Teas have always had good and bad qualities, and especially in recent years, due to the resurgence of Tea, the market has become chaotic. Buying authentic high-quality tea can be extremely difficult. Therefore, when buying tea, it's crucial to carefully select to avoid purchasing subpar products. Today, we'll focus on raw Pu'er tea. What makes a high-quality raw Pu'er tea? This requires discussing the basic knowledge of raw Pu'er tea and the characteristics of authentic Pu'er tea.
Pu'er tea is made from Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried Green Tea from a specific region in Yunnan Province, China. It is processed through post-fermentation into loose tea or compressed tea. Pu'er tea is one of the most distinctive types of Chinese Tea. In the current classification of Pu'er teas on the market, there are natural classifications and academic classifications. The natural classification refers to sun-dried green tea that has not undergone heap fermentation processing, commonly known as raw Pu'er tea. Academic classification categorizes Pu'er tea as a processed tea, which is made using artificial fermentation, commonly known as ripe Pu'er tea.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Raw Pu'er Tea
High-quality raw Pu'er tea generally has several key aspects: appearance, aroma, bitterness, astringency, salivation, aftertaste, and body sensation.
1. **Uniform Appearance**: The quality of a raw Pu'er tea cake can reveal information about its raw materials and production process. A good raw Pu'er tea cake will have a uniform appearance, meaning the leaves after stir-frying will not vary significantly in size. High-quality dried tea also visibly includes buds, indicating good raw material quality.
2. **Aroma**: This can be divided into the aroma smelled and the flavor experienced in the mouth. The aroma smelled can further be categorized as: dry leaf aroma, cold cup aroma (aroma of the fairness cup), and leaf base aroma.
After brewing, raw Pu'er tea should have a natural fragrance rather than a musty smell. Especially with ancient tree tea, over fifty aromatic compounds have been detected, producing pleasant and natural aromas. After brewing, the leaf base color of a well-made raw Pu'er is deep greenish, and the leaves are relatively thick. They won't easily crumble when squeezed by hand.
3. **Bitterness and Astringency**: Bitterness and astringency are critical in determining the quality of tea. These are inherent traits of tea, present in all types, but they are more pronounced for two reasons: young tea trees absorb fewer nutrients from the soil, leading to weaker flavors and more prominent bitterness; or the use of fertilizers, particularly urea, which can increase bitterness by rapidly changing the soil structure.
4. **Aftertaste and Salivation**: Aftertaste and salivation are basic flavors of tea. For example, plantation tea shows quick aftertaste and salivation, but these effects fade quickly, often diminishing after six infusions. Ancient tree tea demonstrates stable, fast, and lasting aftertaste and salivation. High-quality raw Pu'er may initially taste slightly Astringent but quickly dissipates in the mouth, leaving a smooth and viscous texture, similar to drinking rice soup.
In general, there are two ways to judge aftertaste: one is the speed of aftertaste, where aftertaste appears within three cups, and the other is the duration of aftertaste, where sweetness lingers in the throat for up to half an hour after drinking.
5. **Body Sensation**: This refers to the physical sensations experienced after drinking tea, such as overall comfort, mouth comfort, dry lips, sweating forehead, throat discomfort, and upset stomach.
If you experience reactions like sweating on your back or palms and body warmth after drinking, your raw Pu'er tea is performing well in terms of body sensation, which is also a characteristic of a good tea.
The above content introduces various aspects of high-quality raw Pu'er tea. Now let's discuss the disadvantages, which are the opposite of these positive characteristics:
1. Since raw tea is cool in nature, it should be consumed according to individual constitution. Not everyone is suitable for drinking it.
2. Raw tea can be deeper in water content, and young trees are sometimes sold as old tree tea. Choosing reputable sellers is important, and engaging in tasting and discussion is necessary. We recommend buying from physical stores, ensuring the taste suits you before making a purchase. Online images are often photoshopped, and many claims are exaggerated.
3. Young tree tea and plantation tea can be very bitter and astringent.
4. The aging process of raw tea is very slow. If stored in regions with high temperature and humidity, the natural aroma of the tea will diminish, leaving only bitterness and astringency. There would be little difference between good and poor-quality teas.