A good Pu'er Tea Cake is uniform and well-formed, with a round shape, natural indentation, neat edges without any missing corners, and consistent thickness. High-quality Yunnan Pu'er dry tea emits a pronounced aged aroma that is high and long-lasting. After brewing, the tea soup lacks any warehouse smell, appears bright and transparent, red and rich, and free of any off-flavors, odd tastes, or wateriness. It has a rich, smooth, and soothing taste with a lingering sweetness and salivation at the base of the tongue.
The Characteristics of Good Pu'er Tea:
1. Good Pu'er tea has a throat fragrance. As the tea soup flows down the esophagus, a warm and concentrated aroma rises from the throat. This can be an aged aroma, lotus scent, camphor aroma, jujube fragrance, etc.
2. Good Pu'er tea has a lip and mouth fragrance, imparting an immediate sense of aromatic richness upon first sip.
3. Good Pu'er tea leaves a sweet aftertaste on the tongue and cheeks after drinking.
4. Good Pu'er tea has a nasal aroma, where a pleasant aged aroma can be smelled when bringing the hot tea close to the nose.
5. Good Pu'er tea has body and thickness, feeling more like a viscous, concentrated tea soup rather than just water. It should have an excellent mouthfeel. If the mouthfeel is poor or there are other off-flavors in the tea, it may be a low-quality Pu'er ripe tea.
How to Distinguish Good and Bad Pu'er Tea
First, old teas often appear aged in color and show white mold spots. The brewed tea is astringent and murky, sometimes even black. Good tea, on the other hand, has clear tea soup, soft and elastic leaves for raw tea; while the leaves of ripe tea after brewing are dry and fibrous-looking.
Second, examine the tea cake and the tea leaves. Good Pu'er tea cakes are neat and clean with a lustrous appearance. Good raw Pu'er tea leaves are clearly defined and robust, while good ripe Pu'er tea shows prominent golden buds.
Third, smell the tea. Good Pu'er tea has a wild, natural fragrance, not a musty odor. Good raw Pu'er smells fresh and natural, while good ripe Pu'er lacks any extraneous or Fermentation odors.
Fourth, taste the mouthfeel. Good Pu'er tea brews into a clear and bright tea soup that leaves a sensation of salivation in the mouth without any numbing or throat-Drying effects. After drinking, you can still feel a tea fragrance. Good raw Pu'er has a sweet aftertaste and saliva generation, while good ripe Pu'er is smooth and does not stick in the throat.
Fifth, observe the color of the tea soup. A bright, rich, and translucent red color indicates high-quality Pu'er tea, similar to wine. Colors ranging from dark red to reddish-brown are normal, but if the tea soup is dark red, dark black, or murky, it is of inferior quality.
Sixth, examine the tea residue. Ripe tea residue should be a reddish-brown color, soft, and malleable into a mud-like consistency. Poor-quality Pu'er tea residue feels hard, like coarse fibers.