Does anyone here drink Pu'erh tea?

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I put this in the health section since it's food/diet related.

For those that don't know what Pu'er/Pu'erh/Puerh tea is, it's a Chinese tea that's pressed into bricks or discs (originally for easier transport and storage) and due to the temperate and humid region in which it was traditionally produced and consumed, goes through a slow fermentation/oxidation process in which the green tea over a slow period of time becomes an oxidized black tea.

Normally, green and black teas are ideally consumed soon after they're produced. Puerh tea is one of the only if not the only tea that is considered to improve with age. In fact, old naturally aged puerh teas left in their original brick or disc state are highly sought after and can be extremely expensive. Puerh tea is also distinctive in that the leaves can be used for multiple infusions rather than only once. The steeping time is increased with each successive infusion. It's not uncommon for a portion of tea leaves to be infused ten times or more.

In China, puerh teas naturally aged over decades can be bought and sold on auction for tens of thousands of dollars. Similar to people who collect cigars or wines and can have elaborate climate controlled humidors and cellars, puerh collectors can have climate controlled rooms for their collection which are calibrated to mimic the same temperature and humidity of the native region of the puerh tea.

In recent years, puerh tea has been artificially and rapidly aged to mimic the taste and color of naturally slow aged tea. This is done by piling the fresh green tea leaves in very large piles and turning them periodically. The microbial action in the piles and the heat produced by the microbes, in effect, start to break down the tea in a composting action and the process is stopped when the desired outcome has been reached; then the tea is compressed into bricks or discs.

Puerh tea was a very intense special interest of mine for a good number of years. I still have a modest collection of puerh teas. I prefer the un-aged "green" puerh teas rather than the artificially aged teas. I do not care for the flavor of the "composted" tea.

Does anyone drink puerh?

Just the cheap stuff in tea bags from the Chinese market. It is really cheap when you re-use the bags for a few more infusions!

One of my favorites! I've never tried green pu-erh tea, but I bet it's delicious. I've tried varieties from Rishi tea, and Golden Moon tea.

I've had it before but I can't find any place near me that sells it to drink it on a regular basis. There's not a single Asian market near me and I don't want to buy it online. So for the time being I drink oolong instead.

The Asian market sells 100 bags of Prince of Peace Pu'erh tea for $3.79. They also sell 200g of loose leaf tea in a gift box for $20.

Interesting. I would bet that they also have tea in the traditional compressed bricks or discs. If you find that they do, I would recommend giving it a try. It's easy to chip off a small piece for each brewing session.

Thanks. I'll have to look. They have so many choices it is sometimes hard to find something even when you know what you are looking for!