Pu-erh Tea and Health: What We Can and Can't Say

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If you searched for the benefits of pu-erh tea, you have probably seen long lists promising everything from weight loss to better skin. We used to publish one of those lists here. We have replaced it, because a cup of tea is not a treatment for anything, and we don't think it's right for a tea seller to suggest otherwise. If you have a symptom or a health question, your doctor or pharmacist is the right person to ask.

What we can do is tell you, plainly, what pu-erh tea is, what is in the cup, and why so many people make it a daily habit.

Discover our best-selling raw Pu Erh tea and see what the fuss is about.

Why We Rewrote This Article

Much of what you read online about pu-erh and health comes from laboratory work on concentrated extracts or from animal studies. Those results are not the same thing as brewing a few grams of leaf in a teapot, and in the US and Canada a food or drink may not be marketed as preventing, treating or curing a disease, or as having health effects that haven't been approved. So rather than repeat claims we can't stand behind, this page sticks to what is true about the tea itself.

What's Actually in a Cup of Pu-erh

Pu-erh is made from the large leaves of the Camellia sinensis assamica tea plant grown in Yunnan, China. Like other true teas, it contains caffeine and polyphenols such as catechins, along with the amino acid L-theanine.

Ripe (shou) pu-erh goes through a controlled microbial fermentation called wo dui, or wet piling. This darkens the leaves and changes their chemistry: much of the catechin content is transformed into darker compounds such as theabrownins, which give ripe pu-erh its deep red-brown liquor. Raw (sheng) pu-erh skips that step and changes slowly with years of storage instead.

Brewed without milk or sugar, pu-erh is simply water and the flavor of the leaf.

Caffeine: What to Know

Pu-erh contains caffeine. How much ends up in your cup depends on the leaf, how much you use, how hot the water is, how long you steep and how many infusions you drink. Our guide to the caffeine in pu-erh tea goes into more detail.

If you're sensitive to caffeine, choose ripe pu-erh in small amounts, drink it earlier in the day, or reach for a caffeine-free herbal infusion in the evening.

Why People Enjoy Raw Pu-erh

Young raw pu-erh is bright and lively: floral, fruity, sometimes with apricot or honey notes, and a bitterness that turns into a lingering sweetness in the throat that tea drinkers call hui gan. It is one of the few teas that keeps changing for years after it is pressed. A cake you buy today will taste different in five or ten years, and many drinkers enjoy following that change.

Check out our Sheng pu erh tea collection and Ripe pu erh tea collection.

Why People Enjoy Ripe Pu-erh

Ripe pu-erh is smooth, earthy and dark, with notes of wood, dates, cocoa and damp forest floor. It is forgiving to brew and rarely turns harsh, which makes it a good first pu-erh. Many people like it as a warm, comforting cup on a cold day or as an after-dinner drink, and it pairs well with rich food. Read more about raw vs. ripe pu-erh.

A Tea with a Long History

Pu-erh takes its name from the old market town of Pu'er in southern Yunnan. Compressed into cakes and bricks so it could travel, it was carried by mule caravans along the Tea Horse Road into Tibet, where herders drank it every day, often churned with butter and salt. In Yunnan, pu-erh has long been drunk after rich, meaty meals, and today it is poured in tea houses from Kunming to Hong Kong.

Chen Sheng Hao (陈升号) has been making pu-erh in Menghai, Yunnan, since 2007, working with tea gardens in areas such as Lao Ban Zhang.

Where Pu-erh Fits in Your Day

Part of pu-erh's appeal is the ritual. A gongfu session with a gaiwan or small teapot asks you to slow down for a few minutes, pay attention to the aroma and watch the color of each infusion change. Some people make a pot in the morning instead of coffee, some keep a thermos at their desk, and others save ripe pu-erh for after dinner. There is no right time; drink it when you enjoy it, keeping caffeine in mind.

How to Brew Pu-erh

A simple starting point: use about 5–7 grams of leaf for a 100 ml gaiwan or teapot, rinse the leaves once with hot water, then brew with water just off the boil in short steeps of 10–20 seconds, adding a little time with each infusion. Good pu-erh will give you many infusions from the same leaves. For step-by-step instructions, see how to brew pu-erh tea.

Sensible Cautions

• If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, talk to your doctor before changing what you drink.
• Mind the caffeine, especially later in the day.
• Don't drink tea that has visible mold. Well-stored pu-erh can smell earthy, but fuzzy white, green or black spots mean the tea should be thrown away. Our guide to storing pu-erh explains how to keep it in good condition.
• Let very hot tea cool a little before you drink it; scalding-hot drinks are best avoided.

Choosing Your First Pu-erh

If you're new to pu-erh, a sampler is the easiest way to find out whether you prefer the brightness of raw or the smoothness of ripe. Our tea samples let you try several teas before committing to a full cake. Our teas are China Green Food (绿色食品) certified, and shipping is free on orders over $70 USD. Questions? Email us at admin@cspuerh.com.

This article is general information about tea, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, please talk to your doctor before changing what you drink.