It's often said that “once you delve into the world of Pu'er Tea, other teas pale in comparison.” Faced with a vast and varied Pu'er tea market, some are confused, some blindly follow trends, some experiment, and some shy away. But what exactly makes for good tea? How should one go about selecting Pu'er tea? Remember this central point: “among countless teas, choose the one that suits you best.” If your nose says “aromatic!”, if your tongue says “delicious!”, and if your body says “comfortable!”, then it's good tea. Of course, these preferences should be within your budget. As for the sales talk filled with jargon, consider it only if you understand it, and proceed with caution if you don't. Below are some real-life experiences shared by tea enthusiasts. Feel free to relate to them as you read.
Mr. Peanut has been drinking tea for half a year: A health check-up report from six months ago prompted Mr. Peanut to start drinking Pu'er tea like water – high blood lipids, fatty Liver, and being overweight. At just over 30 years old, he was plagued with various health issues. Hearing from colleagues that drinking Pu'er tea could help lower blood lipids, he logged onto the all-powerful online marketplace with a therapeutic mindset and searched for “Pu'er tea.” The price range that popped up left him perplexed, ranging from as low as 9.9 yuan with free shipping to tens of thousands of yuan per cake, all labeled under well-known Pu'er tea brands. Following the customer service representative's recommendation, he found a 357g raw Pu'er tea cake originally priced at 59.9 yuan but on special offer for 9.9 yuan with free shipping. Having no prior experience with Pu'er tea, Mr. Peanut thought he had struck a great deal and happily broke open the cake to Drink it as medicine, even boasting about his newfound healthy lifestyle on Weibo. However, eagle-eyed tea enthusiasts quickly noticed that the tea liquor was murky and the leaves at the bottom were incomplete and unclear, resembling rotten vegetable leaves. After an intense discussion, a netizen echoed a phrase attributed to Jack Ma, awakening him: “To think you can buy a Rolex watch for 25 yuan is impossible; it's your own greed.” At 9.9 yuan with free shipping, after accounting for postage costs, the remaining amount would cover both the tea cost and the seller's profit, which simply didn't add up.
Brand Traps, Low-Price Traps
Keywords for Selection: Choose, Observe, Differentiate
Selecting Brands: For beginners, it's best to choose well-known Pu'er tea brands, as they provide more assurance in terms of production safety, quality control, and sales services. However, brand recognition shouldn't solely rely on advertising; more importantly, it depends on the reputation of the company or brand. Many small factories and artisanal workshops do not advertise their products in the market, yet their offerings enjoy a high reputation among industry insiders and consumers alike. Therefore, one should observe and listen more to form a comprehensive understanding of a brand, never falling prey to small bargains.
Observing Appearance: Online tea purchases cannot be evaluated through taste, so the appearance of the tea must be used to discern its quality.
Pu'er Loose Tea: For loose Pu'er tea, focus on four factors: shape, color, consistency, and purity. In terms of appearance, high-quality loose tea should have a brownish-red color (often referred to as “liver color”), plump and tightly bound leaves. The classification of Pu'er loose tea is based on tenderness, with higher tenderness corresponding to higher grades. To gauge tenderness, look for three indicators: abundant buds with visible down, indicating high tenderness; tightly coiled leaves, suggesting high tenderness; and smooth, lustrous colors indicating better tenderness, while dull colors suggest poorer tenderness.
Pu'er Compressed tea: It should be uniform and well-shaped; the surface should be evenly spread, with neat edges and no layers peeling off. The thickness should be consistent, neither too loose nor too tight. The mold pattern should be clear, and the leaves should be neatly arranged and tightly bound. Raw tea should have visible white down and a glossy dark green appearance. For ripe tea, normal colors include black-brown, chestnut-brown, and reddish-brown. Any sign of mold on the surface indicates inferior quality.
Differentiating Liquor Color: Just as we judge whether water is contaminated by its clarity, the same applies to tea liquor. High-quality Pu'er tea produces a transparent and shiny liquor, with an oily sheen on the surface. Inferior Pu'er tea results in dark and murky liquor. For newly produced raw tea, the liquor color should primarily be yellow-green, and the clearer it is, the better. The more times a tea can be steeped, the more spring tea components it likely contains. For 15-year-old raw teas, the liquor color appears honey-yellow with an amber hue, while 30-year-old raw teas exhibit a date-red color, with a slight tea aroma floating on the surface. For Pu'er teas over 50 years old, the liquor color is deep red and bright, with a light, floating sensation on the surface.
For ripe Pu'er tea, the liquor color is closely related to the fermentation quality and degree of fermentation. Generally, the liquor should be bright, thick, and reddish-brown. A clear and translucent reddish liquor is indicative of high-quality ripe tea, much like a glass of fine wine. Dark red or chestnut-brown liquor is also normal. Pale, Orange, or dark and turbid liquor indicates inferior quality. Pu'er tea, when stored under normal conditions, will not turn black even after a long period.
Miss Walnut has been drinking tea for three years: A few years ago, at a tea expo in Tianjin, Miss Walnut chose to sample tea at a booth that was bustling with customers. Due to her previous experience of diarrhea after drinking Pu'er ripe tea from a small shop for weight loss, she immediately recognized the popularity of this particular tea company. To be fair, this company had just entered the Northern market but already had a good reputation, excellent tea products, albeit at a slightly higher price point. As such, Miss Walnut became a loyal fan of their Pu'er tea, always attending their small tea gatherings where she would hear various mysterious stories about Pu'er tea from Yunnan, such as how the current batch of tea leaves came from ancient wild tea trees that are over 3,000 years old in deep forests teeming with elephants and peacocks; how the tea trees grow in savage primitive tribes along the Yunnan border, and the manufacturer had to brave many dangers to bring the tea out for everyone to enjoy; how this wild Pu'er tea crossed borders to be discovered, with a tree so large that six people couldn't encircle it, and it was only recently found… Until last year, when Miss Walnut personally visited the tea mountains and asked many naive questions, she realized, “Dealers who haven't even been to the tea mountains in Yunnan can still spin tales about Pu'er tea in such a fresh and extraordinary way – they're really going all out.”
Quality Traps, Story Traps
Keywords for Selection: Select, Smell, Learn
Selecting Origin: Often, Pu'er tea professionals will fabricate a legendary story to attract new tea enthusiasts, initiating conversations filled with many colorful topics. In reality, there are clear national standards defining the geographical indications for Pu'er tea. According to the “Geographical Indication Product – Pu'er Tea,” tea outside the designated protected area does not strictly qualify as Pu'er tea. Pu'er tea has been popular for over a decade, driving economic development in tea-producing areas. The idea of having to brave dangerous conditions to carry tea out of remote Yunnan tribes is something I've never heard of. The Pu'er tea regions are known for their simple and honest locals, beautiful landscapes, and