Raw Pu-erh tea is a delicate tea that is fruity and fresh, like freshly made white wine. It has no bitterness or astringency, making it very popular with children.
When you think of Pu-erh tea, you might imagine a tea with a brown liquor and the flavor of dried mushrooms or dried fruits, but that is a type of Pu-erh called ripe Pu-erh.
Difference Between Raw and Ripe Pu-erh Tea >
High-quality ripe Pu-erh tea is never moldy.
Some people dislike ripe tea because it smells like "old furniture," "rotten wood," or "mold," but moldy aromas indicate poor quality tea with fermentation issues. High-quality tea should evoke a certain level of emotion when tasted. HOJO conducts extensive tasting to ensure we introduce only the best quality teas.
2023 Guo Gan Ancient Tree Ripe Pu-erh
This tea is made from material harvested in Guo Gan in 2023, transported to Yunnan in 2024, and fermented there.
It comes from a different producer from the 2019 tea, and presents a distinct flavour profile.
While it still carries the bold, full body typical of Guo Gan tea, the flavour leans towards aromatic woods, such as agarwood, with top notes of pine and black jujube.
Why Buy Loose Leaf?
Ripe pu-erh goes through deep microbial fermentation, so many people assume that loose leaf and compressed tea cakes do not differ much in flavour. In reality, this is not the case at all. We source our tea as loose leaf and then have it compressed by trusted craftsmen, which allows us to compare both forms directly. The difference is very clear, both in flavour and aroma.
Here is why.
Raw pu-erh is processed through withering, followed by pan-firing at relatively low temperature, then rolling and sun drying. Because most of the original leaf constituents remain intact, the leaves retain natural stickiness, and only a small amount of steam is needed before compression. In other words, the steaming process for raw pu-erh is relatively light and controlled.
Ripe pu-erh is different. During microbial fermentation, many of the leaf constituents are broken down, and the leaves lose their stickiness and become drier. Because of this, much more steam is required during compression, and the leaves absorb a significant amount of moisture. If we attempt to dry them naturally under shade, quality may decline before they are fully dry, so in practice, hot air drying is used.
However, this drying method affects the tea. Compared to loose leaf, both flavour and aroma change after compression. Tea cakes do develop their own character, but it usually takes at least one year of storage for those qualities to settle and show.
Loose leaf, on the other hand, offers something that tea cakes do not. The mouthfeel is softer, the flavour is more layered, and there is a certain clarity that exists only before compression.
Myanmar Guo Gan Ripe Pu-erh
Guo Gan is an autonomous region in northern Shan State, Myanmar, bordering Zhenkang County in Lincang, Yunnan. Most of the population is of Han Chinese origin, and their daily language is a Yunnan dialect of Chinese. The Chinese yuan is widely used, and Chinese-style writing, education, and cultural practices are still very much part of everyday life. In many ways, it functions as a Chinese cultural enclave within Myanmar, with strong and lasting Chinese influence.
Historically, this region was once part of China. Following an agreement in 1897, it was incorporated into British Burma and later became part of Myanmar. Even so, the local population has continued to maintain a strong Chinese cultural identity. From our conversations with local residents in Guo Gan, as well as people from Guo Gan working in Yunnan, many naturally see themselves as culturally Chinese.
Character of Guo Gan Ripe Pu-erh
The defining character of Guo Gan ripe pu-erh is its dense and full-bodied mouthfeel. We believe this is closely related to the geology of the region. Northern Shan State, including Guo Gan, was once an ancient seabed, where layers of limestone formed from the Palaeozoic to the Mesozoic era and were later uplifted to become land. As a result, the soil in this region is rich in limestone and minerals such as calcium, and it belongs to the same geological belt as Yongde and Zhenkang in Lincang, Yunnan. This mineral-rich soil is likely one of the key factors behind the weight, depth, and distinctive texture of Guo Gan tea.
Tea Production and Supply Chain
Guo Gan is home to many ancient tea trees, similar to those found in Yunnan. Most of the harvest is initially processed into raw pu-erh. However, local demand for tea within Myanmar is limited, so much of this tea is transported overland into Yunnan via the border town of Nansan. From our experience, Guo Gan tea is rarely sold as raw pu-erh. Instead, it is more commonly used as a material for producing ripe pu-erh through microbiological fermentation.
Supply Disruption
Around 2015, intense armed conflict broke out between the Myanmar government and the Guo Gan autonomous region. The situation remained unstable for quite some time. During the COVID pandemic, the border at Nansan was closed, and logistics came to a complete stop. As a result, we were unable to source Guo Gan tea in recent years. In January 2024, a ceasefire agreement was reached, and the border was reopened. With this reopening, we saw an opportunity to source quality Guo Gan tea again in Yunnan, so this time we focused our search on areas near the Myanmar border and on producers with strong connections to Myanmar.
For more on how ripe Pu-erh is fermented, compressed, and aged, see About Ripe Pu-erh Tea.
Focus on Sourcing Naturally Cultivated Tea
Since 2010, we have been visiting Yunnan Province every spring. Over the years, we have built connections with many famous tea regions. However, our focus is not on a region's fame, but rather on tea with transparency and a long-lasting aftertaste. To achieve this, we focus on remote mountain villages, selecting tea gardens with ancient tea trees, high altitudes, and no fertilizers, sourcing through unique logistics channels. For more details, please visit the following page.
In Yunnan, teas claiming to be from famous regions are produced in thousands of locations using leaves from other areas, and can be found everywhere—from airports and convenience stores to supermarkets.
What complicates matters is the surprising phenomenon where imitation teas made from leaves in remote areas are of higher quality than the genuine articles. This is especially common with Pu-erh teas from Lincang, and it is a well-known fact among professionals involved in local sourcing. For more details, please visit the following page.
In Yunnan Province, there are long-established brands like Dayi and Zhongcha. These brands are renowned because their teas produced before 1990 are highly valued.
So why are these older teas considered special? Many people assume it is due to long aging, but in reality, the tea leaves used at that time were naturally grown without fertilizers, resulting in their superior quality.
Therefore, even if current teas are aged for a long time, they will not reach the same quality. For more information, please visit the following page.
