Puerh Quick Start(1)

很多刚开始学普洱茶的朋友，不知道从何入手，很多普洱茶的概念、常识、术语都不懂。这是一篇帮助初学者，快速了解普洱茶的文章。

What is Puerh? Where is it produced? How to choose a better Puerh? With lots of complex concepts and terminologies, it is so hard to start for a rookie who learns Puerh at the beginning. This article was written for a help to know Puerh quickly.

◎什么是普洱茶？

What is Puerh? 【Sometimes it is also written as “Puer”/”Pu’er”】

普洱茶，得名于普洱市，原产于滇南、滇西澜沧江流域，是以云南大叶种晒青毛茶为原料，经过后发酵加工成的散茶和紧压茶。

Puerh is named after the Pu’er City and produced in Lancang River Basin of southern and western Yunnan. There are post-fermented loose tea and pressed tea, all using leaves of Yunnan large-leaf subspecies (scientific name: Camellia sinensis var. assamica ) as raw materials.

◎什么是生茶？

What is “Raw Puerh”? 【*Raw Puerh, which refers to “ShengCha” or ”ShengPu” in Chinese Pinyin.】

云南生长的大叶种茶叶经过日凋（晒青）直接压成饼、沱、砖，称为生饼、生沱、生砖。不压制的就叫毛茶。

After the large-leaves go through “Sunlight Withering”, they are processed into semifinished tea (maocha), they can be shaped in cake, tuo, brick, and those are what we call raw cake, raw tuo, raw brick.

*Tuo Cha (沱茶in Chinese) is shaped into a bowl or a nest, size in different weights.

◎什么是熟茶？

What is “Ripe Puerh”? 【*Ripe Puerh, which refers to “ShuCha” or “ShuPu” in Chinese Pinyin.】

云南生长的大叶种茶叶经过日凋（晒青）再经过发水渥堆最后压制成型，称为熟饼，熟沱、熟砖。

If maocha goes through piling and then is pressed into cake, tuo, brick, those will be called ripe cake, ripe tuo and ripe brick.

◎如何区分生熟普洱茶？

How to distinguish the raw puerh and the ripe puerh?

区分生熟普洱茶方法很多，一般从外观方面，生普洱年限10年以下颜色是墨绿色，熟普洱是深褐色，其次是闻气味，生普洱闻起来有股淡淡的清香，而熟普洱闻起来有股陈香味，最后是汤色，生普洱汤色是桔黄色，熟普洱是褐红色、暗栗色。

Many ways can be helpful to distinguish raw puerh and ripe puerh. Firstly, judge from appearance: raw puerh within 10 years has a dark green color while ripe puerh is dark brown. Secondly, identify according to the smell: raw puerh smells a faint fragrance while ripe puerh smells a stale fragrance. Finally, discriminate by the liquor: the liquor of raw puerh is green-yellow and bright, yet the ripe puerh has dense, red-brown color liquor.

◎普洱茶属于哪类茶？

Which kind of tea that puerh belongs to?

普洱茶既不属于黑茶也不属于红茶。因为普洱茶的制作工艺和本质特点与六大茶类各不相同，所以云南茶叶协会向中国茶叶界呼吁，并将认真同全国专家学者商榷：将云南普洱茶称为再加工特种茶，重新排列其在中国茶谱中的位置。

In China, Yunnan Tea Association holds that puerh is neither dark tea nor black tea. It is because that the processing of puerh differs from the six teas. So they appeal to classify puerh as “Reprocessing special tea” which means puerh has its own place in Chinese tea.

◎茶的制作过程和工艺方法是什么？

What’s the process and method of making puerh?

普洱茶分两种制作工艺方法，就是我们说的生茶和熟茶：一生茶：传统制作过程：杀青---揉捻---晒干。二熟茶：杀青-揉捻---干燥-增湿渥堆---干燥。

There are two kinds of process to making puerh, one is for making raw puerh: (traditional way) De-enzyming(Also called Kill-green)---Twisting---Sun dehydration.

The other one is for making ripe puerh: De-enzyming --- Twisting --- Dehydration ---Wet piling--- Dehydration.

◎什么是晒青和烘青，他们之间有什么区别？

What is “Shaiqing”(Sun Withering) and “Hongqing”(Baking)? What’s the difference between them?

鲜茶叶采摘回家后经炒青、揉捻、摊凉在竹席上在太阳底下自然晒干称晒青毛茶，它可以长期存放。将鲜茶叶采摘回来后，用烘干机进行脱水干燥后出现高香味的茶叶称为烘青，它有保质期，不可长期存放。简单说，晒青是普洱茶工艺，烘青是绿茶工艺。

After picking the fresh tea leaves, go through stir-fry, twisting, then spread them on the mats and naturally dried in the sun. It’s called Shaiqing Maocha and it could be stored for a long time. If the fresh tea leaves dried by the dryer, then this processing is called Hongqing and such tea could not be long-term stored because of its shelf life. In simple terms, Shaiqing is a process of making puerh, Hongqing is a process of green tea.下载本文