If you are in the mood for tea, this may be the perfect time to invest in a cup. Well, more than just a cup. Like fine wines, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, aged pu-er tea is making investors thirsty to get a piece of the action because its value can soar.
Investing in Chinese tea sometimes requires plenty of knowledge, more than that for vintage wines. For the uninitiated, there's a lot to learn. 'I am collecting only quality pu-er tea [that has a good ageing property]. If you collect tea that doesn't age well, you are wasting time and money,' says Chan Kwok-yee, owner of Best Tea House and a tea expert with 16 years of experience in trading and investment.
According to Mr Chan, the best and most expensive pu-er tea must go through natural fermentation. Unlike ordinary green tea, which should best be drunk shortly after production, pu-er tea can be aged for several years, and its aroma and after-taste only get stronger, richer and smoother with time.
'Only pu-er tea will appreciate in value with time and it's a good investment. From my point of view, it is a commodity more valuable than gold because its value will never go down,' says Mr Chan, who started collecting pu-er tea in 1993.
'I bought 400 grams for HK$7.80 in 1993 and, 16 years later, it is now worth HK$15,000 on the market. This is not much of an investment. I have another one called 'red label' which I bought 20 years ago for HK$300, and it is now valued at HK$120,000.'
Not all kinds of pu-er tea hold the same level of value for investors. According to Mr Chan, the quality of mass-produced pu-er tea from plantations is inferior and, therefore, has no investment value. This is because the tea leaves grow close together and there is not enough space and nutrients for the leaves to thrive on. Plantations also use fertilisers and pesticides which affect the quality.
'The most valuable collection of pu-er tea must come from the wild, be at least 100 years old and grows at an altitude of [above] 1,500 metres, and without any human intervention in their natural environment,' Mr Chan says.