Is now the turning point of Pu-erh (unrealistic) price

Many tea consumers have been flabbergasted by the price tags of certain Pu-erh teas during the recent years.

The dynamic in the Pu-erh’s production and consumption has also shifted during this period and a storm is brewing.

Following are some of changes that have occurred.

The increase of the production

The production of Pu-erh teas has been expending significantly during the last 30 years or so, fueled by the increase in the interest and demand.

It is reported that 50.8 tons of Pu-eh tea was produced in Yunnan in 2010, this increases to 162 tons by 2020. Unparallel to the consumption increase, many tea merchants have stockpiled their teas in the warehouses based on this believe and expectation: ‘sale whatever can be sold and the leftover will increase in value with time’.

This believe is based on:

1. the fact that he more a Pu-erh tea (provided it is a good quality tea) is aged the better the quality
2. the price surge of certain aged Pu-erh teas during the end of last century and early this century

The current decline of the disposable income

China is currently going through an economic down turn. Many have expected the economic to bounce back post-Covid and the recovery is not near as robust as expected. The unemployment rate is high and still climbing and the ones with jobs are having their pays cut. With the fast shrinking disposable income, following phenomenon are observed:

• Pu-erh consumers start buying cheaper, more realistically priced Pu-erh teas,
• many Pu-erh consumers have their own stockpiles of Pu-erh teas at home for the purpose of buying new at the relatively lower prices to age ( to avoid buying expensive aged ones later). When the budget is tight, they turn to these stockpiles to avoid buying.

The sharp drop in sales of the Pu-erh market and the desperate need for cash

The Pu-erh market in China is experiencing an unprecedent drop in sales - a bust of a Pu-erh bubble if you like. The shops are empty and many are closing down. The still operating small and medium tea merchants are desperate for cash to keep the businesses afloat.

One of the Pu-erh commentators summed up as such: Pu-erh was like gold when the demand was high and the supplies were limited; the stockpiles of the cakes now are not more than money on paper, or local produce just as how the Pu-erh tea started.

The current state and the future 

The current state of the Pu-erh market in China is that the demand for good quality Pu-erh, such as the Gu-Shu Pu-erh from the quality regions/hills is still high. The supplies of other teas have definitely exceeded the market buying capacity.

Whether this will result in a complete Pu-erh tea price crush depends on many factors. The outlook is however not looking bright.

Some terms

Tai-Di-Cha (台地茶): Pu-erh teas produced from tea trees of cultivated tea fields/gardens

Gu-Shu-Cha (古树茶): Pu-erh teas produced from the forest ancient tea trees that are of at least 100 years old.

The admiration of Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh tea and thus the sky rocketed prices

There has been a recent economics report by CCTV (China) on the current Pu-erh tea prices in comparison to that of last Year as such:

1. Tai-Di-Cha increased by 20%;
2. mid-age tea tree teas increased 20-40% (presumed from tea trees of less than 100 years old, but not Dai-Di-Cha) 
3. Gu-Shu-Cha increased 100% (price doubled)

Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh tea myth

A different report also by CCTV last year reported the following findings.

How much of the Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh on the market is real Gu-Shu-Cha

It is estimated that the volume of actual Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh tea produced each year in the Yunnan province is about 4% of the total Pu-erh tea production:

• Total Pu-erh production volume about 139,000 tone, harvested from 6,200,000 MU (or 413,333 hectares) of the Pu-erh tea fields.
• Gu-Shu-Cha production is about 5000 tone, from only about 650,000 Mu (43,333 hectares) of tea fields according the estimate of the local authorities. (The yields of the Gu-Shu trees are relatively lower than that of the Tai-Di-Cha.)

A survey of the local market (to supply mainly to the tourists or retailers outside of the region) in Yunnan however reported 95% of the products sold on the market are claimed or labelled as Gu-Shu-Cha.

False claims

It is clear that many false claims are being made.

The unreasonable profit margin is the drive

There are various benefits of consuming Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh teas. Driven by the obsession of consuming Gu-Shu Pu-erh by certain consumers, the price gap between the Gu-Shu-Cha and none Gu-Shu-Cha has been increasing to the point that it is not longer reflecting the quality/value difference. (More information at the question section of this article.)

The Pu-erh tea production in the Yunnan Province of China has been and still is largely family based. The families own the tea fields/ trees, especially the Gu-Shu-Cha tea trees in the forests as the result of the long history of family-based tea farming and production. Driven by the ludicrous profit, the tea farmers are naturally drawn to maximise the yields of their Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh.

Difficulties to regulate

Many tea merchants label their products as Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh tea when the claims are not backed by facts through various practices, from straight false labelling Tai-Di-Cha as Gu-Shu-Cha, to mixing Tai-Di-Cha with Gu-Shu-Cha and label it as Gu-Shu-Cha. As intangible as it is, here are the gaps to allow the fall through:

• There are no feasible and practical evaluation methods available to systematically verify if a Pu-erh tea is Gu-Shu-Cha or not at the sales point.
• The Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh tea trees in Yunnan are not systematically certified and recorded. The local authorities sample and identify the areas (buy not individual tea trees) of the Gu-Shu clusters and report on estimates. The actual Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh tea status is finally decided and labelled by the tea farmers, often based on a good guess or suggested by older family members. This allows a major opportunity for false identification, exaggeration and even deliberate false claiming.
• Packaging. As suggested, 95% of the Pu-erh tea sold on the local market are marked as Gu-Shu-Cha, largely done by the packaging paper they are wrapped in. There is however no local regulation to associate a packaging with a product. It is effectively as such, any local tea farmers can approach a printing business to request to put on anything information on the wrapping paper without any backing of the claim. The is the cause of the peculiar phenomenon in Yunnan: the base price of a real Lao-Ban-Zhang ( 老班章, the most pricy Pu-erh of the current market) Pu-erh is $2000/kg, while there are numerous full cakes (357g) labelled as ‘Lao-Ban-Zhang’ sold on the market, some as low as $6. The merchant explained the only association of the tea with ‘老班章’ is the words printed on the wrapping paper. Her words are, people see the words ‘‘老班章’’ and buy.

Confusion from the consumers end

The consumers’ love affair with the Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh teas has been fuelling the price hike. At the same time, the endless variations of Pu-erh teas have made it almost impossible for even experienced Pu-erh consumers or experts to distinguish between a real Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh and a none Gu-Shu-Cha at the purchase point, let alone a beginner.

For example, there has been a blind test conducted recently. Two Pu-erh teas, one from an over 100 years old tea tree and the other less than 50 years were sample by 4 participants. The Pu-erh experience of the participants range from a consumer of just 12 months to a Pu-erh shop owner of over 12 years in Yunnan. The participants universally picked the younger tea tree tea as Gu-Shu-Cha based on it taste. Opinion of experts: the quality of a tea is more determined by how the tea trees are managed and the environmental conditions of the tea trees than the actual tea tree age. In other words, the age of a tea tree is not indicative of its quality automatically.

Questions to be asked

There are therefore a few questions to be asked:

1. It is believed by the Pu-erh tea experts the main difference between a Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh and a non-Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh is in their tastes. There are no other significant differences in other aspects such as health benefits and functionality if everything else remains the same. The questions is therefore if a consumer is not experienced to detect the subtle difference in their tastes, it is cost effective to pay the much higher price for something that is not noticeable?
2. How does one know if a purchase is an actual Gu-Shu-Cha Pu-erh?
3. It is believed with the continuous improvement in the knowledge and techniques of Tai-Di-Cha cultivation, the quality of Tai-Di-Cha actually improves all the time. It seems to me that Tai-Di-Cha is a good alternative to Gu-Shu-Cha, value wise, without taking the consideration that the relief of the stress on the ancient Pu-erh tea trees due to the high demand.

As we all know, often the first thing we check on a compressed Pu-erh is the date on the back of its packaging – age equals the value and quality in many Pu-erh consumer’s mind. A date on the back was however not required until 2007 as part of the local government's attempt to regular the Pu-erh production industry. So how do you decide the age of a Pu-erh produced before 2007 with a blank back like the one in the image?

A production date was regarded as not essential for Pu-erh teas until 2007, mainly due to there is not an expiry date for Pu-erh teas – the more they are aged the better, and the traditional way of how they were produced – in the villages and families. During the recent decades, various methods have been used to ‘fake’ Pu-erh’s age for the purpose of fetching a high price on the market. There are various aspects associated with an aged Pu-erh, such as tea colour and texture etc, each one can be manipulated up to certain point. The multiple aspects and dynamic nature of Pu-erh teas make judging their actual age hard, not only for the beginners buy also for many experienced Pu-erh consumers.

To establish some standards, the local governments in the Yunnan Province introduced the 12 points of information, such as the production date, the manufacturer and location etc, to be printed on the back of a Pu-erh product (apart from Maocha) in 2007 to offer consumers some references.

For the products produced before 2007 with a blank back, one can only go back to the very basics of aged Pu-erh teas drawn from experiences: colour, aroma, taste, texture and aftertaste.

We are all aware of the fact that the older a Pu-erh is, the better the quality. There are currently two options to acquire a well aged Pu-erh:

1. Buy it from a vendor, which is often expensive
2. Purchase young and store to age

The storage conditions are however crucial, they can make or break a tea. There are abundant theories out there speculating on the ideal conditions for a Pu-erh to age and convert: humidity, temperature and oxygen levels etc. There is however not so black and white when it comes to apply them in real life.

There has been an interesting article published recently about a an interesting experiment.

Method (www.puercn.com, Author: Yang Zhong Yue)

Four samples were created in 2013 using the same product, a fresh Jingmai (景迈) Gushu Pu-erh Maocha:

• One vacuum sealed
• One sealed, buy not vacuumed
• One sealed, buy injected oxygen on a regular base
• One natural open storage

All four samples were stored in a storage with a humidity machine for 4 years – the machine starts extracting extra humidity after it has exceeded 70%.

Results

• The vacuum sealed Pu-erh sample: The colour has converted nicely into golden red, aroma strong in both dry leaf and tea brew. The downside is that it is very bitter, the most bitter one of the four samples.
• The sealed but not vacuumed sample: good colour – golden red; Good aroma, but slightly less than the vacuum sealed sample; Significant reduction in bitterness and astringency.
• Oxygen injected sample: Colour gold, less red than the previous two; Aroma OK, but not as strong as previous two. Bitterness and astringency reduced, more than the vacuumed one, but similar to the non-oxygen injected one.
• Natural open stored sample: Colour gold, similar to the oxygen injected one; Very little aroma remained; There is some reduction in bitterness and astringency, but not as much as the sealed non-vacuumed one.

Summary

1. Vacuuming is good to keep the Pu-erh teas in their original state, eg sample keeping, but not for consumption purpose ageing.
2. Oxygen did not appear to have significant impact on the Pu-erh tea’s conversion, illustrated by the results of the oxygen injection and the natural open storage sample.
3. There has been an active and ongoing internal conversions regulated by the internal enzymes of the tea leaves under the sealed conditions, result in rather satisfactory reduction of bitterness and astringency and colour conversion, without losing the aroma as the open stored sample. 
4. The author acknowledged that this comparison was only conducted 4 years after the storage, longer term differences of the storage impacts on the Pu-erh teas are yet to be studied. 

Compared to most of the Chinese teas, green tea, white tea or black tea, ripened (Shou) Pu-erh tea is still in its infancy state – born in around 1975. 

Ripened Pu-erh’s ageing process is somewhat different from the traditional raw (Sheng) Pu-erh:

• It is believed that ripened Pu-erh has less ageing potential, as the potential is overdrawn during their speed fermentation process called Ou-Dui.
• On the other hand, the residual odours left from the Ou-Dui (acidic, fishy and mushroom smell) takes 2-3 years to evaporate

The combination the above results in a necessity of around 10 years to allow the ‘true colour’ of a ripened Pu-erh to reveal – the ‘bad stuff to disappear’ and the ‘good quality to come out’.

While being relatively new and lack of traditional wisdom to refer to, the Pu-erh masters are trying to draw some ‘road maps’ from the current available experiences while producing ‘new’ ripened Pu-erh tea for the future use.

Like all other teas, producing a premium quality ripened Pu-erh requires: 

• The right original material – tea leaves
• The right processing skills
• The right storage conditions after their production

As the knowledge of processing ripened Pu-erh is being explored and accumulated and skills being fine-tuned, there is a consensus in the community that getting hold of a top end ripened (Shou) Pu-erh tea is more of a gamble than a prediction (可遇不可求).

It is almost impossible to talk about a tea without water, from cultivation to the final stage of tea brewing.

The ‘tea water separation’ discussed here is however a different but meaningful concept.

The very reason that teas are delightful to sensors is because of the effects of their internal substances. The correct brewing methods maximise the extraction of these substances and their optimal concentration in the tea brew.

‘Tea water separation’ is a term used to describe the breakdown of this process. The impression is the ‘incomparability of the tea and water’.

Following are some of the causes to ‘tea water separation’ of Pu-erh teas:

Processing issues:

1. Tea leaves harvested during the raining season, Chinese term ‘水味’ (water taste)
2. Short of rubbing during the processing. These causes the insufficient release of the internal substances for tea brew.
3. Not steamed and compressed thoroughly during the processing. The ‘tea water separation’ phenomenon is especially prominent when new/young for these teas. 

Brewing method issues:

1. Pu-erh tea requires 100-degree temperature hot water to brew the tea. The tea can taste ‘watery’ if the water temperature is not high enough.
2. Insufficient ‘tea waking (醒茶)’ time. It takes normally 5-10 seconds for the tea leaves to be separated from each other when brewing compressed tea. A rush to serve the tea can cause the brew to taste ‘tea water separation’.
3. Inadequate serving intervals can cause the tea internal substances to dissolve in the brews unevenly.
4. Too many infusions from one serve of the tea leaves.

Overview:

The implication of Pu-erh tea’s storage on it’s aging has gone through intense debate during recently years, largely by two camps of tea dealers and consumers: 1/ the traditional cool and dry storage camp, represented by the conventional Kun-Ming storage 2/ south eastern Asia semi wet storage (natural and artificial) camp represented by HK storage.

With all the opinions and arguments in the community and industry, we would like to find out what the consumers, especially those outside of the conventional Pu-erh consumption areas ( ie with no or limited pre-conditioning to one type or the other) , think.

The result was a surprise, with preferences split down the middle and summed up neatly as “One’s cup of tea might not be the next person’s”, indicative of tea consumption across the wider tea industry.

Background

Conventional wisdom would indicate that the best storage conditions for loose leaf Chinese teas (green tea, white tea, Oolong tea or black tea) involve environments that are dry, cool and lack moisture and foreign odours.

This does not necessarily apply fully to Pu-erh tea however, which, due to its leaves being harvested from arbour tea trees instead of tea bushes, is a unique class of Chinese tea. When raw and fresh, Pu-erh teas can be rough, bitter with plenty of astringency and could be harsh on digestive system. As such these teas need to be “softened” to improve and become more mellow, smooth and richer in aroma and flavour.

The conventional way of ‘softening’ Pu-erh tea is via natural aging which involves three forms of oxidisation and fermentation:

1. simple chemical oxidisation.
2. enzyme mediated oxidisation.
3. micro-organism involved fermentation.

Differing climate conditions require different storage times to achieve similar results for Pu-erh tea, but with subtle quality trade-offs. ie

• 10 years storage in Beijing is equivalent to 4 years storage in GuangZhou.
• Slower aging retains more botanic aroma and mellow aftertaste, but at the cost of retaining greater astringency.

Two main traditional regions have an association with Pu-erh tea consumption under differing storage conditions:

1. The south-west and north-west regions of China (including Tibet) have a long association with aged Pu-erh teas stored under cooler and drier conditions.
2. South-east Asia is another market with a solid foothold.
   • Pu-erh consumers here discovered that the Pu-erh teas stored under certain tropical or sub-tropical climates (typically higher temperature and humidity level) such as HK and Malaysia go through a faster post-fermentation to reach a state that is categorically different from the same age Pu-erh tea from the south-west and north-west of China.
   • The market then started differentiating Pu-erh teas by storage types, in addition to other crucial elements such as areas and year of production and raw or ripened: HK storage, Malaysia storage, Taiwan storage and Kun-Ming storage etc.

Test to compare the differences between Pu-erh from these regions

We wanted to find out how consumers respond to differences in storage, so invited a small group of volunteers from a Pu-erh discussion group for a blinded test.

Study design:

aged ripened pu-erh teaWe sent out two samples of ripened Pu-erh without identifying the region of storage as follows:

1. One of Kun-Ming storage Xia Guan TuoCha (dry and cool storage).
2. One of HK storage (semi-wet storage, completed Jin-Cang 进仓 and Tui-Cang 退仓 – please see footnote for explanation). The tea had been stored in HK for 10 year under classic HK storage before bing compressed into cakes in 2017. 

The samples were marked as #1 and #2, and we invite the volunteers to send back their response on the following aspects: aroma, flavour, texture, aftertaste and overall comments. We publish the full results as follow.

Results

General demographic details:

• Sample size: 12
• Gender: Male -6 Female-6
• Country of residence: Australia, USA, Canada, Germany, Mexico and UK

In summary there was a 50/50 split with regard to the tea preferred.

Result in details:

Main findings:

• It is clear that even after the completion of the Tui-Cang 退仓, the ‘damp’ taste as the direct result of the HK Pu-erh storage (Jin-Cang 进仓) is sensed and tasted by tea drinkers, mostly describing it as a major putting off factor.
• By comparison, the dry storage Pu-erh is described by those who preferred it as bright, clean, bold, with good woody/earthy taste.
• It is a common consent that HK storage Pu-erh is darker in colour with a smooth texture. 
• The main surprise to me: for those who preferred the more heavily ‘storage fermented’ HK Pu-erh, there is no report of the ‘damp’ sensation at all, which is quite prominent in the other group. 

Acknowledgement:

We would like to thank you all for those who participated in the taste test and sent back you valuable feedback. 

Footnote:

• Jin-Cang 进仓 (Entering the storage): storing Pu-erh teas under artificial conditions that are classically higher humidity and temperature, and low air flow to speed up the ‘post fermentation’. Various HK storages apply different conditions. The teas after Jin-Cang 进仓 often have some level of mouldy smell/flavour and cloudy tea brew.
• Tui-Cang 退仓 (retreating from the storage): removing the teas from the initial storage and store in close to classic dry storage conditions (cool, dry and high air flow) for up to 2 years to remove (although not fully) the dump and mould flavour, and restore the initial Pu-erh's the bright and clear tea brew.

I have always thought of Pu-erh tea as: traditionally compressed and produced in the Yunnan Province of China, ripened Pu-erh as HeiCha (黑茶) and freshly produced raw Pu-erh as green tea.

I have recently come across a few posts and articles debating about this categorisation, especially the term of ‘fermentation’ used in the categorisation.

From a consumer, but not scholar or academic’s perspective, I make following observations.

Teas were traditionally ‘categoryless’

Tea has a consumption history in China for more than 2000 years. For a big majority of this history it was ‘categoryless’.

To understand the absence in categories, we need to look into its history during the pre-modern transportation era: tea’s production and consumption were extremely geographical.

For example, Oolong teas such as Tie Guan Yin and Zhang Ping Shui Xian were the local teas in the area where I grew up (Long Yan of the Fu-Jian province). With a few exceptions, these teas were only grown, processed and consumed locally (pre mid-20 century), and these were the only teas the local tea drinker were familiar with, known as Tie Guan Yin or Zhang Ping Shui Xian, but not as Tie Guan Yin Oolong tea or Zhang Ping Shui Xian Oolong tea.

From the production point of view, the tea farmers leant their knowledge and skills from the previous generations and were more likely NOT even aware of the 6 tea defining categories. This however had zero impact on both of the tea product and consumption. The locals knew their teas best and no one else could do a better job in making their teas. This is why the tea names in China are more associated with the areas they are produced than the tea categories they belong to: An-Xi (area name) Tie Guan Yin (tea name), Zhang Ping (area name) Shui Xian (tea name), Yunnan (area name) Pu-erh (tea name) etc. 

The categorisation of teas only came into place and became meaningful when modern tea scholars and researchers started studying and analysing teas from top down – with so many varieties around, it makes sense to create some ‘shoe boxes’ to put them into.

Raw Pu-erh tea, green tea or else

To discuss or answer this question, we need to step back and ask some of the following first:

• ‘Fermentation’ is the factor used to define and differentiate the various categories of teas. Some argue that the term 'fermentation' used to describe the tea processing process, such as Oolong or black tea, is not actual fermentation as there are not yeast or bacteria involved. This is a topic of debate for another day. We would just call it an 'enzyme mediated oxidation' now, bearing in mind that 'fermentation' is the term used in most of the tea books and journal reports.  
• Is tea categorisation as clear cut, black and white as people think or expect? My personal opinion is that the modern science is trying to use a simplified and well-ordered format to capture a highly cultural tradition, and the reality is that there is plenty of vague and grey areas that deserve due respect and acceptance. 
• Green tea is a category with a vast variation within, but not a single tea. For example, if we offered the exact same tea leaves to a Mao Feng processor and a Long Jing processor, the end products produced could look and taste rather different. This however would not make one more of a green tea than the other, or one ‘yes’ and the other ‘no’. 
• I personally believe the very fundamental difference between a conventional ‘green tea’ and a ‘raw Pu-erh green tea’ is in the tea leaves, or more precisely the tea trees/bushes: The bush leaves are smaller and more tender, more suitable for being consumed fresh and young; While the arbor leaves on the other hand, being bigger, thicker and stronger, are more suitable for aging and fermentation. They are therefore processed accordingly to facilitate these different consumption styles: most of conventional green teas are dried with relatively higher temperature: eg. Chao-Qing (炒青 – fried dry) and Hong-Qing (烘青- baked dry); while the Pu-erh is Liang-Qing (凉青 – aired dry) with a much lower temperature to preserve enough enzymes and nutrients for the future post-fermentation.
• Based on the category definition, as long as a tea is not fermented, it is a green tea. An unfermented, newly produced raw pu-erh therefore can only be a green tea.

It is also worthwhile mentioning that there are new products coming to the market all the time, challenging the conventional categorisations/definitions. Eg, Pu-erh teas are conventionally compressed, this does not make loose pu-erh not a Pu-erh tea; Is a Pu-erh white tea cake pu-erh tea or white tea? All this prompts me to re-ask the question: do we really need to know the categories of the teas we drink? Or we should just enjoy the teas as they are and not to worry too much about anything else as our ancestors did?

For those who are used to drink Pu-erh teas, Ban-Zhang is probably the most familiar name around. Authentic and genuine old Ban-Zhang is considered as the king of Pu-erh with an astonishing price tag on the current market.

Some may have also come crossed these terms: Old Ban-Zhang and New Ban-Zhang.

Ban-Zhang was originally a name of a village

The name Ban-Zhang Pu-erh is named after the original Ban-Zhang village. The classic and traditional Chinese tea production style was as such: family based; the tea trees were planted around the villages, typically within walking distance; the tea trees were not marked, they somehow all knew which tea trees belonged to which families; tea leaves were harvested by family members, processed step by step in the family home under the supervision of the most senior and experienced ‘tea master’ of the family. 

The New Ban-Zhang is actually a split of the Old Ban-Zhang village

The earliest settlement of the New Ban-Zhang village was recorded as 1852. Some village families moved on and settled in this relatively new location which is about 7 kilometres from the Old Ban-Zhang village. The New Ban-Zhang is a village of the Ha-Ni minority group. It is believed that tea planation area (at the Old Ban-Zhang village site) that belongs to the New Ban-Zhang villagers is now free of human dwelling. To protect the area from any cross contamination from external sources (plants and tea leaves), the New Ban-Zhang villagers have set up road blocks to control the in and out traffics.  The tea trees around the current New Ban-Zhang village were however planted later, all about 40 plus years old.

The Old Ban-Zhang site tea trees are Bu-Lang species arbour tea trees. They have been growing under the super environmental conditions side-by-side along the ancient forest for hundreds, some over a thousand years. The tea leaves are big and strong and have stocked up plenty of the natural forest’s wild aroma and energy, felt through its dry leaves, tea brew and even the tea leaves after their brew. A main characteristic of Ban-Zhang is its ‘Cha Qi’ – the internal energy of the tea. The initial astringency turns into ‘Hui Gan’ shortly after the tea’s first ship and the ‘Cha Qi’ is felt throughout the body as a special warmth and sometimes light perspiration, although everyone reacts differently. 

The confusion between the name of a village and a Pu-erh tea

As indicated earlier, the New Ban-Zhang is referring to a restively new village settlement, but not the Pu-erh tea itself. Certain tea trees owned by these New Ban-Zhang villagers are those ancient tea trees around the old Ban-Zhang village, 1600m above the sea level. They are not different from the Old Ban-Zhang tea trees.

The New Ban-Zhang Pu-erh tea

The teas produced from the current New Ban-Zhang village site is known to have orchid style aroma, brightly yellow tea brew, light astringency which quickly turns into long lasting ‘Hui Gan’ (回甘) and capable of age and convert relatively quicker than some other teas.

With the word ‘new’ being part of its name, many tea drinkers misunderstand it as a new or young tea. Its market price has therefore always been behind the Old Ban-Zhang.

To me, maybe this is the ‘just right’, as I am always after value for money.

There has been a recent resurgent interest in Pu-erh teas due to both its reported health benefits and some other factors such tradition and novelty.

There are however many confusions and questions among consumers. I have collected and listed some below:

• What are the differences between raw and ripened Pu-erh?
• Are all Pu-erh teas sold on the market aged as they are portraited?
• Most of the pu-erh teas are labelled and named after the areas/mountains where the teas were harvested, what do they mean? And what are the differences?
• Many fake products have been reported to have entered the market designed for undeserved financial gain. How to differentiate a genuine vs fake products? 
• They are also new products (eg, Ya-Bao tea) merging designed to satisfy certain appetite for exotic and high end goods. Are they actually Pu-erh tea? Good or not so good?
• Has Pu-erh tea aging process got no limit? What is the limit if there is one?
• Have all Pu-erh teas got aging value?
• What is the ultimate judge of the quality of a pu-erh tea? Price? Production place? Age?

The above list can grow by day. 

To facilitate to clarify some of the confusions, Valley Green Tea has recently created a Facebook chat group where consumers can post questions and answers, share experiences and opinions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/puerhtealovers

We would love you to join in for a chat.

I will also post some blog posts subsequently in the near future seeking to put my understanding and opinions on board.