Why does Pu'er tea need to be pressed into cakes

Pu'er tea has a long history of being made into tea cakes. First of all, making tea cakes in this way was initially helpful for preservation and convenient for transportation. Later, people discovered that making Pu'er tea into tea cakes could preserve the aroma of Pu'er tea. After purchasing Pu'er tea, be sure to put it in a ventilated and dry place to avoid moisture affecting the taste of the tea and to prevent the tea from spoiling.

1. Easy to store and transport

At first, conditions were poor and the circulation of tea relied on poorly equipped horse caravans. The mountains were high and the roads were dangerous, making transportation extremely inconvenient, which resulted in the loss of a lot of tea. Therefore, tea makers "steamed and rolled the Pu'er tea, and pressed it into shape" to make it easier to store and transport by horse caravans. In order to facilitate calculation, each cake even had a specific weight. Overall, a lot of losses were avoided!

2. Preserve the aroma

Loose tea not only takes up space, but also easily dissipates its aroma. Making it into compressed tea cakes can preserve the aroma of the tea for longer.

3. Moisture, air, and sunlight factors

Pressed Pu'er tea cakes:

(1) The influence of water absorption and evaporation is not great, which is conducive to the coexistence of microorganisms and aroma.

(2) The interior is not greatly affected by the temperature of the air, which is conducive to the survival of microorganisms in the tea leaves.

(3) The relative contact area between oxygen, light and the tea cake is reduced, thus slowing down the oxidation of polyphenols, chlorophyll and other elements, allowing the tea quality to be better preserved.

4. Collection Factor

(1) Hygiene.

(2) Small size and takes up little space.

(3) The internal temperature and humidity are stable and durable for storage.

(4) The longer it is stored, the more fragrant it becomes (assuming suitable storage conditions)

5. Philosophical Thought

Circle, it may be the embodiment of the traditional Chinese cultural philosophy of "the sky is round and the earth is square".

Tea cakes can symbolize the pictographic meaning of the sky that gives birth to all things in the universe.

"Round outside and square inside" can also represent the way of being a human being and dealing with the world.

"As round as the bright moon in autumn" can also represent happiness and reunion in the world.