Puer Tea Glossary - Zhi Zheng Tea Shop

„Pu'er; 普洱. Also Puerh, Pu - er etc. Pu'er is the modern pinyin spelling. The place name of the Old City of Pu'er through which pack horses transported the tea from Southern Yunnan. The names were recently changed; Pu'er is now Ning Er and nearby Simao has the adopted name of Pu'er. Locally, in spoken Chinese at least, Ning Er is still Pu'er. “

„Bĭng: The tea cake itself. Tea cakes or other compressed pu'er can be made up of two or more grades of tea, typically with higher grade leaves on the outside of the cake and lower grades or broken leaves in the center. This is done to improve the appearance of the tea cake and improve its sale. Predicting the grade of tea used on the inside takes some effort and experience in selection. However, the area in and around the dimple of the tea cake can sometimes reveal the quality of the inner leaves.“