Pu'er Tea is highly sought after by tea enthusiasts for its characteristic of becoming more fragrant and valuable with age! In good storage conditions, new tea gradually transforms into aged tea over time, greatly improving in taste and other aspects. When purchasing tea, you often hear sellers introduce their products as being from a certain year. What methods do you use to determine the age of ripe tea?
How to Determine the Age of Ripe Tea
Ripe teas aged 1-3 years are relatively easy to judge. Obvious warehouse smell and murky broth are the main characteristics of this period. For normally fermented Pu'er tea, if the warehouse smell is not obvious and the broth is clearer, it indicates that the seller has undergone some aging before releasing it to the market. Why does new ripe tea have a murky broth? One reason might be the manufacturer's lack of responsibility, and another could be due to it being newly fermented. The so-called third-generation Pu'er fermentation process, using yeast fermentation, currently produces a clearer broth and lighter or no warehouse smell, but the downside is that there is very little tea flavor left.
Ripe Pu'er teas within 3 years old are often thought to cause heatiness, but this isn't necessarily true; drinking ripe Pu'er tea like water every day would not lead to heatiness. For 3-7-year-old ripe Pu'er teas, the warehouse smell can mostly be ignored. The broth is clear, and after waking the tea, there are usually no miscellaneous flavors, and some may have a mild aged aroma.
Ripe teas aged 7-15 years, during this period, the age is typically determined based on the intensity of the aged aroma. Higher-grade teas, such as those of the palace grade, may exhibit lotus fragrance, while those made from coarser leaves may have jujube or Chinese medicine aromas. A clear broth is a must, with a rose-red color akin to red wine. For teas at this stage, if you cannot judge the age based on taste, then you need to consider the packaging paper and storage conditions to make a comprehensive judgment. Even then, precise determination is still challenging. To determine the age precisely, you need to compare it with the production records of the manufacturer.
How to Distinguish Good from Bad Ripe Pu'er Tea?
First, examine the appearance. Whether it's a cake, brick, or tuocha, compressed ripe Pu'er tea should be uniformly shaped and neat, with even thickness and moderate compression. The mold pattern should be clear, and the tea should be tightly bound. The typical colors are black-brown, brownish, or reddish-brown.
Secondly, smell the tea. Before brewing, there should be a scent of aged aroma. A good tea will give you a feeling of increased oxygen in the air, fresh and pleasant. If there is a musty or sour smell, it indicates poor fermentation or storage. The aged aroma is produced when multiple chemical components undergo changes under the action of microorganisms and enzymes during post-fermentation.
Controlling fermentation time and temperature appropriately results in the aged aroma of ripe tea, such as Osmanthus, jujube, and betel nut, which you can smell in the Teapot after the water has been poured out.
Then, observe the broth. A high-quality ripe Pu'er tea has a bright red broth, much like a glass of red wine. Deep red or reddish-brown broths are also normal (sometimes the broth is darker due to a larger amount of tea), but they must be transparent. If the broth is dark red, dark black, or cloudy, it indicates inferior quality tea. Some teas may have a red color but many suspended particles, indicating the presence of impurities, which also means it's not a good tea.
Finally, taste the broth. The taste of ripe tea should be mellow, smooth, sweet, and not overly stimulating, with little to no bitterness or astringency, providing a comfortable mouthfeel. No matter what kind of tea you're tasting, it's best to use small, shallow cups, preferably white glass or porcelain cups, which allow you to see the broth color and smell the cup after finishing your Drink. Additionally, if you let the ripe tea cool down before drinking, good tea will reveal sweetness, with a distinct jujube aroma.