Talks about Black (Shou/Ripe) Pu-erh (2)

This may be one of the most interesting topics to many Pu-erh Lovers – How is Wo Dui conducted?

In massive Wo Dui production, loose Mao Cha are first piled up into 1-1.5m high piles, then spilled on water and covered with wet cloths. This is called Wo Dui. The tea piles need to be turned over (Fan Dui) on the second day, and then piled up again. After that, the tea piles still need to be turned over a few more times. Humidity and temperature are keys to the success during this Fan Dui process. Fan Dui process decides quality of Wo Dui processed Pu-erh. This process may take 30-40 days. When tea leaves turn into brownish red color, it is time to set the leaves naturally dried with good air flow. After leave water content reduces to below 14%, the leaves are ready for further process.

Tastes of Wo Dui processed Pu-erh will improve with aging. They can be later compressed into different shapes. Producers sometimes also mix up Wo Dui processed Pu-erh and new Mao Cha to create mixed compress Pu-erh.

As you can see, Wo Dui is a highly scientific process. Those cheap wet storage tricks are no way close to it.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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Talks about Black (Shou/Ripe) Pu-erh (1)

There are many black Pu-erh in the market. Some are Wo Dui processed and some are wet stored (we do not recommend drinking this type of Pu-erh). Wet stored Pu-erh tastes horrible and makes some first time Pu-erh drinkers believe that Pu-erh is a terrible tea. Although we have discussed the difference between Wo Dui Pu-erh and Wet Storage Pu-erh in our We Reveal the Mystery of Pu-erh page, we feel the need to discuss this topic even further.

When Wo Dui technique was first introduced?
The general consensus is that Kunming Tea Factory first started Pu-erh speedy aging technique research in 1973. According to Qiying Wu, former president of Kunming Tea Factory, 1975 was the first year that Wo Dui technique was used in massive production.

What is Wo Dui technique?
Wo Dui technique only applies to loose black Pu-erh production. Compressed Pu-erh are later processed using Wo Dui processed loose black Pu-erh. Afer a pu-erh is compressed, the only way to speed up its aging is through wet storage. Ways like cave storage are types of wet storage.

We will discuss how Wo Dui is conducted next time.

Tea Lovers from JinYuXuan Tea House
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Tie Guan Yin is a type of Oolong tea

When one of my friends told me “I like Tie Guan Yin and Oolong tea”, I knew that he was one of those confused by many tea names floating around. I quickly explained to him that Tie Guan Yin was in deed a type of Oolong tea.

Based production region, Oolong can be devided into four categories:

Oolong from South FuJian. The most famous one is AnXi Tie Guan Yin. One thing that needs to be pointed out is that while Tie Guan Yin means oolong teas made of leaves from Tie Guan Yin tree in AnXi, Tie Guan Yin only means oolong teas processed with the Tie Guan Yin technique in Taiwan.

Oolong from North of FuJian. The most famous one is WuYi rock tea. Da Hong Pao, Xiao Hong Pao, Rou Gui are all WuYi rock teas.

Oolong from Guang Dong. The most famous one is Feng Huang Dan Cong. Feng Huang Shui Xian is a popular tea among Cantonese tea drinkers.

Oolong from Taiwan. Oriental Beauty, Dong Ding Oolong are all famous examples of Taiwan Oolong.

More talks regarding Oolong tea can be found at our Oolong Talk .

Linda
http://www.teahub.com/

Experts proved from genetic toxicity test that Pu-erh was fairly safe to drink

Recent news from the First Yunnan Pu-erh Tea International Forum reported a genetic toxicity test conducted by Professor Qingjin Liu of Tea Research Institute at Southwest Agriculture University. Professor Liu and his colleagues analyzed 1 year, 5 year and 10 year Pu-erh samples from representative tea factories, and concluded that Pu-erh made by regular tea factories was fairly safe to drink. Professor Liu and team analyzed three Pu-erh samples and one baked green tea sample, and none of them showed mutagenicity to prokaryotic cell, eukaryotic cell, and reproduction cell.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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Majority of Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun are from Si Chuan

Recent news from ChengDu Business Paper said that 80% Long Jing (from Zhe Jiang), Bi Luo Chun (from Jiang Su) on the market are actually from Si Chuan. According to the news, unethical business people purchase Si Chuan teas at low prices and sell them as Long Jing or Bi Luo Chun at 3 to 4 times the paid prices.

An expert told the reporter that appearance of real Long Jing and Si Chuan tea, Zhu Ye Qing, are quite similar. It is very hard for regular people to tell the differences. Experts from Tea Research Institute also said that Long Jing demanded high prices while its production was low. Therefore, some business people produce Si Chuan Long Jing to make high profits.

For real tastes of authentic Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun, check out our selections. More talks and videos regarding Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun can be found at our Green Tea Talk .

More from our blog: Reading Long Jing Tea Leaves - learn to identify faked Long Jing.

Tea Lovers at TeaHub
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How to brew green tea?

Chinese people have developed many different green tea brewing methods. Based on leave adding timing, the methods can be divided into three categories: upper adding, middle adding and bottom adding.

Upper Adding: Pour hot water into a teaware to full first, and then add tea leaves. This method is suitable for teas like Bi Luo Chun. See our special brewing method for Bi Luo Chun.

Middle Adding: Pour hot water into a teaware to 1/3 full, add tea leaves and brew for awhile, and then fill up the teaware. This method is suitable for teas like Huang Shan Mao Feng.

Bottom Adding: Add tea leaves to a teaware first, and then pour hot water into the teaware. For best results, you may add high temperature hot water to ¼ to 1/3 full, let the tea leaves brew for awhile, and then add lower temperature hot water to ¾ or full. This is a very common brewing method and can be used for all green teas. Teas like Long Jing are recommended to be brewed with this method.

Glass, tea cup, teapot can all be used to brew green tea. For high quality teas, glass is better as it allows you to observe the nice leave presentations. As many people know, green tea should be brewed with water with comparatively lower temperature.

Please check out brewing instructions we developed for each individual of our green teas on our site at www.teahub.com/greentea.htm.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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How to choose a right teapot for brewing Pu-erh?

As we discussed in our We Reveal the Mystery of Pu-erh, you should look for thick wall rough clay, round belly purple clay teapots. Thick wall rough clay will help to absorb some impure tastes of Pu-erh, while round belly will allow Pu-erh large leaves to expand. You should also make sure that water can be poured out quickly. This function requirement is quite often neglected.

When choosing a purple clay teapot for brewing tea, stick to the fundamentals. Your money should be spent on functionality, quality of clay, and excellence in craftsmanship. Do not over pay only because it carries a famous craftsman’s seal. Other than the fact that there are many faked seals out there, quite often products of famous craftsmen’s students also carry famous craftsmen’s seal. One reason that people seek famous craftsmen’s products is that they care about the quality of clay and they normally have access to high quality clays. Well aged clays are highly sought after and demand high prices. Therefore, if you stick to the fundamentals, your money will be well spent.

There are two types of purple clay teapots. One is for display, and the other one is for brewing tea. Although many famous craftsmen manage to find a balance between the two, some teapots are just too fancy and lose their function for brewing a good cup of tea. If you search some reputable tea retailers’ site that also sell purple clay teapots, you will notice that those demand high prices are those stick to basic design but shows high quality of clay and excellent attention to details.

Do your research, and you will find a purple clay teapot that serves you and your tea well.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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Do you know the difference between brewing tea for testing vs. for tasting?

The purpose of brewing tea for testing is to bring out all the bad aspects of tea. The purpose of brewing tea for tasting, on the other hand, is to avoid all the bad aspects of tea. As you can see, the two actually serve completely opposite purposes.

When brewing tea for testing, we normally use hot boiling water to brew tea for 5 minutes in a covered teaware. This will bring out all the bad tastes and smells of tea. When brewing tea for tasting, a seasoned tea master knows how to brew a tasty cup of tea by adjusting water temperature and brewing time based on characteristics of individual tea. For examples of various tea tasting brewing methods, please visit our site at www.teahub.com. The brewing instructions for our teas are carefully developed by our house tea master, Ms. Di Liu, the first Tea Ceremony Artificer in China, which is ranked higher than the title of Senior Tea Master.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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Do you have the right water for brewing tea?

Many people know that the quality of tea leaves is very important for brewing a good cup of tea. However, not many people realize that the water that they use to brew tea is as important, if not more important, for brewing a good cup of tea. Mr. Zhang Dafu of Ming dynasty wrote in his Mei Hua Cao Tang Bi Tan that “Tea leaves need water to be brewed into a good cup of tea. 100% quality water can brew 80% quality tea leaves into a 100% quality cup of tea. On the other hand, 80% quality water can only brew 100% quality tea leaves into an 80% quality cup of tea.”

Lu Yu had detail discussions about tea brewing water in his famous tea book Cha Jing (Tea Bible). Generally speaking, hard water is not good for brewing tea. Water with PH value of greater than 7 may darken color of tea liquor and lighten taste of tea.

After selecting the right type of water, boiling water is the next important step. Cai Xiang of Song dynasty said in his tea book Cha Lu that “To boil water is the most difficult task. Foams will show up if water is not ready. Leaves will fell to bottom if water is over boiled…” When boiling water for brewing tea, people should use high heat to bring the water to rapid boiling. Over boiled water is not suitable for brewing tea.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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