OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PUER TEA
A tea experience blended with education and travel. Our first time using Substack to contribute unique tea content.
Introduction
Puer tea (or or pu-er, or Pu’er, or PuEr, or Pu Er, or Pu’erh) is still the least known and understood classification of tea. That probably starts with the many ways it is spelled with hyphens and spaces and dashes and capital letters. Further confusion is that puer is described as a dark tea (darker than black tea), or its original name of “red tea” from the Yunnan Province of China. On top of all this are the many ways people try to pronounce the name based on the way they see it spelled. Of all the ways we’ve heard it, the two most accepted are “POO-AIR”, or as we usually heard on mainland China “POO-ARRR” (where the “ARRR” sounds like a pirate). However you spell it, say it, or categorize it, it is a most healthy and wonderful tea to learn and enjoy. We hope you will continue on with our story blended with some information.
Like all true tea, puer is made from the Camellia Sinensis plant which contains caffeine (typical tea is about one-third that of coffee). Nearly 100% of puer is grown and processed in the Yunnan Province of China, just north of Thailand and Vietnam. Puer is processed differently, with longer and complicated steps, including the Chinese national state secret (part of our later story), than other types of tea. The purpose of making puer is to be aged at a minimum of several months, or much better over a couple of years, and ideally for decades. Puer is processed in a way to improve over time, rather than deteriorate with age, assuming proper storage. Conversely, green tea is consumed the fresher the better. While oolongs and black tea can also be slightly aged, it is like comparing a seven-year Merlot to a 25-year Barolo.
Part 1 - Our earliest days with puer tea began with oolong tea. The oolong trip that started as a puer trip.
When Eileen and I were planning for the Trailhead Tea shop in 2012, we had just a little knowledge of puer and really had no plans to include it in the store. But, we soon realized from a mentor that puer tea, and some higher quality and rare oolong and green teas could differentiate us from most other tea shops. Accordingly, during our first couple of years in business, we started to personally prefer and promote oolong tea. An important step to our formal tea education was to truly travel to China to participate in two extensive programs of study. In 2016, an oolong tea immersion study in the Fujian Province of eastern China, and in 2018, a puer tea immersion study in the Yunnan Province of western China.
The first trip, oolong immersion, began when we landed with a few days in Hong Kong, visiting the sites, eating a lot of dim sum, and tasting teas. Hong Kong is famous for tea, and while searching for great oolongs, we realized we were being flooded by a remarkable amount of puer tea. The explanation turns out to be that while puer tea is grown and processed in western China in Yunnan Province, the constant hot and humid conditions of Hong Kong make the storing and aging of puer ideal.
The two most memorable highlights of visiting Hong Kong were a visit to a tea house inside Hong Kong Park and the “wand” shop.
Our tea house visit consisted of an audience with a well-known tea master, Master Wing-chi Ip, at his famous LockCha Tea House in the center of Hong Kong Park. Before enjoying the promised vegetarian dim sum, we were expecting Master Ip to share some of his lifelong knowledge of oolong tea that would form the foundation for our later study on the China mainland.
At this point, a waiter approached the master and filled Master Ip’s glass with a very, very dark tea which we assumed was oolong tea. Master Ip welcomed us, and then informed us he wished to talk about puer tea instead of oolong. He started with a story of how so many of his family had short lives, and he was convinced beyond facts from lab studies, that puer tea was the difference to his own health of body and mind. He told us that he sipped puer all day, perhaps 10 or more cups (including this one). As puer is a fermented tea, it can produce healthy probiotics and beneficial gut bacteria into your body which can promote heart health, reduce cholesterol levels, can improve your blood sugar control, while playing some part in weight management and hunger. National Institute of Health example click here. For the next hour, we were mesmerized while he lectured about details we needed to know about puer. He even brewed and shared puer tea from his private collection in the ceremonial style.
Side-story: At the conclusion, Master Ip allowed questions. Eileen asked what tea servers in China were called, since our customers comically referred to us as a tea-ristas. He replied, a PaoCha ( 泡茶 /“pàochá) of course, which means “tea server“ or “to make tea”. PaoCha later became the name of our new Shih Tzu puppy.
The day prior to leaving for the China mainland, we wandered the streets of Hong Kong. We peered into an old, dark and closed tea shop. Our guide/translator mentioned that this was thought to be the oldest in the city, and he was fairly sure he knew where the current owner was. He left to bring him back to open the shop for us. Upon entering, the shop looked ancient, in disarray, with tea piled-up looking as not touched in years. The first impression was this was like Ollivander’s Wand Shop in Harry Potter.
Inside the wand/tea shop we were introduced to hundreds of bings. Puer tea is occasionally found as full and loose leaf, like any tea. But most puer tea leaves are slightly steamed and compressed into solid shapes then wrapped in an identifying paper cover. The short video below shows how bings are made, starting from loose aged puer leaves which are transformed into a cake known as a “Bing Cha” or just a “bing”.
Bings are the most common shape for puer and the tea shop was full to the ceilings with bings. The BingCha standard is a 12 1/2 ounce (357 gram) cake shaped like a Frisbee, and in some cases might be a smaller size. A ZhuanCha is a rectangular brick from 100 to 250 grams, up to a kilogram. A TuoCha is the shape of a bowl or birds’ nest, also 100-250 grams. A Mogu TuoCha is in the shape of a 250 gram mushroom. A little more rare is a 100-gram ball called a Jingua GongCha, or stuffed into a roasted bamboo tube, called ZhutongCha. All of these shapes in modern times can also be produced as a single serving miniature. The traditional reason for crafting puer into compressed shapes was to make it more efficient for long term storage and aging. Compressed puer was also easier to transport for trade, and was actually used as a currency as it increased in age. The oldest and highest quality tea was the smoothest, mellowest, least astringent/bitter, and commanded the highest price and trading value. To brew puer tea, just break off a piece with the approximate volume of a kitchen teaspoon.
Now back to the “wand shop”. We explained through our translator what we had learned so far, and asked for the best we could we experience within the price we could afford. The owner moved about the shop for a few examples of cakes. It was like knowing exactly where the papers you needed were from the pile on the desk. He pulled out an old scruffy tea table with cups heavy with patina, then sanitized with boiling water (to our relief). We sampled each tea, and choosing our favorite was easier than expected. The tea tasted deep, dark, rich, earthy (feeling like a dense forest on a rainy day), with a very complex aftertaste. We bought four of the 10-year old cakes for our Sedona tea store, our first puer offering for our customers. Click below to witness our time there.
The next day we left Hong Kong by train to the mainland, and proceeded to the rest of the oolong immersion trip in Fujian Province. Maybe at a later date we’ll be able to fully describe all we learned about the three types of oolong tea on our oolong immersion trip.
Part 2 - Back to China to learn puer in earnest
Fast forward almost two years. We had broken up the Hong Kong cakes to 2-ounce portion packages and sold most of it (long gone now). We had acquired a couple of other puers from U.S importers, and started offering two flavored puer blends. But we wanted to explore and learn more at the source.
In 2018 we accepted the opportunity to travel again to mainland China, Yunnan Province, this time for a puer immersion trip. This time we only briefly transferred through Hong Kong, with Kunming being our initial destination. To Americans, Kunming is a huge city, but only average to the Chinese compared to Beijing or Shanghai.
We got to Kunming a day early for a pre-trip before the formal program was to start. We had plans to get a preview of the Kangale Wholesale Tea Market, a 2.5 acre community of over 200 tea merchant shops and showrooms. But it was closed due to the national holiday that was unknown to us. Good thing that Kangale was on the schedule for a couple days later. We scrambled and found a family tea business that was open nearby. This was a three story building that was business and home. On the first floor was a showroom/tasting room where we were greeted. We sat at one of the tasting areas, and one of the mangers that spoke some English assisted us. We learned so much and tasted even more. A couple hours later we felt we should buy something for all their effort, but being our first day, we had to be very conservative with the budget. They were kind and understanding as we took a couple of small items back to the hotel.
![Puer tea showroom in China](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F006feba8-91e9-423e-a265-a61166cef4a1_2288x2162.jpeg)
![Puer tea showroom in China](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbcff0433-b1e4-4d9c-86ca-a85e397259b7_1974x2702.jpeg)
![Puer tea showroom in China](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa7c1de99-3876-4251-b1ff-a9fa1aa4fed5_480x640.jpeg)
Our first official visit of the trip was to the headquarters of Xiaguan Foreign Trade Company. Xiaguan’s famous factory is in Dali, where we would visit toward the end of the trip. They are known for several centuries of great puer production and made the TuoCha (bowl or birds nest) shape most popular. A HQ representative led us on a detailed tasting of their products. A few newer (5 year) teas, mostly 10 to 15 year examples, and a couple very old rarities. We bought some TuoChas (we have one or two left), a large bag of single-serving mini mushroom-shapes (still have several), and others long sold out.
![Xiaguan Headquarters in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9bd3861f-ad75-43c3-83f1-61ff55197359_4560x3040.jpeg)
![Xiaguan Headquarters in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34257438-49d8-40c1-ac11-ecacb5055426_4614x3298.jpeg)
![Xiaguan Headquarters in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb515fb27-d7ec-415b-8964-a46b34bbec91_5167x3444.jpeg)
![Xiaguan Headquarters in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbc8fb25a-d63b-4062-83f3-4bd0a531259f_5202x3112.jpeg)
Yunnan Province is completely different than most of China, and especially different from far-away Beijing and the north. Yunnan straddles just north of Thailand and Vietnam, and culturally it is much more aligned with far southern Asia. The tea is different, just as the spicier food is. The physical appearance of the Yunnan people is more similar to their southern neighbors. The north has a primary majority population, and the south has many minority cultures that are more tolerated than in the north.
We visited the Yunnan Ethnic Village that celebrates 26 different minorities in the style of a theme park. You won’t find that in the north. There’s a saying… the emperor sits high (on his throne), and is far away. Meaning… he’s not noticing and there is a better chance of getting away with it. We enjoyed a lavish dinner with minority dishes and enjoyed various cultural entertainment styles. And… drank lots of puer tea.
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The following day we visited the Stone Forest, along with maybe a million Chinese visitors enjoying the last day of their national holiday. It is considered the most important tourist attraction in Yunnan Province. We also found a temple with an attached tea house where we could sample and purchase a green tea from nearby ancient trees, with leaves as large as a maple. So, it was not a completely non-tea day, and we sold this green tea in our Sedona tea shop for a short time until it was gone.
The next day had us scheduled to returned to the Kangle Wholesale Tea Market, and this time it was open. There are several wholesale tea markets in Kunming, and our understanding was this was the oldest. To us, this market looked similar to automotive malls or food courts. Even though sellers being grouped together increases immediate competition, the location becomes an important destination for consumers that benefits all merchants. The largest market is said to be about four times larger with over a thousand merchants and still growing upward on multiple levels. Kangle was a mix of small shops, large plain storage areas, and many large, long established and highly decorated showrooms. We wandered for several hours but were also directed to specific businesses by our guides. These markets often get western visitors, but we were aware of being noticed, and shop owners were eager to assist us. We did many tastings, and again we required ourselves to keep our purchases conservative.
We were reaching the end of our Kangle visit when our guides recommended one last stop at the company showroom of Hai Xin Tang. This was probably the most impressive in size and ambiance among all the Kangle showrooms. We saw many examples of a completely amazing feature where puer tea had been pressed into large corporate medallions as wall hangings, also decorative architectural elements like pillars and art pieces, even statues, that were made of compressed puer tea. Besides the number of decorative puer items, and the clusters of different puer offerings, we noticed large boxes of miniature puer bings.
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F66704d9f-d249-4837-86e5-326f662073c5_5472x3648.jpeg)
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8096a7ef-65dc-4221-997d-6c19991cf4d4_2448x3264.jpeg)
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9df5e5bb-4e64-489c-9bee-4592260094e3_3264x2448.jpeg)
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cf4803b-762b-4281-a174-48ca49c52b98_2448x3264.jpeg)
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9a39cfba-d717-47dd-821d-a49f322fe137_5472x3648.jpeg)
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda8d55b4-3e37-4494-bfc4-74909d5165be_3264x2448.jpeg)
![Kangle Wholesale Tea Market in Kunming](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff85a4193-ec80-4ccf-b170-a2c7a05249f2_1496x2000.jpeg)
Puer tea, Raw and Ripe, defined
Before going further, it is time for another brief technical sidebar about puer. There are basically two different types of puer tea, known as “raw” and “ripe”. Both types start out as green tea with a twist. Instead of heating the leaves to the temperature that totally deactivates the oxidizing enzyme (which then keeps the leaves a green tea permanently), the temperature is just high enough to slow further oxidation down to a crawl. The type of aging process chosen will then determine which type of puer is being produced.
“Raw” (also known as uncooked) or “sheng” in Chinese, is the traditional way of processing puer tea since the Tang Dynasty around 600 AD. The leaves are dry, and the air temperature and humidity ages the tea slowly over a minimum of one year. Air circulation is important. There is a saying that green tea and oolongs are made by the sun, but puer is made by the wind. At some point the producer will decide if and when to compress the leaves into cakes. The tea is not even considered puer until at least a year. Sheng/raw is maybe drinkable after a couple years, very good after 6-10 years, and not fully developed until 25 years or more. It’s quality and value increases over time, similar to wine. There are rare exceptions, as you will hear later.
“Ripe” (also known as cooked) or “Shou or Shu”, is an accelerated way of processing that was invented in the 1970’s to help with increased tea demand, with lower time and cost. The leaves are “wet-piled” meaning sprayed with water, placed in piled rows like mulch, with higher temperature and humidly conditions. Air circulation is even more important, and will produce puer tea in about 45 days. After being pressed into cakes the shou puer is already drinkable, with additional age being helpful but not as dramatic as raw.
The range of flavor is much wider with raw/sheng puer than ripe/shou puer. Young sheng is grassy, bittersweet, and floral more like green tea. With aging (microbial fermentation like cheese or beer) the taste and aroma start to change drastically over time. It loses bitterness, and continually becomes smoother, mellower, earthier and more complex. Shou puer at a year or so will remain similar to moderately aged sheng puer due to the accelerated process.
As we continued to enjoy our visit at the Hai Xin Tang showroom, we asked questions (through our translators) about all the boxes of mini bings. A staff member asked the Hai Xin Tang owner to come out to meet us. He showed a lot of interest in our group and personally led us around the showroom to answer questions.
We learned from the staff member that the boxes of single-serving mini bings was puer tea processed 10 years earlier (2008) and left loose for aging. The tea was then compressed into minis, and had just recently become available for sale. Half of the material was processed as sheng with the green wrapper with his signature. The other half was shou with the red wrapper.
![Hai Xin Tang Mini Puer Bings](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F53550cc6-9eaf-428a-8294-e04cab2a978b_2000x1496.jpeg)
![Hai Xin Tang Mini Puer Bings](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F14942087-49e4-4a02-b89d-1de00869afa4_4112x3648.jpeg)
Occasionally a producer will process the same tea as both sheng and shou, but it is not common especially as a 10-year old mini. We were really excited to be able to offer the “pair” of mini bings in our shop, but each box was 5 kilograms! It was a large commitment for us at the time, but we purchased the 2 boxes. We also purchased an additional plastic suitcase so we could check them as luggage on the airplane home. Before we said our good-byes, the owner of the Hai Xin Tang company invited us to visit his factory on the outskirts of Kunming. While our guides were scheduling and getting directions, the owner heard that we were to be very near his tea plantation in Da Du Gang later in the trip. An invitation was extended to us to visit there as well.
With our last full day in Kunming we visited the very old HuaTing Buddhist Temple, and enjoyed a special lunch at a restaurant that specialized in Yiliang Roast Duck, which is the Kunming version of the famed (Beijing) Peking Duck.
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Before leaving Kunming to head for far-southern Yunnan, we made the stop at Hai Xin Tang factory, and were met again by the owner. While his tea is grown at the largest tea plantation in China (Da Du Gang), he led us through sample gardens and lush landscaping, the extensive factory floors, and then a “museum” that housed an impressive collection of very old puer artifacts. He surprised us by taking us to a room where his staff had prepared a traditional Chinese dinner (including a large whole fish and the famous “black” chicken). After dinner, we were brought to the showroom for another tasting.
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The finale was drinking a 50-year old puer, which we learned had the proper patina called the “white flower”. The deepest, smoothest and earthiest tea we have ever had.
![Tasting 50 year old Puer (with the "white flower")](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe87dd647-74ad-4aae-892d-e0bfb8d97ebc_1496x2000.jpeg)
![Tasting 50 year old Puer (with the "white flower")](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5afca083-3e9c-40f7-9155-51b07e337ef1_2000x1496.jpeg)
It was almost 5-hour drive south to the city of Puer. Puer is the historical and administrative hub of the Yunnan tea-processing and trading center. It is also a collecting and distributing point for other agricultural and timber products. We visited the start of the Tea Horse Road, the southern version of the more famous Silk Road, which began in Puer City and worked north to Dali, before heading west toward India and eventually to Europe.
We spent two days in Puer City, visiting tea shops for tastings and demonstrations, wandering at the wholesale tea markets.
We were invited to the Puer Tea Industry Bureau (overseers of the area tea trade) for a private tasting one evening. Three teas were selected and several infusions of each were served in an almost solemn ceremonial style, with flourishes we had never seen on this or our previous trip in 2016. The first tea was moderate age, followed by an older aged. Each additional infusion of the tea changed aroma, character and taste. We discussed our impressions of each cup. The third tea was completely different and unknown. Bright, crisp, sweet, and we said this couldn’t be a puer! It was revealed that it was a spring pick only 6-months prior. It was harvested from ancient tea trees located on Mount YiWu, one of the six most revered puer tea growing areas. It was a small harvest, that was purchased a year in advance… by the gram. This taught us there will be exceptions, and exceptional puers along our learning path. Later in the trip we would have another experience with leaves from Mount YiWu.
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbfd8f0ba-d0fa-4e7b-af2a-449b3ebec453_2000x1500.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faa7d3ae9-ccaa-46ab-ab8e-0d67fb733e0a_2000x1008.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe33daec8-5a10-4819-8d2f-9f3303ecfa9b_2000x1496.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6615eb3f-7550-4f26-98c4-85842a7962d4_2000x1500.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0acbc2cc-16c6-460a-bdfa-7e80420a6256_1500x2000.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F38d43d4a-8c40-45b0-825c-51e92d14c9e8_1500x2000.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ce52576-4dc2-4579-9ae3-d5373a7d6fe5_2000x1500.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F00d766ad-718f-4123-9097-5e1431cf2723_1500x2000.jpeg)
![Visit to Puer City](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10d6b161-7bb3-48da-bddc-31617b296f6b_1500x2000.jpeg)
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Leaving Puer City, heading south to our next adventure in Menghai, we first wanted to accept the invitation to visit the Da Du Gang Tea Plantation, certified as the largest tea garden in the world. This is a very remote area dedicated exclusively to agriculture. Like we saw in Fujian Province in 2016, there was an abundance of fruits and vegetables mixed among the endless rows of tea plants. Also common were large tea trees which loomed over fields of waist-high tea bushes. China has not adopted the idea of huge monocultures (like wheat, corn and soybean-only fields in the U.S.), and has found that agricultural diversity creates a healthier environment.
We did some tastings, and chose a few great deals direct from the Da Du Gang factory.
A very exclusive situation occurred while we were being guided on the Da Du Gang factory tour. We were told that normally outsiders were not allowed to see the puer fermentation in process, as it is considered a state secret. But since that processing step had concluded, with all the tea being bagged prior to additional aging, we were able to view the room. The aroma of the aged tea was intense. More importantly, we were able to deduce how the process worked. There were gaps between the barrel ceiling and the walls of the corrugated metal fermentation room. Hot humid air from the always prevailing direction (hillside) would enter the room, form a circulation, then exit the other side. The saying “Puer is made by the wind” aptly describes the rotation and pull of the breezes through the building to encourage the aging of the tea.
We then had a three-hour drive further south to Menghai, another famous tea industry city in the prefecture of Xishuangbanna. Since we were very close (about 30 miles) to the boarders of Laos and Myanmar (formally Burma) and it was dark about 8:00 at night, we went through a checkpoint with armed Chinese soldiers who came aboard our van to check our passports and questioned our guides. A little stressful and something to remember.
Part 3 - Yunnan, China, puer tea processing steps
We had reached the solely instructive point of our puer immersion trip. We had four days planned in Menghai, and our solitary purpose other than meals and a visit to a famous Menghai tea factory, was to hands-on experience every step of puer production. Every morning started with a walk from the hotel, about three blocks, to an area of street food vendors. One highly recommended “kitchen” had been selected for us. You could order many types of fresh cook-to-order noodles, with many different proteins, veggies, spices & sauces you chose from every day. There were also various dumplings, essentially like donuts. Absolute breakfast heaven! We learned that there is so much street food available because very few people have kitchens. It is cheaper to go out every meal, and it also produces many family businesses.
![Breakfast in Menghai](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa0ea21a5-edac-46d5-9d2e-de0b4fbb0d10_1500x2000.jpeg)
![Breakfast in Menghai](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb5968ef4-8df8-40d5-ab2e-9d6ec42a5ed6_1500x2000.jpeg)
![Breakfast in Menghai](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdcf47c49-483f-45b0-836a-88a98cb7421f_1500x2000.jpeg)
Our instructors and hosts were a husband-and-wife team who inherited an independent tea factory from their retired father, a well-known tea master. The curriculum was divided into lecture and tastings indoors (70%), and the lab work of the puer making process outdoors and in the factory (30%). A good portion of the day was identifying different grades of puer leaves, degrees of fermentation/aging, and of course levels of quality. Characteristics were explored via aroma, sight, and taste. We also studied tea that had various faults during production.
![Classroom Puer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F37c74c87-9498-447c-a7aa-14bf9d438f40_1000x785.jpeg)
![Classroom Puer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1aa2aa31-a5be-4208-88f3-8b3a998d2fcf_1383x1155.jpeg)
![Classroom Puer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F997cd753-a659-4365-8377-803f83c032aa_2000x1500.jpeg)
Starting with learning how to harvest tea, portions of each day were very actively involved with each step of the puer production cycle. We walked the tea garden where acres of bushes were picked regularly during the harvest seasons (spring, summer, & fall). Although the tea plant is evergreen, it is dormant during the winter, and picking can cause damage. Green tea and oolongs are never picked in the summer, but that time is fine for average quality puer, although early spring is the premier season for all tea. At various points in the tea garden there were large tea trees. Many varieties of tea can grow quite large with age if they are not pruned to stay within easier to pick bush size.
Picking tea leaves (采茶 cǎi chá): Once fresh leaves have sprouted, they are plucked by hand while they are still tender. For puer tea, first four or five leaves including the unopened bud are picked. The leaves are not stripped from the stem, since the attached stem is critical for the next withering step. Picking is both labor intensive and time sensitive as the leaves slowly begin to oxidize once they are picked from the bush, and must be further processed as soon as possible.
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F93ce5a54-4711-41c4-9f75-272b36c6e850_2000x1500.jpeg)
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2d2fa81a-2a11-4637-955a-dd046e1c3d3e_2000x1500.jpeg)
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcebb8657-08c4-4bb2-b2db-a76e53386eb6_1500x2000.jpeg)
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfeb772b-1e70-4733-a72f-7d70f7eb79ae_5472x3648.jpeg)
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32b8f2e6-fa93-4362-98bc-1c8c1a41e6fa_2000x1500.jpeg)
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3381bf35-64a4-4951-bbc9-93a322c90474_1280x960.jpeg)
![Puer Labratory](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd0092963-081d-4e81-ab3f-7c3f3e5c0bd3_2000x1500.jpeg)
Withering (萎凋 wēidiāo): If left unattended, the pile of picked leaves will oxidize uncontrolled, and ruin the tea before any additional processing can occur. Instead, newly picked leaves are spread in a thin layer on bamboo mats or trays. The leaves are then left to cool down, water moves from the leaves to the stem to slowly wilt or wither, losing excess moisture in preparation for further processing.
“Kill-green” (杀青 shāqīng) or deactivating oxidation with heat: After withering, the leaves undergo a further process called “kill-green”. Here the wilted leaves are stir-roasted by hand in a cast-iron wok that is most commonly heated by firewood. Once the woks have reached the correct temperature, a batch of leaves are tossed repeatedly to remove water content and to develop flavor and aroma. Stir-roasting is a crucial step in puer production as the wok heat denatures (i.e ‘kills’) most—but not all—of the enzymes responsible for oxidation. When stir-roasting leaves meant for raw puer, a small amount of enzymes are deliberately left to remain. Over time and through proper storage, these enzymes along with beneficial bacteria and fungus, will ‘age’ the raw puer in a process known as microbial ripening. Frying tea by hand in this way requires a high degree of technical skill and practical knowledge of puer production. Leaves that are over-fried will lose their raw puer character and become essentially a green tea, whereas under-fried leaves can lead to an underdeveloped, overly sour and watery tea. There are machines that can be used for this step but they are generally considered inferior. Therefore, hand-frying is the only way to go for highest quality tea.
Rolling (揉捻 róuniǎn: Once the stir-roasted leaves have cooled down, they undergo rolling (揉捻 róuniǎn). Up until this point, the leaves are still tough, fibrous, and not very soluble in hot water. Rolling helps to break down the leaves’ cellular structure and release flavor and fragrance when they are eventually infused in hot water via brewing. Rolling can be done by hand or machine. This is one of the steps where using a machine is often superior, and the vast majority of tea producers use them. A surprising amount of force needs to be consistently applied in order to effectively soften the leaves, which is difficult to do by hand especially for a large amount of tea. Under-rolling often leads to a weak and poorly developed tea and over-rolling will yield tea that tends to brew intensely in the initial steeps, but loses flavor quickly in successive steeps. Tea that has been sufficiently rolled will release fragrance easily when brewed, and will produce an even and evolving flavor profile across multiple successive steeps.
Sun-drying (晒干 shài gān): Sun-drying is arguably the most critical step in puer tea production, as it’s part of what allows the tea to age. Sun-drying relies on good weather, sufficient space and a decent amount of labor. According to most technical definitions, sun-drying is a requisite part of puer production; in order for a tea to be ‘puer’ is has to have been sun-dried. Sun-dried tea leaves will retain small amounts of enzymes and moisture which will contribute to the overall characteristics of raw puer tea; its flavor, fragrance, and ongoing ripening over time when stored in favorable conditions. On the other hand, teas that have been dried in a machine often yield a distinct ‘green tea’ fragrance and flavor; the drying process has gone too far, likely killed off any remaining enzymes, and the tea is no longer raw puer. Sun-drying is critical when it comes to producing quality puer teas.
Sorting (黄片 huángpiàn): After drying in the sun, leaves undergo further processing by hand in order to remove “huangpian” or yellow leaves – the larger, older, and discolored leaves that are deemed visually unappealing and inconsistent in overall quality. Huangpian is removed in order to improve the visual appearance and material consistency of a pressed tea cake. Historically, sorted huangpian were kept by farmers to drink for themselves as the material was considered too low value to sell. In recent years - as old-growth forest tea has increased significantly in value - huangpian are sold to savvy drinkers looking to drink expensive material on a budget. Brewed by itself, huangpian has a soft, mellow, and sweet flavor as well as a lower amount of caffeine.
Roughly finished tea (毛茶 máochá): At this point, the tea has finished the rough processing stage, is now called maocha, and stored in huge cloth bags. From here, the maocha can be drunk as a fresh tea, although most puer will continue to “fine processing”. Some puer remains loose tea for those that prefer, but most is destined to be compressed into a raw puer to be aged before drinking, or put through a wet-piling fermentation process to produce ripe puer.
It was now our final day at the factory in Menghai. After breakfast we assembled to taste the maocha we finished the prior day. To be honest, it was average. Of course we were proud of what was made, but each step was an instruction, and they were not performed perfectly. For example, I remember that I myself had been the butt of some jokes, since I had picked leaves that were too large in order to fill up the basket quicker.
We became aware of a conversation occurring between the tea master and our guide and translators. Very hushed, even though we could not understand Chinese anyway. Finally, we were told that final puer step, visiting the fermentation area and seeing a demonstration was not going to happen. As foreigners, we were not allowed. It was mentioned that… “there are CCTV cameras in the area, and they are not my cameras”. All was not lost. We had more time for the planned visit to a large corporate tea factory (where a surprise was waiting), and had our final dinner with our hosts.
We arrived to visit our fourth tea factory. This was starting to get humorous. We were remembering how many tea gardens and tea museums we had visited in 2016 on our oolong trip. When our guide, toward the end of that trip, asked if we wanted to stop to see a plantation we were just passing, we said quickly, NO!
The Menghai Tea Factory is the largest and most famous producer of puer tea in China. This was just one of the many processing buildings, and it was completely automated. Only a small amount of activity was happening in this building, probably why we had access.
![All puer processing steps are fully automated](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd00eb725-9a70-4c63-9cc5-3a818384ea6c_5472x3648.jpeg)
![All puer processing steps are fully automated](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6aac57d4-4445-49c2-9371-47d30e15027d_5472x3648.jpeg)
![All puer processing steps are fully automated](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5387f59e-1c4c-493c-8628-37ccbeb67252_5472x3648.jpeg)
![All puer processing steps are fully automated](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F892e5352-be7e-4830-9df0-c16cfd35c305_5472x3648.jpeg)
![All puer processing steps are fully automated](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F876cc9f9-fad5-4f72-a695-f3ffcbcab4a2_5472x3648.jpeg)
Then we were given a surprise. The 1-year old tea material we were watching being compressed into cakes during our visit, was tea from the famous Mount YiWu, the same area that we had tasted the incredible young puer in the City of Puer. Even better, we were being assisted while compressing our own cakes to bring home. The short video of this activity was placed earlier in this story (where we described the shapes compressed puer can take).
![2017 Mount YiWu Shou Puer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1aa29496-dff2-4de1-adb3-90a30fa8d822_1138x1654.jpeg)
![2017 Mount YiWu Shou Puer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F112085ea-f7c6-4f78-b146-6f2852956ea8_2448x2441.jpeg)
Puer tea brewing sidebar: One-ounce portion of puer tea can be divided into approximately twelve kitchen teaspoon servings. Use one teaspoon for each 6-8 ounces of boiling 212°F water, and brew for 30+ seconds. Each serving of puer can be brewed about 10 times (over the course of several hours) before the tea will be too weak to enjoy. Add about 10 seconds of brew time to each successive infusion (2nd infusion is 40s, 3rd is 50s, etc). You can brew longer than recommended, and it will be stronger, but yield fewer than 10 infusions. Notice how the flavors change for each infusion.
We concluded our Menghai visit with a farewell dinner with our hosts. Every meal was spectacular in Yunnan. We will miss the laughter with everyone toasting with “joe”, a Chinese liquor actually called baijiu. It is usually made with an ancient grain, but some varieties are distilled from rice. All typically have an alcohol content greater than 30% and are so similar in color and feel to vodka that baijiu is sometimes known as "Chinese vodka". Ganbei (sounds like: “gon bay”) is the toast in China. It literally means "dry cup"which really means you need to empty the cup after every toast that is given (or at least your best effort).
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Part 4 - Yunnan, China, post trip
After nine days of puer immersion, it was time to head north. It would take more than a day to drive over the mountains, so we were able to fly to Dali, Yunnan Province instead. While somewhat tea-related, this was to be more a two-day post-trip, a little more site-seeing and a little more relaxing. Activities on the schedule were specifically unique to Dali, seldom found anywhere else.
There was a stop at Dali’s “Butterfly Spring” a protected nature habitat of native vegetation, water features, and an extensive number of butterfly colonies. We were fortunate that in October the lifecycle of these residents were on full display.
Later that afternoon, not far from the butterflies, was the Three Pagodas Reflection Park. Set at the foot of the mountains and aside a lake, the center pagoda is 230 feet tall, flanked by two 140 foot pagodas to form a temple area. This was constructed during the Tong Dynasty in the 9th and 10th centuries to promote Buddhism.
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We walked Dali’s Old Town, and found our way to a reconstructed portion of the Tea Horse Road, which is similar to the more famous Silk Road to the north. We stopped by the Xiaguan Tea Factory to visit the museum and enjoy some tea, but had already bought tea early in the trip at the Kunming headquarters. We enjoyed a last night at the luxurious Linden Centre, a boutique hotel restored from a 1940’s Bai (Dali style noble courtyard home). In the evenings we drank ginger tea and learned mahjong.
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We headed back to Kunming to prepare for our flight home. We had one final day, on our own, without guide or translators. The experience of the twelve previous days gave us “some“ courage to explore. I had kept a note with contact info for the Zun Zhong Tea family business we visited on day one, and used WeChat (similar to Facebook) to contact the manger. She remembered us, and I asked for taxi directions for returning from our hotel. She said “I’ll come to get you”. 30-minutes later we started a several hour tea tasting session, during which they shared a noodles lunch with us! The hospitality was incredible, we so enjoyed the time with them again, and we made several wonderful purchases. As you can tell, we left Yunnan Province with equally wonderful memories.
![Visiting Zun Zhong Tea Company a 2nd time](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2629553-7bb2-468b-8d3f-365943933c5d_2048x2048.jpeg)
![Visiting Zun Zhong Tea Company a 2nd time](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4935db67-ffb1-4ecb-aca8-861297c3984d_480x640.jpeg)
Historical note: Unknown to us and most people, in March 2017 Lisa See published her novel “The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane”. Our growing interest in puer tea turned out well timed. By 2019, Lisa See’s novel was reaching the top of best sellers. We started receiving visits and calls from people reading the book, asking if our shop knew about puer tea. Many more conversations about puer generally became common. More customers wanted to taste and try. We had several northern Arizona book clubs ask to have their monthly meeting in our store, while drinking puer tea and discussing the book.
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