PuerhJanuary 2015

Thank you for Reading!

I'm so excited to share this newevolution of Tea for Me Please. The blogwill still continue just as it always has butlove being able to share more in depth

information with you all. Feel free todrop me a line at

nicole@teaformeplease.com and let meknow what you think!

This journal is a labor of love. It is yoursto share with your tea loving friends. I

only ask that you recommend that theysign up for the mailing list too!

All content used with permission of therespective authors.

Sheng vs Shou

Sheng - Raw

Shou - Cooked

-vegetal, earthy,complex-leaves are allowedto retain naturalenzymes so it agesslowly over time-invented 700 or 800years ago

-dark, earthy,sweeter-leaves undergofermentation overseveral months-invented in 1973

A Beginner's Guideto Puerh

While many of my readers are as addicted to puerh as I am, I thoughtthat I should include a bit of an introductory article in this inauguraljournal. Fermented teas can be really scary when you’re first startingout. These recommendations are based on my own tastes andexperiences.

Although I’ve been a serious tea drinker for a long time, puerh was mylast frontier until the last two years or so. I was pretty convinced that Ihated the stuff. In hindsight, I realize that many of the first samples Itried were rather bad quality and not really representative of thecategory. Fishy shu or musty, poorly stored sheng has incited the samereaction in many a tea drinker. I’m here to tell you that there is hope.

At the beginning of my tea journey I brewed almost everything using aninfuser basket and a teapot or teacup. While there’s nothing intrinsicallywrong with this I find that puerh will sometimes not perform well,especially if you aren’t accustomed to its unique taste. I never reallyenjoyed puerh until I started using gaiwans and smaller gongfu sizedteapots. Here are some tips that really helped me out.

by Nicole Martin

Break It Gently

Believe it or not I have never owned a puerh knifeuntil fairly recently. After years of bear handing it, I’verealized that I was being a bit too rough on my leaves.Breaking them into smaller pieces makes them much

less pretty but can also release more bitterness. Ihighly recommend using a blunt puerh knife (or a

letter opener in a pinch) to break the cake aparthorizontally rather than digging through it. It can take

a bit of a practice to get the hang of this but it willmake a difference in the taste of your tea.

Weigh It

I never really enjoyed puerh until I started usinggaiwans and smaller sized teapots. Part of this was

because it’s really hard to measure out teaspoons ofa compressed tea. Gongfu preparation usually calls for

weighing the tea. This is more accurate and a much easierway of measuring your tea. I use about 5g or leaves when

using a gaiwan and around 8g when I’m brewing in myyixing teapot. At first, that won’t look like much at all

but as you brew the leaves will break apart andexpand quite a bit.

Brew It Quickly

Another problem with brewing puerh tea in a westernfashion is that the brew times are way too long. In

switching to the gongfu method, you’ll be amazed at howmuch flavor can be achieve in a 30 second infusion. The

longer the infusion, the more tannins will be released fromthe leaves. Tannins are polyphenols that cause an

astringent, bitter feeling. It's the same substance thatcauses the mouth-puckering affect of red wine.

Buy Quality

As I mentioned earlier, some of the first puerhs that I triedwere very bad quality. The bing that you pick up in

Chinatown for $5 just isn’t going to cut it. There are a lot ofgreat companies out there who can help you to discover

the world of fermented tea. Don’t be afraid to ask questionsand shop around before making the leap. Order sample

sizes to start off rather than buying expensive cakes.

There’s no such as thing as the right way to make tea. Allthat matters is that you enjoy the end result!

What's in a Name? Why puerh is called

puerh?

If you are into tea in any capacity you have undoubtedly heard of puerh.  The last decadehas seen a great explosion in popularity of puerh tea in the Western market. Tea merchantsand tea educators often define the categories of tea as: White, Yellow, Green, Oolong,Black, and Puerh. Puerh is described as a category of tea that is post-fermented. Manywould be surprised to realize that puerh is not a category of tea at all. Puerh is generallyconsidered a regional product. The dictionary definition of puerh describes a post-fermentedtea processed to specific standards and originating in a geographic sub-region of Yunnanprovince in Southwestern China. It's not as simple as just that though. Defining puerh hasbeen the cause of many arguments both online and off, past and present.

Part of what I love about puerh is the complexity of it all. The history is so deep, and thespectrum of flavor and aroma possible is so diverse that it truly fascinates me. Thefascination comes with frustration as well. We in the West like to have everything in neat,little, organized boxes. A place for everything and everything in its place as the saying goes.That doesn't really exist in China and I'm finding it doesn't really work in the world of puerh.One example is the term 'post fermented tea'. In China post-fermented teas are called 'HeiCha' ⿊茶. This means 'dark tea'. Not to be confused with 'black tea', which the Chinese call'red tea'. Since puerh is a post fermented tea it would make sense that puerh is heicha. Wecontacted a number of puerh vendors we work with in China and asked this simplequestion: "Is puerh heicha?". Some said "Yes puerh is definitely heicha!". Others said "Puerh isnot heicha! Puerh is its own category of tea.". One said "Puerh used to be heicha, but it isn'tanymore". Then others said "Maybe it's heicha". Despite these arguable differences thereseems to be a global consensus towards putting teas like puerh into the larger category of'post fermented teas'.

By Glen Bowers and Dawa Lamu of Crimson Lotus Tea

There is more confusion in the spelling of puerh. Is it pu-er, pu-erh, puer, puerh, pu'er,pu'erh, or maybe even pu-ehr? To be honest it really doesn't matter. The only correct wayto spell it is in Chinese: 普洱. All the Roman alphabet spellings are phonetic representationsof the sound of the Chinese term. The Western spellings are equally correct. I prefer thespelling 'puerh' myself. The added 'h' helps people with dyslexia like myself. I often read'puer' as 'pure' and it gets confusing. I don't like adding dashes or apostrophes because in thedigital age these confuse search analytics. So I stick with 'puerh'. You are free to spell ithowever you feel you wish. Even in China puerh can be westernized in different ways.They do however stick with the spelling "Pu'er" when talking about the prefecture/city.There is even debate on the true history of the term 'puerh'. Some feel the term originatedwith the Wa minority and others with the Hani. We do know that Pu is a general name fora few different minorities. The Pu people were some of the earliest to begin cultivation oftea. A very long time ago puerh used to be called Bu-Ri (sounds like Boo-Jher). This was agreeting that meant something like "Hey brother!". In the Qing Dynasty the term Puerhbecame more popular. Pu'er prefecture, also called Simao, is much smaller than it was in thepast. It used to contain what is now Lincang and Xishuangbanna, which both producepuerh. 

With the rising popularity of the term in the past two decades the Yunnan local farmers,processors, and vendors of puerh worked with the government of the province of Yunnan topetition the Chinese government to protect the term puerh as a regional product unique toYunnan. In 2008 the Chinese government recognized the work of the minorities in Yunnanby establishing with their National Standards Commission and their equivalent of the FDA,the AQSIQ, a standardized definition of puerh that included regional product protectionstatus. The document GBT22111-2008 defines puerh as a post-fermented tea picked from bigleaf tea tree varietal (camellia sinensis v. assamica) that is sun dried. All picking andprocessing must be done south of Latitude N26°22' inside the borders of Yunnan. This line isjust north of Dali, but south of Lijiang and includes Kunming. Not much quality leaf isgrown that far north in Yunnan, but large, commercial puerh processing facilities are close tothat line. The most well known would be Xiaguan in Dali.

It seems to me that if you have gone to the effort to protect the term puerh as a regionalproduct that you cannot in good conscience then call it a category of tea. If puerh is acategory of tea then anyone outside of Yunnan should be able to make puerh. Thepromotional efforts of the puerh tea industry in Yunnan may have been too successful.Puerh is very popular right now. Without hard guidelines set at a global level there will beeven more confusion. Now that puerh is a household name in tea houses around the worldyou have eager purveyors of tea outside of Yunnan hoping to catch a ride on the puerhpopularity train. The popularity is only going to increase. You'll see more teas reaching themarket calling themselves puerh that don't come from anywhere near Yunnan. I imaginethat someday someone will try making puerh from trees in North America. They will havedefinitely made a 'post fermented tea'. Is it puerh? Is it heicha? It is my opinion that it wouldbe heicha.

Closer to Yunnan it gets arguably tricky. Bordering Yunnan are the neighboring countries ofBurma, Laos, and Vietnam. Forests disregard international borders. In some cases the sameold growth tea forests on the Yunnan side continue over the border. Unscrupulous farmersand merchants on both sides of the borders sometimes take foreign maocha leaf materialinto Yunnan to sell it as puerh. That's unfortunate for everyone involved because thefarmers outside Yunnan won't get adequately compensated for their work. It's my hope thattea growing communities outside the borders of Yunnan can work together to createproducts unique to their geographic region and work to market these to the world. It is alsomy hope that tea drinkers will recognize the hard work done by the Yunnan locals topromote and share puerh with the world and respect their efforts.

Crimson Lotus Tea is a Seattle area puerh tea import and education company. Puerh tea isthe fuel that drives our passions; both literally and figuratively. We spent three months thisSpring in Yunnan, China sourcing high quality puerh teas. 

You can find out more at http://www.crimsonlotustea.com.

Sourcing Tea in Jingmaiby Jeff Fuchs of Jalam Teas

Tea from ancient trees are imperfectly perfect with a range of large leavesalong with the precious new buds that appear white.

The shade ripples as the figure up in the tree shimmies to another branch,disturbing the bolts of sunlight. This shape, a woman tea harvester has a wickerbasket tied to her back that brims with leaves and from her mouth a song comesout in high tones into the hot air. This centuries old tree that she is straddling is acenturies old tea tree and where I stand watching is in Yunnan’s deep southwestnot far from Burma’s lush border.

Around this tree that I stare at is a forest of similar ‘ancients’ that roll and splayin every direction into the horizon. Similar bodies stride effortlessly alongbranches through the trees singing their own tunes, laughing, or simplyscreaming across the tree tops. The tea trees aren't things of great estheticbeauty. They are bent, powerful things that remind of fruit trees.

For some ethnic minorities to prune and ‘cut’ is to desecrate on of the sacredplants that the earth has provided. In the words of one tea producer “Why would Icut the arm of a friend?” Here tea is akin to a kind of benevolent provider from theearth. Economic powerhouse, nourishing medicine, and stimulant green, it is aneverything.

A tea picker in one of the ancient trees.In the indigenous strongholds of tea insouthern Yunnan there has been alongstanding tradition of not overharvesting and that has ensured thequality and health of the tea treesthemselves.

My own journey here is to both source tea and pay my annual tribute to ageography that is a mecca to many who need Jingmai’s epic subtleties in ourliquid life.

Jingmai’s name (or teas) doesn't yet give off ecstatic vapors to tea drinkers theway Yiwu or Bing Dao might, but for local drinkers of the eternal green andPuerh sippers who seek something special, it is a classic. This very fact to manyis something reassuring. The less known a tea, the less trendy its name, the lessit will be ‘faked’ or copied. Jingmai is also a tea that I've had my own long-standing and very satisfying relationship with for years, but the trip to thesource is something that is precious to knowing a tea.

My present state of giddy joy has also benefited from a rampant session ofsipping Jingmai’s green leaves in a local home. Nothing is done, few words said,and certainly no business completed before cups are tipped and sips are sipped.Store fronts don’t really exist here. One goes into a home, a kitchen, tea room orsimply perches down at a table and samples anything and all things until one issated. A bed is provided for as many days and nights as it takes to decide. It isthe way and it suits us all fine. Business yes, but informality still runs the way ofthe green here, regardless of the cost. There are few other reasons for journeyersto be here other than the famed Puerh that is produced seasonally. The local Daiand Bulang minorities share traditions, linguistic traits, and they have also longshared the magnificent forests of la (tea in local language). In a long standingagreement between the dominant Dai and Bulang, along with the Hani and localWa people, the forests can be harvested by all of these ethnic groups and sold asJingmai ancient tree tea (gu shu cha in Mandarin).

A Dai elder sorting tea leaves asshe has done seasonally for most ofher life. Hand sourced teas aretreated with hands (and notmachines) from the clip off the stemuntil the first sip of ‘la’ (tea in locallanguage).

On the winding streets of this village corners are packed with women sorting tealeaves, men running riot on motorbikes delivering huge sacks of freshly pickedtea, and errant dogs trying to avoid a ferocious sun.

It is technically winter time though only fractionally dryer and cooler than anyother time of year, and I have made my way here for the late harvest collection.Cheaper and slightly stronger in flavour composition it brings the traditionallymellow Jingmai tones up a notch in strength making it something that comesclose to that ever evasive (and subjective) notion of ‘divine’ in the world of teas.

Being of a slightly different cultivar, Jingmai’s tea leaves are slightly smallerthan the traditional and magnificently large Yunnan Big Leaf. Differing in size,the same principle applies to ‘aged’ teas. Those precious leaves from tea treesolder than 80 or so years will be designated with the formidable “ancient tree tea”making it something of a divine item for collectors or those simply looking to sipsomething that isn’t simply a tea, but rather a fluid of the earth.

Pacing through the underbrush of the ancient tea trees amidst harvesters, andtheir piles of freshly snipped leaves there is that in the surroundings that theprocess, the essence of what is happening hasn't really changed. Sprays,pesticides, and other human ‘intervention’ tools have never been used here in thisancient tea tree sanctuary, which is one of the largest on the planet. The teaproducers here adhere a kind of ‘code’ and Jingmai is known for its consistency ofprocess and of the resultant teas. Three hours ago in Mama Bo’s kitchen – one ofthe producers of the region – she said words that resounded with a simple truth,“Quality isn't about words, it is about procedure. Great teas need to be made”.

.

Like so much in the smallcommunities that cultivate tea,sorting is a community andsocial affair.

When she spoke those words I was sitting on a small wicker stool Mama Bo andher husband and friends cooked and spoke of tea in a way that emphasizedperfectly the vital nature that this commodity still has. It was as though theyreferred to a benign and wonderful relative who’s health and every ache was ofobsessive importance. This relative, though wondrous needed massaging toemphasize its character.

At one point when speaking of the future, Mama Bo simply pointed to the veryforests that I now wandered, explaining with a laugh to a prospective buyer whowanted to know how the forests’ health were, “They still give us life and we stillgive them love”.

This certainly seems a forest that continues to give life and it does so preciselybecause of the adherence to sustainable practices and that word that Mama Boliked to use “procedure”.

Jalam Teas is a monthly club that features 100-gram tea cakes. Eachpuerh is handsourced in limited quantities by Jeff Fuchs fromremote villages in Yunnan Province of China.

You can find out more at http://www.jalamteas.com

Waking Up In A Tea Village

The window looks out onto the mountains, covered with mist and tea trees that seem as ancientas time itself. One can't help but think that this view may have been the same for thousands ofyears. 

I slip my sandals on and follow the smell of roasting tea leaves. Here, tea is most often fired in theearly mornings, about now, as it is left to wither as we sleep. The family is already hard at workas I walk up and grab a banana to feed the pet monkey. In this mountain, where electricity maybe as scarce as a tea that is not puer, we live simply but with purpose. The turtles near the stoveact as scrap disposers and the morning brew of tea acts as our elixir to fire us into work. 

Puer tea may be the only tea that carries such a strong culture. This is more than a beverage,more than a leaf, it can be used to tell the history of all tea and of the land from where it grows.This leaf has carved borders and been gifted to emperors; it has been compressed under stonethen strapped to the backs of mules as they cross mountains into enemy territories. All this, whilewe sit over a wok with fire glowing under and working diligently on our task at hand.

The window looks out onto the mountains, covered with mist and tea trees that seem as ancientas time itself. One can't help but think that this view may have been the same for thousands ofyears. 

by Nicholas Lozito of Misty Peak Teas

It's 5am and a rooster wakes us with it's crowing. Thewindow lets in the morning's sky with every star as bright asthe moon. The chill of the mountain air and the chirp ofcrickets and animals drifts into the room I share with piles ofdried tea leaves. 

I used to sleep alone here, but since the puer tea economyhas grown so much, I now share my room with about3,000 kilograms of loose and compressed tea leaves.   Thesmell is so so strong, one could steep my clothing and tastethe tea.

Once we fire our harvest from yesterday, 40 kilograms, we roll it, then spread the hot leavesonto bamboo trays that will dry under the sun that seems to be only a bit brighten than thecountless stars. Dozens of trays of raw puer are carried to dry atop the deck, and we replaceour slippers with shoes and walk the 1/2 km to the morning market. 

7:30 am.  The market is crowded and chicken are thrown from one side of the street to theother. That woman with the red scarf is known for foraging the finest mushrooms; the manwith the cane understands tofu better than any. Nothing is for show, just like the turtle tied upto the kitchen sink, this market is not cute. Here, it is easy to tell that each individual is a masterof her or his craft and is here to trade and provide. Hard work and life are synonymous here, soone is careful to be kind and pay, then return home.  Refrigerators are not yet common, so thissingle market in town is always active and one learns to buy what is needed and not a thingmore. Unlike this precious leaf, meat and veggies do not get better with time.  

We buy our breakfast, congee for me and noodle soup for the family, then walk back to thefactory. It's about 60 degrees now and the mist that sat at the foot of the mountain has made itup to the waist. The roosters that said good morning are now fighting over grains of rice. Todaywe are taking a long ride to a village about 35 kilometers away to trade tea. They are knownfor their spring water which comes from the earth and is used to prepare tea with and waterthe ancient trees, many as old as 500 years. This journey will take over 5 hours as the roadsare still unpaved and driving too fast could cost you. To the villagers, each mountain isrespected as much as a fellow human. One has their favorites and gets to know them and theirteas very quickly. However, just as one marries one individual, these farmers dedicatethemselves to only one tea. 

I have made the mistake of bringing teas from nearby mountains to the farm to sample. Theirtaste is for their tea and this is why Misty Peak Teas has adopted that same philosophy. Onecan know their neighbor, we can know our friends, but we will know our spouse the very best.Just as there are men who have dozens of acquaintances, but no great friends, there are thosewho have many a teas, but few worth spending time with. To really master anything, we mustalmost be obsessed with it until we understand it.  With this, we have devoted ourselves to thistea only, along with its story. With this connection, one can sit with the village, the family, andthe story each time a pot is prepared. 

830am. Breakfast is slurped down and talk about tea prices takes up most of the meal time. Irun to the deck to turn the tea leaves while the father and mother strap on their baskets towalk to the tea trees. Harvest season is coming to a close, so these final days are relaxed butnot without purpose. 

Myself and their son pack the truck with snacks and water for the long drive ahead. Before weleave, they remind us, "Don't die on the drive. Their water doesn't make their tea taste thatgood."  We throw a few sacks of yesterday's harvest into the back seat to pass out once wearrive. 

Today the drive will take us to another mountain with other teas and other people and, if weare lucky, other stories. We will pass villages that have their own crops and tea trees that havetheir own flavors. We will blast music and I'll translate the English songs. We will pull over fortoo long to chat with old friends and maybe even longer if they ask me for my story. All this, inthe spirit of sharing. All this, in the spirit of tea. 

You can find out more about Misty Peak Teas at http://mistypeakteas.com.

In case you missed it, you can also see my interview with Nicholas on PodcastEpisode 9.

Wrapper DesignReframing Puerh Tea for the New

International Tea Culture

When Chinese state owned factories wrapped cakes several decades ago, there

were but a few common options for wrappers. Aside from color variations and a

few standard designs, the wrapper landscape was more or less a barren

wasteland.

Fast-forward to 2015. There are print shops scattered all over Yunnan. Most

shops can print a huge variety of packaging, limited only by your imagination

and abilities in Photoshop. When I was first faced with the choice of how to

design the White2tea wrappers, it was a decision I considered very seriously.

After seeing a market flooded with wrappers depicting monks, dragons, and

village elders in traditional garb, I decided the White2tea wrappers would try to

incorporate more modern, personal elements into Puer wrapper design.

The influences that held the biggest influence on my worldview weren’t ancient

writings or myths from centuries ago, but albums and electronic media from

recent history. That’s not to say that I haven’t browsed historical Chinese texts

regarding tea, but I’d be telling some hefty lies if I said my historical text viewings

rivaled my hours playing World of Warcraft or watching The Wire.

So, bearing in mind that I spent more time gaming and listening to music that

studying monk theory 101, how do I design the White2tea wrappers?

by Paul Murray of White2Tea

Start with one of my better-known wrappers, the 2013 New Amerykah. The

design was a blend of modern and traditional elements. For the modern, the

design and text are pixelated in style, using a character from a Super

Nintendo RPG and the name of a recent Erykah Badu album that was on

constant repeat when I made the tea. For the traditional, the snake being

held by the character is a reference to the year of the snake in the Chinese

zodiac calendar.

Another wrapper that I recently made was simply a stamp on white paper for

a previously unwrapped brick of Puer tea. The White Whale was a reference

to the Half-Dipper’s (Hobbe’s) comments on his blog likening me to Ahab,

and the little whale cartoon was just a playful illustration I drew. I liked the

idea of incorporating a reference to a famous American novel, a U.K. based

Puer blogger, and a silly cartoon whale as a way to present a tea.

Though it is nothing revolutionary, I like the idea of coaxing Puer out of the

“monk and tea master fairytale” realm and bringing it into a modern,

international discussion. My interaction with the Puer world has always been

very segmented. On the one hand I host a lot of traditional style tea tastings

in China, which are invariably focused on Chinese tea and Chinese tea

culture. On the other hand, most of my tea time is spent discussing with Puer

drinkers from all over the world via e-mail, while sitting alone in front of my

tea tray and listening to music. My experience with the latter is what led to my

love of Puer, and I want my wrapper design to reflect that.

My hope is that the White2tea wrappers reflect Puer tea in the context of an

evolving and international tea culture, with the caveat that dragons and

monks are admittedly pretty badass, so I might put some on my wrappers

anyhow.

The White 2 Tea Company was created by passionate

puer devotees. We conduct business with a simple

philosophy: If we would not drink it, we will not sell it. Our

approach to sales is minimalist. No flowery descriptions

of flavors. No fairytale stories about monks and tea

masters. No bullshit.

You can find out more about White2Tea at:

http://www.white2tea.com.