Pu-erh tea quality four factors

Some people think that tea itself has been processed by a special process and will not deteriorate. In fact, otherwise, the deterioration and aging of tea are the result of oxidation, degradation and transformation of various chemical components in tea. After the production is completed, it will naturally age for a long time. Of course, this process of Pu-erh tea is different from other teas. For most teas, the environmental conditions that affect it most are: temperature, moisture, oxygen, light, and their interactions.


1. Temperature.
As a chemical change, tritium oxidation and polymerization are closely related to the temperature. The higher the temperature, the faster the reaction speed. Various experiments have shown that the rate of browning of tea leaves increases 3 to 5 times for each 10 ° C increase in temperature. If the tea leaves are stored below 10 ° C, the browning process of the tea leaves can be better suppressed. But it can be stored frozen at minus 20 ℃, which can almost completely prevent aging. Studies also suggest that the recovery of residual polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase activity in black tea is positively correlated with temperature. Therefore, when tea leaves are stored at a higher temperature, the enzymatic oxidation and auto-oxidation of unoxidized flavanols, further oxidation of theaflavin, and the polymerization rate will be greatly accelerated, thereby accelerating the aging of new tea and the quality of tea Loss.

2. Moisture.
Food theory believes that absolute dry food is susceptible to oxidation by oxygen in the air because various components are directly exposed to the air. And when water molecules are combined with food ingredients by hydrogen bonding and are in a single molecular layer state, it is like covering a surface of food ingredients with a protective film, thereby protecting the protected substance and slowing down the oxidation process. It is considered that when the moisture content of tea is about 3%, the composition of tea and water molecules are almost in a single-layer molecular relationship. Therefore, lipids can be better isolated from oxygen molecules in the air to prevent oxidative deterioration of lipids. However, when the moisture content exceeds this level, the situation is completely different. At this time, the moisture not only can not function as a protective film, but also functions as a solvent. Especially when the moisture content in tea leaves exceeds 6%, the chemical changes become quite drastic. One of the characteristics of the solvent is that the concentration of the dissolved substance diffuses to the left and right, thereby intensifying the reaction and accelerating the deterioration. One of the main manifestations is that chlorophyll will be rapidly degraded, and the process of automatic oxidation and enzymatic oxidation of tea polyphenols and the further polymerization into polymers will be greatly accelerated, especially the speed of color deterioration will increase linearly.

3. Oxygen.
Oxygen can be combined with almost all elements to make it an oxide. Most of the ordinary air is molecular oxygen, and its reactivity is not very strong. However, when it is combined with other substances, especially the presence of enzymes that can promote the reaction, this oxidation can become very intense. In the case of enzyme inactivation, various compounds can still be oxidized by molecular oxygen, but only at a much slower rate. The automatic oxidation of catechins in tea, the oxidation of vitamin C, the oxidation of tea polyphenols catalyzed by residual enzymes of tea polyphenols, and the further oxidative polymerization of theaflavin are all related to the presence of oxygen, and the oxidation of lipids produces aging. Taste substances also have the direct involvement and role of oxygen.

4.  Light.
Essence of light is an energy. Light irradiation can increase the energy level of the entire system, which has a very adverse effect on tea storage and accelerates the progress of various chemical reactions. Light can promote the oxidation of plant pigments or lipids, especially chlorophyll, which is susceptible to light and fades, and ultraviolet rays are more obvious. Studies have shown that compared with light exposure during tea storage, 1-pentene-3-ol, pentanol, octenol, heptadienal, octanol, and four unknown components in tea have increased significantly. In addition to the components that usually increase due to deterioration, pentanol, octenol, and three unknown components are considered to be the characteristic components of aging that are unique to light.

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How to judge Pu-erh tea quality

Now Pu-erh tea is really uneven on the market. Besides, the old tea customers say that “Pu-erh is as deep as the sea when you enter it,” so it's really not easy to buy a desired Pu-erh tea. So how should we identify the quality of Pu-erh tea?
1.Seasons.
Is based on picking time. Spring tea, summer tea, and autumn tea (tea farmers also call autumn tea), among the three types of tea, Terrace tea is the highest, followed by autumn tea; while old tree tea, spring tea, and autumn tea each have their own advantages. Tea rhyme wins, autumn tea is full of qi. No matter what tree, summer tea comes second.

2. Production area.
The raw materials of high-quality Pu-erh tea must first be Yunnan big leaf species. The main traditional Pu-erh tea producing areas are mainly Lincang, Pu-erh, and Xishuangbanna Prefecture in Yunnan. Others such as Dehong and Baoshan also have some good teas. Each of the three major tea producing areas has its own characteristics and personality. Which one you like depends on your personal preference.

3. Tree products.
The tree products are divided into wild type, transitional type, and cultivated type; there are also old tea trees (or ancient trees, tea farmers are also called big trees), Terrace tea (tea garden tea), and abandoned wild tea (barbarian tea, wild tea).
In addition, there are some mutated or rare tree products, such as purple bud tea and rattan tea.

4.Storage.
Storage books do not belong to the category of "quality", but because of the special history of Pu-erh tea spread, there are differences between dry and wet storage. The quality of wet storage tea has largely changed the authenticity of Pu-erh tea. In a word, wet storage tea is good in taste and lacks energy, and it must be a good wet storage tea. Dealing is done well.
Therefore, in a comprehensive consideration, the dry warehouse is the top, and the wet warehouse can be prepared, and it cannot become the mainstream trend of Pu-erh tea; never seen, it can be predicted that the wet warehouse Pu-erh tea will exit the stage of history. Will be a thing of the past. Because there are unnatural "wet silos", there are "dry silos" that are truly natural and need not be emphasized.

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