Puer Tea Expert – LU ZHUXUN

Lu Zhuxun普洱茶专家卢铸勋 was born in 1927 in the turbulent times of Guangdong, China. Due to financial constraints, he started learning about business in Macau at the age of 11 and explored various industries.

Later, he moved to Hong Kong, where tea began to play a significant role in his life. However, fate was not particularly kind to him; wars and natural disasters led to a life of hardship. It wasn’t until 1943, with the help of his brother Lu Bingqian, that he was able to return to the stability of Macau.

Lu Zhuxun: Apprentice at Ying Kee Tea House in Macau

At the Ying Kee Tea House in Macau, Lu Zhuxun started from scratch, learning every aspect of tea processing—from picking leaves to transforming them into semi-finished products through numerous steps before producing a high-quality tea cake.

During this period, he had the opportunity to learn from the skilled tea master Lü Xianfen, which had a significant impact on his career. Lu Zhuxun developed a keen palate for tasting various teas and a unique perspective on tea blending.

In the years following 1946, he was assigned to the factory to study the techniques of grinding and deep roasting aged tea, spending seven years perfecting his skills.

Experimenting with Red Tea

During a boom in black tea sales, Lu Zhuxun pondered whether green tea could be converted into red tea through fermentation. He carefully conducted experiments, fermenting ten pounds of green tea with water and then storing it for around 60 days. The resulting tea had a deeper color and, surprisingly, the flavor was comparable to traditionally processed red tea.

The Birth of “Mark Number” Tea

In 1950, Yuan Shoushan from the Tongxing Tea House in Yunnan visited Macau and complained about the shortage of traditional red tea (raw pu-erh) in the mainland due to centralized purchasing. Yuan asked if there was a way to produce traditional red pu-erh tea in Macau. Lu Zhuxun, drawing from his ancestral knowledge and experience with black tea, successfully developed a method for producing red pu-erh tea in Macau.

In 1954, Lu Zhuxun moved to Hong Kong due to the declining tea industry in Macau and established his brand “Fuhua Songpin Mark.” During the 1950s and early 1960s, he produced high-quality pu-erh tea cakes that gained popularity in Hong Kong’s tea market.

Guangdong Fermented Pu-erh Tea

In 1959, Hong Kong tea merchant Zeng Jian sought Lu Zhuxun’s secrets for tea making. Lu Zhuxun shared his methods, leading to the development of Guangdong’s pu-erh tea fermentation techniques. Zeng Jian’s brother, Zeng Qi, joined the Guangdong branch of China Tea Company, which began producing fermented pu-erh tea in Guangdong. Although the flavor of Guangdong pu-erh was not as refined as that from Yunnan, it was preferred in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao region and Southeast Asia.

Yunnan Fermented Pu-erh Tea

By the 1970s, Yunnan tea factories learned the fermentation techniques from Lu Zhuxun and his successors. Guangdong pu-erh tea could not compete with the pure Yunnan tea, leading to a resurgence of Yunnan tea. Lu Zhuxun also collaborated with Nanshan Company to find solutions for sourcing Yunnan tea leaves, and in 1962, he began teaching pu-erh tea fermentation techniques in Thailand.

Modern Pu-erh Tea

In 1973, Yunnan Tea Company sent representatives to Guangdong to study pu-erh tea fermentation techniques. They found that Guangdong’s methods could not be directly applied in Yunnan due to climatic differences. Yunnan factories adapted the techniques to their conditions, leading to the creation of modern pu-erh tea. By 1975, brands like 7452 and 7572 from Menghai, and 7663 from Xiaguan, became popular exports.

Lu Zhuxun established Yutai Trading Company in 1975 and began producing pu-erh tea cakes. In 1976, his tea cakes were sold in Hong Kong, marking a new chapter in pu-erh tea history.

Legacy

Lu Zhuxun played a crucial role in the evolution of pu-erh tea from traditional red tea to modern pu-erh tea. Although he never personally produced modern ripe tea, he is regarded as the “godfather of ripe tea.”

In 2000, Lu Zhuxun retired and wrote about his experiences. He clarified that pu-erh tea is classified into raw and ripe, not semi-fermented. He emphasized that historical tea should not be judged by current standards.

Summary The evolution of pu-erh tea from traditional red tea to the modern ripe tea reflects Lu Zhuxun’s significant contributions. His work bridged the gap between traditional practices and contemporary tea production methods, making pu-erh tea widely accessible and popular.