The six main aspects of evaluating ripe Pu-erh tea are: thickness, smoothness, moistness, sweetness, purity, and aroma.
▎1. Thickness
The thickness of ripe Pu-erh tea is a very comfortable sensation. When the tea soup enters the mouth and stimulates the taste buds, stirring it with the tongue allows you to fully feel its richness and fullness, which can also be understood as a viscous texture.
Thickness is different from the concentration of the tea soup. Thickness is related to the texture of Pu-erh tea. When the tea soup has a certain intensity and contains more dissolved substances, it will feel richer and denser in taste.
▎2. Smoothness
Smoothness refers to the "oily sensation" of ripe tea, similar to the feeling of drinking chicken broth or rice porridge. Usually, a very smooth tea leaves a sensation of "a layer of oil" after drinking. This should be distinguished from the feeling of "easy to swallow because there is no bitterness."
In fact, smoothness is also related to the thickness of the tea soup. The richer the tea soup, the more obvious the smoothness will be. The tea soup flows smoothly and naturally from the mouth to the throat and stomach, leaving a strong impression on the drinker. Poor-quality tea soup may cause a "choking" sensation.
▎3. Moistness
Good ripe Pu-erh tea moistens the throat immediately, relieving dryness. Experienced tea tasters highly value this characteristic. Moistness is essential for ripe Pu-erh tea. High-quality ripe Pu-erh gives a feeling of warmth and comfort, like being bathed in a spring breeze.
After brewing three or four infusions, the tea soup leaves the throat feeling refreshed and moist, the mouth neither dry nor parched, and the stomach warm and comfortable—this is the manifestation of moistness in ripe tea.
▎4. Sweetness
Sweetness is one of the simplest and most intuitive aspects of evaluating ripe tea. Good ripe tea exudes a sweet aroma even before the tea soup enters the mouth. Additionally, ripe tea has almost no bitterness, making the sweetness even more pronounced! The sweetness is quickly felt as the tea soup touches the tongue and spreads throughout the mouth, lingering for a long time.
▎5. Purity
Purity is an important indicator of the craftsmanship of ripe tea fermentation. The hygiene of the fermentation environment, the correctness of the method, the appropriateness of the fermentation degree, and the storage conditions can all be evaluated through the purity of the tea soup.
Tea soup with good purity tastes clean and comfortable, even for those who do not typically prefer ripe tea. If there is an off-flavor, it indicates unhygienic conditions during production or contamination during storage.
▎6. Aroma
Different raw materials and blending methods bring different aromas, which is part of the charm of ripe tea. The pile-fermentation process gives new ripe tea a "fermentation odor," which is unavoidable. However, skilled craftsmanship and strict production processes can reduce this smell to some extent. After two or three years of aging, the fermentation odor fades, revealing a fuller and rounder flavor.
Aged aroma is the most basic aroma of ripe tea. If stored properly, ripe tea that has aged for more than five years will develop richer aromas, such as camphor, ginseng, medicinal, jujube, aged, or woody notes. However, this depends on the tea's quality, storage environment, and long aging time. In other words, if the tea's raw materials are poor, no amount of aging will bring pleasant surprises.
Good ripe tea speaks for itself. In the antiques trade, there is a term called "da kai men," meaning the true essence of an antique is immediately apparent without needing elaborate authentication. The same applies to tea. The physical and mental sensation of good tea does not need elaborate descriptions—it is a state of harmony between heaven and humanity, body and mind.