渥堆发酵技术的诞生

1972年，中国土产畜产进出口公司云南省茶叶分公司（CNNP）成立。1973年，昆明茶厂进行渥堆发酵技术研究，1974年成功试制普洱茶熟茶，普洱熟茶渥堆发酵技术成为普洱茶产业中的革命性创新举动。

普洱熟茶的渥堆发酵，其原理是在微生物作用、酶促作用和湿热作用三大作用下，使茶叶中所含有的茶多酚发生氧化聚合反应，蛋白质和氨基酸发生水解、降解，茶叶中碳水化合物消耗、分解以及各产物之间相互聚合、缩合等一系列反应。通过这些反应，使茶胚的色泽由晒青茶的墨绿色转化为红褐色，滋味由浓酽型转化为醇和型，并引发一系列的香气物质的改变，从而形成普洱熟茶特有的色、香、味、形——外形色泽红褐，内质汤色红浓明亮，香气独特陈香，滋味醇厚回甘，叶底红褐。

In the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the tea trade in Yunnan was in a period of free purchase and sale, which was carried out simultaneously by provincial tea companies, tea factories and private enterprises.On January 30, 1950, the Ministry of Trade informed that“all local tea should be purchased by China Tea Corporation in a unified way.All local state-owned companies, trading companies and government agencies should contact local branches of China Tea Corporation to purchase tea, and they are not allowed to purchase tea in the market without permission.”In September 1950, Yunnan China Tea Trading Company was renamed Yunnan Company of China Tea Corporation, which was in charge of tea purchasing, processing and domestic sales, with a total purchase of 827.95 tons in the whole year.In August 1951, at the Kunming Material Exchange Conference, Yunnan Tea Company purchased 25 tons of Tuo tea for supply to the market.In 1952, the companies in Yunnan adopted three ways to purchase tea: direct purchase by their own factories, purchase by a cooperative and public-private joint purchase.In December of the same year, the famous symbol“Bazhong”of China Tea Group was born, and the“China Tea”brand was officially registered and adopted in the same year.This symbol is now known as the most classic logo in the history of Pu’er tea.Since then, Pu’er tea (Guangyun Cake)produced by Yunnan and Guangdong Branches of China Tea Corporation have used this trademark as an exported tea trademark.The trademark can be distinguished by red, green, yellow, big font, small font, etc.In 1953, Yunnan allowed private tea merchants to engage in retail business, but not wholesale business.Private merchants bartered tea in tea areas, and carried out unequal exchange.

Since the founding, the People’s Republic of China has developed rapidly, with the steady improvement of economy, so Yunnan Pu’er tea has developed rapidly, and increased greatly in tea production and sales volume.In 1950s and 1960s, Yunnan Provincial People’s Government devoted itself to speeding up the development of tea production, reclaiming old tea gardens, vigorously developing new tea gardens, and focusing on the development of Yunnan big-leaf black tea to meet the needs of the international market.From the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China until 1973,Yunnan was committed to the development of black tea, Dianqing (crude Pu’er tea)and some exported tea cakes, but rarely traded Pu’er tea.Pu’er tea at this time was usually called sun-dried primary tea,Dianqing finished tea and various compressed tea.With the development of society and the progress of science and technology, through practice and innovation, rich experience has been accumulated, the development of Pu’er tea has been further accelerated, the processing technology has been continuously improved, and Pu’er tea (fermented tea)processed by pile fermentation technology appeared.The number of people who love Pu’er tea increases greatly and their requirements for Pu’er tea products become higher and higher, so the development of Pu’er tea products has become abundant increasingly.