A 15-year-old naturally stored raw pu-erh tea is about 50% fermented. Such green pu-erh infuses to a dark red, burgundy liquor. The taste of a 15-year-old sheng has bright tones of dried fruit with hints of expensive wood: teak, sandalwood, etc. Over the years of storage, its tartness considerably decreases. Gradually ripening, green raw pu-erh tea approaches black ripe pu-erh in the level of fermentation, color of infusion, softness of mouthfeel, and flavor notes.

But sheng will never become shou, even a 50-year-old raw pu-erh still differs by taste from an artificially fermented tea. Read less...

In the 1930s, Hong Tai Chang Tea House established a branch in Thailand, and later created agency companies in other Southeast Asian countries. In 20 years Hong Tai Chang company had developed into a real pu-erh empire. It had been closed in Yibang after the communist revolution in 1949. But the production of the original Hong Tai Chang pu-erh teas in Thailand is still alive. Traditions of masters are passed on from generation to generation and kept in secret.

Thai pu-erh’s allow you to touch the old school tea, the origins of a real Pu-erh tradition. Read less...