Pu-erh tea

Pu -erh tea (Chinese普洱茶, Pinyin pǔ'ěrchá ) is obtained from a Qingmao -called subspecies of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis). The Qingmao is greater than the normal Camellia sinensis plant and is considered one of the original forms of the tea. These plants come from the administrative territory of the prefecture-level city in the Chinese province of Yunnan Pu'er. The tea is produced there since about 1700 years. According to the traditional form of trading, the tea was called from Pu'er brick tea also.

PREPARATION AND USE

Pu -erh tea goes through a special process of maturation, which gives it its dark, reddish color and rich, earthy flavor. A Pu -erh, which was produced up to the 1960s, was a green tea. He was steamed and pressed into cakes, bricks or spherical shape. Then it was stored and matured dry. The ripening period was at least five years. In the early 1970s, a new method has been developed to speed up the ripening process. The tea is thus ready to drink in a few months. Today, both methods are practiced side by side, the tea is used as a raw / raw categorized (green) (Chinese sheng ) or mature / ripe (treated) (Chin shu ). To a traditionally produced Pu Erh a variety of bacteria and fungi such as Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus clavatus, Rhizopus chinensis and are involved.

Originally tea was for the ease of transport pressed ( flat bread, brick, ball or mushroom shape ), today one finds Pu -Erh but also in loose form.

Unlike most green teas and black teas Pu -erh tea wins by aging in quality and taste. High quality Pu -erh, as almost all teas are infused several times.

Health aspects

Pu -erh tea is isolated as a " slimming " advertised. Scientific evidence is not available; the German Society for Nutrition contradicts this claimed effect explicitly. She also warns due to its content of the psychoactive substances, caffeine and theobromine from excessive consumption of Pu -erh tea.

Scientific studies on Pu -erh tea led to experimental results from reduced LDL cholesterol in rats and also discovered specific mechanisms by which chemicals in Pu -erh tea inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol. Pu -erh tea also showed antimutagenic and antimicrobial properties.

In some Pu- erh teas very high amounts of fluorine were detected, as they are generally made from older and less qualitative leaves and stem axis, in which fluorine is particularly accumulates. In places like Tibet, where the most pressed tea is drunk, the enjoyment of tea has led to fluorosis.