What is Pu-erh tea?

Pu-erh tea, along with marble and Panax notoginseng, is one of the three treasures of Yunnan Province, China. It is a highly renowned and precious tea both in China and worldwide. This product consists of Pu-erh tea imported from China that has been processed to remove impurities and foreign substances, finely ground, and packed into disposable tea bags. Therefore, by placing a tea bag in hot water and steeping it for about a minute, you can enjoy the deep taste and subtle aroma of Pu-erh tea. You may steep it 1-2 more times. Here is a brief introduction to the tea tree, the raw material for Pu-erh tea, and Pu-erh tea itself.

Tea Tree

The tea tree is the raw material for Pu-erh tea. The Korean term 'Ilsangdabansa' (daily tea and rice), meaning something that happens every day, shows that our ancestors frequently drank tea. The origin of the tea tree is estimated to be near the source of the Irrawaddy River (between Sichuan Province and Tibet, China), at the eastern end of the Himalayas and north of Myanmar. It is estimated that the tea tree spread from its origin westward to Assam, India; eastward across the southern border of China to Zhejiang Province; and southward to southern Vietnam. The history of tea is very deep, as indicated by the legend that Shennong, a mythical figure in China, was the first to use tea, and records show that King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty received tea from Yunnan as tribute around 1000 BC. Below are the leaves, flowers, and fruits of the tea tree.

Types of Tea

Tea can be subdivided into as many as 3,000 varieties, and the classification methods are very diverse. In terms of classification, Pu-erh tea falls under green tea, dark tea (heicha), naturally oxidized tea, and post-fermented tea. Here is a brief introduction to four methods of classifying tea.

1). Based on tea leaf shape: Loose tea, compressed tea, matcha, raw tea
2). Based on tea leaf fermentation: Non-fermented tea, semi-fermented tea, fully fermented tea, post-fermented tea
3). Based on tea leaf oxidation: Non-oxidized tea, naturally oxidized tea, partially oxidized tea, fully oxidized tea
4). Based on tea leaf/liquor color: Green tea, oolong tea, white tea, yellow tea, black tea, dark tea

Tea leaves contain chlorophyll, which gives them a green color, but when leaves are plucked and dried, the chlorophyll is oxidized and destroyed, causing the green color to disappear and turn brown. Oxidative enzymes that destroy chlorophyll are sensitive to heat and are destroyed when heated. If the chlorophyll-oxidizing enzyme is destroyed, the chlorophyll is preserved without being destroyed. When tea leaves are heated, the oxidative enzyme is destroyed, stopping chlorophyll oxidation, allowing the green color to be maintained and extracted when boiled in water. This is called green tea. Conversely, if chlorophyll oxidation is promoted to completely destroy the chlorophyll, the leaves turn black and produce a red color when boiled. This is called black tea.

Fermented Tea

Pu-erh tea is a fermented tea. Fermented tea is manufactured by controlling the organic decomposition process caused by enzymes or microorganisms within the tea leaves. As many substances are created during the tea leaf fermentation process, the color, taste, and aroma of the tea differ before and after fermentation. When tea leaves are fermented, bitter and astringent components are reduced, while sweet, yellow/red components increase. Well-fermented tea has a bright liquor color and a sweet, refreshing taste. Because Pu-erh tea undergoes fermentation in storage after it is produced, people call it post-fermented tea.

Dark Tea

Pu-erh tea is a dark tea (Heicha). Compared to the light color of black tea liquor, Pu-erh tea is called dark tea (Heicha: 黑茶 = Black 黑) because the color is darker. During the production process of Pu-erh tea, there is a step to stop tea leaf oxidation and thus stop the destruction of chlorophyll. Therefore, a lot of green color remains. In the Pu-erh tea production process, new yellow theaflavin and red thearubigin components are created. Because the green color of the chlorophyll remaining until the end of the production process blends with the newly created yellow theaflavins and red thearubigins, it creates a reddish-brown or chestnut-brown color, which is why it looks darker than the red color of black tea. Below are the colors of green tea, black tea, and Pu-erh tea.

Pu-erh Tea

Pu-erh tea (普洱茶) is a fermented tea made from Yunnan large-leaf tea leaves; 'Pu-erh' originates from the government office name Pu-erh (普洱) that existed in the past. Even today, there is a Pu-erh City (普洱市) in the region where Pu-erh tea is produced. Pu-erh tea was the finest tea in China, offered to the Chinese imperial court of the Qing Dynasty for 200 years. In the days when tea, pottery, and silk were China's three major exports, the tea sent as a gift to the King of England from China was Pu-erh tea. The quality and price of Pu-erh tea are determined by the quality of the raw tea leaves, the manufacturing method, and the storage period.

Because Pu-erh tea originally referred to tea whose gathering and distribution center was Pu-erh, it was a general term referring to all teas, including green tea and black tea, but now it has become a name for a specific type of tea referring to dark tea made by post-fermenting Yunnan large-leaf tea leaves. The affordable Pu-erh tea that the general public tastes today is tea made according to the standardized modern fast-production methods of the 1970s, which is a mix of cultivated and wild tea leaves.

Pu-erh tea has the advantage of supplementing the disadvantages of black tea, such as the bitter taste found in green/black tea and the complete destruction of vitamins due to oxidation, while creating a deep taste and aroma with new components produced during fermentation. Pu-erh tea enthusiasts place very high value on the deep taste and aroma felt from fermented tea. Pu-erh tea has a smooth taste without bitterness, but contains a lot of caffeine and catechin, making it good as a coffee substitute, a health tea, and because of its great fame, a suitable social tea.

Types of Pu-erh Tea

Pu-erh tea is divided into loose tea and compressed tea according to the shape of the tea grains. Loose tea (散茶 = scattered 散) refers to tea where the tea leaf grains are not clustered but scattered when the appearance of the tea is completed. Compressed tea (緊壓茶 = tight 緊, press 壓) refers to tea made by steaming loose tea and then putting it into various molding frames and pressing it into shapes like cakes [->Bingcha (餠茶)], mushrooms [->Jincha (緊茶)], bird nests [->Tuocah (沱茶)], and bricks [->Zhuan-cha (磚茶)]. Compressed tea is convenient for transport and storage because the tea leaves are compressed, reducing volume. Below are pictures of loose tea and compressed tea (cake tea).

Pu-erh tea is divided into raw tea and ripe tea according to the fermentation situation. Raw tea (生茶) refers to tea leaves left in the shade, pan-fried in a wok, rolled by machine or hand, and then sun-dried. This raw tea is unfermented tea and its taste is close to green tea. This raw tea is aged by keeping it in storage and controlling the temperature/humidity to induce natural fermentation by microorganisms. Tea aged in this way is called ripe tea (熟茶).

There is a modern fast-fermentation process to make ripe tea. This is a process of sprinkling water on raw tea, adjusting the temperature/humidity suitable for fermentation, and mixing it while fermenting for about a month to ensure even fermentation. This process was developed and standardized in Guangdong Province. Most Pu-erh tea currently on the market is ripe tea made through this fast fermentation. The longer the storage period (aging period) of ripe tea in the warehouse, the deeper the taste.

Among the Pu-erh teas manufactured in the past, there are those called "Hao" (號) grade, "Yin" (印) grade, and "Shu" (數) grade; these are old, and because they cost hundreds of millions or billions of won, they are called antique Pu-erh tea. Depending on the age of the tea tree, the raw material, tea over 300 years old is called Dan-zhu tea (單株茶), over 100 years is Gu-shu tea (古樹茶), 60-100 years is Zhong-shu tea (中樹茶), and less than 60 years is Xiao-shu tea (小樹茶). Tea made from leaves of tea trees grown in terraced fields created by cutting mountains is called Tai-di tea (臺地茶).

Why Pu-erh tea is famous

Among teas made from tea trees, the most famous tea in the world is black tea, which accounts for 70% of global tea production. But why did Pu-erh tea attract the attention of the world? The primary factor in Pu-erh tea becoming world-famous is the well-being wind that started blowing in the 1980s. To well-being enthusiasts living with the motto of living a long life with a healthy body and mind, the gallic acid and catechins abundant in Pu-erh tea, as well as its taste and aroma, felt attractive.

When the global well-being wind blew, Chinese merchants in Hong Kong and Taiwan rode the well-being wind, re-awakening the fame of Pu-erh tea that had disappeared with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, converting the value of tea into gold value. Chinese merchants have brilliant sales tactics that can make a 2kg bundle of antique Pu-erh tea sell for 2 billion won. I think overseas Chinese merchants spread across the world are the second factor that made Pu-erh tea world-famous. There was also a time when there was a great Pu-erh tea trend in Korea.

Components of tea leaves

Below is the proximate composition table of tea leaves from data by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration. Dry matter basis means the content ratio was determined excluding moisture.

Analysis table of tea leaf proximate composition (Rural Development Administration, 2013, dry matter basis, 388kcal/100g tea leaves with 0.9% moisture)

Components of Pu-erh tea

Below is the proximate composition table of Pu-erh tea liquid from data by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration. The data below is for components contained in tea liquid, and while it is not a precise figure, it is an approximate value that can roughly estimate what is most dissolved in the tea liquid. Here, dry matter basis means the content ratio was determined excluding water completely. Since there is no dietary fiber in tea liquid, the content ratio of protein and ash appears very high.

Analysis table of Pu-erh tea liquid proximate composition (Rural Development Administration, 2016, dry matter basis)

Tea leaves are rich in protein and have very high caloric content. The calorie content of tea leaves is almost equivalent to that of rice. The high caloric content of tea leaves means that, in addition to protein, they contain a large amount of polysaccharides within their carbohydrates. Furthermore, it can be noted that Puer tea contains a high amount of total sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose, etc.) that were not originally present in the tea leaves, which is because polysaccharides are broken down into monosaccharides and disaccharides during the tea fermentation process. Below are some of the key components, special components, and trace elements found in tea leaves.

The product supplier is Onyudam (CEO: Yoon Sung-hyun, Jo Soo-in) and the manufacturer is Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Farming Association Co., Ltd. (CEO: Baek Moon-ki). While operating a medicinal herb farm for over 20 years with his parents, CEO Baek established the Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Farming Association in 1996, built a processing factory the following year, received the $500,000 Export Tower award for the first time in 2003, and served as the 17th-18th chairman of the Korea Herbal Medicine Association.

The Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Farming Association cultivates about 60 types of medicinal plants, including chrysanthemum, hydrangea, mulberry, persimmon, peony, achyranthes, safflower, motherwort, schisandra, goji berry, cornelian cherry, milk vetch root, green tea, actinidia, and balloon flower in Hapcheon-eup, Hapcheon-gun, where the association is located, and uses them as ingredients for healthy tea. Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Farming Association sells its products through domestic and international distribution channels and also supplies products to other companies through OEM manufacturing.

Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Farming Association received the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Award in 2002, registered the trademark 'Sangrime' in 2007, received ISO22000 certification (an international food safety standard) in 2015, was registered as a venture company in the same year, obtained a patent for the balloon flower tea manufacturing method in 2017, received HACCP certification (No. 2018-2-9156) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2018, and received organic certification (No. 17100199) for chrysanthemum crops in 2019, thus establishing itself as a small but strong company. A brief introduction to the Hapcheon Herbal Medicine Processing Farming Association is provided below.

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