ezychinese Cultural Expansion
Many in the West expound the health benefits and mind-clarifying qualities of green tea. There's something that strikes most people as particularly Asian and Zen about it. However, in China, the home of tea, green tea is only one of a number of kinds of tea that are enjoyed for any number of reasons, varying from flavor to health benefits. The one tea that is probably the least well known in the West is pu'er tea (pu er; puerh), a special kind of tea grown in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.
All tea comes from the same plant: Camellia Sinensis, the differences between them comes from the way they're processed, the growing conditions of the plants and geography. Pu'er tea is distinct from other teas in that it is the only tea to go through a process of fermentation. The process of making pu'er has been a closely guarded secret for centuries in China. Until 1995 it was not even legal to export the tea to America. It's no wonder, then, that we in the West have little knowledge of this tea.
Pu'er gets its name from a town where it was originally processed and sold. It was grown and harvested, however, on the Nuoshan Mountains some distance from the town of pu'er. It's said that in the process of getting the tea from the mountains to the town to be processed and sold the tea leaves would ferment in the humidity. The flavor of the leaves was pleasing and so a special fermentation process developed.
Most tea leaves are only fit to be used for a short time after their harvest. However, because of the special nature of the fermentation, pu'er is the only tea that actually improves with age. It starts as either a green or partially-oxidized tea. It's then dried and piled underneath a damp cloth to ferment for a period of either a few days or a few weeks. It's then dried again. This is "shou" (ripe) pu'er tea. There's also a kind of pu'er tea called "sheng" (unripe) pu'er that ferments through a longer process of storage.
Pu'er is sold either in a compressed, mold form, or in leaf variety. The compressed form was more convenient for transportation, and there are many different shapes that are used.
Pu'er has an earthy taste and is similar to black tea. It has long been appreciated for its medicinal benefits in China, among which are its abilities to detoxify, help in weight loss, and help in digestion. It's also appreciated solely for its particular taste, one different from other teas, but quite pleasant.
Related Vocabulary
普洱茶 pǔěrchá：pu’er tea
你喜欢喝普洱茶吗？
Nǐ xǐhuan hē pǔ’ěrchá ma？
Do you like pu’er tea?
茶砖 cházhuān：a kind of compressed tea in the shape of a brick
这种形状的普洱茶叫茶砖。
zhèzhǒng xíngzhuàng de pǔ’ěrchá jiào cházhuān。
Pu’er tea of this shape is called a “chazhuan”
茶饼 chábǐng：a kind of compressed tea in the shape of a disc
那种形状的普洱茶叫茶饼。
nàzhǒng xíngzhuàng de pǔ’ěrchá jiào chábǐng。
Pu’er tea in that shape is called “chabing”.
沱茶 tuóchá：a kind of compressed tea in the shape of a bowl
这种叫沱茶。
Zhèzhǒng jiào tuóchá。
This kind is called “tuocha”.
Related Links
Pu'er tea
Kinds of tea
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