Friday Knows Tea

Hello, Thirsty Nerds! I've been receiving quite a number of emails, dms & in-person questions regarding pu-erhs lately. It seems there's an upswing in popularity for this complicated and delicious tea family and y'all are thirsty for knowledge! Pu-erh tea (most closely for American tongues pronounced as "poo-ahr," try to swallow the R) is one family in the category of tea known as "heicha," (pronounced "hay-cha"). Heicha is the sixth type of tea and the outlier when defining true teas (leaf from the Camelia Sinensis plant). All other tea types are defined by their oxidation range at time of processing as such: White tea is unoxidized: 0% Yellow tea is delicately oxidized (also smothered to slow the oxidation process): 1-4% Green tea is lightly oxidized: 5-10% of possible oxidation in the leaf Oolong tea ranges widely from moderate to high oxidation: 11-99% Black tea is fully oxidized: 100% of possible oxygen saturation in the leaf