I recently read an article in the Art of Tea magazine, in which the writer wrote that he likes either the very young raw Pu-erh or the very old Pu-erh. He finds the ones in between "awkward." I find this a very interesting point and I happen to agree with his assessment. I am partial to raw Pu-erh, particularly the newly made ones from the old ( Read more... )

During our recent trip to Jingmai Yunnan, we were invited into a small family-owned tea factory and able to take videos of the preliminary processing of Pu-erh tea and the making of Pu-erh tea cakes. This is the first of the two videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3RyaLTg1mg ( Read more... )

Most attention about Pu-erh tea has been paid to the aged Pu-erh.  There is a consensus in the Pu-erh community that Pu-erh tea is "the older it gets, the better it is." Don't get me wrong. I love aged Pu-erh because it possess qualities that no other teas can match. However, young raw Pu-erh should not be devalued either ( Read more... )

Most attention about Pu-erh tea has been paid to the aged Pu-erh.  There is a consensus in the Pu-erh community that Pu-erh tea is "the older it gets, the better it is." Don't get me wrong. I love aged Pu-erh because it possess qualities that no other teas can match. However, young raw Pu-erh should not be devalued either ( Read more... )

One of the reasons so many tea connoisseurs are so fanatical and will pay astronomical prices for vintage Pu’erh tea is because high quality Pu’erh not only offers distinctive flavors that are dissimilar to those of other teas, it offers an experience of the whole body and gives you an overall sense of well-being. Many avid Pu’erh drinkers call ( Read more... )

Not only are occasional Pu'erh drinkers fooled, professionals can be fooled also. Whether Pu'erh novice or professional, one needs to utilize common sense and trust his or her natural instincts. When it comes to buying Pu'erh, the most important thing is taste it before you buy. Many tea shops offer free tasting and many on-line tea shops offer ( Read more... )

Yunnan is believed to be the birthplace of tea trees and, according to the Pu’erh Tea College of the Yunnan University of Agriculture, there are still over 60,000 acres of ancient tea gardens in Yunnan with tea trees ranging in age from 100 to 3,000 years old can be found. Yunnan people revere these tea gardens as “tea tree museums” and refer to ( Read more... )