Raw tea, or 'maocha', is tea that is not fully processed. Many indigenous peoples of the Yunnan province produce their sheng 'maocha' from the leaves of trees that grow there. Every house has a supply of such tea, but they drink it in different ways: someone pre-fry it before brewing, some boil it in milk with spices or some even mix the tea leaves with salt and cereal. This type of tea drinking is popular: Sheng-maocha is stuffed into a bamboo trunk, which is then heated on a fire, so that the leaves are soaked with the aroma of bamboo, then the tea is brewed in a teapot.

For the production of Pu'ers, the algorithm of processing up to the stage of 'Maocha' is the same for both Sheng and Shu. It includes withering it in the sun, twisting and then the final drying, also in the sun. Depending on the raw material, the first stage may differ. In order to get real Sheng Pu'er from 'Maocha', it needs to be additionally treated: natural fermentation, which gradually changes the structure of the material, forms its specific taste and aroma. The process speed depends on temperature and humidity; these parameters determine the tea's character.