Smoke - leaf? processing? aging?

[Salsero]

I just spoke with my Tea master ...

Thanks, Vibrantdragon and others. There seems to be a consensus here. I am happy to finally know.

[TIM]

I just spoke with my Tea master and he said that the smoky flavor typical comes from small shops that hand heat the Mao Cha during late Spring and Autumn leaves. That time of the year is rainy so during one of the drying steps they use sunshine to dry the leaves and that might take several days during this time of year. They take the leaves home and spread them out at night or during rain in their in their houses. These people live in one room houses out in the mountain areas and they smoke tobacco as well as poppies and they cook in their houses with open fires. The smokes mixes with the leaves making that smoky flavor. At this time of year the Shai Qing Mao Cha does not have so much Shai (time in the sunshine).

It will take granny 3 packs a day to add in extra flavor....

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... -from.html

or maybe

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... -yiwu.html


If the tea farmers/masters really knows what they are doing. The amount of smokiness in a puerh is purposely enhance (by frying in a firewood/coal wok) into the mao cha to create better sweetness thru aging (at least 10-15 yrs).

[Salsero]

Tim, is that puerh surrounding the camphor trunk in the second link?

Thanks for sharing these links. I guess I never went that far back in your blog posts.

[TIM]

Tim, is that puerh surrounding the camphor trunk in the second link?

Thanks for sharing these links. I guess I never went that far back in your blog posts.

Yes Sal. The newer factories can not get better mao cha (wild ones which have camphor trees growing around them), so they add trunks of camphor in there warehouses.

[silverneedles]

very interesting, never knew there were camphor trees !!!
so the camphor flavor in some pu comes only from the interaction with these camphor trees (growing or warehouse) ???

[TIM]

very interesting, never knew there were camphor trees !!!
so the camphor flavor in some pu comes only from the interaction with these camphor trees (growing or warehouse) ???

That's what I believe, Silverneedles. Besides, bamboo forest are also common in the wild area. One of the main character of puerh also, but is more easy to get since the tong is traditionally wrapped in bamboo husk/leaves.

[Drax]

very interesting, never knew there were camphor trees !!!
so the camphor flavor in some pu comes only from the interaction with these camphor trees (growing or warehouse) ???

Supposedly. But there's nothing to say that a vendor (or manufacturer) might add synthesized camphor later, right? You can buy pounds of camphor.

I had earlier thought that the camphor-imbued teas came only from tea growing near camphor trees. But apparently not.

I'm not sure what the point of storing tea with camphor in a warehouse is. Well, I mean I understand what the point is, but if you're going to add flavor to a tea that way, why camphor and not something else?

I guess it's not dishonest as long as they aren't marketing it as naturally occurring. It just seems like camphor-flavor was supposed to point toward something special about the origin of the tea. Guess not.

[silverneedles]

i thought the camphor was due to how the pu leaf was stored wet, fermentation, some degradation/rot, which created those camphor substances by the leaf itself ... i guess its not like that.

[Goose]

Camphor is a powerful insect and rodent repellent (mothballs), not sure if that is in the mix or not, but I thought I would throw that in for consideration.

[Janine]

Frankly I'd bet that the camphor scent is from linalool in the tea. That's only a guess on my part. Camphor "tree" is a laurel fwiw.

BTW camphor is a natural component in other plants too, notably for example lavender (which is one important source of linalool). The camphoric quality in puerh (esp. in aftertaste) reminds me more of the "minty" effects of lavender essential oil than anything else, which is why I suspect linalool may contribute.

Thank you for the great and informative photos, Tim.

[hop_goblin]

Camphor is a powerful insect and rodent repellent (mothballs), not sure if that is in the mix or not, but I thought I would throw that in for consideration.

You are correct. If memory serves me correctly during the Qing Dynasty and perhaps even earlier, intermingling big leaf and camphor trees was done for this purpose - as a natural pesticide

[chrl42]

It always wonders me when people talk about smokiness of Puerh. Puerh is basically following the green tea process, steaming or pan-frying. No roasting or scenting-smoke.

Having said that, I still witness some ppl talk about smokiness and most of em were negative opionions about it, and would fade out after time of storing.

[vibrantdragon]

Pu'er does start as green tea.
1. Heat the leaves in oven or pan fry to stop the enzymes. Mao Cha
2. Sun dry the leaves to reduce the moisture level in leaf. Shai Qing Mao Cha
3. store till you ready to make bing or bricks.

The smokiness often happens during sun drying step. Or lack of sun drying step. They take the leaves into their houses and the smokiness happens in their houses. It takes several days to dry the leaves in the rainy seasons.