{"id":46345,"date":"2020-06-25T18:49:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T15:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cha.com.ua\/articles-en\/all-about-puer\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T15:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:50:10","slug":"all-about-puer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cha.com.ua\/en\/stati\/all-about-puer\/","title":{"rendered":"All about Pu’er"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pu’er<\/a>. How much is hidden in this famous tea name. Pu’er comes in dark(Shu<\/a> Pu’er), green(<\/a>Shen Pu’er<\/a>) and white(Bai Pu’er) varieties.\u0440<\/a><\/span>). However, some people also distinguish purple (Zi Puer) and resin Puer (Cha Gao) as separate types. How to make sense of it all? We can help. Here’s everything you need to know about puerh! <\/p>\n

TOP 5 INTRODUCTORY FACTS ABOUT PU’ERH<\/h2>\n

FACT #1.<\/span> The homeland of Puer tea (puer, \u666e\u6d31\u8336, pu erh cha) is Yunnan province. A corner of China filled with tropical jungle that borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, and even the Tibetan foothills. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/span><\/p>\n

LOVE IT! <\/span>Yunnan is the oldest tea producer in the world! It is from this area that tea itself, as a plant – Camelia Sinensis (Camellia chinensis) – originates. There are still trees in Yunnan that are over a thousand years old! <\/em><\/p>\n

FACT #2.<\/span> The name “Puer” comes from the name of the area (now a city district and formerly a trading town) from which tea was brought by caravans to the farthest corners of Asia during the Tang Dynasty. Any tea from that area was called “pu’er” regardless of its characteristics. <\/p>\n

\"It<\/span><\/p>\n

LOVE IT!<\/span> <\/span>It was from the Puer area that the famous Great Tea Route began! The length of one of these dangerous roads to Lhasa (Tibet) was more than 1500 km. and took almost a year from the moment of departure to return home. <\/em><\/p>\n

FACT #3.<\/span> Today, Pu’er is made not only in Yunnan, but also in Guangxi, Guangdong and even northern Vietnam. However, the Yunnan Provincial Bureau of Standards insists on its definition that Puer is a fermented green tea product originating from large tea leaves harvested in Yunnan Province. <\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

LOVE IT! <\/span>There is a term Mu Shu Cha (\u6bcd\u6811\u8336) for “mother tea trees”. One of these trees is a tree discovered in 1996 that is over 2,700 years old. This national treasure is located in the tropical jungle of Zhen Yuan in Yunnan. However, this is not the limit, because in Fengqing County there is still a tree in the Guinness Book of Records. The tree bears the proud name of Jinxiu Cha Wang, which translates to the Tea King of Jinxiu. The age of the king today is more than 3200 years old. <\/em><\/p>\n

FACT #4.<\/span> Since ancient times, puerh has been pressed into a wide variety of forms. This was due to the convenience of transportation and storage. This is how such different shapes as “tortillas”, “bricks”, “bowls” and other forms appeared, which you can buy in our store. <\/p>\n

\"Puerh<\/p>\n

LOVE IT! <\/span>Bulk tea, in particular puerh, appeared much later than pressed tea. And that is only because the urgent need to deliver tea in caravans disappeared, and this happened with the development of transportation infrastructures. <\/em><\/p>\n

FACT #5.<\/span>A special method of tea processing allows pu’erh to improve over time, much like a good wine or brandy. There is a term called “lao” which means “old” or “aged”. This is the kind of pu’erh that is most appreciated by its lovers. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

LOVE IT!<\/span> <\/span>In China and beyond, one hears about the phenomenon of “tea investment”. Given that tea made from good raw materials will only get better and more expensive over the years, pu’erh becomes a great investment. <\/em><\/p>\n

HOW AND WHAT IS PUERH MADE FROM?<\/h2>\n

Here you can buy puerh, different ageing, locality and forms of pressing. But as in any other tea, the key to its quality is the raw material. For the most part, it is the raw material that determines the price of pu’erh. What “seeds” were put into it, that is what will “grow”. In other words, not every aged puerh is expensive and valuable by default. Everything lies in where, how, when and what kind of harvest was gathered, and of course it is important what processing technology it passed and how after that “ripened”. And we will tell you about all of this, of course! <\/p>\n

1. Locality, raw materials, crop.<\/span> Yunnan is a rather large province, the population of which currently exceeds the population of Ukraine by 3 million people. On the territory of this province there are dozens of tea regions with their own cultivars (varieties of tea trees) due to the special, unique local climate and local soil. <\/p>\n

According to the modern international botanical classification, Camelia Sinensis includes 3 varieties, 23 botanical species and 380 agrotypes. At the same time, 260 agrotypes are concentrated in Yunnan. Among the most common plants used for Pu’er tea are: Menhai Da Ye, Fengqing Da Ye, Linqiang Da Ye, Dali Cha, Nanchuan Cha and many others. All of them were created by nature itself, without human intervention many thousands of years ago. However, there are also modern examples, such as Jin Gu Da Bai Cha, which has a history of only 150 years. <\/p>\n

\"Camelia<\/p>\n

As for the terrain, a great variety awaits us here as well. Xishuangbanna, Pu’er County, Lingcang, Baoshan, Dali County and others. In each of these areas, there are dozens of authentic mountains and small villages that have been making very specific types of puerh since ancient times. These include the villages of Laobanzhang and Bingdao, the regions of Mengku and Xiguei, Menghai County and of course the mountains of Nanyoshan, Yiwu and Bulangshan. <\/p>\n

Yunnan is harvested several times a year due to favorable climatic conditions. The period from April to July is the most popular. <\/p>\n

2. Mao Cha,<\/span> meaning “raw tea”, is the main stage of pu’erh production. Only after the raw tea is ready is it sent for further production, like Shu Puer, or left to “mature” like Shen Puer. Mao Cha is produced as follows: <\/p>\n