How many times have you had dim sum and thought, "what kind of tea is that?" Nine times out of ten you were drinking pu-erh tea, which aids in the digestion of fried foods.

Pu-erh Tea has more than 1,750 years of recorded history dating back to China’s Three Kingdoms Period.

The geographical origin of Pu-erh Tea is located in China’s Yunnan Province within the areas of the Lancang River Basin. This region of Southwestern Yunnan is home to the world’s oldest tea cultures and tea economy. The broad leaf tea tree species used to make authentic Pu-erh has been consumed as a food, medicine and beverage by Yunnan’s ancient inhabitants of Tibeto-Burman origin who are known as the “Pu” ethnic group and the world’s first tea farmers.

There are two main types of Pu-erh tea: “Green Pu-erh” more accurately described as “Semi-green tea” and “Black Pu-erh” more accurately described as “Dark Green Tea.” Both semi-green and dark green pu-erhs are made with “Saiqing” or “sun-dried green tea.” Authentic Pu-erh teas can only be made from Yunnan’s famous broad leaf arbor tea tree varietals.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Pu-erh tea has a warming and potent digestive property. Chinese doctors consider Pu-erh as a tea that dispels or cleanses the body of fat and toxins from meat and oily foods. This is also why Pu-erh has such a wide appeal amongst many Asian food cultures. Recent research suggests that consuming 5-8 cups of Pu-erh Tea each day can reduce cholesterol and plaque of the arteries.

Rishi Tea is the first in the US to offer Certified Organic and Fair Trade Pu-erh Tea hand harvested from ancient tea trees.