"Tea Talk on Paper" No. 20: Six "Lies" About Yunnan Black Tea

I have two years of history in making black tea. Last year, I participated in designing and finalizing the process for Houyue's crowdfunded ancient tree sun-dried black tea, but I didn't make it by hand. This year, the black tea primary processing factory invested by my shareholding crowdfunded black tea company was built entirely by me, from land leasing, factory renovation, equipment, trial production, stable production, to the upcoming second crowdfunded ancient tree black tea and Houyue series tea products. I have personally done or participated in all of it. This year, we produced a total of thirty tons of sun-dried black tea and three tons of oven-dried black tea. I should say I have some say in understanding Yunnan black tea. I think some market perceptions are incorrect. This article organizes some of these. If there are errors, I hope you will point them out; I will definitely improve. You can leave a comment or add my WeChat 673998. Thank you!

The article title is: "Lies" about Yunnan black tea. Yunnan black tea, as a world-famous tea, does not lie; it is people who lie, intentionally or unintentionally. Due to market promotion needs, misleading by others, and insufficient cognition, some incorrect statements (which I mark as "lies" in quotes) are inevitable. Other industries are the same. Clarifying is for better development. Including this article, with deeper scientific research and improved processes, it may also become a lie in the future. These are all possible. As long as we follow our inner thoughts, as long as our current cognition is like this, it has positive significance.

Okay, let's get down to business. Let's go one by one in numerical order.

1. All Yunnan black tea has a sweet potato aroma.

Wrong. Only high-temperature baked black tea will have a sweet potato aroma. According to my experiments, temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius, insufficient moisture in the tea itself, and sufficient time will produce a sweet potato aroma. Most sun-dried black teas on the market, including our sun-dried black tea, have almost no sweet potato aroma.

Some might say, "You are citing examples of sun-dried black tea; all oven-dried Yunnan black tea has a sweet potato aroma."

Also wrong. Oven-dried black tea (hereafter referred to as "baked black tea") can have no sweet potato aroma at all, and can have a floral or fruity aroma. If you don't believe it, try our Houyue number 900 baked black tea.

2. Floral aroma is added.

Wrong. Floral aroma, or fruity aroma, if the fresh leaves have no obvious problems such as pesticide residues or damage from long transportation, can be naturally produced through normal black tea processing without any additives. Regarding this, you can taste the authentic Lapsang Souchong from Wuyi Mountain, Keemun black tea, and sun-dried black teas from Yunnan tea regions with normal processing, including our first crowdfunded sun-dried black tea from Houyue.

3. Black tea is fully fermented tea.

This sentence is often said as: "Green tea is zero-fermented, black tea is fully fermented, and oolong tea is semi-fermented." I think this statement is very inaccurate. Fresh leaves begin to ferment as soon as they are picked from the tea tree. Strictly speaking, according to the current processing of various tea categories, there is no zero-fermented tea.

Take Longjing as an example of green tea. Let's look at the national standard for Longjing regarding processing:

4.6 Processing
4.6.1 Processing equipment: traditional wok, electric wok, or other processing machinery.
4.6.2 Processing steps: fresh leaf spreading, pan firing, spreading and cooling, and final drying.
4.6.3 Processing techniques: manual processing uses traditional methods such as "grasping, shaking, pressing, flattening, rubbing, pushing, hooking, flinging, grinding, and pressing."

The national standard for Longjing clearly stipulates that the process includes fresh leaf spreading. According to my understanding of Longjing production, many also include a sun-drying step for fresh leaves. Longjing fresh leaves are typically spread to lose about 20% moisture. Based on my experience, losing 20% moisture under natural conditions takes about 4-8 hours. During these hours of spreading, fermentation is inevitable, and the fermentation is to a certain extent.

Take sun-dried black tea as an example. Many sun-dried black teas have a green or off-flavor when brewed, which is the result of insufficient fermentation.

Take baked black tea as an example. Old black tea becomes more mellow over time, and many tea lovers enjoy aged black tea. Can you say these black teas are 100% fermented? If 100% fermented, there would be no room for later transformation, and the only other result would be deterioration.

From the fermentation process of black tea, it is easy to understand why 100% fermentation is impossible. Black tea fermentation is done by piling the leaves into small heaps, commonly weighing over 5 kilograms and about 10 cm thick. Even if turned during fermentation, it is impossible to achieve complete uniformity. The parts that ferment faster reach sufficient fermentation and need to be taken out for drying, otherwise they will have a rotten feel. At that time, the parts with lighter fermentation are actually under-fermented.

(Image: Black tea fermentation pile (not finished))

Therefore, black tea cannot be 100% fermented.

I think this sentence can be revised to: Green tea is lightly fermented, black tea is heavily fermented, and oolong tea is medium fermented.

4. The bright yellow liquor of Yunnan black tea is because it is made from ancient tree tea.

Wrong. The bright yellow liquor of black tea is due to improper processing, and has nothing to do with whether it is ancient tree tea. Black tea should have the characteristics of red liquor and red leaves (bottom).

Black tea leaf bottom

5. Look at how thick and bold these leaves are; it must be ancient tree black tea.

Wrong. The thickness of the leaves is greatly related to processing, and has little to do with whether it is ancient tree tea.

Of course, if the processing is the same, ancient tree tea is generally picked older and the fresh leaves are slightly thicker, so the resulting leaves will appear thicker. But most market perceptions about ancient tree black tea leaves are to mislead consumers and to pass off inferior products as superior.

Comparison of black tea leaf strips

Take the above image as an example. Isn't the black tea below thicker and bolder, while the one above is finer? Actually, the one above is ancient tree tea, and the one below is not. During black tea processing, according to the quality of fresh leaves, it is necessary to adjust the degree of withering and the tightness of rolling. If rolling is pressed tightly, the leaves will naturally appear finer; if rolling is not pressed, the leaves will appear thicker.

Today I read a WeChat public account article saying that loose strips and tight strips only relate to the speed of infusion, and everything else is just to fool people. Actually, that is not the case. It shows that the author has not actually entered the production environment and does not truly understand the uses of loose and tight strips. Let me give two examples. Raw tea used for fermenting ripe tea needs to be made into tight strips. There is a reason for better fermentation quality, but the most important reason is to reduce fermentation loss. Making tight strips results in much less broken pieces in the ripe tea after fermentation. Also, when we make black tea, if we press too hard during rolling, it can break the leaves (related to season and withering degree), so we choose to make loose strips.

Therefore, the statement that thick and bold leaves indicate ancient tree black tea is wrong.

6. The redder the liquor of Yunnan black tea, the better.

Wrong. Combining with the above issue, let's talk about the formation of black tea liquor color.

The liquor color of black tea is mainly composed of theaflavins, thearubigins, and theabrownins. These three substances are different stages of polyphenol transformation. The different proportions of these three substances determine the liquor color and quality of black tea.

Thearubigins are the most abundant class of substances in black tea oxidation products, with a content of about 6% to 15%. Thearubigins are soluble in water, and their aqueous solution is deep red, with a weaker stimulating effect and a sweet, mellow taste. They play a crucial role in the taste and color intensity of the liquor. Because of thearubigins, black tea liquor is "red."

The content of thearubigins is not the higher the better. Excessive content harms quality, making the taste weak and the liquor color darker.

Theabrownins are mainly formed by the oxidation and polymerization of theaflavins and thearubigins. Theabrownins have the largest molecular weight and are the most stable. They are another reason for the "red" color of the liquor. When theabrownin content reaches 6% to 8%, the liquor can show a red-brown and bright quality characteristic. High theabrownin content is detrimental to black tea quality; the higher the content, the darker the liquor and the darker the infused leaves.

Therefore, the liquor of black tea is not the redder the better, but the best is when the proportions of theaflavins, thearubigins, and theabrownins are coordinated. Black tea quality requires not only that the liquor be "red" but also "bright," and under natural light, the surface where the liquor meets the cup should have a "golden ring."

Black tea liquor color

Therefore, the liquor of black tea is not the redder the better. Similarly, black tea with a wine-red liquor is not necessarily high-grade black tea.

All text and images are original! Author: Lü Jianfeng, WeChat: ynwuse, working at 51 Pu'er Net, initiator of Houyue crowdfunded tea, convener of Yunnan Houyue Black Tea Co., Ltd.