Raw Black - Sheng Puer
Sheng Pu'er refers to teas that started the fermentation process, but have yet to be fully fermented. Not all Sheng Pu'er is intended for consumption on its own. After picking, withering, and applying heat to halt oxidation, the producer can blend the leaves to make artificially fermented teas, compress the leaves into "raw" cakes, or sell the leaves loose. We would never buy artificially fermented teas, and while we stock raw cakes, we also sell the rarer loose leaf variety of Sheng Pu'er.
In Yunnan, savvy consumers buy "raw" Pu'er, while artifically "fully" fermented teas have become a fad for gift giving outside of Yunnan. Tea afficionados avoid these teas and play more in the "raw" Pu'er market because it has more variety. The beauty of playing in the Sheng Pu'er arena is that the tea develops new flavors over very short periods of time, making the tea a joy to revisit often.
Because Sheng Pu'ers are actively fermenting, they must be stored with great care to ensure that they continue to ferment and not spoil. Most tea shops do not have the resources to maintain Sheng Pu'er. We do.