Is Pu'er a black tea?

The Chinese have a long history of tasting tea, which can be traced back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. The Chinese people began to develop the habit of drinking tea a long time ago. With the development of history and the improvement of professional technology, the varieties of Chinese tea are constantly increasing. Black tea, green tea, oolong tea, Pu'er tea and other types of tea all have their own flavors and are loved by the majority of people, but many people cannot tell the difference between Pu'er and black tea. So, is Pu'er a black tea?

Black tea is a fully fermented tea. It is a type of tea that is refined from fresh leaves through typical process such as withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying. It has the characteristics of black tea, red soup, red leaves and sweet and mellow taste. There are many types of black tea with a wide range of production areas, the main ones include Keemun black tea, Zhengshan Xiaozhong, Dianhong, etc. In addition, black tea from India and Sri Lanka is also very famous.

Pu'er tea does not belong to black tea. In recent years, the academic community has gradually reached a consensus to separate Pu'er tea from the six major types of tea and make it a tea category in itself. Pu'er tea is made from large-leaf sun-dried green tea from Yunnan, which is post-fermented and processed into loose tea and compressed tea.

Because historically the tea produced in southern Yunnan and southwestern Yunnan was concentrated in Pu'er County, it is called "Pu'er tea". The production and sale of Pu'er tea began in the Tang Dynasty and has a history of thousands of years. The production and consumption of Pu'er tea was very common in the Ming Dynasty. It reached its heyday in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. In the late Qing Dynasty, Pu'er tea production gradually declined. It was not until the founding of New China that it was able to resume development and is now one of the main types of tea in Yunnan Province.

Pu'er tea is made from Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea within the scope of geographical indication protection, and is made using specific processing techniques within the scope of geographical indication protection. It is a tea with unique quality characteristics. According to its processing technology and quality characteristics, Pu'er tea is divided into two types: Pu'er raw tea and Pu'er cooked tea.

Pu'er Raw Tea:

Fresh tea leaves are picked and aged naturally without going through a pile fermentation process. Raw tea is strong and stimulating. Newly made or recently aged raw tea has a strong bitter taste, and the color of the tea soup is lighter or yellow-green. Raw tea is suitable for drinking and long-term storage. Year after year, you can watch the color of the raw Pu'er leaves gradually darken. The aroma becomes more and more mellow.

Pu'er Ripe Tea:

The tea becomes milder after pile fermentation. Ripe Pu'er has mild tea properties, the tea is silky and smooth, with a mellow and rich aroma. It is more suitable for daily drinking of high-quality ripe Pu'er. Ripe Pu'er is also worth collecting. Similarly, the aroma of ripe Pu'er will become more and more smooth and rich with the aging time. 1973 is the dividing point. There was no ripe tea before 1973.

Raw Pu'er tea does not go through the pile fermentation process, while cooked Pu'er tea does. Both raw Pu'er and cooked Pu'er will transform under normal storage, but raw Pu'er will never become cooked Pu'er no matter how it is stored. It is just that after being aged for a long enough time, its style will be somewhat similar to cooked Pu'er.

There are many ways to distinguish between raw and ripe Pu'er tea: generally speaking, from the appearance, raw Pu'er that is less than 10 years old is dark green in color, while ripe Pu'er is dark brown; secondly, the smell, raw Pu'er smells light and fresh, while ripe Pu'er smells aged and fragrant; finally, the soup color, raw Pu'er soup color is yellow, while ripe Pu'er is brown-red or dark chestnut.

Some basic knowledge about Pu'er tea:

1. How is Pu'er tea graded?

According to national standards, Pu'er compressed tea is not graded, while Pu'er loose tea is divided into special grade and grades one to ten, among which Pu'er cooked tea is an even-numbered grade and Pu'er raw tea is an odd-numbered grade.

2. What is the difference between the grades of Pu'er tea?

The taste, aroma and soup color are all different. High-quality Pu'er tea is more tender, has a stronger aroma, a mellower taste and a more pronounced aftertaste.

3. What is the best packaging for Pu'er tea?

Traditional packaging has always been in bamboo shells. In modern times, Pu'er tea is packaged in kraft paper, white cotton paper and some handicraft paper. However, Pu'er is best packaged in traditional bamboo shells, because bamboo shells have a special fragrance and can prevent the invasion of other odors. But bamboo shells are susceptible to insect infestation, so store them with care.

4. What is dry storage and wet storage Pu'er?

Pu'er tea is stored in a warehouse with a relative humidity below 80%, allowing it to slowly age naturally and transform into "aged and fragrant" quality. This kind of tea is usually called "dry-stored Pu'er tea".

"Wet-stored Pu'er tea" is made by unscrupulous merchants who put the Pu'er tea in a wet warehouse with a relative humidity of over 80% in order to speed up the transformation of the tea. Such tea will easily become moldy, so be sure to identify such wet-stored tea.

5. What should I pay attention to when buying Pu'er tea?

The first is clarity: smell its flavor; the flavor should be clear, without any other flavors.

The second is purity: distinguish its color; the color of tea should be like that of dates, not as black as lacquer.

The third is correct: keep it in its place; store it in a dry warehouse, not in a damp place.

Fourth is the flavor: taste the soup; it should have a mild taste, without any mixed flavors.

Six Don’ts: Don’t label based on the wrong year, don’t rely on fake packaging, don’t use dark or light colors as an excuse, don’t use added flavors as a false impression, and don’t consider the age of the tree.

6. How to store Pu'er tea?

If you are storing compressed tea, do not unpack it. If it is loose tea, it is recommended that you store it in a purple clay pot. Secondly, the environment should be clean and hygienic, free of odors, with stable temperature and humidity, and away from light.

To sum up, Pu'er tea is an independent type of tea, not black tea. However, whether it is Pu'er tea or black tea, as long as we like to drink it, it's fine. And we can drink the two types of tea alternately, so that we can experience the flavors of both teas.