Basic knowledge of Pu 'er tea

1. What is Pu 'er tea? Why is it called "Pu 'er"?

In order to unify the understanding of Pu 'er tea, it was held in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in June 2002.

At the 2002 China Pu 'er Tea International Symposium held in Hongshi, participants came from home and abroad.

More than 20 tea experts and scholars from Korea, Malaysia and other countries as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The expert committee has clearly defined the concept of Pu 'er tea:

-Pu 'er tea belongs to black tea, which originated in the Lancang River basin in southern Yunnan and western Yunnan.

Yunnan big-leaf sun-dried hairy tea in Pu 'er tea area was used as raw material and made into various compactness by steam pressure.

Tea and loose tea are both evolved after a certain period of storage, or processed by artificial composting and fermentation.

Pu 'er tea and Pu 'er tea. The word "Pu 'er" originated from Pu 'er County in Simao area (formerly

Pu 'er House is derived from place names.

There are two kinds of tea: natural fermentation of raw tea and artificial ripening of cooked tea. "The older you get, the more fragrant you get" is recognized as the biggest feature that distinguishes Pu 'er tea from other teas. Pu 'er tea is an "edible antique", while other teas are new products, and Pu 'er tea will gradually appreciate over time.

2. Why can Pu 'er tea be collected?

The processing technology determines the characteristics of the "aging cycle" of Pu 'er tea, which makes the storage time of Pu 'er tea longer.

The longer the time, the more revealing and stable its fragrance and vitality. The better its quality, the more valuable it is. Production is limited. Pu 'er tea has the effects of nourishing stomach, clearing away heat, reducing fat and losing weight, and softening arteries.

The characteristics of drinking and hiding meet the needs of modern people in pursuing health and cultural taste, and consumers

With the rapid increase, the output of high-quality Pu 'er tea is far from meeting the market demand.

Tea that can be stored for a certain period of time is rare, so the longer the storage time, the higher the value.

3. What are "raw Pu 'er" and "cooked Pu 'er"? Raw and cooked Pu 'er tea is distinguished by fermentation.

Save in

Tea leaves are kept in a dry and ventilated place, but they have not been transformed yet.

Artificial transformation

Shortening time makes the taste of raw Pu 'er change from bitter to sweet and pure, and the color of soup changes from golden to yellow.

Colors are divided into chestnut red, brown chestnut and so on. Raw tea can also be called cooked tea after natural transformation.

4. How to distinguish raw and cooked Pu 'er tea?

Generally, it is distinguished from appearance color, taste, soup color, leaf bottom and other aspects:

Raw Pu 'er (generally less than ten years) cooked Pu 'er.

The appearance of the rope is symmetrical, and the dark green rope is tight and dark brown.

Fragrant fragrance, camphor tree fragrance, aged fragrance, ginseng fragrance, jujube fragrance.

Taste bitter, sweet, sweet, smooth and soft.

The soup color is orange yellow, light red, glittering and translucent maroon, dark maroon, red, thick and transparent, with light blue or maroon leaves at the bottom, full of vitality, deep chestnut or black, and unique charm.

5. What are sun-dried green and roasted green?

Sun-dried green tea-fresh tea leaves are picked, then fixed, twisted and spread on bamboo mats.

Naturally dried in the sun, it becomes the raw material for making Pu 'er tea and can be preserved for a long time.

Baked flower green-the raw material of fresh tea after dehydration and drying by dryer. This method

The aroma of tea prepared by this method is higher than that of sun-cured green tea, but it has a shelf life and cannot be stored for a long time. strict

Technically, this raw material can't be used to make Pu 'er tea.

6. What are spring tea, summer tea and cereal tea? (according to the harvest time)

Spring tea-picked from February to April, with spring tea picked within 0/5 days after Tomb-Sweeping Day as the top grade, mostly.

Pick a bud and a leaf, the bud core is thin and white, the leaves are fat and thick, and the hairs are many and the veins are thin.

Dense, leaf margin sawtooth is not obvious. Spring tea is one of the most delicious teas with high aroma, fresh taste and bright orange color.

The best raw materials for processing Pu 'er tea in the middle of the year;

Summer tea-picked from May to July, is the season with the most concentrated rain in Xishuangbanna, also called rain tea. Compared with spring tea, the taste, soup color and tea grade are relatively poor, with thick stems and large leaves.

The leaves are thin and old, with obvious serrated edges and heavy bitterness. In addition, due to frequent rain and few sunny days,

It is impossible to bask in the sun, so most of the tea in summer should be sunned and made into green tea;

Autumn tea-picked from the end of September to165438+1early October. In the harvest season, the valley is full of flowers and fields.

Golden, so it is called valley scented tea. The weather is sunny and cool, and there are a little on the bud tips of trees and tea trees.

Golden, when the tea tastes pure and harmonious, the taste is light and fragrant. Scented tea with short picking time and low yield is a treasure in tea.

7. How is Pu 'er tea graded?

It can be divided into three levels: high, medium and low. When picking, leaves and buds are picked at the same time, usually from tea branches.

Pick the top of the third leaf. When grading, there are more buds with high grades and more stems with low grades. High-grade tea, such as: golden melon tribute tea, best brick (cake) tea, imperial concubine tribute cake, palace side cake, gift.

Tea, super;

Mid-range teas such as: 72626 cooked cakes, Yiwu Zhengshan green cakes, first-and third-grade brick teas, Tuocha,

One to five grades of loose tea;

Low-grade tea is: six to ten grades of loose tea.

8. Is Pu 'er tea more delicious with higher grade?

This problem cannot be generalized. First of all, people have different preferences. Pu 'er tea grade

Different times have different tastes. High-grade tea has a delicate and smooth taste and belongs to mild type and grade.

Chaze, who feels inferior, is often full of tea fragrance and domineering, and belongs to the rough type. Secondly, because of Pu 'er.

The characteristic of tea is that the older it is, the more fragrant it is. Tea with low grade and long storage time will taste better than new tea with high grade and the price will be much more expensive.

9. What is the frost on the surface of Pu 'er tea?

It is the crystallization of the oxidase of tea itself, commonly known as "tannin". Bitterness and anti-inflammation.

The function of tea is the result of gradual oxidation of tea substances, which is natural oxidation.

10. What is dry and wet Pu 'er tea?

"Dry storage of Pu 'er tea"-Pu 'er tea is stored in a dry warehouse (humidity below 80%).

Let it age slowly and naturally, and transform it into the quality of "aging fragrance".

1 1. What is the tea on the wrapping paper for?

When Pu 'er tea was first produced, there was no wrapping paper, but a printed logo was pressed on the surface of the tea cake.

Square paper (called internal flying or internal ticket) to show the producer and production period. Later, with the market

Develop factories such as Menghai, Xiaguan Tea Factory and Wang Meng Tea Company to print red and blue prints on the wrapping paper.

Printing, other manufacturers also added green seal and yellow seal as the logo of tea factory name and production year. "Wet storage of Pu 'er tea" is to make Pu 'er tea transform quickly and put it in a damp place.

Accelerate the fermentation process in windy places.

12. What does the figure of Pu 'er tea cake stand for?

In order to make the tea products produced by various manufacturers have a unified identification mark, in the early 1970 s, Yunnan native animals

The production company has been numbered.

The first two digits at the beginning represent the year when the formula was developed.

The third and fourth digits-represent the grade of raw tea,

The number at the end-stands for tea factory (1 is Kunming tea factory, 2 is Menghai tea factory and 3 is Xiaguan tea.

Factory and 4 are both Pu 'er tea factories. The above code is in the era of planned economy, and there are grain and oil in and out of Yunnan Province.

It was compiled by the company, so many tea factories didn't have this number later.

Four digits-five digits are pressed tea-loose tea (the middle two digits are grades)

1962- 1986 formula, using 7-grade coarse tea, produced by Menghai tea factory.

76083- 1976 mixed formula, 8-grade Pu 'er tea produced by Xiaguan Tea Factory.

79562- 1979 mixed formula, grade 5 and 6 Pu 'er tea produced by Menghai Tea Factory.

13. What are the main components of Pu 'er tea?

Amino acids, alkaloids, tea polyphenols, tannins, caffeine, pigments, monosaccharides, protein, and.

Organic acids, lipids, vitamins and other ingredients.

14. What are the six tea mountains?

Located in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Now there is the Lancang River.

The six ancient tea mountains in the river are Aule, Gordon, Yibang, Mangzhi, Mangzhuan, Mansa or Yiwu.

There are six tea mountains outside the river: Nannuo, Nanqiao, Mengsong, Jingmai, Brown and Bada.

15, Pu 'er tea is stored in compact tea, and it is better to store loose tea in purple sand jars.

(1), circulate the air, but don't be in the tuyere, otherwise it will blow away the tea smell and give it a taste.

Blown away, it tastes insipid. Pay attention to the surrounding environment not to smell.

(2) The temperature at constant temperature should not be too high or too low, so it is unnecessary to make it artificially.

The building temperature is only normal room temperature, and it is best to keep it between 20-30 degrees Celsius all the year round.

Excessive temperature will accelerate the fermentation of tea and make it sour. Don't be exposed to the sun, you'd better stay in the shade.

(3) Pu 'er tea with moderate humidity should be stored in a dry warehouse, that is, in a dry ring.

Store in the environment to avoid moisture. Too dry environment will slow down the aging of Pu 'er tea. by contrast

In a dry environment, you can put a small glass of water next to the tea. But it's too wet

The environment will lead to the rapid change of Pu 'er tea, which is often "moldy". Humidity stress

The annual average humidity should not be higher than 75%,

Pu 'er tea has great collection value and appreciation space. The longer the time, the higher the price.

The better it feels. This mainly depends on the storage environment, the essential characteristics of tea and the age of Chen Fang.

16, Pu 'er tea processing steps

(1). Raw tea

Fresh leaves of Yunnan Daye tea —— withering —— deactivating enzymes —— rolling —— drying —— autoclaving —— drying and withering —— are spread in a ventilated and dry place without direct sunlight for 30 degrees moisture preservation and placed on bamboo sticks.

Fang. Time depends on the moisture content of fresh leaves and the temperature and humidity at that time.

Deactivating-removing the smell of weeds and evaporating a part of water, which is beneficial to kneading and forming after frying. common

Er tea belongs to green tea before pressing. The main purpose of killing cyanine is to stop the growth of tea.

Yeast; At present, the pot method is mostly used to kill green (the ancient method is manual frying), because the tea seeds are wilting.

When the tea leaves will lose water but not completely, the method of killing cyanine can make the tea leaves lose water evenly.

Rolling-there are machine rolling and manual rolling. The cell wall of tea leaves is broken, thus brewing tea juice.

Soluble in tea soup to improve the leaching rate. Make tea leaves into strips.

Sun-drying-naturally drying the twisted tea leaves in the sun to keep the tea leaves to the greatest extent.

Organic matter and active substances in leaves. Sun-drying is easy to retain the original flavor of tea.

Autoclave-steam the dried tea leaves and press them with different molds. Extract spices and

Pectin in tea overflows the epidermis, which is beneficial to press molding and is different from the unique fragrance of loose tea. Drying-control the water content below the water content that can be safely stored, which is generally needed for Pu 'er tea.

When the water content is lower than 10%.

(2) Cooked tea

Raw tea-wet water-repeatedly turning-discharging-deblocking-drying-grading-autoclaving (similar

Raw tea steaming process)-air cooling.

Stacking fermentation: wet tea leaves are stacked together according to a certain thickness and subjected to microbial action.

The unique flavor and quality of Pu 'er tea are formed under the combined action of damp heat and oxidation.

Wu's "Stacking Fermentation" Technology of Pu 'er Tea

After a lot of scientific practice, Wu Yu 1983 and Institute of Microbiology of Yunnan University co-chaired the project "Study on the fermentation principle of Pu 'er tea", and achieved the research result that "the fermentation mechanism of Pu 'er tea is dominated by microorganisms". The project won the fourth prize of scientific and technological achievements of Yunnan provincial government, 65438-0984, which is the only provincial-level scientific and technological achievement award in the field of Yunnan Pu 'er tea production technology so far.

"Pile-fermentation" is the most important link in the production of Pu 'er tea. Humidify the sun-dried green tea, which is unique to Yunnan, and then mix it evenly to make a pile. Take the measures of heat preservation and temperature control to make the tea pile reach a certain accumulated temperature condition. By constantly turning over the pile, the temperature and humidity of the tea pile are manually controlled to accelerate and control the post-fermentation process of tea. After about 45 days, the sun-dried green tea is transformed into Pu 'er tea, which has brown appearance, aged fragrance, bright soup color and mellow taste.

17, Matters needing attention in purchasing Pu 'er tea

① The arbor Pu 'er tea tree is not easy to be moth-eaten, rich in nutrition and has great value-added potential, but its price is closely related to the later production technology level;

According to different tea areas and grades, the taste is different, some are bitter and heavy, some are light green and fragrant, some are strong in body fluid, and some are warm and light. The soup should be clear in color, sweet and smooth in taste, and naturally better in flavor;

(3) Raw tea has a short life, strong smell, good degreasing effect and cold nature, and is suitable for people with heat constitution, obesity, hyperlipidemia and hypertension; Cooked tea has mild temperature, delicate lubrication, warming stomach, relaxing bowels and diuresis, slimming and beautifying, and is suitable for people with mild constitution;

④ Pu 'er tea has value-added space, because the older it is, the more fragrant it is. When collecting, you should choose Qiao Da Mu Shu tea with good tea quality and tea products produced by manufacturers with good brand reputation;

⑤ Pu 'er tea with a long history does have a unique taste, but it is closely related to the raw materials themselves and the storage environment.

⑥ Pure Pu 'er tea does not contain any pigments, flavoring agents and spices.

18, Appreciation of Pu 'er Tea

(1). Look at the appearance-first look at the strips of tea, whether the strips are complete, and whether the leaves are old or tender; Secondly, smell the smell of dry tea and see the color and purity of dry tea. The dry tea of high-quality loose tea is old and fragrant, with brown or reddish color, oily luster, reddish brown (commonly known as red cooked), fat strips and less broken tea; The inferior ones are slightly stale or just stale, even with sour taste or other miscellaneous taste. The rope is thin and incomplete, dark brown in color and dry and dull.

(2) Look at the color of the soup-look at the depth and brightness of the soup, high-quality loose tea, the tea soup is red and bright, with a "golden circle", and there seems to be an oil-beaded film on the soup. Inferior, the tea soup is red but not strong and not bright. Dust is often suspended in it, and some even turn black.

(3) Smell-mainly using hot sniffing and cold sniffing, with hot sniffing to see the purity of aroma and cold sniffing to see the durability of aroma; High-quality hot taste is obviously rich and pure, with strong "gas sense" and long cold taste, which is dry taste. Inferior ones are not fresh, but they are mixed with sour taste, rust water taste or other miscellaneous smells, and some still "smell musty".

(4) Taste-mainly comes from smoothness, sweetness and throat moistening. High-quality taste is mellow, smooth, throat-moistening, sweet, and tongue root produces saliva; The inferior taste is dull, unsmooth and not sweet, which makes the sides of the tongue base uncomfortable and even produces numbness.

(5) Look at the leaf bottom-look at the color and quality of the leaf bottom, and see if the leaf bottom is complete and still soft. High-quality brown-red color, uniform and bright, few flowers, complete leaves, soft leaves, no corruption, no hardening; The inferior ones are mottled, with dark hair, or the leaves rot and harden.