Origins and history of Pu-erh Tea<\/h2>\n
By the 6th century AD, tea from Yunnan<\/strong> was being transported to Lhasa where it had become a popular food supplement for the Tibetan people<\/strong> whose diet at the high altitudes was limited. Because the transportation of loose tea caused enormous logistical difficulties, green tea <\/a><\/strong><\/a>made in Yunnan was compressed into cakes before being loaded onto ponies, yaks and mules. The preferred shape was a round flat disc of approximately 357 grams<\/strong> and these were stacked inside layers of bamboo leaves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The journey to Tibet took six to eight months through heavy rain, thick foggy mists, and blazing summer sun. During the laborious journey, the tea absorbed humidity and this activated the micro-flora in the tea and provoked a slow bacterial fermentation<\/strong>. The micro-organisms found their way into the tea because they were present in the air of Yunnan\u2019s dense tea forests, settled on the leaves of the tea trees and were in the tea after processing. The humidity and warm temperatures on the journey to Tibet activated a natural fermentation process, which continued during storage of the teas in Lhasa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n In 1972 there was a new development. The best Pu-erh teas<\/strong><\/a> need seven to ten years to develop their more mellow character<\/strong> and, in order to speed up the fermentation process<\/strong> and make more tea available more quickly, the Menghai Tea Factory and the Kunming Tea Factory adapted the method of wet piling, called \u2018wo dui\u2019<\/strong>, used in Guangxi province since the 18th century. Mass production of this \u2018ripened\u2019 tea began in 1975, and most teas made by this method are stored for only two or three years before being ready to drink.<\/p>\n Pu-erh tea made by the traditional method of slow aging is called Sheng (Raw) Pu-erh<\/strong>; tea made by the modern wet-piled method is called Shu (Ripe, Ripened, or Cooked) Pu-erh<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To make Raw Pu-erh<\/strong><\/a>, tea buds and leaves are picked, withered in the shade for a few hours, panned at a low temperature to remove some of the water content and soften the leaves, rolled by hand on bamboo baskets, and dried in the sun. As it dries, this \u2018maocha<\/strong>\u2019 (raw or rough tea) oxidises slowly and darkens<\/strong> from bright green to a mixture of green-brown and downy silvery buds. This oxidation happens because, although the tea has been panned before rolling, the heat treatment is not enough to kill all the enzymes in the leaf<\/strong>, and those that remain, activate slow oxidation as the leaves dry slowly in the sun<\/strong>. During the normal production of green tea<\/strong><\/a>, the tea is dried much more quickly in the wok, panning machine or oven and so no oxidation takes place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"hojas](\"https:\/\/royaltipstea.com\/img\/cms\/hojas-de-te-silvestre-Camellia-sinensis-var--assamica_1.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSheng Pu-erh (Raw Pu-erh tea)<\/h2>\n