Thoroughly Processed - Making Drinkable 'Healthy Tea'

1. Prologue!

In 2017, Houyue crowdfunded a tea, the first generation of thoroughly processed tea, crowdfunding the Eighth Menghai Ancient Rhyme Raw Tea. At that time, I shared this tea with many peers, and most commented 'ruined, Pu'er isn't made this way', with many expressing regret. But this tea sold exceptionally well and received very positive feedback. Tea friends don't care about your school; if it tastes good and you can drink more, it's good tea.

In 2019, Houyue crowdfunded the second thoroughly processed tea, crowdfunding the Eleventh Menghai Ancient Rhyme Raw Tea. This tea followed the style of the Eighth, and sales and feedback were still very good.

But we still use the thorough processing technique in the spring tea ancient tree guarded picking, but it remains a minority. This is related to the merchants who buy tea personally guarding the fresh leaves and watching the tea making. They demand traditional techniques, hand-frying, and cannot be thoroughly processed, because there is a saying in the market that our thorough processing technique makes old tea not taste good.

By this year, the Eighth has been around for eight years, and tasting this tea is already very good. Houyue tea friends chase and inquire most about this first-generation thoroughly processed tea. It cannot be said that tea stored for eight years is good, but fifteen, twenty, thirty years would not be good? The Eighth and Eleventh have significant quantities, several tons in total, with many tea friends. These are real market reactions. Those who rashly concluded that such tea has no value have finally shut up. This is also the timing reason for me to launch the Lan series this year; promoting the three Lan series teas 'Lanlan' is the reason I have been writing several such articles intensively this year, including this one.

2. Background!

1. Tea makers 'dare not' drink tea

If you observe the Pu'er tea industry carefully, you will see various behaviors among practitioners: some dare not drink tea in the afternoon, some say they are taking Chinese medicine and don't drink a drop, some only dare to drink old tea, some drink water and sip tea with pursed lips, some like me rarely drink tea outside and only drink my own tea, some only drink ripe tea, some only drink roasted tea, and some scholars and experts who have been in the industry for years say they don't usually drink tea...

We must admit that Pu'er tea has some problems. But it is definitely not what Gao Mouchang said that ripe tea cannot be drunk, nor Zou Mouju's claim that new raw tea cannot be drunk. Any industry has various problems; the industry will develop, practitioners will progress. We need to face the problems and learn again, not be the troublemakers who kill the industry with one stick.

Tieguanyin had problems in previous years, and during the gap, Pu'er tea achieved significant development. But in recent years, have you tried Tieguanyin? I think Tieguanyin that has returned to traditional techniques is really quite good. Tieguanyin's production in 2024 exceeded 60,000 tons.

No industry disappears, only companies disappear. Industry problems are not necessarily bad things.

1. Tea friends who have been drinking for years dare not drink new tea

This is even more common. Pu'er tea enthusiasts stop at new tea. I have come into contact with many tea friends who have developed allergies to new tea from drinking.

1. The dilemma under the concept of 'more fragrant with age'

In Dongguan, a large amount of tea aged ten to twenty years cannot be sold, even if reduced to a dozen yuan per cake, it cannot be sold, and storage costs may not be recovered. Has the law of 'more fragrant with age' failed?

1. The Pu'er tea industry needs breakthrough options beyond marketing

Have you noticed that the Pu'er tea industry has talents, but they seem to be marketing talents, such as live streaming, financial tea, and Sister Yi. Innovation in the tea industry itself seems rare.

I also fanned the flames when everyone was attacking tea fossils. Here I want to formally apologize. I now think tea fossils should be considered an important innovation in the industry. If operated properly and developed orderly, it might create a market scale of tens of billions a year. The bottom line of tea fossils is the bottom line of merchants. You can make delicious tea fossils. You cannot give up eating for fear of choking, nor can you kill them all with one stick like Gao and Zou. The biggest part of this world is the middle layer; it cannot be either/or. The tea fossil problem is also encountered by the Pu'er tea industry now.

To break the deadlock in Pu'er tea, there are only a few options: marketing, product, technique, culture.

I think technique breakthrough is one important direction.

3. Main Story

Make healthy tea!

Make tea that tea friends can drink more of.

Make tea that practitioners can drink for a lifetime.

1. What does thoroughly killing and penetrating tea leaves look like?

Take new raw tea as an example.

①
Soup color. Normal brewing gives a yellowish-white soup, with forest teas often whiter. Heavy steeping gives a mainly yellow soup. Conversely, if red dominates, it is not thoroughly processed.

②
Aroma. Floral and woody, such as orchid base with woody, floral honey with woody. If leaf aroma or green smell appears, it is not thoroughly processed.

③
Mouthfeel. The soup of thoroughly killed and penetrated raw tea has a shape, round and smooth, with good silkiness. High-grade raw tea has a sinking feeling, as if it doesn't need swallowing but goes down by itself. Such tea is either thoroughly processed or old enough. If there are burrs, hardness, dryness, or rough astringency, it is not thoroughly killed. Many people say that thorough killing makes the tea lack thickness and strength. This is incorrect. The thickness of thoroughly killed raw tea remains, but it is not abrupt; it is a gentle thickness, a soft power, requiring a clear body and calm mind to appreciate better.

④
Clarity. Thoroughly killed raw tea feels like the sky after rain, like a vast blue sea, clean and pure, a kind of relaxation, a simplicity to the extreme peace.

⑤
Sweetness. Traditional layers, bitterness, astringency, returning sweetness, and salivation do not exist; it is purely sweet (except bitter teas). Fresh leaves from the forest, after thorough killing, have a sweet and refreshing sensation, sweet from the beginning and sweet in the aftertaste. This is the 'lightness' emphasized in Caigentan; no need for ups and downs, just peace, just purity, just continuous sweetness.

⑥
Stability. The first infusion and the tail water should have consistent flavor and style, for example, both clear and sweet with sufficient charm, differing only in intensity. The tail water should not have wateriness and should still be delicious. If stability is insufficient and the flavor is inconsistent from start to finish, it is not thoroughly processed.

⑦
Body sensation. New tea can be drunk and can be drunk more. Of course, thoroughly killed and penetrated tea also benefits from resting a few months before drinking. Longjing masters suggest trying new Longjing lightly and then waiting a month or so to drink. If the body sensation has less irritation, the body feels calm, and tea tolerance greatly increases, then it is thoroughly killed and penetrated tea.

1. How can ripe tea be thoroughly penetrated?

Fermentation degree, which we often say as 70% or 80% ripe, has nothing to do with thorough penetration.

Light fermentation can still be thoroughly penetrated; heavy fermentation can still be not thoroughly penetrated.

Black tea and white tea also have the issue of thorough penetration. You can refer to the tasting sensations above.

1. How to make it thoroughly processed

Thorough processing can be achieved through technique, but this article is not convenient to explain.

But my thorough processing also requires good ecology of raw materials, which is an additional requirement and unrelated to thorough penetration.

4. Epilogue

How the industry is, it is a luxury to speculate; what you do yourself is the right path.

The Lan series will involve four types of tea: raw, ripe, white, and black. Each type will have Lanlan, Dalan, and Xiaolan, meaning I will launch twelve Lan series teas.

New tea can be drunk more, old tea tastes better!

This is the goal of my Lan series teas. Stay tuned.

5. Extra Story

List of Houyue thoroughly processed tea products!

People often ask me which teas are thoroughly processed. I have made a table; welcome to try the teas according to the table.

This is the thirty-seventh article in my 'Paper Talk Tea' series. Click to view more 'Paper Talk Tea' articles.