Pu'er Tea has storage value mainly because it becomes more fragrant over time through natural transformation. For teas from the same mountain, the older the vintage, the higher the price. This has led to one of the chaotic phenomena in the tea market—age fraud. However, in reality, for a Pu'er tea that has been stored for many years, it is very difficult to determine the specific storage time by blind tasting; only an estimate can be made. This is because the moisture content of the dry tea at the time of production, the storage environment (dryness/Humidity, temperature, light), etc., can cause varying degrees of transformation differences in the same Cake of tea, with the differences becoming more pronounced over time. This is the change that time brings to the tea, and also the pleasure of storing tea. So, how do we determine the age of a tea cake?
Criteria for Determining the Age of Pu'er Tea
First, color: The clearer and more transparent the tea liquor, the older the vintage. Clear transparency refers not to the depth of the tea liquor but rather to a slightly oily luster.
Second, taste: Considering the overall balance of taste, excluding storage issues, the more balanced the taste, the older the vintage.
Third, dry tea: The greater the degree of transition to reddish-brown, the longer the age.
Fourth, leaf base: Raw Pu'er: Within 6 years, the leaf base of raw Pu'er is mostly yellow-green; around 10 years, the green gradually fades to become a yellowish-brown color; after about 25 years, the leaf base turns reddish-brown, with more red than brown. After 30 years, the leaf base is completely reddish-brown.
Ripe Pu'er: Within 5 years, the leaf base of ripe Pu'er is mostly dark brown-black; around 10 years, the black gradually fades to become a lighter brown. Around 20 years, the leaf base turns brownish-red, becoming browner and redder over time.
How to Determine the Age of Pu'er Tea
1. Look at the appearance of the tea:
New Pu'er tea has a fresh appearance with white down hairs and a strong flavor. After a long period of post-oxidation, the appearance of Pu'er tea turns to a jujube red color, and the white down hairs turn to a yellowish-brown.
2. Distinguish the color of the packaging paper:
Normally, the white paper used to package aged Pu'er tea becomes old and yellowish over time. You can start by examining the aging of the paper quality, handmade cloth texture, and printed color. However, this can only be used as a reference, not an absolute criterion, as some unscrupulous merchants may take advantage of this by using old yellow packaging paper to pass off inferior products.
3. Understand the vintage of the tea:
In general, the vintages of Pu'er tea are divided as follows:
Prior to 1949: Pu'er tea produced during this period is called antique tea, such as the century-old Songpin Hao, century-old Tongxing Tribute, century-old Tongqing Hao, Tongchang Old Brand, and Songpin Respect Brand. Usually, there is a piece of glutinous rice paper with these names printed on it placed inside the tea cake, known as the inner flyer.
1949-1967: The production of Pu'er tea under the China Tea Company was marked with different colors on the “tea” character on the packaging paper. Red imprint was the first batch, green imprint was the second batch, and yellow imprint was the third batch.
After 1968: Tea cakes produced during this time no longer bore the mark of the China Tea Company. Instead, they were produced by various tea factories and collectively referred to as Yunnan Seven Sons Cakes, including Snow Imprint Green Cake, 73 Green Cake, Large Mouth Small Green Imprint, and Small Yellow Imprint, among others.