Tea Knowledge: How to Identify Quality Pu'er Ripe Tea?

The world of Pu'er Ripe Tea boasts both mellow and classic flavors, as well as the pitfalls of craftsmanship flaws.

Many tea lovers are both interested in ripe tea and wary of pitfalls. In fact, identifying ripe tea is easy if you master a few key points.

◆ Look at the Appearance

• Dry Tea Appearance: High-quality ripe tea cakes are compactly and evenly pressed, with tightly bound strands and distinct veins. Loose tea leaves are naturally unbroken, unbroken, and free of debris.
• Color: Normal ripe tea is a uniform brown-red or dark brown, with a warm, aged wood hue and a lustrous, glossy surface. This indicates proper fermentation and clean storage. If the tea leaves appear gray, loose, or even have mold spots, it's likely due to improper storage.
• Tea Infusion: After brewing, high-quality cooked tea is rich, translucent, and transparent, with a shimmering sheen visible through the teacup under light. A cloudy, dull tea is likely due to poor fermentation or a damp storage environment that has compromised the tea's properties.

◆ Smell the Aroma

• Dry Tea Aroma: High-quality dry cooked tea exudes a pure, aged, woody aroma, occasionally with a hint of sweetness, remaining clean and free of impurities. If you detect a pungent, sour, musty, or chemical-like odor, be wary, as it may indicate spoilage or contamination in the storage environment.
• After Brewing: When hot, the aroma is rich, yet subtle, with no off-flavors. Once the tea has cooled, sniff the bottom of the cup cold; the lingering aroma is long-lasting and richly layered, transitioning naturally from strong to light, like a lingering sound. Teas that are harsh when hot and bland when cold are often the product of an unbalanced fermentation process.

◆ Taste

High-quality cooked tea flows smoothly, with a delicate texture and no noticeable bitterness. The flavor is rich and full, leaving the mouth feeling full and satisfying. After swallowing the tea, the throat feels warm and relaxed, and the sweetness quickly lingers, spreading from the tip of the tongue to the throat. Good tea will exhibit distinct layers of flavor, such as sweetness, smoothness, richness, and smoothness.

On the contrary, if the tea tastes bland or even feels like it's clogged in the throat, or if there are noticeable pungent notes such as sourness, astringency, or numbness, the tea is either made from inferior ingredients or improperly fermented.

◆ Observe the Tea Leaves

The tea leaves after brewing are a crucial indicator of the quality of cooked tea. After drinking tea, don't rush to clean the leaves. Instead, pour the leaves into a white porcelain bowl and observe them. High-quality cooked tea leaves have a uniform reddish-brown color, are soft and flexible, and don't break easily when gently squeezed. The buds and leaves are intact, and any tea stems that may be present should be of uniform thickness.

If the leaf base is black, mushy, and mixed with a large amount of debris, coarse stems, and impurities, it indicates low-grade raw materials or over-fermentation.

Leaf bases with mottled color and uneven softness and firmness further expose poor craftsmanship, perhaps due to uncontrolled fermentation pile temperature or uneven turning, resulting in a loss of balance in the tea's properties.

◆Infusion Resistance

The infusion resistance of tea is also a key indicator of the quality of cooked tea.

• High-quality cooked tea has a high infusion resistance, typically maintaining its basic flavor after 8-10 infusions.
• Low-quality cooked tea often becomes noticeably weaker after the third infusion.

To distinguish the quality of Pu'er cooked tea, one must comprehensively assess its appearance, aroma, taste, and leaf base. Mastering these basic techniques will allow you to find your own unique warmth within the rich, dark tea.

After all, the ultimate meaning of tea lies in the comfort and peace of mind it brings upon sipping.

Next time when you pick up a ripe tea cake, you might as well slow down your movements, from observing the shape to checking the bottom, and let every step of perception lead you closer to better tea.