Sheng Pu'er
Raw pu'er: sun-dried Yunnan large-leaf tea pressed or sold loose without accelerated fermentation, bitter and bright when young and slowly mellowing over years.
Definition
Sheng pu'er (raw pu'er) is made from maocha that is pan-fired at a relatively low temperature, rolled, sun-dried, and then pressed into cakes, bricks or tuocha after a steaming step that softens the leaf. Nothing else is done to it. The relatively gentle kill-green leaves some enzymatic activity in the leaf, and that, together with slow oxidation and microbial activity during storage, is why sheng changes with age. Young sheng tastes close to a strong green tea: bitter, astringent, floral or fruity, with a yellow-green liquor. Over 10 to 20 years, depending on storage, the liquor turns orange and then red-brown, bitterness fades, and woody, camphor, dried fruit and leather notes appear. Storage location matters: humid southern storage in Guangdong, Hong Kong or Malaysia ages tea faster and darker than dry storage in Kunming or northern China. Village and mountain names drive sheng prices. Lao Banzhang is known for bitterness that turns quickly sweet, Yiwu for soft, sweet and thick leaf, and Bingdao for high-priced sweetness.
In Depth
Brew at 90-100°C (194-212°F). Very young, bitter sheng can be brewed at 85-90°C or with very short infusions to manage bitterness. Use 5-7 g per 100 ml and start with 5-10 second infusions.
Good young sheng shows huigan, a sweet aftertaste that rises in the throat after initial bitterness. Bitterness that lingers without returning sweetness, or a thin, sour liquor, points to poor leaf or poor processing.
A 357 g cake is the standard unit. Buyers who want aged character either pay for verified older cakes, often with documented storage, or buy young cakes and store them. Humid "wet stored" tea has a musty, earthy note some drinkers like and others reject; "dry stored" or "traditional" storage descriptions should be checked against the smell of the leaf. Avoid any cake with visible white or green mold.
See Also
- Pu'er Aging
- Yunnan Tea Villages
- Gushu Old-Tree Tea