Questions and confusions associated with Pu-erh tea

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.