Dragonfly Pu’er Tea

This famous tea, until now hardly known outside Asia, has been greatly prized since the Tang Dynasty, over a thousand years ago.

It is valued for its intriguing, full bodied earthy, slightly sweet flavour as well as its reputed health benefits.

Pu’er Tea has had a small and faithful following amongst the health conscious in the UK for decades. Known as ’the Slimmers’ Tea’, it has been available from health shops and of course, the Chinese community.

Revealed by Victoria Beckam as one of her ‘Slimming Secret’s’ , Jerry Hall and Joss Stone are also reputed to use Pu’er Tea. It is particularly appreciated in Hong Kong and mainland China after a heavy meal.

Pu’er grows in the Yunnan province, of South West China. It’s semi fermented, but even today the process is a closely kept secret, with outsiders permitted by law to witness only the final pressing into cakes.

The Pu’er cakes (large or small discs or bowl shapes), were considered so valuable that they were used as currency, particularly for trading horses with the fierce tribes north of the Great Wall of China. Today the cakes are bought speculatively as they are said to improve with age like fine wine or malt whisky, and the craze is sweeping across China.