If you follow the Chinese classification of tea according to the degree of fermentation, Pu-erh refers to the classification of hey cha (dark varieties). But it is not black tea, since the processes of their manufacture vary considerably. In particular, the manufacturing process of Pu-erh takes almost a month and a half. During this time, tea leaves undergo a complex fermentation procedure.

After production, it should take about a year until Pu-erh will find its useful properties, which it is so valued. Therefore, it is the only kind of tea that only gets better over time, only healthier. For example, there are varieties of this drink that were produced over a hundred years ago. This tea costs several thousand dollars per kilogram.

In our stores, of course, you can buy more affordable, but also very useful varieties Shen Puer (raw Pu-erh), as well as Shu Pu-erh (ready-made puer). To get a delicious, invigorating and healthy drink. But besides the choice of variety, you need to be able to cook it correctly. What is so valued tea Pu-erh, how to brew it, the benefits and harm to him what? Let's talk more about this wonderful kind of tea.

What is good puer tea? Use of the drink:

The scientific world is still arguing about the benefits and harms of this drink. Most experts claim that it is extremely useful. Another part of scientists warns that Pu-erh can be harmful to health. In the homeland of the popular drink - China, this type of tea is considered to be very useful, healthful, eliminating a hundred diseases.

Indeed, this species is actively used by Chinese medicine. In particular, it is scientifically proven that the drink helps reduce the level of harmful cholesterol. Therefore, it is recommended to drink it in order to prevent cardiovascular diseases, heart attacks, strokes. It is also useful for the human digestive system. It is considered an effective antioxidant, as it helps cleanse the body of harmful substances and compounds.

Although it does not contain a lot of caffeine, the drink invigorates no worse than coffee. It improves performance, tones the body, improves mood. Tea normalizes metabolic processes, regulates blood pressure. Regular use of the entire pair of cups per day will improve the condition of the skin, as well as reduce the risk of developing cancer. Many experts say that Pu-erh contributes to weight loss, and also has a rejuvenating effect. Brewed stronger drink will help to cope with an upset stomach, even very strong.

How to brew Puer at home?

The traditional way:

Prepare the drink in a porcelain or ceramic teapot. For one serving (200 ml) 1-2 tsp is enough. dry tea leaves. Pour the required amount of tea leaves, fill with not boiling, but hot water.

The temperature should be: 80 ° C - for young sheng Puer, 85 ° C - for aged. To get a richer taste, fill the leaves with hotter water.

After you have filled the brew with hot water, count for 20 seconds and then drain the water. And only now, after waiting another 30 seconds. pour hot water directly to drink.

Thus, we wash leaves from dust, and also we sate them with moisture. After that, the aroma and taste of the drink will be brighter, more saturated.

After you have filled the brew with very hot water (80-85 ° C), wait 3 minutes. You can then pour it into cups using a strainer. It is necessary to use up all the prepared drink at once, otherwise it will continue to infuse, after which it will become bitter.

Is Puerh Tea Always Good? Harm from use

Be careful!  Do not put too much tea in the kettle and do not overdo it, it can harm the body. The fact is that steeply brewed, Pu-erh has a strong stimulating effect on the nervous system. A cup of strong drink will cause increased vigor, relieve from sleepiness. But a strong brewed drink, drunk at night, can cause insomnia.

Also strong Pu-erh can have a diuretic effect. There are cases when the bitterness contained in the overexposed drink caused vomiting, intestinal upset, as well as arrhythmia and increased pressure.

Lovers of strong brewed drink may have difficulty falling asleep, they have violations of the cycles of normal sleep and vigor. As a result, irritability and fatigue appear, and efficiency decreases. So keep this in mind.

To avoid unpleasant consequences, put a small amount of tea leaves recommended by nutritionists (1-2 tsp. Per 200 ml of water). Never drink it on an empty stomach. It can cause heartburn, stomach pain.

It is not recommended to drink it to pregnant women, and also to the feeding women. Do not give this tea to young children younger than 3-4 years. Drinking too often can harm people with kidney disease, as the stones can move, which causes severe pain.

If there are no contraindications, drink Pu-erh tea at your pleasure, but still keep the measure. Only 2-4 cups of drink per day is enough. Be healthy!

The history of Puerta has several centuries. This is one of the most conservative teas in terms of manufacturing technology. It practically has not changed with the expiration of centuries.

Pu-erh manufacturing techniques

This tea is made from leaves collected from old tea trees. The older the tree, the more prized the tea from its leaves. A large sheet is subjected to the procedure of "killing" greens, twisting, drying.

At this stage, the technology forks. In the first case, the tea leaf is pressed and allowed to grow old naturally. It can take decades. Every year the taste qualities of tea will improve and in 20-30 years you will get a wonderful, seasoned and very expensive Pu-erh. Often pressed Pu-erh is laid for fermentation in the year of birth of the daughter. By the time of her wedding, the puerh turns into a beautiful and expensive dowry.

Because natural fermentation is a fairly long process, manufacturers have learned to accelerate it. Accelerated fermentation is that the tea leaf is piled up and moistened with water. Fermentation of juices in tea leaves with the participation of bacteria and microorganisms occurs. Adjusting the temperature inside the "tea" heap (drying, watering), control the process of fermentation.

Nowadays, when the demand for Pu-erh has increased, it is more often produced in such an accelerated manner.

The last stage of Shu Puer production (this tea is represented in the tea market for the most part) is pressing. The tradition of pressing originates in those days when tea was pressed for easy storage and transportation. Nowadays, for Shu Puer, this is more a tribute to tradition than a necessity.

Nevertheless, it is pressed into different forms: pancake, brick, rectangular tile, bird's nest, mushroom). Often make out the pressed forms of pu-erh impressions of various images, inscriptions, plots, etc. For making tea, it is most convenient to use small pressed balls for one brew.

Types of Puerh

There are four stages of fermentation and, accordingly, four types of Pu-erh tea:

Maocha   - raw tea is a non-pressed puer leaf and is the raw material for the preparation of all types of puerh.

Shen Puer   - This tea is a pressed maocha, not subjected to additional processing.

Shu puer   - pressed maocha, subjected to additional processing, accelerated fermentation. It takes about 2-3 years to get high-quality Pu-erh using this technology. During this time, the tea leaves bitterness, hardness of leaves, smell and taste of mold. The taste of tea is influenced by many factors, such as bacterial cultures, process organization, temperature maintained in fermentation heaps, etc. The leaf of this puerh is shiny, red-brown, the color of the infusion is red, transparent, the aroma is bright and lasting .

Mature Shan Puer   - This is a tea made by traditional technology with slow and gradual fermentation (post fermentation). The leaf is dense, dark green, the taste is strong, with sweetness in the aftertaste, the aroma is persistent and pleasant. This tea is considered the most expensive, noble in taste and environmentally friendly.

On sale, on the international tea market are two types of Puerh - Shen and Shu.

According to the original leaf, tea is divided into the following varieties: Jinya, Guntin, Lich, Teji (highest), first, second, third, etc.

Pu-erh is a unique type of tea, which over time does not lose its properties, but enriches them. Over the years, the taste, aroma of tea is made only brighter and cleaner.

Puerh exposure

• Pu-erh is one of the most "energetic" drinks, with a small content of caffeine, - it increases efficiency, raises vitality.
• It has a beneficial effect on the digestive system.
• It contributes to the digestion of fatty foods and the breakdown of fat deposits.
• It activates the work of the liver and gallbladder.
• It activates metabolic processes.
• Reduces pressure, removes toxins.
• Improves skin color.
• Reduces cholesterol by 30-60% (when you use Puer during the month three times a day).
• It is useful to drink puer in the morning, while driving for a long time, in front of a responsible business, but it should not be used before bedtime.
• A well-brewed pu-erh can create a slight drunkenness effect.

You can not bypass the process of making Pu-erh attention, because in it lies the secret of the uniqueness of this tea.

How to make Pu-erh tea, we will tell in the next article, because this topic is worth a separate discussion.

Coming to the store or going to a number of thematic sites, you probably had to deal with the concepts of strongly fermented, semi-fermented and other derivatives of the word "fermented." The conditional division of all teas according to the “degree of fermentation” is recognized and seemingly not discussed. What is there to understand. Green - non-fermented, red strongly, Pu-er post-fermented. But you want to dig deeper?  Next time, ask the consultant how he understands the “post-fermented” tea. And watch.

You already understand the catch. It is impossible to explain this word. Post-fermented is an artificial word, the sole purpose of which is to make a maneuver and put Pu-erh into the conventional system of tea division “according to the degree of fermentation”.

Enzymatic oxidation

The problem of this confusion is related to the fact that the replacement of the concept " oxidation processes" on " fermentation". No, fermentation also has a place to be, but when - this will have to be understood. In the meantime, about oxidation.

What do we know about oxygen?

To the right is a fresh cut of the apple. Left - after oxidation in air.

In the context of the material should be noted the high chemical activity of the element, namely the oxidizing ability. Everyone imagines how over time the cut of an apple or banana turns black. What's happening? You cut an apple, violating the integrity of the cell walls there. The juice stands out. Substances in the juice interact with oxygen and provoke the course of the redox reaction. There are reaction products, which did not exist before. For example, for an apple it is iron oxide Fe 2 O 3, which has a brown color. and it is he who is responsible for the darkening.

What do we know about tea?

For most teas, there is a crushing stage in the technological process, the purpose of which is to destroy the cell membrane (see the article on). If you draw parallels with the apple, the substances in the juice interact with oxygen from the air. But it is important to note that the redox reaction is not the only one. Tea is an organic product. In any living system there are special compounds enzymes, they are also enzymes that accelerate chemical reactions. As you guess, they are not “standing aside”, but taking an active part. It turns out a whole chain of chemical transformations, when the products of one reaction undergo further chemical transformations. And so several times. This process is called enzymatic oxidation.

The importance of oxygen in such a process can be understood by the example of the production of red tea (fully oxidized, or, as it is also called, “fully fermented tea”). To maintain a constant level of oxygen in the room where red tea is produced, it is necessary to ensure air change up to 20 times per hour, while doing so is sterile. Oxygen is the basis in this case.

Puer and pure fermentation

Again we ask ourselves the question: “What do we know about puerh?” How is it produced? Take a look at the pictures below. Yes, this is the future Shu Pu-erh, and this is how it is done.

“Water” is the process of artificial aging of puerh. Jingu Factory

What do we see? A closed room, a huge pile of tea for several tons, covered with thick sacking, a thermometer with a mark of 38 degrees Celsius. What we do not see? The humidity mark in this room. Believe me - she rolls over there. How do you think, does the oxygen penetrate under the burlap into the bowels of the mound heap? Can we talk about oxidation? The answer suggests itself. Of course not! Then what happens to tea in such conditions?

Puer as a waste product of microorganisms

Have you ever been in the basement of apartment buildings of the old foundation? Most likely not, but imagine what to expect. Duhness and dampness. A fungus spreads along the walls, and colonies of bacteria and microorganisms fly in the air. For them, heat and humidity are ideal habitat and breeding. Let us return to the heaps of Puerh raw materials - all the same ideal conditions. The presence of bacteria is a prerequisite for the production of both shu and shen puer. Enzymes of microorganisms affect the transformation in tea. Thus, chemical reactions in the preparation of Pu-erh occur under the influence of external and internal (from the tea itself) enzymes. But the oxidation reaction is practically excluded. This is the pure fermentation process.

Main conclusions:

• Pure fermentation takes place only in Puerh.. In the remaining teas enzymatic oxidation. In red and ulun ones, this process is desirable. The rest is undesirable and as quickly as possible stops by heat treatment.
• The conditional division of teas "according to the degree of fermentation" is not quite true.
• In the production of ulunsky and red tea, the presence of oxygen in the air to maintain the oxidation reaction, sterility of the environment is of the greatest importance.
• In the production of Pu-erh, the content of microorganisms in tea raw materials, humidity and temperature for their increased vital activity are of the greatest importance.
• Post-fermented tea is an artificial concept, designed to fit Pu-erh into the tea-dividing system according to the degree of fermentation, but not having an adequate physical meaning.

Pu-erh tea is known as one of the oldest and elite varieties of Chinese tea, a lot is said about its taste and healing properties. However, tea tea connoisseurs and simple tonic drinkers recommend learning more about Puerh tea before replacing their usual drinks. The benefits and harms of Pu-erh are largely dependent on the quality of the product, the brewing technique and the number of cups drunk. If you follow the simple tips, Puerh will be delicious tea and extremely useful drink.

By the way, the birthplace of Pu-erh is the Chinese province of Yunnan, and the tea has specific properties due to its variety and production technique. Pu-erh refers to post-fermented teas, that is, subjected to natural or artificial aging using a special fungus of the genus Aspergill.

Pu-erh tea - features of production

Pu-erh is a unique product for a variety of reasons. First, it is produced exclusively from elements of large-leaved tea tree of Yunnan Province. The older and more massive the plant, the higher the quality of the leaves collected from it. The world-famous Chinese tea is made exclusively from large, juicy and fleshy leaves.

Secondly, it takes a lot of time to harvest the leaves to the desired condition. At first they are pressed, turning into washers. They are oxidized in a natural way, and, at this stage may take several years. In this way, an elite Pu-erh that is unique in its properties is created, which can be very expensive.

Nowadays, an option has been invented that allows us to produce tea composition much faster. For this, the leaves are piled up and poured over with water. This triggers the reproduction processes of specific microorganisms, which, through their vital activity, raise the temperature in the bale and stimulate the production of juice. This fermentation process is controlled by specialists who dry the billet and, if necessary, wet it again, preventing the mass from rotting.

The last stage is the same in any case. The oxidized raw material is pressed, it is given a special form by which you can find out the manufacturer or the grade of the product. One washer weight can reach several kilograms. But today miniature balls, designed for one brewing, are the most popular.

Types and sorts of Pu-erh

Acquaintance with Pu-erh must begin with the study of its classification. Initially, the product is divided into three types:

• It turns out the classic way. These are large leaves of greenish-brown color. The tea made from them is golden red. The drink smells faintly of smoke, apples and dried fruit.

•   It turns out in an accelerated way. The leaves are small, brown-black or with a golden hue. The smell is sharp, earthy, a little bitter. Ready infusion can get from red and brown to black color.

Interesting fact
  In antiquity, the birth of a girl in a wealthy Chinese family was accompanied by the creation of tea preparations. They reached the desired state by the time when it came time for her to get married. Puer was considered a sign of prosperity and was included in the dowry.

•   It looks like a green variety of tea, but the leaves are covered with white bloom. The drink has a specific smell of meadow herbs and honey.

Further, Pu-erh is divided into subspecies by type of raw material (type and size of leaves), stages of fermentation. Here the main thing to know that the best tea is considered, aged for 20 years. It has a dark green color and can not be cheap.

Types of pressed puerh

Fans of unique tea understand that the beneficial properties of puer do not depend on the province in which it was produced. Despite this, they try to use the same brand of product, because each of them allows you to get a unique taste and aroma of the drink.

1. Bean cha (flat cake or puck). For their production is used raw materials from the largest and oldest trees. The weight of lozenges is valid in the range from 100 g to 5 kg.
2. Point (nest or bowl). In this case, the serving size should not exceed 3 kg, despite the fact that the minimum weight can be any.
3. Juan cha (parallelepiped or brick). The simplest type of product for which there are no special requirements.
4. Fan cha (cube). Its weight rarely exceeds several hundred grams. On the surface of one of the faces should be an imprint of the hieroglyph.
5. Dzin cha (mushroom). Puer from Tibet. Pretty rare and very high quality tea.
6. Jing Gua (pumpkin). On the surface there should be longitudinal grooves. Initially, the variety was used only by representatives of the Chinese royal families.

Any deviation from the above rules should be alerted. If the product form does not correspond to the declared one or there is a strong discrepancy in weight, it is most likely that Pu-er is not real or the technology has been broken during its production.

The benefits of Chinese tea, its medicinal properties

Pu-erh need to be able to brew properly. If you master all the secrets of making a drink, you can count not only on gastronomic pleasure, but also on the therapeutic effect:

• Development of attention, memory improvement.Positive changes in this area are noted not only with regular use of the drink, but also after the first test. Puer relieves fatigue, helps to concentrate, after it a person better absorbs information.
• Normalization of weight. This item is especially important for women. It makes no sense to exhaust yourself with aggressive diets, if you can just drink a delicious tea. It will reduce appetite, accelerate metabolic processes, stimulate digestion and more actively remove fluid from the body.
• Removal of inflammations. Tea leaves are covered with bloom, consisting of essential oils and polyphenols. Together with tannins, they eliminate the harmful effects of microorganisms that cause inflammation. Additionally, the adrenal glands are stimulated, which minimizes inflammatory processes.

• Improving the work of the digestive system.A unique drink reduces the negative, arising against the use of fatty foods. Due to this, there is no feeling of heaviness, and the harmful components are rapidly removed from the tissues. Tannins reduce the acidity of the stomach, so Pu-erh is very useful for gastritis and peptic ulcer.
• Fight against cholesterol, elimination of toxins.  Against this background, the liver, heart, and blood vessels begin to work better, and the risk of atherosclerosis is reduced.
• Reducing the toxicity of tobacco or alcohol.  But this property is more important for men. Of course, the tea blend does not completely neutralize the negative effects of alcohol or, but it will decrease several times.
• Decreased blood sugar levels.  Pu-erh is useful for diabetics, of course, if you drink tea correctly, without adding sugar and various sweeteners.

Puer is not just considered the elixir of youth and health. The centuries-long use of the drink as a tonic and medicinal product has proven its effectiveness more than once.

How to brew Puer?

The benefits and harms of Pu-erh tea are studied by antiquity doctors and proven by modern scientists. And all agree on one thing - the therapeutic effect can be expected only with the right brewing and drinking.

Tea ceremony at home:

1. To brew a drink properly, you need to use pottery or a special thermos. And the water should not be boiled separately, but in this container. It should be boiled up three times, each time draining a third of the liquid, slightly cooling and returning back.
2. After the third boiling, you need to quickly stir the water with a spatula or tongs, so that a funnel appears - tea is poured into it.
3. When the tea begins to boil again, the dishes should be removed from the heat. It is important not to make the tea boil, its temperature should not exceed 98º C.
4. It remains to wait until the tea leaves fall to the bottom, and tea can be poured.

In addition to water, pu-erh can be brewed with milk. In general, there are quite a few options for preparing a drink. Each manufacturer offers its own ideal way.

Potential harm to puer

Healthy and fragrant drink has practically no contraindications and does not cause harmful effects. It is not recommended only for people with caffeine intolerance and children under six years old. In case of kidney disease, they drink Pu-erh with caution: the diuretic properties of the fluid can increase the burden on the diseased organ, leading to a worsening of the condition.

It is important to remember that Pu-erh is not drunk on an empty stomach and before bedtime. It is not necessary to use the cooled drink. Do not be afraid to mix tea leaves - this tea only becomes tastier, richer and healthier.

Particular attention should be paid to the proper storage of the tea blend. Do not expose it to moisture, grease, dust, foreign flavors. It is necessary to ensure that the packaging is always tightly closed, do not allow the sun to hit the tea leaves. If a white bloom appears on green or black puerh, it is a sign of product damage, it cannot be restored. Compressed briquettes are best kept in wooden boxes with a tight-fitting lid.