Theme - Tea oxidation

„hou fajiao; 后发酵 - Post-fermented. 后hou - behind, after. 发; fa - has many meanings; to develop, expand, bring into existences, start; rise or expand when fermented. 酵 jiao - fermented. Together 发酵 means to ferment. Confusion often arises as the term fajiao is used to refer to both processes of fermentation and oxidation. The more specific term yang hua - 氧化 refers specifically to oxidation.“

„Unlike green tea produced in china which is dried with hot air after the pan-frying stage to completely kill enzyme activity, leaves used in the production of pu-erh are only pan-fried and thus a small amount of enyzmes are left which contribute a minor amount of oxidation to the leaves during sun-drying“

„Pu-erh tea processing, although straightforward, is complicated by the fact that the tea itself falls into two distinct categories: the "raw" Sheng Cha and the "ripe" Shou Cha. All types of pu-erh tea are created from máochá (毛茶), a mostly unoxidized green tea processed from a "large leaf" variety of Camellia sinensis (C. sinensis assamica) found in the mountains of southern Yunnan.“