Microscopic Liubao tea (5) Cold water heap fermentation technology, Liubao tea and Pu Shu have different understandings!

Last Sunday, I accompanied my friends to the distribution center of Liubao tea, Lijiang Tea City in Yuanjiang, Wuzhou, where my little sister made a cup of Liubao tea. My friend asked me what I thought, but I never said anything. After I came out, my friend was a little scolded. Why didn't I ask your opinion? I said I was in someone else's shop just now, and some things are hard to say directly. We just drank cooked pu instead of Liubao tea. My friend said thoughtfully, no wonder it tasted special when I first drank it, but I couldn't say why.

In this issue, I will talk about the reasons from the perspective of production technology.

Before 1973, there was no cooked Pu 'er tea in Yunnan, and the Pu 'er produced was basically sun-cured green tea with big leaves in Yunnan. It was not until 1973 that Yunnan people learned cold water heap fermentation from Guangdong Tea Import and Export Corporation that the era of producing Pu 'er cooked tea in Yunnan began.

As early as 1958, Liubao tea mastered the cold-water heap fermentation process and produced a modern technology Liubao tea with the characteristics of "red and mellow".

Although Pu Shu and Liubao tea are both fermented by cold water, they have different understandings of the technology, and the differences in the details of the technology have created different taste styles of the two teas.

Cold water heap-fermentation: a simple understanding is to heap raw tea with water and cultivate microorganisms needed for fermentation. During the long period of 1-2 months, the contents of tea changed through damp heat, the action of enzymes and the action of microorganisms, making tea brown, tea soup red and tea taste mellow.

The change speed and quantity of tea content are related to site environment, water addition, pile height, pile temperature and pile turning times. It is in these nuances that Pu Shu and Liubao have different understandings.

Tidal current:

Generally, the amount of water added to rice is above 30%, even 35-40%. For the processing of cooked rice, it is recommended to add enough water at one time.

The water content of Liubao tea generally does not exceed 25%. If the tenderness of crude tea is high, even 20%-22%, the processing of Liubao tea advocates replenishing water several times. The original tea should be supplemented by 65,438+08% on the first day, and a small amount of water should be supplemented after turning over the pile the next day.

Reactor temperature:

Mature fermentation, pile temperature above 60℃, strictly controlled not to exceed 67℃.

During the fermentation of Liubao tea, the temperature of the pile is mostly between 50-55℃, and strictly controlled not to exceed 60℃.

Stacking frequency:

Mature general fermentation advocates more boring and less turning. After the temperature of the pile is raised, the turning interval is 7 days or even 10 days.

The fermentation of Liubao tea advocates multi-turning, from the beginning to the end of fermentation, turning twice a week on average, basically once every three days.

Different tidal volume, different pile temperature and different times of pile turning finally point to a result-the degree of fermentation.

In Pu 'er industry, Liubao tea is "uncooked rice" with insufficient fermentation, while in Liubao tea industry, cooked tea is over-fermented.

The stacked taste of Pu 'er produced by high-temperature fermentation with a large amount of water will present a fishy smell, which is often called "Menghai taste" or "seafood taste" in the common cooked industries, while the stacked taste of Liubao tea produced by high-temperature fermentation with a small amount of water will present more of a "haystack smell" or a "wet straw mat smell".

The sign of the end of Pu 'er tea fermentation is that the astringency of tea soup disappears and the color turns to chestnut red, while the sign of the end of Liubao tea fermentation is that the astringency of tea soup is greatly reduced (not without it) and the tea soup turns red (lighter in color than Pu 'er tea), so it is better to slightly lack fermentation.

After fermentation, it is dried naturally or at low temperature, and then packaged into powder or steamed and pressed into seven cakes as required.

After Liubao tea is fermented, it will be naturally dried by dropping piles, and there are two subsequent processes before it can be officially delivered.

One is steaming reed, which presses steamed soft tea leaves into bamboo poles and naturally dries them.

The second is the storage time limit. According to the national standard, Liubao tea must be aged for at least 180 days before it can be sold.

Different process details create different taste styles. Some people feel "the same", but for others, the difference between the two is still very big.

Tea quality: As it is fermented at high temperature, the newly-made cooked tea will feel drier and hotter (so that Guangdong tea houses often use Chrysanthemum morifolium with cooked tea to reduce the anger of cooked tea), while Liubao tea is relatively mild.

Taste: The fermentation degree of Liubao tea is generally not as deep as that of cooked Pu 'er tea, so in taste style, Liubao tea tastes fuller and Pu 'er tea is more mellow. In addition, Liubao tea will be more "refreshing" after steaming.

Aroma: The aroma of Liubao tea is more woody, medicinal and sweet, while the cooked tea is more waxy and jujube. Liubao tea also has a unique "betel nut fragrance".

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The above words only represent our independent thinking. Welcome tea lovers and colleagues who have studied Liubao tea to discuss with us.

Here actually can also lead to another question:

According to the tidal volume, pile temperature and pile turning times, can Liubao Maocha be fermented to maturity?

It is possible in theory, but it should be difficult to operate in practice. There is a very important reason here, which is the factors of regional climate and microbial flora.

At that time, Wu et al. learned the cold water reactor fermentation technology from Guangdong, and the first two batches of Pu 'er tea failed in Yunnan according to Guangdong's method. Later, the amount of tide and fermentation time were adjusted, and finally cooked pu was made, which had a completely different taste from cooked pu in Guangdong at that time.

Similarly, there are many tea merchants in Hengxian who process Liubao tea locally with Liubao tea technology, and the taste is quite different from Wuzhou.

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