According to the Wikipedia, Pu-erh (Pu'er) tea is a fermented variation of Tea, produced in Yunnan province, China and got its name from the infamous Pu'er City, the market town in which it was first developed.
In the Far East part of the world, it is known as "Black Tea" and just as a fine wine, they have been known to retain their freshness for over fifty years and counting. This is as a result of a process known as "Post-Fermentation".
Tasly Deepure Quick Dissolving Puerh Tea
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Fermentation is generally a process where yeast introduced to a compound with high sugar content increases its population as the sugar quantity remains available until they all die due to lack of food(sugar), excessive alcohol production and inability to procreate. Post-Fermentation on the other hand seems to lack the needed substance in it predecessors.
The exposure of the tea leaves to humidity and oxygen during the Post fermentation process also causes oxidation within the tea-leaf enzymes as well the known microbial catalysis. The tea leaves becomes darker with both oxidation as the alcohol is synthesized. Pu-erh teas can be found in compressed brick form or in loose leaf form and can be made from both green and black tea leaves.
Puerh tea is made from a larger leaf strain of camellia sinensis called Dayeh, which are ancient trees with mature leaves that are said to be between 500 and 1000 years old. These trees are usually grown in temperate regions and although they can be harvested year-round, the opportune time to harvest is in mid-spring.
Camellia sinensis is the tea plant , plant species whose leaves and shoots of leaves are used to make tea. These plants belonging to the genus Camellia (traditional Hanzi: 茶花; (Chinese) ; Pinyin: Cháhuā), a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. White tea, green tea, oolong and black teas all come from this species, but are processed differently to obtain different levels of oxidation.
 CAMELIA SINENSIS |
 PU-ERH POST FERMENTED DRIED TEA LEAVES |
 PU-ERH TEA |
