300-year-old tea tree forest

Puer tea comes mainly from Simao, Yunnan Province . Puer is the town where the trade of the tea happened. Transliterated from the Hani ethnic group, puer means village of cove, expressing a strong feeling of the warm home.

As early as the East Han Dynasty (25-220), local people began to grow puer tea. The legend says the seeds of puer tea were left by Zhuge Liang, the minister of the state of Shu during the three kingdoms period (220-280). He was an outstanding politician and military expert known for his use of tactics and strategies.

The name of the puer tea kept changing with the supersession of dynasties throughout its 2000-year history. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the tea gained such great popularity that more than 100,000 people were involved in the tea growing on the puer tea mountains around Simao town, the local chorography said.

Puer tea played an extremely important role in the trade of tea and horse road. The tea was transported to countries in Asia and Europe. In countries like Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand, puer tea was well accepted by the local consumers.

Puer tea is processed through special fermentation by using the semi-made green tea of Yunnan large leaf tea. It is black or brown in colour. The aged Pu-erh tea is mellow and gives a sweet taste in mouth after drinking. It is an ideal health drink for both young and old people.
 
The brewed tea is darkly red, and has a bold, earthy taste. For optimum brewing, use boiling water. It will taste best if brewing with spring water and in a Zisha (purple clay) teapot. Unlike most other teas, puer is usually purchased in a compressed state rather than loose leaves. The leaves are pressed together during processing into a variety of shapes. The “tea bricks” once used as currency were typically made with Pu-erh tea. You just shave off some tea from the brick or ball, into your teapot.

The flavour of puer is often under-appreciated, because it actually gets better with age. The very highest grade of puer tealeaves is exorbitantly expensive, especially when well-aged. Some aged puer tea has been in storage for several years. Puer teas have huge differences in taste acccording to their age. When young, the tea is light and fragrant, and when old, it gets thicker and bitter. So it needs time and experience to fully understand the cup of puer tea.

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