Puerh Tea

Selection of Pu Erh Teas by JING

Pu erh is a type of aged or fermented Chinese tea from the Yunnan province in South China. Like aged or vintage wines, puerh tea from specific mountains and years is highly prized, and puerh tea prices can be high. There are two distinct types of Pu erh tea (also sometimes spelt puerh tea or pu-erh tea). First up, raw pu erh tea, which is the original kind, and second up, is cooked or ripened pu erh tea. Raw pu erh tea can be enjoyed fresh – the processing of pu erh is not very different to green tea, or it can be enjoyed after it’s been left to naturally age and slowly oxidise. Ai Lao Mountains Raw Puerh is one such pu-erh tea which can be enjoyed fresh. Although you won’t often find pu erh tea bags, pu erh tea is available in individual portions, such as our Cooked Puerh Mini Cakes, which are a smooth, woody and rich example of cooked pu erh. You’ll also find loose leaf pu erh tea, such as our Vintage Imperial Puerh.

Pu Erh Tea Benefits: What is it good for?

There are a few reports that say that the pu-erh tea benefits originate in it’s ability to metabolize fat and so support weight loss. The research isn’t always conclusive though and so for us, like all of our tea drinking we think the top benefit of drinking puerh tea is linked to taste! The taste of pu erh tea can be exceptional. Raw pu-erh tea is often light in colour and drunk for its combination of complex bitterness and transformative sweetness, floral notes and fruitiness. Cooked puerh tea tends to be darker and richer, with similar bitterness but balanced by a caramel sweetness and more earthy undertones of forest floor and tobacco. Find out more about which style of puerh tea is for you, how to make puerh tea and Yunnan, the mountainous land it comes from over on Our Journal, where we’ve also written about our five reasons why tea’s good for you.