Shou Pu-erh

Shou pu-erh (shu cha, 熟普洱 — “ripe pu-erh”) is the dark, velvety tea of Yunnan. The wet-piling technique (wo dui, 渥堆), perfected in Kunming in the 1970s, gives the leaf in a few weeks the depth that sheng reaches over decades.

Taste and character

The liquor is deep ruby, almost black, smooth and dense. In the cup: wood, cocoa, nuts, dried fruit and damp autumn earth in the noblest sense; hardly any bitterness, but a calm, steady sweetness. A good shou drinks easily and wraps around you — it is the tea of comfort.

In the Chinese tradition

Shou is considered the “warmest” of teas: it is drunk in cold weather, after rich food, or simply in the evening when neither the vigour of sheng nor the freshness of green tea is wanted. In Guangdong and Hong Kong whole tea houses grew up around it — pu-erh with dim sum is as natural there as bread with soup elsewhere.

How to brew

Shou forgives everything: boiling water at 95–100 °C, any teapot or mug. Discard the first pour, then steep briefly; the tea keeps giving for a long time. It also simmers beautifully on the stove into a thick, almost chocolatey drink.