wrote:
> When is a pu erh tea not a pu erh tea? That is the true question.
> Pu-erh tea is made by using the tender leaves of large leaf tea as
its
> based. This particular tea plant is usally reserved to make pu erh
tea
> and will not be used to make regular green teas or oolong teas. This
> variety of tea has large leaves and grows high. Pu-erh tea can be
> picked almost all the year round. The best ones are those picked in
the
> spring and autumn.
>
> According to its different processing methods, Pu-erh tea can be
> divided into three groups: Pu-erh special tea, Pu-erh green tea and
> Yunnan black tea. It also can be classified into two types by its
> shape: Pu-erh compressed tea and loose tea. The rare exotic taste of
> pu-erh tea has long been a traditional favorite in China, and its
> widely acclaimed health benefits
>
> Another good place to look is "Tea University" at
www.brandconcepts.biz
>
>
> Greg

Greg,
What you posted is a direct word for word quote from Zhang Jinkun and
James Bana at http://www.pu-erhtea.com/index.htm and reflects their
interpretation. I disagree with parts of that interpretation. They, as
also quoted by you, say that "Pu-erh tea" can be made into
"Yunnan black tea" which is misleading at best. To say that
"Yunnan Gold" or "Yunnan Black" teas
(http://www.pu-erhtea.com/BlackTea.htm ) belong to a group of
"Pu-erh teas" is grossly inaccurate, they are NOT puerh teas even
though they may indeed come from the Yunnan large leaf variety. What
they call "Pu-erh green tea" (http://www.pu-erhtea.com/GreenTea.htm
) is hardly puerh either. How, by any stretch of the imagination, can
you call Jasmine Dragon Pearl, Bi Luo Chun, or Mao Feng a Pu-erh Tea?

I suspect that James is simply playing off of his sites name and really
means that "Pu-erhTea.com" teas can be divided into three groups.
However these three groups are not all considered Pu-erh cha. What he
calls "Pu-erh special tea" is what the rest of the world would call
Pu-erh cha.

You did little to explain exactly what loose green puer is or isn't,
or why you so seldom see it. Is loose green puer simply the raw sun
dried leaf (mao cha) that is commonly traded as a commodity (like dried
tobacco leaf) and then used to make compressed green puer or further
fermented to make black puer, or is it something else?

BTW, I know James Bana personally and I know for a fact the he expects
to be given a footnote credit whenever his site is quoted. Besides, it
is considered good etiquette to give credit to the author when quoting
directly as you have done here.

Mike
http://www.pu-erh.net

[Greg]
When is a pu erh tea not a pu erh tea? That is the true question.

[seb]
Basically, when it meets one or both of these criteria:
- When the leaves are not harvested from the "Yunnan Da Ye" race tea
trees.
- When the leaves used to make compressed teas are not using the "Shai
Qing Mao Cha" (sun dried leaves) as material even though they are
harvested from the "Yunnan Da Ye" race tea trees.

On 23 May 2005 22:28:44 -0700, "SEb" >
wrote:

>Mike,
>
>Loose leaf green puerh fits
>- it is harvested from the "Yunnan Da Ye" race tea trees.
>- it is the "Shai Qing Mao Cha" (sun dried leaves), which is also name
>"Dian Qing" (Yunnan green tea).
>
>The Loose green puerh is simply the Shai Qing Mao Cha, if there is a
>further processing then it would be the compressed step.
>
>The Dian Qing is mainly used to make compressed tea such as tuo cha,
>Fang Cha, Beeng Cha...etc. or cooked loose puerh as well. But some of
>the very high grade leaves (very young and tender leaves) will be sold
>in loose form with package such as "Chun Rui", "Chun Ya"...then the
>rest will be done into compressed form or cooked loose puerh.
>
>However, there are some sellers who will put some loose leaf Dian Qing
>(Shai Qing Mao Cha) in their shops to sell or to show to the clients
>since puerh is getting so popular. So you can have chance to get some
>but not in big quantity.
>
>Jing

Jing, thanks for the reply. I still wonder why it is not seen very
much. If loose green puer is simply Dian Qing why dont more people
sell it this way. It would be a lot cheaper since less labor is
involved. Do the the Chinese people see Dian Qing as "not finished"?
Is it inferior somehow?

How well doesloose Dian Qing age? It would seem that it would age
faster than a compressed form. If so I again wonder why it is so
scarce in this loose form?

Mike

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed."
Samuel Johnson, 1775, upon finishing his dictionary.