Loose leaf Pu'er tea 普洱散茶

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When you read about Pu'er tea in the news or in general-purpose reference articles, you usually find discussion of its compressed forms, such as cakes, blocks and so on, with little or no mention of these teas in their loose-leaf form. So I thought it might be fun to remedy that oversight and introduce you to loose-leaf Pu'er; it has lots to recommend it.

 

The two main kinds of Pu'er tea from a flavor standpoint are the fully-fermented ripe 熟茶 ones and the un-fermented raw ones 生茶。Both types can be found compressed into cakes 饼茶，bricks 砖茶，bowls/bird's nests 沱茶 as well as a few other forms, such as balls 丸子 and even gourds or melons 瓜子。Here's a cake 饼 of ripe Pu'er 熟茶 from my tea cupboard. It's easy to see how dense it is.

 

   

 

 

Similarly, this brick 砖 of raw Pu'er 生茶 shows the same tightly-compressed structure.

 

   

 

 

Tea which is compact, like these, is easier to transport, especially if one were moving it hundreds of miles over rugged mountains along a narrow "tea-horse" trail, 茶马古道 from South Yunnan all the way to high Tibet. It's also easier to store for prolonged, controlled ageing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't have much loose-leaf Pu'er on hand, so before being able to present this topic adequately, I needed to make a trip to the wholesale tea market for supplies. That is definitely no hardship, and I always welcome any excuse to go there. Just ride city bus #25 for 25 or 30 minutes, arriving where 二环北路 enters 金买小区。

 

Kunming is one of China's three main "tea capitals" or tea trading hubs, alongside Shanghai and Guangzhou. We have two main wholesale tea markets, one in the north and another in the south. I visit both, but prefer the north one mainly for ease of access. This market has between 500 and 1,000 tea stores clustered together in two blocks of medium-rise buildings on both sides of the street. Most stores there have a three-tier business model: most income derives from selling large lots of tea in bulk by freight or by mail. This tea goes to other smaller wholesaler distributors as well as to some large chain retailers.

 

Some of their sales are direct, to regional retailers who visit every so often and carry their goods back to their shops in bulk and sell them there at a mark up, often packaging the tea nicely. And last of all, there are the small-scale walk-in buyers, such as me. We are only one step above beggars in the overall scheme of things, but Chinese hospitality prevails, and the merchants welcome us, sit us down and brew us cups and cups of their best tea.

 

And what's more, they typically regale us with tales. That's the best part. Before long, they are flipping through photos on their phone that show them posing in front of huge ancient tea trees way back in semi-secret mountains. "When the rain cleared, we found ourselves just beside this one, which was 1,200 years old, and has been in the family since ..."

 

 

 

The white elephants flanking the market gate above are a reference to the (diminishing) wild herds in the hills of Xishuangbanna, where lots of great Yunnan tea originates. One enters any one of several such gates, and winds around inside, where steep warrens of tea stores are stacked three-stories tall. Photo above right, shows "melon/gourd-pagoda tea," stacked as an entry-way decoration to one of the many shops. The large cartons of tea behind it are stacked everywhere. These shops seldom have a polished feel, and serve mainly as storage space for bulk tea. Some stores mainly sell Pu'er and some mainly sell red tea 滇红茶，while others specialize in Yunnan's green teas and others feature Yunnan's little-known white teas. Most, however, have some overlap.

 

It's delightful to wander from one to another, tasting this and that. You can usually depend on these sellers to know the best way to brew these teas, absent any hokey showmanship or flourish. They are not "performing a tea ceremony" for unwary tourists in Beijing's scam alleys, but they are still using kung-fu methods and utensils. These shopkeepers are not playing games with tourists, they just want to let you share their appreciation of their wares and hopefully buy some at the end. But there is never any pressure.

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting one store where I could not understand the heavy dialect of the boss man, I wandered around several other venues and eventually found a top-notch, mellow loose leaf ripe Pu'er 熟普洱散茶, bought 150 grams of it; and likewise settled on a bright and balanced raw loose leaf Pu'er 生普洱散茶，bought the same amount of it. These two large bags of tea are enough to last me several years unless I wind up giving some away (which often happens.) Cost was 230 Yuan together, and the seller threw in a handful of balls of red tea 滇红茶 to lure me back another time. And I probably will return; could not have been more pleased with these purchases and the overall experience. 

 

 

Thus equipped, I rode the bus back to my apartment. Looking forward to showing you how the shopping expedition worked out, but am afraid of loosing what's here already, so I'm going to post as is and then add to it. (Sometimes the forum software fails and the browser swallows it all without a trace. This can cause a grown man to cry, which is not a pretty sight.)

 

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I first brewed the ripe Pu'er, since that's my favorite kind. I was particularly interested in seeing how it would stack up against the small amount of Royal Pu'er that I had on hand. Royal Pu'er is the way 宫廷 usually gets translated, although "imperial palace" or "imperial court" would work just as well. This is the highest grade of loose-leaf Pu'er, made exclusively from the tender tips (buds) 嫩芽 of the tea plant. No leaves at all, only young shoots. It's time consuming and difficult to pick, as you can well imagine. Most top-grade tea, Pu'er as well as other styles, uses the tip (bud) plus a couple of young leaves.

 

    The bud is the small center element.

 

Pu'er can be ranked or graded according to how much leaf is included in the finished product. The coarser tea is less expensive. These are typically graded from 1 to 10. But above these 10 grades, are two "super grades" -- the first "super grade" being called 特级 and the very pinnacle is 宫廷 "Palace Grade."

 

That's what I was putting up beside this new loose leaf Pu'er. Quite a challenge. Here's a look at it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is beside some 宫廷。

 

 

 

Leaf size, or leaf vs. bud, does not tell the whole story. Smallest is not always best. However small does usually produce the smoothest, most mellow taste; but some experts say that it lacks depth, lacks the corners and rough edges that make Pu'er what it is, that give it character and charm. The loose leaf ripe Pu'er I bought yesterday was all 古树, ancient tree, and that's important too. These ancient trees have extraordinarily deep roots, and this batch came from a good factory in Menghai 孟海。I pressed the seller, wanting to know what mountain if possible, but she did not know. Said, however, that it was from 2015 and would continue to improve over the next few years.

 

Brewed it up, kungfu style 功夫茶 in my trusty Jianshui teapot 建水紫掏茶壶。Color of the soup 汤 was bold and deep, like a great red wine. It had a full aroma, earthy without being musty. And the taste suggested forest trees and mushrooms, with a particularly smooth after taste 后感 in the back of the mouth and throat. It was easy to enjoy, and I could see myself sipping lots of it, especially of an evening after supper. It is said to have less caffeine than raw Pu'er，though of course it still has some.

 

 

 

 

 

So, in short it was a winner. It had a little bit more "personality" than the Royal Pu'er, though both were excellent. Furthermore, this cost quite a bit less than its regal cousin. Here's what the brewed leaves looked like. It's alway important to examine these to get a fuller appreciation of how carefully the tea is made. You should not find stems and sticks and bits of woody trash. You should not find too many cut or broken leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My plan was to brew this ripe Pu'er yesterday, and them make some raw Pu'er and enjoy them side by side. That did not work out because once I tasted the fine ripe brew, I wanted to sip nothing else besides it, wanted to enjoy it to the max without any competition. I had a few quail tea eggs still in the fridge, recently discussed. https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/54342-quail-tea-eggs-鹌鹑茶叶蛋/ I broke those out along with some salted peanuts. Put on a bit of favorite music, got out a good book and sat back for a large dose of temporary heaven.

 

This morning I got back on track and tried the raw Pu'er. Here's a look at this gloriously wild stuff. Raw Pu'er is usually something you either hate or love; difficult to be neutral and feel so-so about it.

 

 

 

 

Compared here with the ripe loose leaf Pu'er.

 

 

 

 

 

Used gongfu brewing 功夫泡发, as before, but went with a gaiwan 盖碗 instead of a teapot. My clay teapot is reserved for ripe Pu'er and I only have the one. Water temperature for raw Pu'er can be just a little less hot than for ripe Pu'er. These leaves also have more stamina than ripe Pu'er  耐泡. You can get 10 or 12 steeps from them, whereas the ripe Pu'er loose leaves give 5 or 6 before beginning to decline. 

 

 

Dry leaves nearly fill the gaiwan. Note the pale golden color of the liquor, what Chinese tea people call "the soup" 汤。And here's a look at the finished leaves, after being brewed.

 

 

Both teas were absolutely delicious. This particular loose-leaf Pu'er was a 2016 from Lincang 临沧, also ancient tree 古树。Loose leaf tea is a little easier to brew; it's not as difficult to estimate the right amount of leaf to use, for one thing. For another, it begins to release its flavor faster when hit by the hot water. Sometimes a tightly-compressed Pu'er tea can be reluctant to open up; needs special coaxing; requires higher skill and technique 泡发。

 

In addition to shopping for tea, when I go to the wholesale tea market there is no way on earth to avoid spending some time browsing in the vast stores that sell teapots, tea cups and tea tools 茶具。I don't fight it, I plunge right in and usually wind up buying one or two "must have" items that I didn't even know I needed.

 

  

 

I bought a couple of tea leaf storage jars, and lovingly fondled a white Yixing teapot which cost 4,800 Yuan. Some stores featured modern tea appliances, such as ways to heat the water for your brew. Others featured antiques, some had lots of tea brewing trays 茶盘 made from exotic woods.

 

   

 

 

Most of these 茶具 stores also had a tea table where the boss's sister or somebody's 表妹 was making tea for guests. And, oddly enough, in most of these places, I did feel like a guest, not merely a customer. At one store I sat down to rest my feet and a lady poured me some of what everyone else was having.

 

"Oh, That's delicious. What tea is it? I cannot place it.?"

"Haha, it's our special brew. Helps when the weather is hot and dry 干燥。Here, let me show you."

 

She took the top off the teapot and I looked in. Green plus colors. Then she handed me one big  bag of loose leaf raw Pu'er and two smaller bags of dried flowers. One was rosebuds and the other was jasmine. I could not have picked out either of those scents because they were so subtle. The finished product did not taste particularly "flowery or herbal." Yet it had a friendly note that the camelia sinensis leaves alone did not possess. The nice lady also ran through some TCM benefits that I didn't fully understand.

 

So today, at home I decided to see if I could reproduce it. Voila! Success! Nothing to it; I'll show you how.

 

   

 

 

Sprinkle the flowers into the raw Pu'er tea, among the leaves, add hot water and steep a couple minutes. Refreshing and slightly less intense than the tea leaves all by themselves. Dried "brewing flowers" are available here in every tea store, plus in fruit/vegetable markets. I've seen them sometimes in supermarkets as well.

 

   

 

 

So that's the story. You now know some about loose leaf Pu'er and you now know some about the Kunming wholesale tea market and you see how you can make unplanned discoveries while going about other business. China is pretty darned amazing!

 

 

 

[Alex_Hart]

I was stressed this weekend as I just took my HSK, and even more stressed after I finished the test. Reading your posts, however, acts much like a nice cup of tea (or a nice bottle of beer!) and relaxes me. Thanks for all your efforts, abcd.

 

I'm jealous of your market. I've now made two trips to Shanghai (a short one hour ride on the 高铁) in order to buy tea and I question why it would be included in a list of tea markets alongside Kunming. I doubt very much that the main tea market there surpasses 300 shops, many of which are extremely wide-ranging in their tea choice (green and black and puer all on the same shelf). I had luck finding one lovely lady from 武夷 who mostly had Wulongs and was happy to drink tea with two of us for almost two hours. I had already made my purchase, but she kept chatting and sharing teas. As she was fluent in Japanese, we were soon joined by a Japanese man who lived in the neighborhood and she gave us a long speech on the characteristics of Chinese tea that attract Japanese customers and insisted on brewing a fresh tea to elaborate on every point: "this is a flavor they won't like because..", "this is a flavor they will like because..", "this tea is suitable for their palates, but the color is bad for them because..." By the end, we were all desperate to use a bathroom and catch our trains, and she realized she was late to go home and prepare dinner for her kid. Still, even she had nowhere near the selection of wulong compared to your range of puer choices!

 

The 生 looks gorgeous. How common is blending pu'er? I often drank blended greens with flowers in Chengdu (teacher said to help dissipate the wet heat), but was really surprised to have a tea house owner share a blended shu with us once - I have no idea what it was blended with (definitely not flowers!), but it was really delicious. She said she blends teas herself mostly for fun, and wouldn't have shared it with us except that I mentioned I had just returned from Yunnan.

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On 6/12/2017 at 6:16 PM, Alex_Hart said:

How common is blending pu'er?

 

It's not very common. Don't think I've run into it before. The purists wrinkle up their noses at the very idea.

 

Yunnan does make some of its own jasmine tea, blending a mild green tea from far south Xishuangbanna and jasmine flowers from Guanxi. Also I've seen tea in stores that offered Pu'er and rose buds, but have not tried it. I think it is mostly aimed at tourists.

 

Making top grade flower teas is really pretty difficult. It's much more than just mixing tea leaves with flowers. For example, for jasmine tea, flowers and tea leaves are layered, five or six layers deep, and then allowed to stand together over just a little bit of heat for just the right amount of time. It's easy for something to go wrong.

 

Flower teas also get a bad name because they are often mainly sold to people who don't care much about tea at all. The typical jasmine tea buyer is not sophisticated. So the tea leaves that are used may not be the best; and the flower smell is often purposely made too strong so as to cover other flaws. I would hasten to add that excellent jasmine tea exists, but it's difficult to find.

 

About the wholesale markets, I have not been to any in Shanghai. The two big ones here are both fabulous. Apparently they sell to all of SE Asia as well as to most of China. Yunnan teas are prized in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam. Malaysia and Indonesia grow some tea of their own, and import some from Sri Lanka, but Kunming still gets a piece of that market as well.

 

The wholesale tea market in Guangzhou is huge and impressive. I've been there several times. Pretty sure they have a wider range of teas, with many from Fujian, Anhui, Guizhou, and Guangxi.

[Teasenz]

I think besides the grading already discussed, you've the 'gu shu' (古树) which are picked from wild trees. These are then classified into how old they are and from which mountain region.

 

@abcdefg how is the pu erh market affected by the eCommerce boom in recent years? Blending stuff with pu erh is pretty cool btw, I often use Osmanthus flowers after steeping pu erh pure for about 4 rounds. It works really well to reactive the pu erh flavour.

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18 hours ago, Teasenz said:

how is the pu erh market affected by the eCommerce boom in recent years?

 

That's something I don't really know, not being in the business. In the physical marketplace, like where I reported on visiting last week, some of the stores are little more than small warehouses, stacked high with large cardboard boxes full of tea. Once when walking around there with one of my friends who was a tea pro, I asked about it. She said it was because lots of these places did almost all their sales by means of the internet and they didn't really care about having a "brick and mortar" presence.

 

Thanks for the tip about using osmanthus flowers with Pu'er. I'll try that soon.

[Teasenz]

3 hours ago, abcdefg said:

She said it was because lots of these places did almost all their sales by means of the internet and they didn't really care about having a "brick and mortar" presence.

 

 

I guess another thing is that people who visit the market are more 'rational' tea buyers. They care less about the appearance, and simply judge the tea. It's different from buying more commercial brands.