in China. Consuming Pu Erh Tea has become a symbol of achievement. This new middle class has created an unprecedented demand for quality Puerh, which in turn has put pressure on the factories to produce more tea even faster. New research facilities have been commissioned to further the processing techniques with an emphasis on scientific theory, manufacturing technology, quality and economics."

Enjoy!
Steve