France Tuocha 2009 Shu Puer (cooked) tea 100g

The France Tuocha Shu (cooked) Puer tea was harvested in 2009 and pressed and packaged in 2017.It comes from a famous Chinese factory called Xiaguan, which, according to its recipes, mixes and presses different maocha from all over the Yunnan region to form products with a unique and complex taste.

This factory was established in 1941 near the city of Dali in the prefecture of the same name and, from its early days, made much use of the type of format called tuocha (bowl shape) to press its leaves. The Xiaguan brand has grown a great deal over the years partly because of its geographical location, which provides it with a great climate in which to age its teas.

This particular tuocha carries the word France in its name because, in the early years when it was exported to Europe, it conquered the French market because of its full-bodied brew and lingering sweetness. Upon further analysis of the taste of the cup infusion, one will notice that it will first present itself on the palate with a mineral hint such as to remind one of some limestone rocks and then, in the throat, begin to spread its creamy sweetness similar to that obtainable by boiling some fleshy herbs for a long time. After a while, a slight vegetal scent reminiscent of the scent of a pine forest will also become apparent on the palate.

Place of origin

Yunnan, China

Production

After the harvest the leaves whither under the sunlight for a certain period of time depending on the tea masters evaluations before going into the “killing of the green” phase which is similar to the practice adopted for green teas. In this case, however, the leaves are heated in the iron wok with a lower temperature than the usual standards for a green tea so it is possible to preserve some enzymes capable of changing the the taste of the tea through the time. Once cooked, the leaves are taken in large quantities and stacked to form large piles. The vegetable mass thus arranged is then moistened and covered with cloths in order to retain heat and to start the fermentation process. The producer here have to move and wet constantly the leaves in order to achieve an homogeneous fermentation on all the vegetal mass. Once this process is completed, which can last from 20 to 70 days, the leaves are spread and left in contact with air so that the microorganisms responsible for the fermentation dry up and die leaving the finished product. Once here, one can (eventually) proceed to press the puer in order to give it the best conditions to be transported and aged. To press the leaves, the producer exposes a certain quantity of the product to a strong steam jet for few seconds in order softened the vegetal mass and then wrap all up in a kind of sock or sac to imprint the final, usually discoid, form. To maintain the desired shape the sac is put under an heavy stones for several hours or under a mechanical press while the leaves loose the residual moisture caused by the steam in the previous phase.

How to prepare

We strongly recommend infusing this tea in the traditional Chinese method (Gong Fu Cha) with a gaiwan with a capacity of about 150 ml. By following this preparation, multiple infusions can be made with 5 grams of leaves that are useful to best capture all the flavor nuances of the tea.

Heat the water to a temperature of 95°C: proceed to briefly rinse the leaves and then to an initial 15-second infusion. Keeping the water at the same temperature, you can then continue to exploit the same leaves by adding more water and increasing the infusion time by 5 seconds each time (15 – 20 – 25…).

This tea has a longevity of about 6 brewings.

For a more classic preparation according to the Western style, we recommend 3 grams of leaves in a 200-mL cup with 95°C water for an infusion time of 2-3 minutes.

For a better tasting experience, we suggest that you strain the tea as soon as the brewing time is over. The infusion timings we suggest can be slightly modified to your liking to achieve a more or less intense taste.

Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

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