In the vast river of tea culture, Puer tea stands out with its unique flavor, long history, and profound cultural heritage, becoming a shining gem in the world of Chinese and global teas. Menghai, as one of the original birthplaces and core production areas of Puer tea, has a naturally advantageous environment that nurtures countless premium teas that are highly sought after.
The “Tea Fragrance of Menghai Stories” column will cover various aspects of Puer tea, including its historical and cultural background, regional culture, processing techniques, brand culture, trade culture, ethnic tea culture, health and wellness culture, drinking culture, spiritual culture, and the construction of tea culture in Menghai. We will guide you through the historical journey of Puer tea and reveal the complex and meticulous process from fresh leaf picking to the initial processing of raw tea and then to the refined finished product.
Let us embark on this unique journey of discovery into the world of Puer tea together.
Tea Tasting
1. Tea sensory evaluation, also known as tea sensory inspection, is one of the methods for assessing tea quality. It involves trained professionals using their sense of sight, smell, taste, and touch to judge the quality of the tea.
2. The primary focus of tea sensory inspection is to evaluate issues related to tea quality, grade, and production. This includes five main aspects: the appearance (shape, uniformity, cleanliness, color), liquor color, aroma, taste, and infused leaf—often referred to as the “five factors.”
3. Puer Tea Evaluation Methods
(1) Five-Minute Brewing Method — “Single Brewing Evaluation Method”: 3 grams of tea, 100°C boiling water, brewed for 5 minutes.
This method is quick and allows for an evaluation of the tea's color, aroma, taste, shape, and overall quality characteristics in one go.
(2) Double Brewing Evaluation Method
3 grams of tea, 100°C boiling water, first brew for 3 minutes, second brew for 2 minutes. Based on the two brews, observe the tea's color, aroma, taste, shape, and overall quality characteristics; note any differences between the two brews: small differences indicate high quality; large differences indicate lower quality.
(3) Triple Brewing Evaluation Method
3 grams of tea, 100°C boiling water, first brew for 3 minutes, second brew for 2 minutes, third brew for 5 minutes. Based on the three brews, observe the differences in color, aroma, taste, shape, and overall quality characteristics; smaller differences across the three brews indicate better quality; larger differences indicate lower quality.
4. The tea evaluation process for Puer tea typically includes two parts:
(1) Dry tea evaluation (reviewing the dry leaves);
(2) Wet evaluation (reviewing the infused tea): smelling the aroma, observing the liquor color, tasting the flavor, and examining the infused leaves.
Procedure for Evaluating Dry Leaves
Evaluating the appearance of dry tea leaves relies on visual and tactile assessment. When evaluating, check the sample tea, determine the type of tea, variety, name, and origin, and then take a representative sample. Typically, the sample tea is poured into a wooden evaluation tray. Holding the tray by the opposite edges, one hand should grip the small spout, and use a rotating sifting motion to separate the leaves into upper, middle, and lower layers.
The grading of tea is based primarily on tenderness. The higher the tenderness, the higher the grade. To measure tenderness, consider three points: the number of buds, the tightness and heaviness of the rolled leaves, and the luster and smoothness of the color.
Appearance Characteristics of Puer Tea
Raw loose-leaf Puer tea has a dark green or deep green appearance with tightly rolled, plump leaves (different grades have different standards). Ripe loose-leaf Puer tea has a reddish-brown or chestnut red color, plump, tightly rolled leaves, and a unique aged aroma. Puer compressed tea requires uniform and well-formed shapes, neat edges, clear mold patterns, no layer separation or flaking, evenly distributed surface sprinkling, and appropriate compactness.
Common Terms Used in Appearance Evaluation
Tightness: The degree to which tea leaves are curled into strips or blocks.
Cleanliness: The content of tea stems, fragments, and non-tea foreign matter.
Tightly Bound: Leaves are tightly rolled and heavy.
Tightly Straight: Leaves are tightly rolled, complete, and upright.
Rough and Loose: Low tenderness, large and loosely shaped.
Uniform: Consistent size, thickness, and length of the tea.
Short and Broken: Many short and broken leaves, lacking uniformity.
Uniform and Clean: Uniform without hard fragments or other foreign matter.
Crude Leaves: Coarse and old leaves, loosely shaped, light and floating, in block or piece form.
Yellow-Green: Green with a hint of yellow, more green than yellow.
Green-Yellow: Dry tea color with more yellow than green.
Dark Green: Deep green with a bluish hue, lacking luster.
Yellow-Brown: Brown with a hint of yellow.
Orange-Yellow: Yellow with a slight reddish tinge, like orange-yellow.
Orange-Red: Red with an orangish hue.
Chestnut Red: Red with a chestnut hue, like coffee color.
Red-Brown: Brown with a reddish hue.
Chestnut-Brown: Chestnut yellow with a brown hue.
Mottled: Inconsistent color of dry leaves, messy, low cleanliness.
Oil-Lustrous: Fresh and glossy color, smooth and lustrous.
Uniform Color: Consistent leaf color.
Dull and Dark: Dull and lacking luster.
