Home: Yunnan

Leaf: Dark burgundy and chocolate-brown, with an earthy aroma. Brew: Ruddy brown, clearer with quality, boasting a marvelously rich, complex flavor which includes hints of sweet jujube, osmanthus flower, and the minerals and plants native to Yunnan province.

Scoop: Shou pu-er can be kept indefinitely, whether in cakes, bucks, or round disks with embossed designs However, it must be preserved thus naturally, not with refrigeration or foil bags, and teaches its apotheosis of flavor after 20 years or so, Much of a shou pu'er's flavor is credited to the company which makes it, usually a family concern of long, local standing, with its own close-guarded secret process of fermentation.