Tea picking is coming! Do you know how to store high-priced Pu 'er tea to make it more fragrant as it ages?

In the spring of March, spring tea germinates and the tea harvest is just around the corner. Many tea lovers are eager to move and start a journey of picking tea. This year's Pu 'er spring tea has not been mined, and the price seems to have started to soar. Bian Xiao reminded tea lovers that the hard-won Pu 'er tea should also understand its personality and be well preserved, so as to complete the final "transformation" process of Pu 'er tea. In the previous article "rumor! See through these 18 lies about Pu 'er tea and refuse to be cheated by profiteers again! As we mentioned, Pu 'er tea can become more and more fragrant in a certain period of time because of its special pearl property, and "Chen Yun" is the essence of Pu 'er tea. A good cup of tea should have excellent tea varieties, picking and making techniques, and at the same time, it should be transformed into fragrance, alcohol, sweetness, moistening and smoothness under certain storage conditions.

As we all know, Pu 'er raw tea becomes cooked tea after artificial rapid post-ripening fermentation and sprinkling fermentation. Without this process, no matter how long the raw tea is kept, it will only become old tea or old tea, even if it behaves like cooked tea, it is not cooked tea. But after aging, Shengpu can age out these changes:

Sensory: The appearance of Shengpu will change after being affected by moisture, temperature, sunlight and other factors during storage. The tea itself will change from the gray-green of new tea to the gray-brown of old tea, and the soup color will gradually turn yellow from green to red and bright.

Aroma: The aroma of raw tea and new tea is high and fragrant. Under suitable storage conditions, Pu 'er tea does produce roasted aroma, phenolic aroma, aged aroma and woody aroma during aging.

Taste: After storage, the bitter taste of Pu 'er raw tea gradually fades, and the taste is mellow and sweet, and the taste is better and softer, and the smoothness and consistency are enhanced.

Material content: the discoloration of tea soup mentioned above is mainly due to the automatic oxidation of polyphenol catechin during storage, dehydrogenation to quinone, and further polymerization to form browning substances; Caffeine is the most abundant alkaloid in tea. Studies have shown that caffeine will gradually decrease over time. Tea extract includes tea polyphenols, soluble sugars, amino acids, caffeine, water-soluble pectin, etc. These substances determine the thickness and taste of tea soup. Although the taste of aged tea soup will change, no research clearly shows that it is related to the amount of extract.

Pu 'er tea has won the reputation of "drinkable antique" in tea because of its unique quality of "the older it gets", which is also a major feature that makes Alper tea popular among tea lovers. Storing Pu 'er tea has become a great pleasure for tea lovers besides tasting tea. However, if it is stored improperly, it is easy to store tea, so it must be noted that indoor storage of Pu 'er tea requires these conditions:

First of all, prevent direct sunlight:

Infrared rays in light will heat up, and ultraviolet rays will cause photochemical action. When the tea leaves are irradiated by sunlight, their color and taste will change obviously, losing their original flavor and freshness. Therefore, the aging of Pu 'er tea must prevent direct light.

Second, constant temperature and humidity, pay attention to ventilation:

In order to avoid uneven oxidation of tea and affect the quality of Pu 'er tea, the suitable temperature is about 20~25℃ and the annual average humidity is controlled below 75%. At the same time, more attention should be paid to timely opening the window for ventilation, on the one hand, to avoid moisture, on the other hand, to let oxygen circulate in the air is also conducive to the reproduction of some microorganisms in tea, so it can accelerate the composition of good quality of Pu 'er tea.

Third, no odor:

Tea is a kind of porous loose body, which is rich in high molecular palmitic acid and terpene, making it easy for tea to absorb odor. Therefore, there should be no odor substances in the environment around the aging of Pu 'er tea, otherwise the tea will absorb the odor and change. Can you make your own flavor?

Pu 'er raw tea is transformed by natural oxidation, so the aging process is quite slow, and the older it is, the more fragrant it is. Under normal circumstances, there will be bitterness in the first three years, and then the bitterness will gradually fade away.

For more information about tea culture and activities, please pay attention to the official account of Xihai Tea WeChat.