Tuo Cha (沱茶, Tuó Chá) also known as Tuo tea is a kind of compressed tea made in the shape of the bowl, mainly produced in Yunnan Province and some are produced in Chongqing City. It is made of dark tea, generally made of Pu-erh tea.
Yunnan Tuo Cha also known as Pu-erh Tuo Cha was first created in 1917. Chongqing Tuo Cha was first created in 1953. Yunnan Tuo Cha is more famous than Chongqing Tuo Cha, so Tuo Cha generally refers to Yunnan Tuo Cha or Pu-erh Tuo Cha.
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History of Tuo Cha
Tuo Cha has a history of production, more than 100 years. Yunnan Tuo Cha was first created in Xiaguan Town, so it is also called Xiaguan Tuo Cha.
As early as 1902, the tea markers in Xiaguan Town began to develop Tuo Cha on the basis of “Tuan Cha”. In 1917, Tuo Cha was successfully created, with a unique shape like a bowl.
After the successful creation of Tuo Cha, it began to be sold domestically and abroad. The Tuo Cha sold domestically was called Yunnan Tuo Cha, and the one sold abroad was called Pu-erh Tuo Cha.
In 1986, 100 grams of Pu-erh Tuo Cha produced in Xiaguan Tea Factory was taken to France and was awarded the Gold Rooster Award in Paris.
Nowadays, the yield and quality of Yunnan Tuo Cha have been further developed and improved and sold well all over the world.
Meaning of Tuo Cha
Yunnan people are used to calling block objects “Tuo” so after they created the bowl-shaped tea, they called it “Tuo Cha”. Cha means “tea”.
Besides, at that time, Yunnan Tuo Cha was sold to Sichuan Province. The Sichuan people made Tuo Cha with the water of the Tuojiang River, which made the tea taste very good. Later there is a saying that “Tuojiang water with Xiaguan tea”.
Xiaguan, a town in Dali of Yunnan Province, is the origin place of Tuo Cha. Tuojiang River makes Tuo Cha more famous and they have the same word “Tuo”.
Characteristics of Tuo Cha
Tuo Cha is made of loose tea and compressed into bowl-shaped by machine. The raw material of Yunnan Tuo Cha is usually loose Pu-erh tea and that of Chongqing Tuo Cha is usually Sichuan dark tea.
Tuo Cha looks like a round bread from the top and a thick bowl from the bottom. It is concave in the middle, which is quite distinctive. It is said that compressed shape was made to facilitate long-distance transportation and long-term storage in ancient times.
Each Tuo Cha weighs 50g, 100g, 250g, etc. Usually, when packing, five Tuo Cha are wrapped into a package, which is bound with bark rope or bamboo strip.
The color of Tuo Cha is black with brown or yellow. After brewing, the tea liquid is bright and red-brown. It has a unique aged fragrance and tastes mellow.
Benefits of Tuo Cha
Tuo Cha is not only a natural superior drink but also has many unique medical effects. Because of its unique quality and medical effects, it is very popular in the international market.
A clinical trial has proved that regular drinking Tuo Cha has the effect of promoting body fat metabolism, balancing, and reducing cholesterol. If patients with too much blood fat drink three cups of Tuo Cha every day, after one month, the blood fat of the patients is almost reduced by a quarter.
The result of the clinical trial at Kunming Medical College also showed that the effect of Yunnan Tuo Cha on hyperlipidemia is better than that of lipid-lowering drugs, without any side effects.
Benefits of Tuo Cha:
- Detox
- Anti-cancer
- Weight loss
- Antibacterial
- Help digestion
- Nourish stomach
- Nourish stomach
- Lower cholesterol
- Lower blood sugar
- Lower blood lipids
- Anti-inflammatory
- Improve indigestion