Pu-erh tea: Difference between revisions

[[File:puer.jpg|thumb|right|Pu-erh ''Beng'']]

'''Pu-erh tea''' (普洱茶) or '''pu'er tea''', is a variety of fermented dark tea produced in Yunnan province, China. Fermentation is a tea production style in which the tea leaves undergo microbial fermentation and oxidation after they are dried and rolled. This process is a Chinese specialty and produces tea known as [[Hei Cha]] (黑茶). The most famous variety of this category of tea is Pu-erh from Yunnan Province, named after the trading post for Hei Cha during imperial China. Good Pu-Erh tea is made of tea leaves harvested of ancient tea trees (Gu Shu). Initially it was assumed that thoes trees are just very tall [[Cammelia sinensis var. Assamica|Assam]] bushes but recent DNA test showed that it's an entire new species. The discoverer named this plant [[Camellia taliensis]] to honor the Dai (Thai) minority which uses this plant traditionally to produce tea. <ref>Bio Med Central: [http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/12/92 Phylogeography of Camellia taliensis (Theaceae) inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA: insights into evolutionary history and conservation]</ref>.

Pu-erh traditionally begins as a raw product known as [[Mao Cha]] (crude tea) and can be sold in this form or pressed into a number of shapes and sold as [[Sheng Cha]] (raw tea). Both of these forms then undergo the complex process of gradual [[fermentation]] and maturation with time. The recently developed Wo Dui process (渥堆]]) pioneered by both the [[Menghai Tea Factory|Menghai]] and [[Kunming Tea Factory|Kunming Tea]] factories has created a new type of pu-erh tea that some traditionalists dispute the legitimacy of. This process involves an accelerated fermentation into [[Shou Cha]] (ripe tea) which is then sold loose or pressed in various shapes. All types or pu-erh can be stored for maturity before consumption and that is why it has become common for the products to be labelled with year and region of production.