From a leaf on a tree to a cup of tea soup in front of tea drinkers, Pu erh tea undergoes one transformation after another. After removing the initial processing steps of picking, spreading, withering, spreading, rolling, and sun drying, the raw material of Pu erh tea – sun dried green tea – is born. The subsequent processing steps are the refinement and processing of Pu erh tea.
The precision processing steps of Pu’er tea include screening impurities – steaming and pressing – pressing cakes – drying – packaging and listing
Tea screening
Transport the dried sun dried green tea to the factory and use a tea screening machine to select impurities and yellow chips.
Tea leaves autoclave
After the selection is completed, press and shape the tea leaves. During the pressing process, pay attention to the steaming time. If the steaming time is too short, it will not be fully steamed, and it is not easy to shape when pressed. If the steaming time is too long, it will cause the tea leaves at the bottom of the steaming bucket to rot. The steaming time for 357g of dry tea should be between 7-9 seconds.
Tea pressed cake
After steaming, we can choose to use a stone mold or a tea cake machine for pressing. Many people believe that stone mold pressing is definitely better than machine pressing. In fact, the choice of pressing method depends on the different storage conditions of the tea leaves, or tea companies choose their own pressing method based on the location of their main customer base.
Tea drying
After the compression is completed, drying can be carried out in three ways:
1. natural drying
The disadvantage of natural drying of tea leaves in a well ventilated area is that the central part of the tea cake is compressed tightly, making it difficult to dry and posing a risk of mold growth.
2. Sun dried
Sun drying can quickly dry tea leaves, but because the ultraviolet rays in sunlight damage the active enzymes on the surface of the tea leaves, it can cause the surface tea leaves to appear brownish red. This type of tea has a good sweet and moist taste in the early stages of consumption, but after two or three years, it will have a sour, thin, thin, and light taste.
Tea leaves are placed in a specific drying machine and dried at low temperatures. The temperature of the entire drying room does not exceed 50 ℃. Low temperature drying can quickly remove water from the tea leaves, and the aroma of the tea leaves is better than that of sun dried tea. This drying method has been continued since the era of state-owned tea factories. After drying, it can be packaged and put on the market.
Throughout the entire processing of Pu’er tea, every step of the process is indispensable, whether it is initial or refined, it is quite important. I often mention that there are three parts of raw materials and seven parts of process. Many people mistakenly understand that I do not pay attention to raw materials. In fact, this is not the case. The ratio of raw materials to process is not an absolute 3:7, but rather emphasizes the importance of process. In other words, regardless of the age of the tree, whether it is a big tree, a small tree, or an ancient tree, its growth environment must be ecological. This ecology refers to the symbiosis between the tea tree and the surrounding environment. As long as the ecology is good and we have good craftsmanship, the tea we make will have a better taste. Nowadays, many people overlook the importance of craftsmanship and believe that as long as the tree is old enough, the tea will definitely taste good. This has actually fallen into a misconception.