Brief History and background of Pu-Er

INTRODUCTION

We have read through many literature including both Chinese and English and found many differences in what was being recorded. It is true that many English translations were made from Chinese books and such translations may have misinterpreted certain crucial aspects of the background of pu-er. We attempted to gather as much information as possible from various sources and to summarize the history of pu-er as accurately as possible. Though we must say, there are still some ambiguous points to what we understand. However, this can be use as a very brief summary of the general history of the sought after tea, Pu-Er.

THE ANCIENT TEA HORSES

PU-ER is a county in the south western part of China and Pu-Er tea originated from Yunnan province is a large leaf tea. Pu-er tea is thus named after its origins. There are no confirmed records but it is believed that pu-er tea existed for more than 2200 years. It was already admired and drank by noblemen a long long time ago. During the early years of Tang Dynasty, horses were used to transport tea from Yunnan along the "old tea horse roads" in caravans. Many traders flocked Pu-Er to acquire the tea and horses were also used to travel on the "tea horse roads" to send their goods back to Vietnam, Tibet, etc. Pu-er was traded as currencies and horses were the main form of transportation then up until the Ming and Qing dynasty when there were at least 5 main "tea highways".

Such highways linked Pu-Er to as far as Thailand and Malaysia in the south while extending its length to Beijing in the north and from the east to the west linking Pu-Er to Nepal. Such great distances required long journey time as horse caravans travelled at a very slow pace. Traders needed to maximized their transporting time and space which led them to think of compressing the tea for easier handling and transportation. However, it was coincidental that the traders discovered that the tea gave a better taste at the destination after the long haul journey. It was then the traders started to learn that the tea leaves begin to ferment during the journey which produces a strong unique aroma which appeals to tea drinkers. The fermentation process was then developed to imitate the natural fermentation process during the long journey.

DISTINCTIVE PU-ER TASTE

The artificial fermentation of Pu-er tea is aimed to accelerate the aging process to oxidize the tea leaves at a greater pace to achieve the appealing pu-er taste. Generally, raw pu-er requires a minimum of 10 years to mature giving a smoother and better taste. The longer the raw pu-er is kept the better. However, the taste of the pu-er depend highly on the keeping process as well. 

PU-ER NOW

The hype of current collecting and trading of pu-er tea started only in the 80s and the market value of pu-er tea can escalate exponentially for very rare and hard-to-get pu-er. Such hype started in the southern part of China and extended globally.