Pu-erh

Tea factories, particularly formerly government-owned factories, produce many cakes by its recipe tea blends, indicated by a recipe number. Recipe numbers consists of four-digits. The first two digits represent the year the recipe was first produced, the third digit the grade of leaves used in the recipe, and the last...

A Menghai microprinted ticket, first appearing in 2006 Factories are generally responsible for the production of pu-erh teas. While some individuals oversee smaller higher-end productions, such as the Xizihao and Yanqinghao brands, the majority of tea on the market is compressed by factories or tea groups. Until recently, factories were...

Harvest season also plays an important role in the flavor of pu-erh. Spring tea is the most highly valued, followed by fall tea, and finally summer tea. Only rarely is pu-erh produced in winter months, and often this is what is called "early spring" tea, as harvest and production follows...

Pu-erh can be sorted into ten or more grades. Generally, grades are determined by leaf size and quality, with higher numbered grades meaning older/larger, broken, or less tender leaves. Grading is rarely consistent between factories, and first grade tea leaves may not necessarily produce first grade cakes. Different grades have...

Perhaps equally or even more important than region or even grade in classifying pu-erh is the method of cultivation. Pu-erh tea can come from three different cultivation methods: Plantation bushes (guànmù, 灌木; taídì, 台地): Cultivated tea bushes, from the seeds or cuttings of wild tea trees and planted in relatively...

Yunnan Yunnan province produces the vast majority of pu-erh tea. Indeed, the province is the source of the tea's name, Pu'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County. Pu-erh is produced in almost every county and prefecture in the province, but the most famous pu-erh areas are known as the Six Famous...