“Following the many recent ‘firsts’ at Sotheby’s, including the launch of spirits sales, the introduction of sake, and the addition of France as a new location for our regular series of wine and spirits auctions, the introduction of tea at our global auctions comes as a natural progression for our business. Today’s collectors continue to expand their horizons and we expect demand for the rarest teas to follow that for wines, whiskies and Moutai.”
- Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Wine
More on Puerh:
One of the oldest forms of tea, Puerh gained its recognition and appeal from the Qing Dynasty. It is a post-fermented tea produced from the Yunnan province which is known to enhance its quality and flavour through aging. Aged puerh is mellow in flavor and has an elegant aroma- in the view of Chinese medicine, this is believed to promote health and ease digestion.
For transportation purposes, Puerh is generally compressed into different shapes, with cake, brick or tuocha as the most established forms. There are two main types of Puerh - raw or cooked, with different flavours and aging potential. The raw process undergoes a natural oxidization process in which the tea colour, fragrance and its unique mellow taste gradually form and fortify pending on the length of aging and storage environment, factors which is dependent on the rarity of the Puerh. The cooked process goes through an artificial fermentation cycle, which allows it to be consumed without aging.
