Technically classified not as black but dark black tea, Pu-Erh is China’s mystery tea. It was already ancient when the troops of Kublai Kahn spread the use of it from Yunnan throughout China. The secret of its manufacture is as closely guarded today as it was under the Ming Dynasty, when death was the penalty for even trespassing in the mountain gardens where it was produced. In 1680 the Qing court increased the annuan tribute to 32,500 kilos and the tea took its name from the ancient market town of Pu-Erh from which these yearly caravans set out.
Just how Pu-Erh’s remarkable taste and properties are achieved is a state secret, yet every Chinese family is familiar with it and would consider life without Pu-Erh unthinkable. A likely story claims: “in the old days, when Pu-Erh was transported by horse caravans from the production areas to the town of Pu-Erh, the caravans had to travel through tropical rain forests. The moisture in the air caused the leaves to ferment [turn moldy, perhaps?] and enriched its flavor. As people liked the flavor of the naturally fermented tea, the tea producers began to introduce a fermenting process for Pu-Erh. “Unlike green tea which is best when the leaves are fresh, the older the Pu-Erh, the better the flavor.” It is thought that Pu-Erh is finished tea that is sprayed with an unknown bacterium, and then undergoes fermentation; This may result in a fierce barn-yard like taste and smell, or a marvelously rich and mellow tea, the best of which is aged for decades before use. Because the base for Pu-Erh may be green tea or black, and can be made in loose leaf or cake form and it must be considered a separate type or category of tea, with tastes and aromas ranging from earthy to elegant.
The first Pu-Erh ever exported, or even seen, outside China were the four cakes the Emperor of China dispatched as a gift to the King of England in 1806. Alas, the royal reaction is not recorded. The U.S. Tea Examiners made a particular point of preventing Pu-Erh’s entry because it could be described as musty – the characteristic its manufacturers had labored diligently to achieve! Pu-Erh still remains unknown to most of the non-Chinese world, despite the recent interest modern science has taken in investigating its health benefits. In China it has been customarily drunk with meals or after meals as a digestive known to eliminate cholesterol.
Check out our Pu-erh teas online and give them a try!
Excerpt from James Norwood Pratt’s “New Tea lover’s Treasury”
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