Gong Fu Tea|chA - Episode 15 - Shu Pu’er or Shou Pu’er (熟普洱 | Shú Pǔ’ěr or Shóu Pǔ’ěr)

In this episode, So Han discusses Shú (or shóu) Pǔ’ěr (or puerh) , the fermented (or speed-aged) form of Pu’er tea. This is the dark, earthy form of Pu’er that many in the West know of when they think of Pu’er tea. Typically, the way to process the tea leaves into this fermented form is through a factory method called wò duī (渥堆 | “wet pile“), but as individual tea farmers have begun experimenting with growing and processing their own tea, some tea farmers/tea masters have developed a smaller version of this process called xiǎo duī zi (小堆子 | “small pile“). So Han steeps and pours an example of each of these teas, then discusses an even more boutique process, developed by Li Shulin, So Han’s tea farmer on Nannuo Mountain in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. This boutique process is called yuán shēng tuó (原生沱 | “Original ecosystem tuo“), and its defining character