Collection: PU•ERH TEA

Loose leaf Pu-erh / Dark Tea is distinguished by the dark brown color of the infusion, its manufacturing method and aging properties. Dark tea is made in several Chinese provinces but true Pu-erh tea comes from a specific area in Yunnan Province, China. A post fermentation process caused by micro-organisms that thrive in a moist environment gives dark teas the advantage of improving over time.

There are two major divisions within dark tea: raw (sheng) and cooked (shou). The cooked variety is sped along through a “pressure cooking” like process, while the raw style is often inoculated with bacteria (the good kind) and left to age naturally.

Dark tea is available as loose-leaf or compressed into cakes (bing cha), bricks (zhuan cha) or nests (tuo cha). Like fine wine pu-er is labeled by year. Pu-erh typically has a deep, earthy flavor, dark red-gold color, and rich, velvety texture.