Pu'er Tea is made from sun-dried maocha produced from Yunnan big-leaf tea varieties. It has a sturdy and compact appearance, with a reddish-brown or grayish-white color. The liquor color is red, thick, and bright, with a strong aged aroma, a mellow and smooth taste, and a lingering sweetness. Modern Pu'er Tea includes two main categories: loose-leaf Pu'er Tea and compressed Pu'er Tea. Loose-leaf Pu'er Tea is primarily blended with finer Dianqing and undergoes the unique post-fermentation process specific to Pu'er Tea. Compressed Pu'er Tea uses finer Dianqing as the main ingredient and also incorporates different grades of coarse tea as the inner or "heart" layer. The various forms of compressed Pu'er Tea include tuo cha, bing cha , fang cha, jin cha , yuan cha , and others.
Pu'er Tea is further classified into raw and ripe teas. The liquor color of raw Pu'er Tea stored in dry warehouses is chestnut red, while the liquor color of ripe Pu'er Tea is dark chestnut, even approaching black. Raw and ripe Pu'er Teas can be distinguished by their aroma, liquor color, and leaf base.
Pu-erh Tea
