Theme - Shu - Ripe Puerh

„wo dui; 渥 - Wet, 堆 heap/pile - Wo dui - 渥堆, Literally wet -pile The process of 'pile fermentation which is used to make 'aged' Puer tea.“

„Ripened or aged raw pu-erh has occasionally been mistakenly categorised as a subcategory of black tea due to the dark red colour of its leaves and liquor. However, pu-erh in both its ripened and aged forms has undergone secondary oxidization and fermentation caused both by organisms growing in the tea and free-radical oxidation, thus making it a unique type of tea. This divergence in production style not only makes the flavour and texture of pu-erh tea different but also results in a rather different chemical makeup to resulting brewed liquor.“

„The recently developed Wo Dui process (渥堆) pioneered by both the Menghai and Kunming Tea Factories has created a new type of pu-erh tea of which some traditionalists dispute the legitimacy. This process involves an accelerated fermentation into "ripe" Shou Cha (熟茶) which is then sold loose or pressed in various shapes.“