Pu Erh Special Grade

The name Shou Pu Erh refers to a mature tea, its collected leaves post-fermented and aged. The process used to turn máochá (raw leaves) into mature tea is a relatively recent invention, first developed in 1972 by the tea factories Menghai and Kunming. Conditions are manipulated to replicate the final result of the aging process, with the leaves undergoing prolonged bacterial fermentation in a humid environment under controlled conditions.

Natural cultures of bacteria and fungi, found in fermentation stacks throughout Yunnan province, vary widely from factory to factory, which in turn affects the different aromatic profiles of Pu Erh.

This tea can be consumed without a subsequent aging process. Some collectors of this type of Pu Erh believe that its aging potential is limited to a period of ten years.