Pu-erh tea is a unique geographical indication product in Yunnan. It is made of Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea that meets the environmental conditions of Pu-erh tea production area. It is produced according to specific processing techniques and has unique quality characteristics. tea.
In the process of making Pu’er tea, it goes through the process of picking fresh leaves, withering, killing green, rolling, drying the tea, and autoclaving. Tea production process.
Real Yunnan Pu’er tea must meet 4 conditions at the same time:
First, the production range of raw materials – unique to Yunnan; second, the variety of raw materials – Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea; third, technology – specific processing technology production; fourth, quality – with unique quality characteristics.
1. Picking fresh leaves
Pu-erh tea The tea picking season is divided into spring and autumn, and the spring tea in April is of the highest quality. Autumn tea is picked during the period from the beginning of autumn to Bailu in the twenty-four solar terms, also known as Guhua tea or Bailu tea.
The picking standard of Pu-erh tea is somewhat different from that of other teas. The green tea and black tea we are familiar with usually are mostly top-grade buds. The picking standard of raw Pu’er tea is mainly based on one bud and two leaves, and the bud head is the top grade for cooked Pu’er tea.
The best time to pick tea in the mountains is from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on a sunny day. Because the photosynthesis of tea trees is the strongest at this time, the contents are relatively rich.
The raw materials are picked without too much dew, which will not affect the later processing.
2. Withering
After the Pu-erh tea is picked , It is necessary to go down the mountain as soon as possible, because if the tea leaves are placed in the back basket for too long, they will ferment themselves, and after the next greening, there will be a red edge phenomenon, which will also have a certain impact on the taste.
Spread the picked fresh leaves evenly on the bamboo mat or bamboo plaque.
Standing to dry withering is only a physical change, the purpose is to volatilize the moisture contained in the tea leaves, and also make the tea leaves soft, which is conducive to the next step of greening.
Withering mainly reduces the moisture content of fresh leaves, which can soften the leaf quality and reduce the temperature of greening, and at the same time volatilize the grass gas, which is conducive to the development of tea aroma.
In the dry season, it wilts and withers naturally, and in the rainy season, it wilts with hot wind.
3, kill the green
kill the green, it is Pu-erh tea One of the key processes of tea making is to destroy the activity of oxidase in fresh leaves by means of high temperature to inhibit the oxidation of tea polyphenols.
At present, there are many ways to kill Pu-erh tea. There are two main methods: One is traditional manual killing, and the other is machine killing.
The main method is pan frying or drum type, the temperature should be below 180 degrees Celsius, the whole process is about 6 minutes, and the temperature and time need to be Adjust according to the actual amount of tea, tea tenderness, moisture content and other factors.
After completion, the color of normal green tea leaves changes from bright green to dark green or dark green. After finishing, the tea leaves are still cooled and ready to be rolled.
The purpose of green tea is to stop fermentation, while Pu-erh tea simply slows down the fermentation.
Fixing has several functions:
One is It can remove the green grass gas of fresh leaves and promote the formation of tea aroma; secondly, it can remove part of the water, making the leaves from hard to soft; thirdly, the greening can also convert the contents of the tea leaves into the tea to which they belong. all characteristic qualities.
4. Kneading
Kneading is the freshness of Pu-erh tea The production process after the leaves are killed, that is, the process of making the tea cyanine into strips with the help of external force, and at the same time destroying the cell tissue of the fresh tea leaves, so that the substances contained in the tea leaves are attached to the surface of the tea cyanine.
For kneading, the principle of “hot kneading of old leaves, cold kneading of young leaves, heavy kneading of old leaves, and light kneading of young leaves” should be mastered. Judging from my personal experience in tea making, Pu-erh tea needs to be re-rubbed, and it is not done at one time, it needs to be re-rubbed.
The purpose of “re-kneading” is actually a supplement to the first “natural inoculation”, and the purpose is to complete the primary oxidation of Pu-erh tea more thoroughly.
The rolling process of Pu-erh tea is closely related to the quality of the finished tea. Whether it is the color of the dry tea, the inner taste, aroma, taste or later aging have a significant impact. A high-quality Pu-erh tea can only be created by mastering more details such as the degree of rolling, severity, and other characteristics of the fresh leaves of tea.
5. Drying of Maocha (Sun-green Maocha)
Use sunlight to spread the rolled tea cyanide, and dry it until the water content of the tea leaves is about ten percent; if there is no sunlight, it can also be processed by drying, but the tea leaves dried by sunlight have its own special fragrance.
This is one of the important reasons for the special taste of early Pu-erh tea, and it is based on the principle of “drying but not drying”.
If the drying is not complete, the tea will be over-fermented and may even become moldy. Completely dried Dianqing Maocha, dark green or dark green in color, slightly yellowish green with thinner leaves. This is commonly known as “sun green tea”.
6. Autoclave forming
Dry The tea leaves are steamed with steam and pressed into different molds to form a unique aroma that is different from the loose tea. Before autoclaving, the moisture content of each batch of pre-made tea should be measured and the amount of tea weighed should be determined by calculation.
7. Drying and drying
Press the The formed Pu-erh tea is spread out and air-dried naturally for about 2 days, or the front and back sides are sun-dried for two hours, and then dried in the shade for a day.
The moisture content of freshly made tea is usually above 9%, and after standing for about two days, the moisture content will gradually decrease (evaporate) to about 9%; After the environment is stored, the moisture content in the tea will increase or decrease with the change of the environment.
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