Entering summer, the fermentation rate of all items becomes very fast. So how should Pu-erh tea be drunk and stored? Currently, the Minor Heat has just passed, and the Major Heat is approaching. During the hot summer, tea, as a traditional beverage for relieving heat and fatigue, is naturally essential. How to drink Pu-erh tea in summer, and what issues should be noted in summer storage? Here, we have compiled and summarized the following experiences for everyone:

The hot weather causes much sweating. Tea is rich in potassium. Drinking tea not only replenishes water but also supplements the potassium lost through sweating, making it an excellent choice for summer. However, it is important to remind everyone that only when consumed properly can any type of tea truly benefit health.

Based on whether it has undergone the pile-fermentation process, Pu-erh tea can be divided into raw tea and ripe tea. Raw tea is not artificially pile-fermented and is directly compressed into cakes, bricks, tuos, or other forms of compressed tea, or stored as loose tea. Newly produced "raw Pu-erh" has not undergone sufficient aging and storage. The basic components in the tea leaves, such as caffeine, tea polyphenols, and catechins, have not fully transformed. The tea taste is strong and intense, the tea soup is bitter and astringent when entering the mouth, and the stimulation of the tea is also relatively strong. Precisely because raw tea has a taste close to green tea, some people prefer to drink it in summer to relieve summer heat and dryness, and clear heat and quench thirst.

However, experts also remind that raw tea is bitter and slightly cold in nature. People with spleen-stomach deficiency cold or stomach yin deficiency are not suitable for drinking excessive raw tea, as it may worsen the feeling of discomfort.

Ripe Pu-erh tea adopts the artificial pile fermentation technology successfully developed in the 1970s. By controlling the fermentation temperature, humidity, and time, it accelerates the fermentation process and quality transformation of Pu-erh tea, which is then stored as loose tea or compressed into bricks, cakes, tuos, etc. Ripe tea has a mellow, smooth, and fragrant taste. It has the effects of warming the stomach, losing weight, and lowering lipids. It is suitable for people with cold stomachs and虚弱体质. For the elderly and women, drinking it in summer can also have good health effects. However, people with excessive body heat or prone to getting angry should preferably dilute the ripe tea when drinking.

As for the collection and storage of Pu-erh tea, it is qualitatively different from the storage of other teas. The collection of most teas pursues "freshness preservation" to prevent tea oxidation. "Preserving freshness" becomes the starting point and purpose of all measures. Pu-erh tea is different; it fears "freshness" and pursues accelerating tea oxidation. The older, the better, "The older, the more fragrant." The "aging" process of Pu-erh tea is actually an "oxidation" process. The activity of tea polyphenol oxidase increases with temperature rise within the range of 20-40°C. Beyond this temperature, the enzyme activity反而 weakens with increasing temperature. Microbial activity also intensifies with increasing temperature and humidity. However, excessively high temperature can lead to enzyme inactivation; excessive humidity can easily cause tea to mold, affecting its drinking value. It is best to control the moisture content of Pu-erh tea between 8%-10% and the storage temperature between 20°C-30°C.

Maintaining a ventilated and lit storage environment, providing necessary temperature and humidity, and preventing pollution are issues that should always be noted in Pu-erh tea storage. For ordinary households, it is best to store Pu-erh tea near a windowed balcony. Open the window morning and evening to maintain fresh air and convection, which is beneficial for the tea to combine with oxygen in the air and undergo non-enzymatic auto-oxidation, accelerating "aging." "Transparent" storage refers to storing Pu-erh tea under "natural light." Do not expose the tea leaves directly to sunlight, and also try to avoid "dark" environments. Light can cause photosensitive oxidative degradation of chlorophyll, significantly browning the tea color. The effects of light and wind accelerate the aging of tea, gradually forming the quality characteristics of Pu-erh tea: "red and thick soup color, sweet and mellow taste, and becoming more fragrant with age." Since Pu-erh tea can quickly absorb the odors of other substances, household storage of Pu-erh tea should avoid contamination from common odors such as household油烟, cosmetics, mothballs, fragrances (like air fresheners, mosquito coils), as well as the human body's own "body odor."

In summer, excessively high temperatures (which may cause accelerated fermentation and sourness of the tea), strong light, and the fact that items are more likely to emit their own odors at high temperatures are all issues we need to pay attention to when storing Pu-erh tea. Especially since summer is the rainy season, in coastal areas of southern China, when the plum rain season arrives, the average humidity often exceeds 75%. To prevent the hydrophilic compounds in tea from absorbing large amounts of moisture and causing mold, it is recommended to open windows for ventilation in time or use air conditioning for dehumidification appropriately to facilitate moisture dissipation. The tea can be stored in purple clay containers in a relatively cool and dry place.