The origin of Qizi cake

The pressing tea with different shapes is also one of the reasons why Pu-erh tea is fascinating. There is a kind of pressing tea that even becomes the main symbol of the appearance of Pu-erh tea. It is: the first thing that flashes in Pu-erh tea's mind immediately Image-Qizi cake.

Lu Yu's Tea Script has been read numerous times, always thinking that the tea sage's description of Yunnan tea mentioned only one sentence: "tea maker, Jiamu of the South ...." Wanting to come to Lu Yu was tired of the war between Tang and Nanzhao, He was unable to come to Yunnan in person, and he could only obtain information about Yunnan tea through hearsay. Therefore, in the "Book of Tea", he was very hesitant about the use of Yunnan tea.
To understand the origin of the Qizi cake, we must first understand the following issues:

1. Why is it necessary to make tea?
The main reason for pressing Pu-erh tea into various types of squeezed tea was to facilitate transportation. The Pu-erh tea production area is far from high mountains, and the export of tea leaves is completely dependent on the horses. A horse can transport 50 kg of loose tea, and it can be transported by tight tea to 70 kg, with a 40% increase in freight volume and a 40% reduction in freight. It is easy to transport after pressing into pressed tea, and it is also convenient for dealers to store and sell. This process, which is formed for easy storage and transportation, just forms an important condition for Puer tea to be more and more fragrant.

2. Why are there seven cakes?
Why use its "seven" as the base, because: Seven is an auspicious number in China, and the seven sons are the symbol of many sons and blessings, and they have become popular in China and even the South Ocean.

During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, Yunnan Tibetan tea was Qizi cake. In order to facilitate the measurement and regulation of the market and to obtain tea tax, the Qing government stipulated that each circle weighed 7 two, seven yuan was a cylinder and weighed 49 two (16 two for one pound. This is the reason for the "half a catty and eight two", 49 two at the time 3.06 city catty); 32 cylinders for a lead (weight 98 kg), close to 100 catties. It is easy to measure, and you don’t need to buy 2 tea bottles. Remember: At this time, each circle weighs 7 two, which is 7 × 50 = 350 grams.

3. When did it turn into a cake?
In the early 1970s, Yunnan Tea Import and Export Company hoped to find a more appealing, more propaganda and promotion name, they changed the "round" to "cake", forming the auspicious name "Qizi Cake Tea".

4. Why is each cake even 357 grams?
At that time, in order to cooperate with the export of 30kg of Pu-erh tea, China Native Produce and Animal Products Import and Export Corporation each packed 12 dozens of drums and 7 cakes per drum. So 30kg / 12/7 is about 357 grams. If you use the equation to express:
Suppose you don’t know the weight of each cake:
X × 7 × 12≤30
X≈357g
So far the standard is set to: 357 grams per cake, 7 cakes per lift or tube, this standard is still in use today. As for how many cans there are, as the sales scope of modern Pu-erh tea expands, there are 6 cans (42 cakes), 12 cans (84 cakes), and 4 cans (28 cakes) Cake) and so on are completely configured according to customer needs.

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Why Pu-erh tea cannot be stored as loose tea

First, let's talk about the reasons why Pu-erh tea cannot be stored as loose tea:

1. The post-fermentation of Pu-erh tea is a slow and gradual transfer oxidation process. It mainly depends on external biological enzymes to promote changes in its content. Once isolated from the air (if the tea leaves are stored as loose tea), the oxidation becomes a single enzymatic oxidation of its own. This isolated oxidation results in the loss of beneficial contents and the premature carbonization of the tea.

2. As the air contact surface of loose tea is too large, the oxidation will be accelerated, and the aroma substance is easily lost in the air due to the small molecular structure. And the oxidation rate is too fast, it is easy to lose the taste of different oxidation stages.

3. The most valuable derivative of Pu-erh tea (a large number of compounds containing health-care functions to the human body) appears in an anaerobic state and is also the result of anaerobic fermentation. Pu-erh tea is a fermentation mode that continuously converts aerobic fermentation and anaerobic fermentation. Without anaerobic fermentation, the functionality of Pu-erh tea will be greatly reduced. The anaerobic fermentation of Pu-erh tea must rely on a special physical form as a fermentation carrier. This carrier is the "squeezing mode", that is, we often see cake tea, Tuo tea, brick tea and other forms. "Squeezing mode" makes it easier to create high-quality Pu-erh.

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Advantages of blending and pure Pu-erh

There is a discussion point in Pu-erh tea market, which is the battle between pure ingredients and blending. Some people think that Pu-erh tea must be processed with pure materials to make it a good tea, while others think that Puer tea is richer in taste and does not necessarily need to be made with pure materials. And many people ask when buying Pu-erh tea, what kind of tea is it? Is it pure? Each family has its own reasons, which makes it difficult for many people who are new to Pu-erh tea to judge.

Everyone understands that pure tea is the tea made from the same tea plantation, the same tea mountain, and the same region. The tea is called pure tea. Because each tea mountain has a limited number of tea trees, the fresh leaves are not Unlimited supply, which leads to the fact that when we process pure tea, the quantity is not too much. Now most of the pure tea on the market is positioned for the high-end niche market to sell, so the price of pure tea Relatively expensive, but the taste is more pure and the real estate will not have any odor.

And what is the match we know? Because there are so many ways to mix tea on the market, it is also very strange, so everyone is also in the state of blending tea. In order to increase production capacity and reduce costs, Menghai Tea Factory has been using green tea from different places to formulate tea. This part of the tea has also been accepted and recognized by many people.
There are also some high-end tea blending methods on the market. The purpose of their tea blending is to meet the taste needs of higher people. Good tea blending is definitely not to reduce costs, but to complement each other's strengths, because Yunnan Pu-erh The unique characteristics of tea make the tea from different tea mountains different in taste and aroma. Therefore, some high-end tea factories aim to make tea taste richer, richer in flavor, and more productive. Features, according to the characteristics of some different tea leaves, carefully configure better Pu-erh.

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Tea boutique Tuo cha

Judging from the fermentation method, raw tea accounts for half of Pu-erh tea. If you look at the pressed shape, there is no doubt that tea also accounts for half. Like the Qizi Cake, the famous tea of ​​the world is full of legends: twists and turns, strange names, unique forms, and little-known raw materials, craftsmanship, and recipes all make people curious and fascinated.
When I first saw the strange tea, I felt its deep recess, like a deep mystery hole. To understand the story behind tea, you must first solve the mysteries on it:
 
[The source of tea]
In a place called Jinggu in Pu-erh, Yunnan, people know more about this place name because a rare kind of tea called "Jinggu Big White Tea" came out of that place. In fact, Jinggu was also the earliest place of tea.

Jinggu White Tea .
 
In 1902, in Shimonoseki, Dali, Yanzhou Zhen, a businessman from Xizhou, and his partners created a company called "Yongchangxiang." At first Yongchangxiang learned the practice of Jinggu girl tea (that is, the method of suppressing steamed buns), and it was called Gucha at that time.

 
[The name of Tuo cha].
In 1916, Yongchangxiang reformed the process and opened a nest in the bottom of the girl tea, which is convenient for drying, as well as packaging and transportation. (As for the post-fermentation and maturation, it is a text attached to later generations.) Each cylinder is five rounds and each weighs 450 grams. 10 tents were produced first and sold to Sichuan with great success.

Because the process originated from Jinggu, it was first called Gucha, a round and full single body in the Yunnan dialect, which was called Tuo, so it was renamed as  Tuo cha and it became popular after being sold in the area of ​​Minjiang, Sichuan. Drink "Guancha", "Gaocha" gradually evolved into "Gaocha". At this time, Jinggu's original Gucha tea continued to be produced using tea near Jinggu as its raw material. In terms of technology, Yongchang Xiang was used as a reference, and it was named "Guzhuangyu". Later it was gradually replaced by Shimonoseki, which had better quality.

[Raw materials and technology]
In the early days, the raw materials of Tuo cha were mainly Mengku, Simao, and the finished products were "green tea" and "black tea". A few years later, Tuo cha was sold in Sichuan. Yongchangxiang improved the formula and technology of the raw materials. The raw materials were based on Mengku tea. Flavor, Fengqing tea sprinkle noodles, take its shape. The process is mainly tanning, but the judgement criteria for the finished product: the soup color green and yellow is considered to be a good "green tea" (actually our new tanning green tea), and the soup color is red. It is considered to be a little worse than "black tea" (in fact, the Pu-erh tea's initial production process, but the fermentation of the pre-production fermentation causes the soup to turn red). Since green tea was the benchmark and green soup was the best in the market at that time, the "green tincture" was naturally the first-rate product. For the middle and lower grade "red tincture", after the establishment of the Xiaguan Tea Factory in the later period, it would Blend some baking greens to blend the soup.

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What teas can be invested in

Broadly speaking, any new tea is not worth the investment. The appreciation of Pu-erh tea comes from aging, from the tea drinkers' recognition of the tea itself. The Pu-erh tea market today is different from the past, with too many new products and too many choices. It is also good tea. Under the influence of many factors, it is only a small part that can really reach the front desk.

There are too many uncertain factors for a new tea, the attitude of tea companies, the attitude of tea customers and the choice of the market. Only after a period of accumulation, tea customers have fully tasted this tea, and after the tea has been transformed initially, can we evaluate whether a tea is worth investing in.

The person who can promote investment in tea can only be a tea merchant, which is a law that cannot be changed. Tea customers can only collect tea according to their own preferences, but the tea merchants can decide what kind of tea they want the tea customers to drink. This is again controlled by the manufacturers. If the manufacturers do not pave the way for tea merchants, today it is always easier to sell new teas than old teas in pursuit of maximizing benefits-because of the manufacturers' publicity.

A tea has attracted worldwide attention since its launch. If it can become the focus of everyone's eyes in a few years, this tea is definitely worth investing in. Here I would like to say one point, a tea is particularly concerned when it goes on the market, and then all of a sudden it is unknown. In a few years, speculators intervened to stir up the tea market and make the tea shine. A tea does not necessarily have good late performance.

Tea investment but also depends on the development of enterprises, enterprise decline. Their products generally will follow the decline, this is a law of the market. Many people look at the mountain, the word of mouth, and the price, but they only look at the development of the enterprise, and the tea smashes into their hands. A better brand development, his franchisees the more, the more money gathered in the product. Only when the funding pool is large enough, the appreciation of tea can be accurately reflected in the price. A small tea shop cannot support an investment tea. A good tea, but it cannot be said that it is a tea worth investing in.

There are many things to consider in Pu-erh tea investment. The quality of tea is fundamental, the development of the enterprise is the environment, and the choice of the market is the process. All three factors can be combined to create an investment tea. The current market is no longer the market 20 years ago, and old-fashioned thinking will eventually make a big mistake.

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