Puer Tea Tea leaves, also known as Bolay Tea...

Pu-erh, Pu’er tea, Puer Tea or Bolay tea is a type of Tea made from a “large leaf” variety of the tea plant and named after Pu’er county near Simao, Yunnan, China.

Pu-erh Tea is considered a medicinal tea in China. The Pu-erh tea has been subject to a number of health studies. A number of medical studies have substantiated claims that the tea helps reduce cholesterol levels and saturated fats in humans, and that it might also assist in weight loss.

Pu-erh Tea can be purchased as either raw/green (Sheng) or ripened/cooked (Shou), depending on processing method or aging. Sheng pu-erh can be roughly classified on the tea oxidation scale as a green tea, and the shou or aged-green variants as post-fermented tea. The fact that Pu-erh fits in more than one tea type poses some problems for classification.

For this reason, the “Green Tea” aspect of Pu-erh is sometimes ignored, and the tea is regarded solely as a post-fermented product. Unlike other teas that should ideally be consumed shortly after production, pu-erh can be drunk immediately or aged for many years; Pu-erh Teas are often now classified by year and region of production much like wine vintages.

While there are many counterfeit Pu-erhs on the market and real aged pu-erh is difficult to find and identify, it is still possible to find Pu-erh that is 10 to 50 years old, as well as a few from the late Qing Dynasty. Indeed, tea connoisseurs and speculators are willing to pay high prices for older pu-erh, upwards of thousands of dollars per “cake” or “brick”. Tea bricks made with Pu-erh tea were once used as currency.

Pu-erh Tea has an earthy flavor that comes from the fermentation process, unlike the oxidation process that is used to produce black and oolong teas.

Pu-erh Tea General Brewing Guidelines

Brewing Temperature: 195°

Brewing Time: 2-3 minutes

1 tsp per 8 oz cup

Recommended Pu-erh Tea:

Yunnan Pu Erh Tea 8 oz: V    This is loose tea, not bagged. One pound is the equivalent of approximately 200 tea bags. In Cantonese culture, Pu-erh is known as po-lay, bo-lay tea, or bo-nay tea and is often drunk during dim sum meals with family and friends, as it is believed to help with digestion. The brewed tea is darkly red, and has a bold, earthy taste. Letting it dry age in a cool closet will improve your cup of tea when the dry aged leaves are finally brewed.