Pu'er Tea
Pu'er tea (scientific name: Camellia assamica (Mast.) Chang) is a large evergreen tree that can grow up to 16 meters tall. The young branches are slightly hairy and the buds are covered in white soft hair. The leaves are thin and leathery, oval-shaped, with a brownish-green color and a slight gloss on the upper side when dried, and a light green color with soft hair on the midrib and short soft hair on the rest of the leaf on the lower side. The veins are clearly visible on the upper side, with 8-9 pairs of lateral veins. The flowers are axillary and covered in soft hair. There are 2 bracts that fall early. The sepals are nearly round with no hair on the outer side. The petals are oblong-ovate with no hair. The stamens are 8-10 mm long, free, and hairless. The ovary has 3 chambers and is covered in fine hair. The style is 8 mm long with a 3-lobed tip. The capsule is flat, triangular, and ball-shaped. Each chamber contains 1 nearly round seed with a diameter of 1 centimeter.
Pu'er tea is mainly produced in Xishuangbanna, Lincang, and Pu'er regions of Yunnan Province, China. It emphasizes brewing techniques and the art of tasting. There are various ways to enjoy Pu'er tea, whether it's drinking it plain or mixing it with other ingredients. The tea soup of Pu'er tea is orange-yellow and dense, with a strong and lasting aroma, a unique fragrance, and a rich and mellow taste that can last through multiple infusions.
History of the Species
Definition of the Name
Pu'er tea is made from the sun-dried leaves of Yunnan large-leaf tea plants grown in a specific region of Yunnan Province, China. It undergoes fermentation during processing and can be made into loose tea or compressed tea. This includes historically fermented Pu'er tea (storage is also a form of processing) as well as artificially fermented and naturally fermented Pu'er tea available today.
According to research, the tea produced in Yingshengcheng is the Yunnan large-leaf tea, which is the ancestor of Pu'er tea. Therefore, the tea produced in Yingshengcheng should be considered the origin of Pu'er tea. In the Qing Dynasty, Ruan Fu mentioned in his book "Record of Pu'er Tea": "Pu'er originally belonged to Yingsheng Prefecture. The use of Pu'er in Western Tibet dates back to the Tang Dynasty." Li Shi, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, also recorded in his book "Continuation of Natural History": "Tea from the Yingsheng mountains, harvested at any time, mixed with beans and ginger and consumed as a drink."
During the Yuan Dynasty, there was a place called "Buri Bu", which later became "Pu'er" when written in Chinese characters (at that time, "er" did not have three dots above). The term "Pu'er" first appeared here and was officially recorded in history. Yunnan tea, which did not have a fixed name, was also called "Pu tea" and gradually became a necessary commodity in markets in Tibet, Xinjiang, and other regions. The term "Pu tea" became well-known domestically and internationally until the end of the Ming Dynasty, when it was changed to "Pu'er tea".
