What kind of tea is raw Pu'er? A detailed explanation of raw Pu'er's tea category

Pu'er tea is a kind of tea everyone is very familiar with. It has many places of origin, but Yunnan's Pu'er tea is the most famous. Pu'er tea is generally divided into two types: raw Pu'er and ripe Pu'er. The two are different. Raw Pu'er is unfermented tea leaves, and after picking it does not need special processing, so many people believe that raw Pu'er belongs to green tea.

But in fact, raw Pu'er tea is a post-fermented tea. Strictly speaking, raw Pu'er tea does not belong to any of the six major tea categories as they are classified today. It is neither dark tea, nor black tea or green tea. Relying on the unique ecological environment of the Yunnan region, Pu'er tea has rich internal substances that differ from other teas, and combined with processes such as sun-drying, raw Pu'er tea must be stored for a certain number of years before it is suitable for drinking, which also gives raw Pu'er tea its exclusive “the older, the more fragrant” characteristic.

When raw Pu'er is freshly made, it is indeed green tea, but as time changes, it is no longer green tea, because it loses the fresh and strong quality characteristics of green tea, and instead transforms more toward the softness and mellow smoothness of dark tea.

At the same time, it cannot be counted as dark tea either, because after all, no matter how old it gets, its quality characteristics are still two completely different styles from ripe tea.