Michael Plant > writes:

> Lewis 9/29/05
>
> > "Jenn" > writes:
> >
> >> [...]
> >> About Unfermented, Maybe why some white teas are high in stimulation?
> >> Or maybe because theyre buds?????
> >
> > Exactly: buds have more caffeine than mature leaves.
> >
> >> [...]
> >> Oh one more thing are there oolong type teas made like puers?
> >
> > Yes:
> >
> > http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcar...ase=you+zi+cha
>
> Let's take this a bit further. A Pu'erh can be "raw" (green) or "cooked"
> (oxidized/fermented) when it enters the aging process in its cake (bing),
> brick (feng),

That's "fang", by the way.

> or bird nest (tuo) form. Surely there are variations in the degree
> of cookedness in the leaf on the way to storage, and thus anything
> in the middle would be an "Oolong" by definition, right?

"Cookedness"? You mean oxidation before firing, right? If so, yes,
but usually "cooked" means the tea hanging around damp and warm for a
while to accelerate - simulate? - the microbial action that takes
longer with raw pu'er.

> Except that once the tea enters true poo production, it's Pu'erh not
> Oolong. In the case of the tea stuffed pomelo that babelcarp speaks
> of, I take it the actual tea therein is/was Oolong? But, something
> deep inside me says that ultimately it tea can be Oolong or tea can
> be Pu'erh, but it's got to make up its mind and claim its allegance
> at the end.

I think your question makes more sense if you generalize it: the use
of the fruit skin as container during microbial aging seems, well,
superficial. The real question, I think, is: can you make pu'er - or,
less restrictively, hei cha - by starting with oolong or even
black/red tea, or do those nice germs insist on green tea?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html