Pu'er tea

Pu'er or pu-erh is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. Pu-erh tea is made from the leaves of the Yunnan tea plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica, which is a specific variety of tea plant that is native to Yunnan. It differs from Yunnan tea (dianhong) in that pu'er tea goes through a complex fermentation process. In the context of traditional Chinese tea production terminology, fermentation refers to microbial fermentation (called 'wet piling'), and is typically applied after the tea leaves have been sufficiently dried and rolled. As the tea undergoes controlled microbial fermentation, it also continues to oxidize, which is also controlled, until the desired flavors are reached. This process produces tea known as Chinese: 黑茶; pinyin: hēichá; lit. 'black tea', though the term is commonly translated to English as "dark tea" to distinguish it from the English-language "black tea" (红茶; 紅茶; hóngchá; 'red tea'), which it is not. Most teas, although described as fermented, are actually oxidised by enzymes present in the tea plant. Pu'er is instead fermented microbially by molds, bacteria and yeasts present on the harvested leaves of the tea plant, and thus is truly fermented. There are two main styles of pu'er production: a traditional, longer production process known as shēng ("raw") pu'er; and a modern, accelerated production process known as shóu ("ripe") pu'er. Pu'er traditionally begins with a raw product called "rough" (máo) chá (毛茶; 'fuzzy/furry tea') and can be sold in this form or pressed into a number of shapes and sold as shēng chá (生茶; 'raw tea'). Both of these forms then undergo the complex process of gradual fermentation and maturation with time. The wòduī (渥堆) fermentation process developed in 1973 by the Kunming Tea Factory created a new type of pu'er tea. This process involves an accelerated...