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Malawi Leafy Pu'er Loose Leaf Pu'er Tea

12 reviews
$25.00
$25.00
$0.42 per cup
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An extremely rare, epicurean loose leaf tea from Malawi.

Fermented teas are rarely found outside of China - and very rarely of this quality. An extraordinarily innovative and delicious tea, this was developed by Alex Kay at Satemwa using using sake koji to start the fermentation process. His dedication to creating new teas never ceases to blow our minds. Despite being a ripe (shรณu) pu'er, we think this has a depth of flavour comparable (possibly better) to older, far more expensive raw (shฤ“ng) pu'ers.

Also known by a myriad of different spellings - puer, pu'erh, puer, puerh, pu-er, and pu-erh are all used.

Tasting Notes

This is a very gentle fermented tea with warm, earthy notes. These precious leaves hold the wonderful flavours of silky rain water and clean autumn forest floors.

Origin

Satemwa Estate, Shire Highlands, Malawi

Cost Per Cup

$0.42 per cup based on 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water and 3 infusions.
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๐Ÿƒ HIGH IMPACT TEA

While all of our teas are the best available from around the world, this tea makes a vital socioeconomic impact on the community that grows and crafts it.

With these high-impact teas, we are shining a light on the people who most need our support.

A prosperous nation like Japan, with a long history and strong domestic market, commands great prices for great tea. Land, labour and expertise are highly valued. Demand for the most famous teas often outstrips supply and buyers compete to get their hands on the best.

For less fortunate economies, where even safe drinking water is not a given, tea is an export. Origins are obscured. Terroirs hidden. If all we are shown is a packet and a brand with no connection to the people and place it comes from, we remain ignorant of its impact.

Many people do not know that much of the tea they drink comes from places like Malawi in East Africa. They are unaware that land, labour and expertise are given little value; that their tea is traded as a commodity by giant multinational agribusinesses, bought for low cost and high quantity over quality; that the farmer has no control of the price. Nor do they know that people in tea communities often do not live beyond their 50s.

It is our business to change that, to establish a value market for their incredible craft and amazing terroirs, much like fine wine.

Recommended Infusion Guide

  • Quantity

    Use 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water.

  • Temperature

    For the optimum infusion use 90ยฐC water.

  • Time

    Infuse for 1 - 2 minutes, tasting regularly.

  • Infusions

    You can infuse this tea at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.

1 3

More infusion tips

How to infuse your tea is very personal, and these are just our recommendations based on experience. Please experiment with these variables to your heart's delight. These are our recommendations, not hard and fast rules. The most delicious tea is the one you love.

Our guide uses a standard tea cup size (150ml/5.5 oz) as a measure, please adjust the quantity of leaf accordingly for less or more water. Our whole loose leaves are of such a high quality that you can infuse our teas at least twice, and the second infusion is often better than the first, with different flavours revealed as the leaf softens. If you prefer your tea stronger, add more leaf, donโ€™t leave it for longer (this will just make it bitter).

This is a "shu" or "ripe" puโ€™er.

Pu'er tea is traditionally a very slow fermentation of a partly oxidised "dark" tea that can take decades to reach maturity and cost many thousands of pounds. This ripe pu'er is unusually made from steamed green tea from the oldest fields on the farm. Planted in the 1920s the original seed came direct from China.

It undergoes short wet fermentation to begin the process with a constant monitoring of the temperature and moisture to ensure they build the characteristic clean forest floor flavour.

Henrietta Lovell, who sources all our tea describes it like this:

"Imagine you are in the middle of the forest, it's raining softly. You are sheltering under tall, broad trees. You can smell the wet grass beneath your feet. In a clearing, there is a little wooden house. Rain is dripping from the wooden roof into a deep, wooden barrel. You cup your hands and dip them into the silky water.
This pu'er tastes of the rain water from the wooden barrel with aromas of wet turf and the forest floor."

Indeed it's so good, it is beloved by Renรฉ Redzepi of Noma.

Puโ€™er is also known by a myriad of different spellings - Pu'er, Pu'erh, Puer, Puerh, Pu-er, and Pu-erh are all used.

Shipping, delivery & more...

Australia Shipping Information

Australia Tracked Delivery from AU$20.00

FREE International Tracked Delivery when you spend AU$125 or more

International Courier Delivery from AU$64.00

Availability of rates depends on location and order weight. For a complete overview of our shipping rates please see our delivery page. Prices displayed at the checkout are based on live currency exchange rates and may differ slightly from the listed price.

Returns

The Rare Tea Lady believes that our teas are some of the greatest in the world, and that our range and service are second to none.

In the isolated case that you are not completely satisfied with any product you purchase from our website, please get in contact with our customer services team to discuss returning your order.*

In most instances, we will give you a full refund of the item's cost, excluding postage. We may ask you to return the item to us.** Customers in the UK & European Union have statutory rights not affected by this guarantee, but any bags of tea must remained sealed for this to be in effect.

*We only accept returns/refunds for tea within 30 days of receipt, because it is impossible for us to know if the tea has been stored correctly.

**We will endeavour to ask for pictures where possible - but if you have changed your mind and are outside of any statutory rights time period, return postage is payable by you.

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