Light-fermented shou pu-erh
Shou pu-erh taken through a shorter or cooler wet-piling than standard, leaving some of the raw leaf’s brightness intact. It sits between sheng and conventional shou and is a deliberate modern style rather than an underdone batch.
Character
Cleaner and brighter than conventional shou, retaining a trace of the raw leaf’s character rather than being entirely transformed.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Woody, Earthy
- Aroma
- Caramelised
- Mouthfeel
- Full bodied, Smooth
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- dried date, wet wood, light cocoa
- Aftertaste
- Sweet and clean, with less earth than standard shou.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Menghai
- Cultivar
- Menghai Da Ye
- Oxidation
- Not applicable
- Post-fermentation
- Microbial wet piling
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Sun-drying (shai qing) → Wet piling (wo dui) → Compression
Brewing
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
5–7 g/100 ml · 98–100 °C · 6 authored infusions
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 95–100 °C · 1 authored infusion
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Gong Ting shou pu-erh
The smoothest shou, then one taken through a shorter pile that keeps some of the raw leaf’s brightness.
- Sheng pu-erh (raw)
A short pile leaves enough brightness that light-fermented shou is regularly mistaken for young sheng.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Aged white tea cake
Shares 6 descriptors with Light-fermented shou pu-erh: sweet, woody, earthy, full bodied, smooth and caramelised.
- Liu Bao
Shares 6 descriptors with Light-fermented shou pu-erh: woody, earthy, sweet, smooth, full bodied and caramelised.
- Menghai shou pu-erh
Shares 6 descriptors with Light-fermented shou pu-erh: earthy, woody, sweet, full bodied, smooth and caramelised.
- Qian Liang Cha
Shares 6 descriptors with Light-fermented shou pu-erh: woody, sweet, earthy, full bodied, smooth and caramelised.
- Shou pu-erh (ripe)
Shares 6 descriptors with Light-fermented shou pu-erh: earthy, woody, sweet, full bodied, smooth and caramelised.
- Aged Baozhong
Shares 5 descriptors with Light-fermented shou pu-erh: sweet, woody, full bodied, smooth and caramelised.
Journeys featuring this tea
- Exploring pu-erh — Someone who has had one pu-erh, could not tell whether it was raw or ripe, and wants the map.
- Exploring Yunnan tea — Someone who knows Yunnan for pu-erh and not for anything else it makes.