Introduction:

Puerh is a dark tea made of Yunnan's exclusive large leaf tea tree's leaves and prized for its wonderful weight loss effect and other health care benefits. Processing is similar to black tea. The reason why puerh tea's quality and taste can improve with age is that it have exclusive post-fermented process. Puerh Tea can be divided in the antique tea ( before 1938 ), the labeling tea ( from 1938 to 1967 ), the Chitse cake tea ( since 1967 up till now ) and so on, and then still can be divided into the brick tea, the cake tea, the ball tea and so on in deferent patterns. We supply three basic kinds of Puerh: Puerh tea cakes,Puerh tea brick and Puerh loose tea.

History of Puerh Tea:

Yunnan is the place of origin of tea. During the Trias period about 180 million years ago, Yunnan was a land above sea level where many gymnosperms grew. During the Tertiary period about 70 million years ago, the Three-river Drainage Basin ( Nujiang River, Lancangjiang River and Jinshajiang River ) of ancient western Yunnan had three conditions for the emergence of tea, i.e., flourishing gymnosperms, stable land and hot humid weather. The ancient magnolia plant which appeared and flourished here evolved into the tea tree because of the special weather and environment. The activity of the glaciers during the Quaternary period destroyed many plant communities. However, the south and southwest of Yunnan such as Simao and Xishuangbanna were free from glaciers, and thus ancient plants like the tea tree survived and developed into the wide-leaf type tea of the tropical and subtropical areas.

Distribution of Puerh Tea:

Puerh tea is mainly planted in Menghai, Mengla, Simao, Gengma, Cangyuan, Shuangjiang, Lincang, Yuanjiang, Jingdong, Dali, Pingbian, Hekou, Maguan, Malipo, Wenshan, Xichou, Guangnan of Yunnan Province, Panxian, Rongjiang of Guizhou Province, Fusui, Shaoping of Guangxi, Nanjing of Fujian Province, Ruyuan, Lianshan, Maoming of Guangdong Province and Changjiang, Qiongzhong, Ledong, Baoting, Lingshui of Hainan Province. It is grown in the mountainous forests of subtropical and tropical areas with an altitude of 1200 to 1400 meters. Puerh tea is also planted in northern Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and India.

Puerh Teas’ Taste:

Puerh tea liquor has a flavor unlike any other tea in the world. It is somewhat earthy in flavor (not repulsive at all) and has a long lasting flavor profile within the mouth or palate area. Poor grades can become very harsh and, as mentioned above, bitter. Top grades are smooth, pleasant and sweet.

Health Benefits:

( please note that the following list of benefits are for interest only and should not be taken as absolute fact! Always check with your physician! )

Puerh tea has been celebrated since the Tang Dynasty ( 618AD-906AD ) for its health benefits and curative powers in certain diseases. Modern medical science has recently shown that the health benefits of Puher tea may be more than just Chinese folklore. Since 1970 France, Japan and China have been conducting many scientific studies on Puerh tea which suggest that it may:

■  reduce cholesterol in the blood stream

■  reduce body weight

■  help to reduce high blood pressure, heart & liver diseases related to high saturated fat diets

■  detoxify the liver

■  help prevent intestinal infection, digestive problems and constipation

■  help to prevent the formation of cancer cells in the body due to its anti-oxidants

How to Prepare Puerh:

■  Traditional Method: Measure 3 grams* of tea to 6 oz of water. Pour 95℃-100℃ boiled water over the leaves, and steep for 10-20 seconds. Pour off the water. This is called rinsing the leaves. It removes impurities and allows the leaves to begin opening. Pour in another 6 oz of 208-212 degree water, steep about 30 seconds and serve. The same leaves can be re-steeped in a similar fashion 4-8 times, perhaps adding 15-30 seconds to each steeping time.

■  Western Method: Many westerners prefer a stronger brew. Using the same proportions of tea and the same water temperature, Puerh can be brewed almost indefinitely: five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, even 50 minutes. When Puerh is steeped a long time it can become as full-bodied and dark as coffee, but it never turns bitter, acidic, or astringent. It just gets stronger, thicker, fuller, and sometimes sweeter. This is a very untraditional preparation method.

Six Specialties of Puerh:

■  Special place of origin: Puerh is originally the name of a place and now it is the name of a tea. Puerh tea was produced in Puerh, Yunnan Province, a major distribution center of Puerh tea leaves.

■  Special variety: The fresh leaf of the tree is a variety of Puerh, i.e. the fresh leaf of the broad-leaf tea tree in Yunnan.

■  Special raw material: Puerh tea is made from Maocha, a kind of unoxidized green tea from the broad leaves of the tree. Puerh tea is the result of fermentations. There are two approaches of fermentation. One is natural fermentation occurred in the long storage period. Puerh tea produced in this way is called traditional Puerh tea; the other is artificial fermentation. After the artificial fermentation, Puerh tea is compressed into different shapes and is called modern Puerh tea or ripened Puerh.

■  Special shape: Apart from loose tea, the compressed Puerh tea has various shapes. Some looks like a small pellet, a ball, some like a Chinese chess, a bowl, and a cake. Some tea is as big as a pumpkin, a huge cake, a tree trunk, a folding screen or a big plaque, etc.

■  Special quality: The longer the age of Puerh tea, the better its quality. This is contrary to the normal marketing rule, which says the newer the tea, the better; the older the spirits, the higher the price. If stored appropriately, Puerh tea could be kept for around one hundred years.

■  Special drinking method: If the aged Puerh tea is made with lidded bowls or Zisha teapots, the same tea leaves could be used for 20 times. Because of the aforesaid features, Yunnan Puehr tea has become a kind of antique and this is the unique feature of Puerh. Therefore, Puerh tea should be regarded as an independent tea category, i.e. Puerh category.

The king of Teas:

Where did tea originate? Scholars of many tea-producing countries have argued that there are tea trees as old as a thousand years in age. With the discovery of a 2700-year-old puerh tea tree in Qianjiazhai region, Yunan province, China has proved that tea trees did in fact originated in China. This ancient tea tree of 2700 years old has been considered the king of tea trees and has been put into the Guinness Book of Records.