The reason Pu-erh tea has maintained such vigorous momentum over decades, even recovering quickly after several setbacks, lies in one of its characteristics that completely distinguishes it from other tea types — “the older, the more fragrant.” Regarding the concept of “the older, the more fragrant,” the earliest historical record can be found in the Ming Dynasty, when Li Yuanyang wrote in the “Record of Dali Prefecture”: “(Diancang) tea, the trees grow twenty chi tall, the nature and flavor do not diminish compared to Yangxian, and when stored for many years, the taste becomes even superior.” This refers to Dali Gantong tea. In the sixth year of the Republic (1917), the “Lunan County Gazetteer” praised Yunnan Baohong tea: “The longer it is stored, the better it becomes.” Around the 1980s, Yunnan Provincial Tea Import Corporation learned from Hong Kong that many Hong Kong people drink old tea. For the first time, Yunnan writers used the phrase “Pu-erh tea is the older, the more fragrant.” It was not until the mid-1990s that Professor Deng Shihai of Taiwan Normal University, in his book “Pu-erh Tea,” proposed: the older, the more fragrant. This was both an inheritance of tradition and a refinement and promotion. In 2004, the simplified Chinese edition of “Pu-erh Tea” was published on the mainland, and the concept of Pu-erh tea “the older, the more fragrant” gradually took root in people’s hearts. It can be said that Hong Kong and Taiwan were the originating sources for the spread of this concept.
When we talk about “the older, the more fragrant,” we speak of core value.
Value determines price; price is influenced by supply and demand. This is the most basic economic common sense. The value of Pu-erh tea is multifaceted, including ecological value, health value, cultural value, and the aging value brought by its “older, more fragrant” characteristic. “The older, the more fragrant” is a vivid description of Pu-erh tea’s aging process, a crucial link in its value system. Its core content is the mechanism of aging: “older” is a concept of time, “more fragrant” is a concept of quality. The aging process of Pu-erh tea is the key to improving or recreating its quality. On one hand, aging can transform Pu-erh tea’s taste from sharp to mellow, making it more palatable; the tea nature shifts from cold to warm, making it more suitable for the body. Under the action of microbial communities, the tea undergoes various subtle chemical changes centered on oxidation, continuously improving its quality. On the other hand, the aging value gives rise to Pu-erh tea’s financial attributes, making it a collectible and investable commodity. Around the core value of “older, more fragrant,” Pu-erh tea’s value chain continues to expand.
Of course, the “fragrance” in “older, more fragrant” has rich connotations — it does not refer solely to the surface-level olfactory fragrance. In fact, Pu-erh tea’s aromatic substances are naturally fewer than those in green tea or oolong tea, and during aging, aromatic substances continuously diminish; the fragrance of aged Pu-erh is actually quite subtle. “The older, the more fragrant” is an abstract expression; “more fragrant” actually means quality improvement. Therefore, more and more experts and scholars are attempting to use more appropriate terms to describe Pu-erh tea’s aging or mellowing process, such as Professor Chen Wenpin’s “aging generates fragrance,” Zhou Yunchuan’s “the older, the stronger,” and Professor Gao Zhao’s “hot storage for ripeness, cold storage for fragrance” — all centered on the improvement of Pu-erh tea quality.
However it is expressed, anyone who has truly conducted in-depth research into Pu-erh tea will confirm without hesitation that Pu-erh tea does improve and elevate its quality through natural post-fermentation. For now, we might as well continue using “the older, the more fragrant,” as it has become a deeply ingrained symbolic concept. It must be the core of Pu-erh tea’s core value; if Pu-erh tea loses this core value, it will lose its foundation. Because in terms of freshness, Pu-erh cannot match green tea; in terms of high fragrance, it cannot match oolong; in terms of exports, it cannot match black tea; and in terms of craftsmanship, it is relatively simple. The rough branches and large leaves of Pu-erh tea have risen to the top of China’s famous and superior teas precisely because of the driving force of its core value. This year, Pu-erh tea’s public brand value reached six billion yuan, for the first time leaping to first place among all national tea brands.
Now the question arises: do all Pu-erh teas possess the core value of “the older, the more fragrant”? The answer is no. Only quality Pu-erh tea can age and improve. Quality Pu-erh tea = quality raw materials + correct craftsmanship + proper storage. This is an axiom; all three are indispensable.
When we talk about “the older, the more fragrant,” we speak of geographical value.
The raw materials for quality Pu-erh tea must originate from the core production areas along the middle and lower reaches of the Lancang River in Yunnan, and must be from Yunnan large-leaf tea trees. This is nature’s geographic choice, or perhaps grace. Pu-erh tea’s geographical value stems from Yunnan’s specific geographic system, which encompasses the integration of natural geography, climate, and ecological diversity, producing a natural ecology and fostering biodiversity.
Yunnan uniquely preserves tropical rainforests and monsoon-influenced humid subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests, becoming a rare green oasis near the Tropic of Cancer on Earth. Its unique natural conditions and superior ecological environment make it the central region of the world’s tea tree origin. In Pu-erh tea’s core production areas — Pu’er, Xishuangbanna, and Lincang — wild, transitional, and cultivated ancient tea trees and communities are concentrated. Pu-erh tea was born in this environment suited to large-leaf tea trees. In particular, the many contiguous ancient tea gardens are Yunnan’s unique and precious resource, making Pu-erh tea’s ecological value shine brilliantly among tea types worldwide.
The foundation for Pu-erh tea aging well also lies in the rich internal substances of Yunnan large-leaf varieties — tea polyphenols, catechins, theanine, and other extractives are significantly higher in large-leaf varieties than in small and medium-leaf types, enabling it to withstand long-term storage and post-fermentation transformation. Even after decades or even a century, Pu-erh tea remains remarkably resistant to multiple infusions, with tea flavor still present after ten or twenty brews — this is what people mean by “a thick foundation.”
When we talk about “the older, the more fragrant,” we speak of craftsmanship.
Correct craftsmanship is also a necessary precondition for Pu-erh tea aging well. Pu-erh tea’s production techniques are relatively simple among all Chinese tea types — even somewhat crude. It is precisely this simplicity that preserves the natural flavor. The core lies in “sun-drying.” During sun-drying, the moderate temperature preserves the activity of enzymes in the tea leaves, while also allowing natural inoculation of microbial communities in the natural environment, providing more beneficial bacteria and active substances for subsequent fermentation. “Understand nature, follow nature, utilize nature” is the craft theme it has always followed, and also the core value of Pu-erh tea craftsmanship.
The traditional process for sun-dried unfinished tea is: fresh leaf picking — spreading to wither — kill-green — rolling — sun-drying. As long as the kill-green is moderate, the rolling is moderate, and the sun-drying is normal, without special aroma-enhancing steps — such as deliberately yellowing during rolling (incorporating yellow tea technique), or excessive steaming during pressing, or roasting to raise aroma — Pu-erh tea following these traditional methods has the foundation for aging well.
When we talk about “the older, the more fragrant,” we speak of storage.
Storage is the essential path for Pu-erh tea to age and improve. Whether Pu-erh tea ages well depends on one hand on the tea’s own intrinsic quality foundation, and on the other hand on the environmental conditions of storage and aging. When the environment is suitable, Pu-erh tea’s quality and food safety are both well improved. Storage conditions such as temperature and humidity can influence the speed of Pu-erh tea’s sensory and physicochemical quality changes. Different storage conditions lead to markedly different changes in Pu-erh tea’s aromatic composition and fragrance type.
A suitable storage environment includes specific temperature, humidity, and spatial conditions. Ideally, it should be a relatively large space storing a large quantity of tea. The more tea present, the higher the concentration of microbial communities in the small environment. However, bigger space is not always better, and more tea is not always better — finding the right balance is something many Pu-erh tea collectors have been researching. Dongguan, known as the “Capital of Tea Storage,” is particularly notable. Collectors there, together with tea experts and scholars, have summarized and researched much experience in Pu-erh tea storage. Meanwhile, in Yunnan, the origin of Pu-erh tea, many visionaries have begun studying origin-based storage, emulating the wine concept of origin cellar aging, to give Pu-erh tea even more Yunnan character.
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Author: Old Tea Head · Lin Shen (LamSam)
Zen Tea Manor ZENTEA MANOR
Tianying Supply Chain Company
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