普洱茶-Pu27er tea.doc

Puer TeaPuer tea, also known as Dianqing tea, derived its name from Puer County in Yunan Province, which is a tea distributing location. Puer tea enjoys a history of over 1,700 years. Tea plants are arbores or arbor-form tall trees, bearing very robust and fleshy leaves and buds, thick hair, which are tender and of supreme quality. Puer tea is processed through green tea fermentation methods with eight procedures including: “green-killing”(sha qing), first rolling, first piling, second-rolling, re-piling, first drying, re-rolling and drying. The tea gives off sharp and sustained fragrance with a special type of aroma unique to Yunnans large-leaf tea. The taste is strong and stimulating; it can be steeped for five or six times while still keeping its fragrance; the tea soup looks thick and orange in color. In ancient times, Puer tea was used as medicine, having the effects of warming the stomach, losing weight, reducing fat, preventing arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease, reducing blood pressure, senile-resistant, anti-cancer, reducing blood glucose and relieving alcoholism; the tea can also clear heat, detoxify, help digestion, de-grease, assist purge anddiuresiseffects, eliminate phlegm, expel pathogenic wind from the body surface, relieve cough, generate body fluid, replenish qi and lengthen peoples lives. Studies show that tea polyphenols can raise the level of antioxidation on people skin and directly absorb ultraviolet radiation so it helps retain youthfulness and protect the skin. Meanwhile, large number of hydrophilic radicals in tea polyphenols can easily absorb moisture in the air to keep moisture in the skin. Puer tea has the highest content of tea polyphenol among all types tea, so regularly drinking Puer tea could have special effects of keeping youthfulness, protecting skin, whitening and removing speckles. 【Storage】“Fragrance of aging tea floats across large piece of fields; the love for Puer taste goes on for a thousand years”. Puer tea is recognized as the “drinkable antique”; unlike other types of tea that freshness is treasured, Puers value lies in its “old age”, which is widely known as the most distinctive feature that sets Puer apart from other types of tea. In Puer County, a saying goes that “Grandson sells tea made by grandfather”.Proper storage is the key of collecting Puer tea.1. The tea has to be aging in dry barns“Tea likes cattail while hates spices; it likes moderate dryness and hates cold humidity”; as noted in “Tea Records” written by Cai Xiang in Song Dynasty. Dry barns mean that tea leaves should be stored in ventilated conditions with moderate humidity and temperature for fermentation. Preventing mold growth, dry barns can slow the converting process and maintain true nature of Puer tea.2. Abrupt temperature changes not allowedHigh temperatures or abrupt changes of temperature in the barn affect the lively taste of the tea soup. Too high temperatures in the barn would turn the original raw tea into ripe tea, which is often seen in tea warehouses in Hong Kong.3. Avoid contamination of other smellsTea leaves are prone to absorb different smells; a fistful of tea leaves can absorb all peculiar smells in the air, so it is important to store tea in environment free of different smells. According to Cai Xiang of Song Dynasty, “tea likes coolness and hates steamed sultriness; it likes separate places while dislikes various smells”. Wenlong in Ming Dynasty noted that, “tea can be easily affected; smelly and dirty things should not get close to it; even aromatic things should also keep a distance. ” 4. Wrapped in special materials“Tea should be solidly pressed and tightly sealed with thick bamboo skin; another seal of bamboo skin is needed at the jar mouth before wrapping it with genuine leather paper.” Says in the “Script on Tea” by Xu Cishu in Ming Dynasty. The traditional wrapping material texture and method help the post-fermentation of Puer tea and filter various smells to ensure its pureness. Based on the original storage method, Taisu Linglan Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute innovated methods by combining new techniques with traditional ones. They select Dongba paper from Lijiang in Yunan, a material that is rarely-seen and widely known in the world for its enduring quality for a thousand years. The paper is manually made into exquisite Dongba paper boxes that are of high collection value. Made from Yanpi(thymelaeceae canescent wikstroemia), Dongba paper is manufactured by combining different papermaking techniques and using special manual pressing skills so the paper can meet the needs of fermentation during storage of Puer tea while at the same time effectively filter foreign smells and humidity to ensure its clean conversion.5. About tea ageThere is no confirmed document on the age of Puer tea, be it sixty, one hundred or several hundreds of years; its aging degree can only be judged by the tea tasters instinct. The aging taste of Fuyuanchang and Tongqinglaohao Puer tea has reached its peak and should be stored in tightly sealed conditions to prevent further rapid fermentation, which could erode the tea nature and destroy its taste. The Golden Melon tribute tea stored in the Forbidden City enjoys aging period of one to two hundred years; “the soup is with color but it tastes thinly aged fermentation.”Bulang Mountain is located in southern Menghai County, Xishuang Banna of Yunan Province, near the China-Myanmar border. Covering over 1000 square kilometers, the mountain is home to generations of Bulang, Wa and Deang ethnic group residents. Bulang ethnic group is the worlds earliest people to grow, make and drink tea; thus, Bulang Mountain became one of the worlds earliest producers of tea leaves. The supreme quality Puer tea is produced here. According to myths of Bulang people, their ancestor Bayanleng left the will at his death bed that “if I leave cattle and horses to you, I fear they may die in disasters; if I leave gold, silver and treasure to you, I fear they may not be enough; so I leave tea to you so it wont run out in all generations to come.” Therefore, Bulang Mountain became the one of the worlds earliest places producing tea leaves.Taisu Linglan ancient-tree tea leaves are gathered from the wild tea plants in Bulang Mountain at an altitude of 16001800 meters. The tea trees have sturdy trunks and thin branches with fleshy buds and leaves; veins are complete and its difficult to see the bud heads. Tea leaves were left to dry in semi-shade, semi-sunshine conditions and started natural aging in 2007. The bright orange-ish red tea soup generates fluid, tastes mellow and gives sweet after-taste. It is truly the rare supreme quality large-leaf ancient tree tea leaves grown in Bulang Mountain. 【Tea set】Its best to use specialized eggshell china produced in Jingdezhen or Yixing dark-red enameled pots when tasting Puer tea. Using these wares to steep tea would not change its original taste and can keep Puer teas fragrance and flavor. Its best to use special china cups for drinking.【Water selection】Soft water should be used, such as purified water, mineral water or running water thats up to drinking water standards; its best to use mountain sp