Processing Technology of Pu'er Tea

On the unique quality characteristics of Pu 'er tea, its fundamental mainly depends on two aspects, one is to make Pu' er tea, must be Yunnan big leaf tea. Because, Yunnan big leaf tea plant contains tea polyphenols, catechins, caffeine, theanine and water extract content are generally higher than the small leaf tea plant. The second is the special production process of Pu 'er tea.

Pu 'er tea production process, there are traditional technology and modern technology points. As for the traditional process of Pu 'er tea, Professor Zou Hongjie, a famous Pu' er tea expert and professor of Yunnan Agricultural University, wrote in Yunnan Pu 'er Tea that the production of Pu' er tea in the early Qing Dynasty was mainly completed by tea farmers. First of all, the tea farmers will process the best tea in spring into bud tea, stamen tea, palace tea tribute to the emperor. Then the green tea is picked and then exposed to the sun to make sun-dried green tea; and then it is autoclaved and shaped to make round tight tea. There are two process details related to the final formation of Pu 'er tea that must be mentioned here. Sun-dried green tea process decision, green tea is the most moisture content. At the same time, when transporting to the place of production, it is necessary to put bamboo baskets into them. In order to prevent the tea from breaking, it is necessary to spray a little water about 8 hours before packaging, stir evenly, and soften the tea, which increases its water content. This kind of sun-dried green tea was transported from the producing area for about 12 days on the back of people and about 12 days on the horse to the tea distribution center (total tea shop) at that time. At this time, this batch of tea had basically completed a preliminary cold fermentation process, from raw tea (unfermented) to light fermented ripe tea. In Pu 'er or Simao headquarters, part of the loose tea is selected and sold for domestic use; part of it is steamed into cakes, each 7 rounds into a tube, wrapped with bamboo shoots, which are soaked in order to soften the bamboo shoots and then sold to Tibetan areas. From Simao to Lhasa via the traditional tea-horse ancient road → Jinggu → Jingdong → Nanjian → Xiangyun → Lijiang → Dian-Tibet line. The whole journey takes more than 100 days. Although the journey is long, the air is dry and the temperature is low, the water contained in the tea leaves and bamboo shoots still makes the cake tea slowly ferment in cold, forming the special large-leaf post-fermentation Pu 'er tea in Yunnan. Its unique aged fragrance and thick soup color are especially loved by Tibetan compatriots. The formation of Pu 'er tea was not intentional at first, but a historical product formed by specific geographical and climatic reasons and specific transportation processes.

The processing of modern Pu 'er tea began in the 1970s. After the founding of New China, in the early 1970s, with the continuous expansion of China's foreign trade, Pu 'er tea production fell short of demand. According to the requirements of consumers for Pu 'er tea, Yunnan Province Tea Company developed artificial post-fermented Pu' er tea in Kunming Tea Factory, and selected modern Pu 'er tea production technology and new technology in Menghai Tea Factory and other state-owned manufacturers, so that Pu' er tea processing entered a new period of paying attention to science and technology, quality and benefit. The scientific concept of modern Pu 'er tea was established through comprehensive research on the whole process of tea processing technology, i.e. raw materials, processing technology, chemical composition and quality inspection. Artificial post-fermentation Pu 'er tea is a post-fermentation process that takes a long time to complete traditional Pu' er tea in a short time by means of modern science and technology such as pile-fermentation. In the whole fermentation cycle, multiple pile-fermentation and drying must be completed strictly according to the process requirements. Fermentation must be completed under specified temperature, humidity and ventilation conditions. The process of artificial pile-fermentation Pu 'er tea takes about 40 days. After artificial fermentation, Pu 'er tea still needs to go through the processes of air-drying alcoholization, screening, sorting and blending, sterilization, etc., and then be made into compressed tea or loose tea, etc., and then after storage alcoholization (post-ripening), it can become drinkable Pu' er tea.