The core features of ripened Pu'er Tea are aroma, sweetness, mellow taste, smoothness, thickness, and moisture. Generally, the appearance of ripened Pu'er tea is uniform and its color is reddish-brown. After brewing, the tea soup is finely textured and rich, with a sweet, smooth, and silky mouthfeel. The taste in the mouth is viscous, solid, and full. High-quality aged ripened Pu'er tea also has a prominent woody or medicinal fragrance.

The Characteristics and Features of Pu'er Ripened Tea

The shape and color: compact and cylindrical, the color is lustrous dark red (often referred to as liver-colored), some bud teas are dark golden yellow.

Aroma: there is an obvious pile-fermentation smell. Lighter fermented teas have a similar aroma to longan, while heavier fermented ones have a musty wet mat smell.

Taste experience: highly fermented teas have a thick and smooth broth and are almost devoid of bitterness and astringency. Lightly fermented teas still have a returning sweetness after tasting, with a noticeable aroma and a heavier mouthfeel. If not stored in a humid warehouse, the taste can easily turn slightly acidic after aging. If fermentation fails, the new tea has an acidic taste and bitterness that does not dissipate; after a period of storage, it can produce an unpleasant sensation of sourness in the cheeks.

Broth color: deep red is the broth color for most lightly fermented ripened teas. Many merchants claim their ripened tea will not turn black even when over-steeped, using this to prove the quality of their ripened tea. This method only indicates the tea has been lightly fermented and cannot determine the quality of the tea. It's important to note that one cannot solely judge the quality of ripened tea based on the depth of its color. Dark red to black is the broth color for most heavily fermented ripened teas.

Leaf base: after being moistened and pile-fermented, lightly fermented teas have a red-brown leaf base that is not supple. Heavily fermented teas usually have a mostly dark brown or black leaf base that is harder and more brittle. Failed fermentations result in a leaf base that disintegrates easily upon gentle rubbing.

Features of Pu'er Ripened Tea

1. Aroma

Shou aroma is the basic aroma of ripened tea. If properly stored, ripened tea that has undergone five years or more of transformation will further develop into richer aromas, such as camphor, ginseng, medicinal, jujube, aged, woody aromas, etc.

The pile-fermentation process may give new ripened teas a “pile-fermentation flavor.” However, skilled craftsmanship and strict production processes can reduce this smell to a certain extent. After two to three years of transformation, the pile-fermentation flavor fades, revealing a fuller and smoother taste.

2. Sweetness

Sweetness is one of the most direct aspects when appraising ripened tea. Good ripened tea has a sweet aroma before the broth enters the mouth. Moreover, ripened tea has almost no bitterness or astringency, making the sweetness more apparent!

After the broth enters the mouth and comes into contact with the tongue, you can quickly feel the sweetness spreading throughout the mouth, lingering for a long time.

3. Smoothness

Smoothness refers to the “oily and smooth feeling” of ripened tea, similar to drinking chicken soup or rice porridge. Typically, very smooth teas leave a feeling of “leaving a layer of oil” in the mouth, different from the ease of swallowing.

In fact, smoothness is related to the thickness of the broth. The thicker the broth, the more pronounced the smoothness. After letting the broth linger in the mouth for a moment and then flowing down the throat and into the stomach, it feels very smooth, warm, and natural, leaving a strong impression on the taster. In contrast, low-quality teas can have a “throat-locking” sensation.

4. Moisture

Good ripened Pu'er tea moisturizes the throat upon entry, immediately relieving dryness. This moisture is essential for ripened tea, as high-quality ripened tea should leave a feeling of warmth and comfort like jade or a refreshing breeze.

After brewing three to four infusions of ripened tea, the throat feels refreshed and moisturized, and the mouth is neither dry nor parched. Swallowing the broth leaves the entire stomach feeling warm and comfortable, demonstrating the moisture of ripened tea.

5. Thickness

Thickness is not the same as broth concentration. Thickness is related to the quality of Pu'er tea. When the broth contains a higher concentration of dissolved substances, it has a richer and denser mouthfeel.

The thickness of ripened Pu'er tea is a very pleasant sensation. As the broth slides into the mouth and stimulates the taste buds, swishing the broth around with the tip of the tongue, you can fully experience its richness and fullness, which can also be understood as a kind of viscosity.