Tea has always been a highly sought-after commodity among the Asian community. But in recent times, teas such as pu-erh have attracted greater investor interest.
THE tea community is rather active in Malaysia. Purple Cane sometimes hosts tea appreciation sessions at its outlets. The tea enthusiasts are quite friendly and willing to help new investors out.
Loo advises new investors to bring along an experienced tea collector when buying tea. “The only way to really know if you are getting good tea is to start drinking more, reading up more on tea and speaking to the people in the community to find out what is going on,” she says, adding that new investors should start slow and buy in small quantities first.
“Make sure you go to a reputable shop, and ask plenty of questions. A good way to gauge the authenticity of the tea is if the shopkeeper can answer all your questions and back them up.”
Investors must be in it for the long haul, says Chan. “The value of pu-erh increases with time.”
He also advises new investors not to skimp on professional tea advisory services offered by reliable tea traders.
Tea funds
In Malaysia, there are some tea funds run by private companies but they are not regulated. However, before investing in a tea fund, there are a few things you should know, according to Jadryn Loo, an avid collector of tea and tea pots.
She says tea funds are currently not regulated in Malaysia, so investors should only consider investing in tea funds overseas. If investors want to look into tea funds, she adds, they should seek the advice of more experienced investors.
“Don’t just invest in a fund to let someone manage it for you. You must learn the art and trade of it first,” she says.
According to Loo, investors must know the plantation they are investing in. “Since tea funds are similar to interest schemes, it is important to know the topography and geology of the plantation your fund invests in, and whether they are suitable for producing high quality teas. Other factors to consider include the altitude of the land, the climate and the surrounding area,” she says.
“The humidity and amount of sunlight are important for the growth of tea leaves and processing. Most of the ideal climates are found in Asia, namely China and India. Asia accounts for more than 60% of global tea production.”
Just like buying shares, it is important to learn about the management who runs the plantation. “If your fund invests in a tea plantation with an established reputation, you are likely to have a better investment. It is important to note that investing in tea plantations is a long-term thing,” says Loo.
Tea processing
Although there are four ways to package tea — round, brick, piece or loose packets — 80% are packed in the round biscuit manner. The process is a simple one. The tea leaves are plucked, dried, compressed and packed in paper. This takes four days to a week.
Once the leaves have been plucked and filtered, they are smoked using wood fire, which softens the leaves and gives them a smoky aroma. The leaves are then rolled and dried. The drying process depends heavily on the weather as the leaves are normally sun dried. Then they are compressed using steam. There are usually seven bricks in one basket of tea.
Distinguishing the real from the fake
The label on the packaging is one way of distinguishing rare or antique pu-erh tea. The labels are recorded in modern books on tea and are well known among experts of the subject. Of course, this is easily duplicated and there are many fakes in the market. But tea connoisseurs like Jadryn Loo and her tea supplier C F Wong of Cha-No-Yu tea shop in Kuala Lumpur can easily tell the authenticity of a tea based on the taste and secret marking on the brick of tea. Wong has been trading tea for the past two decades and has seen the market rise and fall over the years.
“When you open the package, you will see a piece of paper inside it, and this is where the secret marking of the tea factory is,” says Wong. The marking is often just a small logo or some writings.
Wong says the best way to authenticate the marking is to refer to a tea supplier or expert. Though few books have been released on pu-erh tea, a local tea house — Purple Cane Tea House — has published a book called A Passage to Chinese Tea. The book is on the Chinese tea culture and shows pictures of what authentic tea should look like.
Many of the counterfeit teas have come about as a result of the high demand for high quality teas in recent years, says Chan Kam Pong, owner of Cloud’s tea house in Hong Kong.
Each era has its specific markings, such as printing style, texture of the wrapping, and trademark ticket (the piece of paper found inside the tea brick) to distinguish the real ones from the fake. There are bound to be flaws in the fake ones, such as misprinting of text or a logo that is slightly off, Wong says.
All pu-erh teas must come from China’s Yunnan province, Loo says, as the trees only grow there. She says there are two types of pu-erh tea — fermented and ripe. The taste of the tea changes with fermentation. Non-fermented tea will ferment by itself over time, and a tea that is five years old may differ in taste compared with when it was first plucked and packaged. Fermented tea, says Loo, will maintain its taste but become smoother over the years, depending on how it is kept. Good quality tea from Yunnan will have a distinct taste that differs from counterfeit brands, she adds.
This article first appeared in Personal Wealth, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 15 - 21, 2015.
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