Pu'er, though relatively unfamiliar in name, is actually the tea with the deepest and most practical history. As a simple farmers‘ recipe, the tea tree's use quickly spread from the south-west of China further east-ward. Eventually it would be carried by horse along the silk road, representing one of the primary trade commodities. This famous horse-drawn path of pu'er trade was from then on known as Cha Ma Gu Dao, or the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Later on Pu'er tea was incorporated into certain aspects of Chinese medicine; particularly, promoting digestion and cleansing the blood. As a result, Pu'er has seen a magnificent resurgence in modern China and throughout the world as a wonderful and health-conscious meal complement, as well as something to be treasured like fine silk. In fact, where previously the storage of pu'er simply showed off the teas unusual hardiness to the environment, aging pu'er as one does with a quality wine has recently become one of the latest trends to rock the tea world. Over time the tea's unique aromas and colours mellow and deepen, gaining a richness that is impossible to mimic with processing.

While the terms 'uncooked' or 'raw' might connote an unfinished product, the reality is that raw or uncooked pu'er is a true and original pu'er tea. Raw pu'er is to be treated as a fine liquor; undergoing many stages of change throughout its life after leaving the factory. Though, aside from the original leaves themselves, technically raw pu'er is processed the same way as green tea. The main difference is how the finished tea evolves as time passes. Green tea simply goes stale, but pu'ers will follow from a slightly-bitter and medicinal green taste to eventually mellow, rich and extremely complex. And although the global passion for aged pu'er would reason that it is only worth drinking after many years, high-grade pu'er cakes can show off many delicious and interesting qualities immediately after production. On Yishan Teashop we can provide you with a great many tasting pointers that should help lead you to a great selection to suit your tastes.

Pu'er tea's uniquely mellow and organic taste normally requires an investment in time in order to enjoy the ideal pu'er experience. The quality leaves can take years to mature and develop classic pu'er taste and color attributes, at which point each tea cake can fetch an enormous price. In the 1970s pu'er factories in Yunnan province developed a method where the leaves can be by matured in months or even days by adding a step immediately after drying called Wo Dui. In this process the uncooked leaves are wet and turned over and over before finally being dried once again. The result is a very dark well-rounded infusion that can also be further aged to smooth out the edge of the flavor. While cooked pu'er is certainly not a replacement for original well-aged raw (uncooked) pu'er, the Wo Dui process gives us all a great and accessible way to reach similar tastes that such 20 year old tea cakes might have. The real benefit of this process is that we all get an entire new tea category to enjoy and often at a great price too!

Adding additional ingredients to our cooked pu'er teas is not part of an elusive trend, in fact it's rooted in Cantonese pu'er tea drinking habits. Cooked pu'er has long been the ideal drink to complement Cantonese Dimsum, and generally the allowance for adding new flavors is relaxed when the tea goes with food. The more traditional pu'er flavors have always been the addition of pomelo or orange skins, as well as Chrysanthemum flowers. We are going one step further with a few other fruity essential oils to widen the array of delicious choices.. Enjoy!