Production
Many fermented teas do not arrive on the market as "finished" products; instead, they often start as green teas or partially oxidized oolong-like teas, which are then allowed to slowly oxidize and undergo microbial fermentation over many years, thus turning into fermented tea. Alternatively, fermented teas can be created quickly through a ripening process spanning several months, as seen in ripened pu-erh. This ripening is done through a controlled process similar to composting, where both the moisture and temperature of the tea are carefully monitored. The resulting product from this fermentation is "finished" fermented tea.
Teas destined to be consumed as fermented teas are commonly sold as compressed tea of various shapes, including bricks, discs, bowls, or mushrooms. Ripened pu-erh teas are ripened in loose form prior to compression. Fermented teas can be aged for many years to improve their flavor. In the case of raw pu-erh tea, it can be aged up to 30 to 50 years without diminishing in quality, and ripened pu-erh can be aged up to 10 to 15 years. However, experts and aficionados disagree about the optimal age to stop the aging process.
Many Tibetans and Central Asians use pu-erh or other fermented teas as a caloric food, boiled with yak butter, sugar and salt to make yak butter tea.
Read more about this topic: Post-fermented Tea
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