Truly understanding Pu-erh tea and enjoying the pleasure of tea appreciation is not easy. Beyond requiring long-term personal experience and accumulated knowledge, it also demands a rich intellectual framework and an appreciation for the art of living.
\nFor raw Pu-erh tea, the unique color, aroma, flavor, energy, and resonance require engaging the perceptual organs \u2014 hands, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, throat, brain, lungs, stomach \u2014 and all the taste bud cells, as well as the hollow cavities of the nasal, oral, throat, chest, cranial, and abdominal regions, to perceive the abstract realms of aromatic resonance, energy field, and energy channels. Combined with a certain level of life experience and aesthetic sensibility, one can more deeply comprehend and enjoy its social, philosophical, and artistic dimensions.
\nRaw Tea Appreciation: Color
\nDry leaf color
\nBud tips are greyish-white; one leaf carries a grey tone, two leaves gradually darken, three leaves are oily black, and the stems are oily black with a hint of red. The overall appearance of the unfinished tea should be grey-black and lustrous, with clearly defined strands, diverse and vivid colors, and an overall dryness that makes them easy to snap. Special attention: if the overall color shifts too green-grey or shows excessive red or yellow, there is likely a problem. Either the kill-green pan temperature was too high or the duration too long, pushing toward green tea technique, resulting in excessive aroma loss that is detrimental to long-term transformation. Reddish stems and leaves indicate insufficient kill-green or that the fresh leaves were compressed and fermented. Fresh leaves should only be left to wither undisturbed, never shaken to raise aroma, as that would push toward oolong tea technique. Nor is it permissible to pile the kill-green-rolled buds at high temperature, pushing toward yellow tea technique, which causes the overall appearance to turn yellow.<\/p>\n
Tea liquor color
\nThe liquor color also reflects some basic characteristics of tea quality. When Pu-erh tea production is completed, the first brew should be golden yellow and brilliantly clear. Processing during the rainy season will affect its clarity. A very small number of red leaves or stems causing slight redness is not a major issue. Excessive redness should be avoided \u2014 it indicates “black tea-ification,” with fermentation-like aromas escaping. If the liquor still shows green-blue and has a bean or chestnut aroma, the Pu-erh may have been “green tea-ified,” which will affect later transformation, reducing vitality, slowing transformation significantly, and causing flat, stubborn flavors. If the liquor is too yellow, it may have been “yellow tea-ified.” If the liquor is too green and the aroma too flamboyant, it may have been “oolong-ified.”
\nIn short, any deviation from standard Pu-erh production methods, introducing special techniques of one kind or another, will produce abnormalities in the liquor color. The normal progression of Pu-erh tea liquor color should be: light yellow, deep yellow, golden yellow, red-yellow, light red, golden red, chestnut red.<\/p>\n
Wet leaf color
\nWhen freshly brewed, the wet leaves of new raw Pu-erh should be blue-green, turning greyish-white after prolonged brewing. If a trace of yellow appears, it indicates good ecology, high altitude, and infrequent harvesting \u2014 all signs of excellent tea quality.
\nAs storage time passes, the wet leaf color of aged raw Pu-erh gradually transitions from blue-green to yellow-green, light yellow, deep yellow, yellow-red, and chestnut-red. In short, the wet leaf color of raw Pu-erh reveals the degree of aging transformation and provides clues about tea quality, tree age, and variety. Of course, it must be combined with the comprehensive assessment of aroma, flavor, energy, resonance, and environment for a final evaluation.<\/p>\n
Raw Tea Appreciation: Aroma
\nAroma refers to the overall pleasing, comfortable scents and flavors. Fragrance is the sensation produced when certain volatile substances stimulate the olfactory nerves in the nasal cavity. The sun-drying process determines that Pu-erh tea’s fragrance is the most enduring and the most restrained of all teas, because the sun-drying method involves no high-temperature processing \u2014 it is the most natural of all teas.
\nThe characteristics of Pu-erh tea aroma are: a sunshine fragrance unified with tea fragrance, floral fragrance, and other notes, like wild honey with a slight sweetness. This fragrance is unmatched by any other tea category \u2014 this is the soul of Pu-erh tea aroma. Next is the smoky aroma. A light smokiness, after long storage, transforms into a distinctive Pu-erh flavor. Smoky aroma adds layers of fragrance, but if the smoke is too heavy, it becomes very drying to the mouth and is difficult to fully dissipate.
\nPu-erh’s fragrance is primarily about flavor-scent, not just aromatic-scent. The difference between energy and flavor is vast. Aromatic fragrance is showy, floating, and unstable; flavor-scent is restrained, steady, enduring, and persistent. Simply put: flavor-scent is fragrance gathered into the tea liquor, hidden within it. So the essence of Pu-erh aroma is liquor-fragrance, not air-fragrance \u2014 it is a fragrance perceived by invading the taste bud cells and the body, not merely by the olfactory organs alone. (To be continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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