Is Pu'er tea green tea?

Pu'er tea can be divided into cooked tea and raw tea in terms of its nature. The main way to distinguish them is the color they present. Raw tea is often yellow-green, while cooked tea shows signs of blackening. In terms of taste, cooked tea has a mellower taste with a sweet aftertaste, while raw tea is refreshing and pleasant with a slightly sweet taste. Many people cannot distinguish between Pu'er tea and green tea and think they are the same type, but this is not the case.

What is the difference between raw Pu'er tea and green tea?

1. Regionality: The local standard definition of Pu'er tea clearly states that it must be produced in the Lancang River Basin in Yunnan, while green tea is produced in many places, and the five major tea-producing areas in the country all produce green tea.

2. Types of fresh leaves: The local standard definition of Pu'er tea stipulates that the raw materials of Pu'er tea must be large-leaf raw materials from the Lancang River Basin in Yunnan. The raw materials for green tea are mainly small-leaf varieties, but also include large-leaf varieties and medium-leaf varieties. In other words, the fresh leaves of large-leaf varieties can be used to make green tea as well as Pu'er tea. In addition, the fresh leaves used for green tea are usually tender and of higher grade. In particular, famous green teas like Longjing are often stir-fried with one bud and one leaf. However, Pu'er raw tea is not necessarily best when it is tender. Although tender fresh leaves are expensive, they may not be the best for making finished products.

3. Withering methods: There are four ways to wither green tea, sun-drying, baking, frying and steaming. The definition of Pu'er tea clearly states that the raw material is sun-drying green tea of ​​Yunnan large-leaf variety, so from this point of view, Pu'er raw tea does have something in common with green tea.

4. Fermentation: Green tea is a completely unfermented tea, while Pu'er tea is a post-fermented tea and a long-fermented tea. Newly made Pu'er green tea does look very much like green tea, but during the storage process the residual oxidase in the green tea will undergo an enzymatic reaction to prompt the fermentation of Pu'er raw tea. In this way, Pu'er raw tea is distinguished from green tea.

5. Late changes: Green tea is valued for its freshness, while Pu'er is valued for its age. After being stored for a long time, the taste of green tea will become bland, and the color of the tea soup will gradually change from clear green to yellow and turbid, and the taste will become bitter and astringent. As Pu'er raw tea ages, its tea properties become stronger, its taste changes from astringent to thick and full, and its bitterness turns to sweetness.

Conclusion: Raw Pu'er tea is a "semi-finished product", and its final process is time.