Pu'er spring Tea is favored by many tea enthusiasts and is priced higher compared to summer tea. As a result, some may attempt to pass off tea from other seasons as spring tea to fetch a better price. What should tea lovers do when faced with such situations to distinguish between them?
1. Picking Time: Ancient tree teas tend to sprout later, with the main harvest in the Yiwu region usually starting around early March. Moving northward to the Lincang tea area, the typical picking time is generally from early April to around April 10th. Teas that are available or picked too early are unlikely to be genuine ancient tree first flushes.
2. The Fresh Leaves of Ancient Tree Teas: are typically tender yellow or yellow-green. Cultivated tea buds have abundant downy hairs on their backs, with prominent veins, similar to the veins on an elderly person's hand. Depending on the specific tree species, the leaves can vary in thickness. The serrated edges are clearly visible, and the leaf shapes differ across various mountain regions.
3. First Flush Teas Often Contain Small Yellow Leaves: Typically, the picking standard ranges from one bud and two leaves to one bud and four leaves. Consequently, the fourth or fifth leaf is often the earliest leaf to envelop the bud, which then ages as the bud grows. Depending on the picking technique, small yellow leaves are usually collected together. In some places, the entire bud is snapped off at the point of sprouting, forming what is known as a “horse hoof,” essentially the base of the branch. This can be observed in the leaves after Steeping.
4. Identifying Through the Appearance of Loose or Cake Tea: First flush teas have an abundance of downy hairs. When you grab a handful of loose tea, your hands will be covered in white downy hairs, or the bottom of the white plastic bag used for storing samples will be layered with these hairs.
5. Recognizing Through Aroma and Infusion: Good tea is ultimately meant to be tasted. From the first rinse, you can detect a high and lingering aroma in first flush teas, with a pleasant lingering fragrance on the Cup. Upon the first proper infusion, you can feel a rich aroma blending into the tea liquor, known as “water-soluble aroma.” High-quality first flush teas maintain this water-soluble aroma throughout about ten infusions, and even in the final infusions, you can still sense a sweet and fragrant essence!
If it is a current year's spring tea, during the first five proper infusions poured into the fairness cup, you'll notice white downy hairs suspended in the tea liquor, making it appear less translucent. After a few years of aging, the tea liquor becomes much clearer!