霜降Frost's Descent
生茶
shēngchá
Term · Classification

sheng pu'er

Literal meaning

raw / uncooked tea

Definition#

Pu'er made from sun-dried crude leaf that is steamed and pressed (or left loose) without a pile-fermentation step. When young it is green-gold and often bitter-astringent; it changes slowly through oxidation and microbial activity over years of storage. Often shortened to 生普 (shēngpǔ).

Translation and usage#

LanguageUseAlternatives & cautions
English sheng pu'er
raw pu'er
pinyin with a gloss
Also acceptable
  • raw pu'er
  • raw pu-erh
  • sheng
  • green pu-erh (dated)
Avoid
uncooked/green tea
it is processed and becomes dark with age; 'green' invites confusion with 绿茶
unfermented pu'er (as a permanent label)
aged sheng has undergone slow microbial change
green pu'er
marketing label; confuses with green tea
Deutsch Sheng Pu-Erh
roher Pu-Erh
pinyin with a gloss
Also acceptable
  • roher Pu-Erh
  • Sheng
  • Rohtee (in Shop-Kategorien)
Avoid
grüner Pu-Erh
rare in German shops; implies green tea category
Русский шэн пуэр
сырой пуэр (без ускоренной ферментации)
pinyin with a gloss
Also acceptable
  • шен пуэр
  • шэн
  • шен
  • сырой пуэр
  • зелёный пуэр
  • шен пуэр (торговое)
Avoid
белый пуэр
unrelated: a white-tea-style product from Yunnan
шэн-пуэр с дефисом в заголовках
не по Палладию и непоследовательно; допустимо в составных прилагательных
简体字 生茶
繁體字 生茶
Regional usage
  • 生普
  • 青餅
  • 生餅
日本語 プーアル生茶

Common confusions#

  • Russian 'зелёный пуэр' and English 'green pu'er' lead readers to think it is a green tea.
  • German 'gereift' is used by some shops for shou, so aged sheng described as 'gereift' can be misread as ripe.
  • шен (trade) vs шэн (Palladius sheng)
  • The Russian spellings шэн and шен refer to the same 生茶; they do not denote different kinds of tea.

Terms#

Sources#