Exploring pu-erh
Pu-erh splits into two halves that share a name and very little else. Ripe pu-erh was invented in the 1970s to imitate decades of ageing in a few months; raw pu-erh is what the tea meant before that. Start with the easier half.
Who this is for
Someone who has had one pu-erh, could not tell whether it was raw or ripe, and wants the map.
What you should come away with
The ability to tell sheng from shou blind, and a view on which of the two you actually want to spend money on.
Leg 1 · Ripe, the approachable half
Wet-piled and smooth from the outset. The palace grade is the gentlest introduction the category has.
Starting point. Everything after this is measured against it.
The smoothest shou there is, sweet and almost chocolatey, with none of the coarse earthiness of lower grades.
Why this step follows
The smoothest shou, then one taken through a shorter pile that keeps some of the raw leaf’s brightness.
Cleaner and brighter than conventional shou, retaining a trace of the raw leaf’s character rather than being entirely transformed.
Leg 2 · Raw, the demanding half
A change of process rather than of region. Young sheng is bitter, astringent and floral, and the returning sweetness that follows the bitterness is what the whole category is drunk for.
Starting point. Everything after this is measured against it.
The middle of the road for young sheng, which makes it the sensible reference point against which Bulang’s aggression and Yiwu’s softness are judged.
Why this step follows
From the balanced middle of young sheng to its most extreme expression. Expect severe bitterness and an equally severe returning sweetness.
Genuinely difficult on first meeting — the bitterness is severe — and the returning sweetness that follows is what the entire price is about.
Leg 3 · Format, and what it does to ageing
A change of shape. Compression is a storage decision made at the start, and it determines how — and whether — a tea ages at all.
Starting point. Everything after this is measured against it.
A convenient way to drink sheng without breaking a cake, and an unsuitable format for long ageing — the two facts are related.
Why this step follows
From a pre-portioned ball to the loose sun-dried leaf every cake starts as. Same material, no compression, and a much brighter cup.
Brighter and more immediate than a pressed cake of the same leaf, and it ages more quickly and less evenly because far more surface is exposed.
Read alongside
- What is dark tea, and what is pu-erh?
The one category defined by what happens after manufacture rather than during it. Pu-erh is the famous member; the category is larger than pu-erh, and the distinction is worth getting right.
- How ageing changes tea flavour
Most tea fades. A minority genuinely develops — and the difference between the two is the leaf, the processing and the storage, not the passage of time.
- How to store tea correctly
Four things degrade tea: air, light, heat and moisture. One category is the exception, and getting that exception wrong is expensive.