Tangerine peel, citrus puerh tea, tangerine peel Puer tea, but looking at the names, it can be said that “I am in you, and you are in me”, which often confuses new tea lovers.
To talk about the biggest difference between them, it’s nothing more than:
Tangerine peel, in “pi” (plant epidermis)and in “chen”(long time), is medicine, not tea.
Regardless of whether it is citrus puerh tea or tangerine peel puerh tea, the foothold is all in the word “tea”.
In addition, citrus peel, tangerine peel, citrus pucha… can be regarded as the existence of flesh and blood!
Not all orange peels are called “Chenpi”(Tangerine peel)
“Chinese Pharmacopoeia” refers to the dried and mature pericarp of Rutaceae plant orange and its cultivars, such as tea branch orange, Wenzhou orange, Fuju, etc., as “tangerine peel”. Currently available tangerine peels on the market include Sichuan tangerine peels, Fujian tangerine peels, Guang tangerine peels (Xinhui tangerine peels) and so on.
But in fact, Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty described it in detail in “Compendium of Materia Medica”: “The citrus peel has thick lines, yellow and thick, with white film inside, and its taste is pungent and sweet… Today, the pickers in Guangzhong (Xinhui) are the winners.” ”
The industry unanimously believes that if one wants to praise the authentic medicinal material “Orange Peel”, only orange peels produced in a specific area of Xinhui, made from mature peels, and aged for three years or more can be worthy of the name.
There is no “production area”, no “tangerine peel”
“The Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi” says, “Oranges grown in Huainan are tangerines, and those born in Huaibei are trifoliate oranges… So why?” Water and soil are different.”
In the world of tangerine peel with outstanding medicinal and health effects, the value of citrus fruits in different production areas is naturally very different.
The peeling of mandarin oranges in Xinhui, Guangdong originated in the Song Dynasty, more than 700 years ago. According to the quality characteristics of Xinhui tangerines, the core small production areas represented by Meijiang, Tianma, Dongjia, Xijia and Chakeng are divided, and the quality is the highest.
“Xinhui Tangerine Peel Geographical Indication Products” stipulates that orange peel can be divided into orange peel (green peel), reddish peel (yellow peel) and red peel (red peel) according to the harvest period.
The big red oranges harvested in November and December have a longer growth cycle, accumulate more internal substances, are sweeter, and have higher medicinal value. They are most suitable for drying tangerine peel.
No “year”, no “tangerine peel”
“Orange peel” focuses on “aging”, and it must be stored locally and aged in the place of origin.
Three years is the starting year of tangerine peel.
Citrus fruits are peeled, pulped, turned over, dried in the sun (or other drying methods) and then stored naturally. Within three years, they are called “citrus peels”, and they can only be called “tangerine peels” after three years.
Tangerine peel can be preserved for a long time. The longer the age, the greater the function and the higher the value.
The best tangerine peel should be “sun-dried”
The most traditional way to make Xinhui tangerine peel is to dry it. The quality of raw sun-dried tangerine peel is also better.
“Every family opens citrus peels, the peels are hung with stove eyebrows, the citrus yellows are refreshing in autumn, and the peels are full of ponds”
Every year when the citrus fruits in Xinhui are ripe, you can see the sight of “dried tangerine peel” full of local characteristics in the streets and alleys of Jiangmen, Guangdong.
However, with the increase in market demand in recent years, fruit farmers’ pursuit of economic benefits, coupled with weather and site reasons, there are fewer and fewer tangerine peels that are truly purely sun-dried.
If you understand “skin”, you will understand tea.
After understanding the concepts of “citrus peel” and “tangerine peel”, it becomes clearer when we look at “citrus puerh tea” and “tangerine peel Pu’er tea”.
“Orange tea”
Although any tangerine can be used to make citrus puerh tea, the “citrus puerh tea” that is popular on the market, the most recognized, and has health benefits. “Cooked tea” is a tea product processed by a special process as raw material.
According to the “Xinhui Tangerine Peel Geographical Indication Products”, orange peel can be divided into green peel (green peel), reddish peel (yellow peel) and red peel (red peel) according to the harvest time.
Due to the differences in the citrus peels selected in different periods, citrus puerh tea follows the classification of citrus peels.
“Little Green Mandarin” (harvested from July to August) and “Big Red Tangerine” (harvested from November to December) are often said and heard by tea lovers. Tea and big red citrus pucha are the two core members of citrus pucha, the “handle” in citrus pucha.
“Orange Peel Pu’er Tea”
Big red tangerines, aged for three years or more, can be called “Orange Peel Pu’er Tea”
It combines the mellow fruity aroma of Xinhui citrus and the mellow and sweet aroma of ripe Puer tea from Yunnan. While maintaining a unique taste, it also has the effects of Xinhui tangerine peel and Pu’er tea. And in the reasonable aging process, the value is higher.
When choosing tea, choose the skin first
When choosing citrus tea, the production area and aging period of the citrus peel are very important selection indicators.
The longer the aging period, the sweeter the taste and the higher the pharmacological value of the citrus peels in the core production area of Xinhui.
There is a difference in craftsmanship
According to the processing technology, citrus tea can be divided into low-temperature drying, half-drying and half-drying, and whole-drying, etc. There are also “high-temperature curing” processes that many businesses keep secret.
After being stored, “Quan Sheng Sun” gets better and more fragrant, and can better display the function of tangerine peel, but the quantity is small and the price is high, and raw sun-dried citrus tea will only taste good after being stored for two or three years and transformed.
“Low temperature drying” makes the flower and fruit fragrance more prominent, and the citrus fruit fragrance is more fresh, richer and longer lasting.
Therefore, “combining sun-drying and low-temperature drying as the main method” is the general method for making citrus tea in Xinhui. It not only guarantees the good taste of the moment, but also has the value function of the future.
