Pu'er tea the "ripe" Shou Chá. All types of pu'er tea are created from "máochá" (毛茶), a mostly unoxidized green tea processed from "Camellia sinensis" var. "assamica", which is the large leaf type of Chinese tea found in the mountains of southern and western Yunnan (in contrast to the small leaf type of tea used for typical green, oolong, black, and yellow teas found in the other parts of China). Maocha can be sold directly to market as loose leaf tea, compressed to produce "raw" "shēngchá", naturally aged and matured for several years before being compressed to also produce "raw" "shēngchá" or
Tea processing Tea processing Tea processing is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant "Camellia sinensis" are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea. The categories of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. In its most general form, tea processing involves different manners and degree of oxidation of the leaves, stopping the oxidation, forming the tea and drying it. The innate flavour of the dried tea leaves is determined by the type of cultivar of the tea bush, the quality of the plucked tea leaves, and the manner and quality of the production processing they undergo.