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.“

„Ripened or aged raw pu-erh has occasionally been mistakenly categorised as a subcategory of black tea due to the dark red colour of its leaves and liquor. However, pu-erh in both its ripened and aged forms has undergone secondary oxidization and fermentation caused both by organisms growing in the tea and free-radical oxidation, thus making it a unique type of tea. This divergence in production style not only makes the flavour and texture of pu-erh tea different but also results in a rather different chemical makeup to resulting brewed liquor.“

„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.“