1. What is Puerh Tea? Why is it called "Pu'er"?
In order to unify the understanding of Pu-erh tea, at the 2002 China Pu-erh Tea International Symposium held in June 2002 in Jingpangna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Xishuangbanna, the Committee of Experts composed of more than 20 tea experts and scholars from Japan,
South Korea, Malaysia and other countries, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan made a clear definition of the concept of Pu-erh tea. The concept of Pu-erh tea is clearly defined:
-- Pu-erh tea belongs to the black tea, is originated in the south of Yunnan, west of the Lancang River Basin, is recognized Pu-erh Tea District of Yunnan large-leafed sun-green tea as raw materials, steam pressing molding of a variety of tightly pressed
Tea and loose tea, evolved after a certain period of time storage, or by artificial curing and fermentation, or by artificial curing and fermentation. Or processed by artificial fermentation
Puerh tight tea and Puerh loose tea. The term "Pu'er" is due to the Simao region of Pu'er County (formerly
Pu'er Province) and the name of the place.
There are raw tea and ripe tea, raw tea is naturally fermented and ripe tea is artificially ripened. "The more it ages, the more it smells" is recognized as the biggest feature that distinguishes Pu-erh tea from other teas, and Pu-erh tea is "an antique that can be imported". The most important feature of Pu-erh tea is that it is an antique that can be imported.
2. Why can Pu'er tea be collected?
The processing technology determines the characteristics of Pu-erh tea's "aging cycle", so that the longer the storage time of Pu-erh tea
the longer its internal fragrance and vitality is also revealed and robust, the better the quality, the higher the value of the more precious. Production is limited. Pu-erh tea nourishes the stomach, clears heat, reduces fat and weight loss and softens the arteries, etc. The characteristics of drinking and storing Pu-erh tea are in line with the modern pursuit of health and the pursuit of cultural taste, and the number of consumers
is increasing rapidly, and the production of high-quality Pu-erh tea can't satisfy the market's demand, and the tea that can be stored for a certain number of years after years of drinking and consumption is even more scarce. Therefore, the longer the storage, the higher the value.
3. What is "Raw Puerh" and "Ripe Puerh"? Raw and ripe Puerh teas are differentiated by the fermentation method.
Tea that is stored in a
dry and ventilated place but has not yet completed its transformation.
Artificially shorten the transformation
time, so that the taste of raw Puerh from bitter to sweet, pure and thick, soup color from golden
color into chestnut red, brown chestnut, and so on. The natural transformation of raw tea can also be called ripe tea.
4. How to distinguish between raw and ripe Puerh tea?
Generally from the appearance of the color, taste, soup color, leaf bottom, etc. to distinguish:
Raw Puerh (generally less than 10 years) Ripe Puerh
Appearance Well-proportioned cords, dark green Cords close, dark brown,
Aroma Clear, camphor incense ripe aroma, aged, ginseng, jujube
Taste Bitterness, sweetness, sapidity Sweetness, slippery, thick, soft
Soup color Bitter, sweet, thick, smooth, soft
Taste Bitterness, sweet, sweet, smooth, thick, soft
Soup color p>
Soup color Orange, light red, crystal clear Brownish red, dark chestnut, red, thick and transparent Leaf bottom Light green or chestnut color full of freshness Dark chestnut or black, no freshness
5. What is sun-dried and what is baked?
Sun-dried tea - fresh tea leaves picked back by killing, twisting, spreading and cooling on bamboo mats in the sun under the Tai
sun naturally drying formation, to become the raw material for the production of Pu-erh tea, it can be stored for a long time.
Drying - while the fresh tea leaves with a dryer for dehydration and drying of raw materials, this method
method of tea flavor than the sunshine of the tea high, but it has a shelf life, can not be stored for a long time.
Strictly speaking, this kind of raw material can not be used for the production of Puerh tea.
6. What is spring tea, summer tea and valley flower tea? (Distinguished by harvesting time)
Spring tea - harvested between February and April, with the spring tea harvested within 15 days after the Qingming Festival for the best, more
pick a bud and a leaf, buds and stamens fine and white, the leaf blade is more plump and thick, hairs are more, the leaf blade veins are fine
dense, the edge of the leaf serration is not obvious. Spring tea has high aroma, fresh and mellow taste, and bright orange soup color, which is the best raw material for processing Puerh tea in a
year;
Summer tea is harvested in May-July, which is the most concentrated season of rain in Xishuangbanna, also known as rain tea, and compared with spring tea, it has relatively poor taste, soup color, and grade of the tea, and the pole is not as large as the coarse leaves, and the leaves are not as big as the thick leaves, and the leaves have fine veins.
The leaf edge is not obvious. Thick leaves, big leaves,
leaf blade thin old leaves, leaf edge serration obvious, bitter and astringent flavor. In addition, due to frequent rainfall and few sunny days,
it is impossible to sun-blossom, so most of the summer tea can only be made into green tea after drying;
Autumn tea is harvested from the end of September to the beginning of November. Harvest season, the fragrance of flowers, fields a
golden, so called valley flower tea. When the weather is sunny, the young buds on the tree tea trees have a little
golden color on the tips of the white hairs, and the tea at this time has a pure and harmonious taste, with a light flavor and aroma like lotus. Valley flower tea picking time is short, the production is small, is the treasure of the tea.
7. How is Puerh tea graded?
It can be graded according to high, medium and low grades. When picking, the leaves and buds are picked at the same time, generally from the tip of the tea tree branches
down to the third leaf. When grading, the high grade has more buds, and the low grade has more leaves and stalks. High-grade tea such as: Jin Gua Gong Cha, the best brick (cake) tea, Guifei Gong Cake, Palace edge cake, gift
tea, special grade;
middle-grade tea such as: 72626 ripe cake, Yiwu Zhenshan Qing Cake, a first-class, third-class brick tea, Tuo Cha,
first to fifth-grade loose tea;
the low-grade tea is: the sixth to tenth-grade loose tea.
8. The higher the level of Puerh tea, the better it is?
This question can not be generalized, first of all, people have different preferences. Pu-erh tea is of different grades and tastes differently. The high level of tea taste delicate, smooth, is a gentle type, level
lower level of tea is often tea, there is a share of domineering, is a rugged type. Secondly, due to the Puerh
tea has the characteristics of the more fragrant, long storage time of the level of low tea than the level of high new tea is good to drink, the price is also much more expensive.
9. What is the white frost on the surface of Puerh tea?
It is the crystallization of the oxidative enzymes of the tea itself, commonly known as "tannin". Bitter taste, anti-inflammatory
role, is the result of the gradual oxidation of tea substances, for the natural oxidation.
10, what is dry warehouse, wet warehouse Puerh tea?
"Dry Warehouse Puerh Tea" - Puerh tea is stored in a dry warehouse (humidity below 80%),
allowing it to slowly and naturally age, transforming it into the quality of "Chen Xiang".
11. What is the purpose of the tea seal on the wrapper?
In the earliest production of Pu'er tea, there was no wrapping paper, just a square of paper with a logo printed on the top layer of the tea cake
(known as the inner fly or the inner ticket) to show the producer and the period of production. Later with the market
development of Menghai, Xiaguan Tea Factory, Meng Wang Tea Company and other factories in the wrapping paper printed on the red seal, blue
seal, other manufacturers also added a green seal, yellow seal, as the name of the tea factory, the production of the age of the logo. The "wet warehouse Puerh tea" is a place where Puerh tea is placed in a humid and windless place to speed up its fermentation process in order to make it transform quickly.
12. What does the Puerh tea cake number represent?
In order to make the tea produced by various manufacturers have a unified identification mark, in the early 70s by the Yunnan Provincial Livestock
production company for the number.
The first two digits at the beginning - on behalf of the year of development of the formula,
the third and fourth digits - on behalf of the raw material gross tea grade,
the last digit - - on behalf of the tea factory (1 for the Kunming tea factory), the last digit - - on behalf of the tea factory (1 for the Kunming tea factory). - on behalf of the tea factory (1 for the Kunming Tea Factory, 2 for the Menghai Tea Factory, 3 for the Xiaguan Tea
factory, 4 for the Pu'er Tea Factory, the above code is in the era of the planned economy, there are Yunnan Provincial Cereals and Oils in and out of
import company to prepare, so many of the later tea factories do not have this number).
Four digits - tightly pressed tea Five digits - loose tea (the middle two digits are the level)
8662 - 86 years of blending formula, using the 7 grade gross tea, produced by Menghai Tea Factory.
76083 - 1976 blending formula, using grade 8 Puerh tea, produced by Xiaguan Tea Factory.
79562 - 1979 blending formula, Menghai Tea Factory production of 5, 6 Puerh tea
13. What are the main ingredients of Puerh tea?
Amino acids, alkaloids, tea polyphenols, tannins, caffeine, pigments, monosaccharides, proteins, organic acids, lipids, vitamins and other ingredients.
14. Which are the six tea mountains?
Located in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Now there is also the Lancang River
Six tea mountains in the river (ancient) that is, Yole, Gedeng, Yibang, Mangzhi, brick, Manza or Yiwu
Six tea mountains outside of the river: Nannuo, the highest peak of the south, Menghu Song, Jingmai, Brown, Bada
15, Puerh tea collection and storage tightly pressed tea, do not unwrap the packaging, loose tea is best to be stored in the zisha canisters.
(1), the circulation of the air, but can not be placed in the wind, otherwise the tea gas are blown away, the tea flavor are
blown away, drinking feel bland and tasteless. Pay attention to the surroundings do not have a strange odor.
(2), constant temperature The temperature of the place should not be too high or too low, do not have to deliberately create artificial
temperature, the normal room temperature is good, the best is to keep in the long years between 20 ~ 30 degrees Celsius,
too high a temperature will make the tea accelerated fermentation acid. It should not be exposed to the sun, and should be kept in a cool place.
(3), moderate humidity A good Pu'er tea is stored in a 'dry warehouse', that is, in a dry environment
environment, avoid wet. Too dry an environment will slow down the aging of Pu-erh tea. In a drier
environment, a small glass of water can be placed next to the stored tea. However, an environment that is too humid
will lead to rapid changes in the Pu-erh tea, which is often referred to as "mold". Humidity should be
controlled accordingly by human beings, and the average annual humidity should not be higher than 75%.
Pu-erh tea has a huge collection value and value-added space, the older the price is higher, and the better the taste is.
The main determinants are the storage environment, the tea's condition, and the quality of the tea. The main decision on the storage environment, the nature of the tea characteristics, the age of the years, etc.
16, Puerh tea processing steps
(1). Raw tea
Yunnan large-leafed tea fresh leaves - withering - killing - kneading - sun drying - steaming - drying Withering - -Cooled in a ventilated dry place without direct sunlight thirty water, placed on bamboo gabions
square. The time depends on the moisture content of the fresh leaves and the humidity of the temperature at that time.
Killing - to remove the taste of grass, evaporate part of the water, after frying to facilitate the kneading and shaping.
Pu-erh tea is green tea before it is pressed and molded.
The main purpose of killing is to stop the fermentation of the tea leaves; at present, most of the killing is done by pot-type killing (the ancient method of manual stir-frying), because the tea leaves will lose water after withering and
withering, but it is not yet thorough, so using the way of killing will make the tea leaves lose water uniformly.
Kneading - there are machine kneading and hand kneading. Let the cell wall of the tea leaves broken, so that the tea juice in the brewing
easily dissolved in the tea broth, improve the leaching rate. Make the tea leaves into strips.
Sun-drying--The twisted tea leaves are dried naturally under the sunlight, which maximizes the retention of organic matter and active substances in the tea
leaves. Sun-drying is easy to retain the essence of the original flavor of the tea leaves.
Steaming - The sun-dried tea leaves are steamed and moistened with steam and pressed into shape with different molds. Extract the flavor and
Make the pectin in the tea leaves overflow the skin, which is conducive to pressing and molding and the unique flavor different from loose tea. Drying - to control the moisture content to below the moisture content that can be safely stored, generally Puerh tea requires
less than 10% moisture content.
(2). Ripe tea
Raw tea gross tea - wet water - repeatedly turning the heap - out of the heap - unblocking - drying - grading - steaming (similar to
raw tea steaming process) - drying and cooling.
Ovodrome fermentation: the tea leaves after wet water are piled up according to a certain thickness, and under the microbial action,
moist heat and oxidation **** the same action, the unique flavor and quality of Pu'er tea is formed.
Wu Qi-ying's Pu-erh ripe tea "heap" fermentation technology
After a lot of scientific practice, Wu Qi-ying, together with the Institute of Microbiology of the University of Yunnan, chaired the "Pu-erh Tea Fermentation Technique Principles Research" project in 1983, and the results of the research: "Pu-erh Tea Fermentation Technique Principles Research". Research results: "Pu-erh tea fermentation mechanism is microorganisms play a leading role", this project won the 1984 Yunnan Provincial Government Science and Technology Achievement Fourth Prize, is so far Yunnan Pu-erh tea production technology in the field of the only provincial scientific and technological achievements.
"Wo heap" is the most important part of the production process of Pu'er tea. It is the Yunnan unique large-leaf species of sun green tea humidification, and then mix it and then Wo into a pile, to take heat preservation and temperature control measures, so that the tea heap to achieve a certain accumulation of temperature conditions, and through the continuous turning of the heap, artificial control of the temperature and humidity of the heap, to accelerate and control the process of post-fermentation of the tea leaves, after forty-five days or so, so that the sun green tea into the appearance of the brownish-red, the aroma of the old appeared, the color of the soup is red, the taste of the sweet and mellow Puerh Tea.
17, buy Pu-erh tea notes
① arbor Pu-erh tea trees are not prone to pests, nutrients, value-added potential, but the price of the price of the later production process level has a greater connection;
② according to the tea area and level of different grades, there is a certain difference in taste, some of the bitter and astringent, some light green incense, some strong sheng Jin, and some of the tea gas and warmth. Should be clear soup color, taste sweet and lubricating, smell natural for the best;
③ shorter years of raw tea tea gas heavy, greasy effect, cold, suitable for hot body, body fat, blood fat and blood pressure higher people drink; ripe tea gas temperature and lubrication, delicate, warm stomach, laxative diuretic, slimming and beauty, suitable for the body is not hot of the crowd;
④ Puerh Tea because the more the more fragrant, so there are
⑥ Pure Pu-erh tea does not add any coloring, flavoring and spices.
18, Pu-erh tea appreciation
(1). Look at the appearance - first look at the strip of tea, whether the strip is intact, leaf old or tender; second smell the dry tea smell and look at the dry tea color and purity, high-quality loose tea of dry tea Chenxiang revealed, no foreign, miscellaneous flavors, color brown or brownish red, with oily luster, brown in red (commonly known as red ripe), cords fat, broken tea less; the quality of the second is a little Chenxiang or only Chen Qi, or even with acidic and acidic. Only Chen Qi, or even with rancid taste or other miscellaneous flavors, the cords are thin and tight incomplete, the color is black and brown, withered and dark without luster.
(2). Look at the color of the soup - to see the depth of the soup color, bright, high-quality loose tea, tea soup red, thick and bright, with a "golden circle", soup looks like the top of the oil bead-shaped membrane. The quality of the second, the tea soup red and not thick, less bright, often there is dust material suspended in it, and some even black, hair black.
(3). Smell - mainly take hot and cold smell, hot smell to see the pure difference of aroma, cold smell to see the persistence of the aroma; quality hot smell of Chenxiang significantly rich, with pure, "gas sense" is strong, cold smell Chenxiang long, is a dry flavor. The quality of the second has a Chenxiang, but mixed with rancid, rusty water flavor or other miscellaneous odors, there is also a "smell of mold".
(4). Taste - mainly from the smoothness, sweetness and throat feeling to feel. High-quality flavor mellow, smooth, smooth throat, sweet, tongue root tingling; the quality of the substandard flavor is bland, not smooth, not sweet, the root of the tongue on both sides of the feeling of discomfort, and even produce astringent numbness.
(5). Look at the bottom of the leaf - look at the bottom of the leaf color, leaf quality, look at the bottom of the leaf intact, is not to maintain the softness. High-quality color brownish red, uniformly bright, less flowers and miscellaneous, leaf sheet integrity, leaf quality soft, not corrupt, not hardened; the quality of the second is the color of the flowers and miscellaneous, hairy and bright, or leaf quality corruption, hardening.