The previous issue introduced how to taste raw Pu-erh tea (for details, see 'Dong Yue Talks Tea: How to Taste Raw Pu-erh Tea' or add WeChat: dydy800 to view). Today, we continue to share how to taste ripe Pu-erh tea. Drinking tea seriously, understanding a tea thoroughly, and being able to distinguish its quality is not easy; for ripe tea, it might be even more challenging. I will try to explain in simple and understandable language with my humble writing. Please forgive any shortcomings.
Due to the complex processing of ripe tea, we prioritize "cleanliness" above all else.
The main tasting points for ripe tea are: Thickness, Smoothness, Mellowness, Sweetness, Purity, and Aroma.
No matter how good a ripe tea tastes, cleanliness is always the most important. The processing of ripe tea involves a "wo dui" (wet piling) fermentation process. During wo dui, the raw tea is piled, watered, and repeatedly turned. This process is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and requires space. For many small-scale workshops, the conditions for fermentation and drying are not ideal, making it easy for impurities to mix in, such as dust, strands from woven bags, hair, twigs, etc. Relatively speaking, larger factories have better sanitary conditions in their wo dui areas and processes. Furthermore, the wo dui process directly determines the taste, and the experience of the master overseeing the pile greatly influences the tea. Therefore, when choosing ripe tea, new tea friends should try to select ripe tea produced by large, reputable brands, or from smaller brands they frequently purchase and trust—there are also many excellent ripe teas from smaller brands.
Tasting ripe tea seems a bit more elusive than raw tea, especially perceiving the thickness and smoothness of the tea soup. First, let's talk about thickness.
To understand the thickness of the tea soup, it's best to brew two types of ripe tea simultaneously; comparing them makes it easier to feel the difference. When brewing ripe tea, it's common to rinse it twice. Starting from the first infusion for drinking, by the fourth or fifth infusion, hold the tea soup in your mouth, gently stir with the tip of your tongue, feel the force of stirring and the impact of the tea soup against your cheeks. You can perceive the thickness of the tea soup, i.e., its viscosity. When swallowing the tea soup, the throat should feel the thick, smooth sensation of rice soup sliding down—this is the thickness of the tea soup.
To perceive smoothness, concentrate your attention on the inner cheeks of your mouth and your throat. As the tea soup passes through, you can feel how smoothly it flows. A relatively rough tea soup will have a slight scraping sensation as it moves through the mouth. This requires relatively high sensory sensitivity, but it's easier to perceive when comparing two teas.
"Mellowness" might be an additional requirement for raw tea, but for ripe tea, it is essential. A good ripe tea gives a feeling of being as warm and smooth as jade after drinking, leaving the whole body comfortable and顺畅.
After three or four infusions, the throat should not feel prickly but instead清爽 and moisturized. There should be a warm feeling from the throat down to the stomach. The mouth should not feel dry but have a清爽, warm, and moist feeling—this is "mellowness".
Next, let's talk about sweetness. The sweetness of ripe tea is very pronounced. Even before drinking, you can smell the sweet aroma when smelling the tea soup. Furthermore, ripe tea has almost no bitterness or astringency, making the sweetness even more noticeable. The sweetness can be felt as soon as the tea soup enters the mouth and touches the tongue. The sweetness of ripe tea is relatively mellow, soft, and持久. As the tea soup flows over the tongue and down the throat, the sweet taste will linger in the mouth for a moment. Smacking your lips makes it more obvious. The sweetness of ripe tea is quite delicate, akin to the feeling of a clear spring flowing under a small bridge—gentle, lingering, soft, and comfortable.
Purity is very important for ripe tea. Compared to raw tea, ripe tea is relatively straightforward. Its taste profile is "aromatic, sweet, mellow, smooth, thick, and moist." Its aroma and taste are very unique with significant differences. Therefore, if any aspect is impure, it becomes very noticeable. One obvious flaw is enough to overshadow other优点.
The most obvious place for "purity" is that after the tea soup enters the mouth, there is a feeling of being very clean and clear. When the breath emerges during exhalation, it is pure, clear, and clean, very comfortable. The 2008 'Nan Ming Jia Ren' ripe tea from South Beauty (details please refer to WeChat dydy800) has a very high repurchase rate and zero negative reviews. One reason is that this tea was made very cleanly, stored naturally in a dry warehouse后期, and its taste is extremely pure,深受 tea lovers喜爱.
Ripe tea has many types of aromas. Newly made ripe tea will inevitably have a fishy smell left from the wo dui fermentation process. It takes two to three years for this fishy smell to fade away and reveal the tea's true character. Some tea friends call this fishy smell a seafood odor. Meanwhile, due to the特殊性 of the raw materials and local water quality in Menghai, ripe tea fermented in Menghai is recognized as the best in the industry and has a unique "Menghai flavor." The so-called Menghai flavor tastes soft, sweet, and aromatic, becoming fuller and more moist with storage. The most representative is, of course, Dayi ripe tea, which is also one of the reasons why Dayi ripe tea stands firm and unique.
Ripe tea over five years old, if stored properly, generally develops other aromas, such as: camphor aroma, ginseng aroma, medicinal aroma, jujube (Chinese date) aroma, aged aroma, woody aroma, etc.
A good ripe tea is physically and mentally refreshing to drink, soft and pleasant to the taste, and provides great enjoyment. Having talked about the good, let's discuss what bad ripe tea is like.
Drinking poor-quality ripe tea might cause these reactions: A puckering or "叮嘴" sensation, numbness in the mouth and on the tongue, sour taste, spoiled taste, musty taste, or other unpleasant foreign odors and off-flavors. Except for newly made ripe tea which might have a slightly turbid liquor for the first few months, if a ripe tea stored for over a year still has a relatively turbid liquor, it is not suitable for drinking.
A good aged ripe tea should be like this: Mellow, sweet, clean, pure, with a rich and清爽 aged aroma. The aged aroma is particularly pleasant. After swallowing the tea soup, the breath exhaled carries a kind of clear, pure fragrance of old wood. To be a bit sentimental, it feels like encountering sunlight for the first time. For example, Dayi's 2007 7752 also exhibits this characteristic when tasted.
When tasting ripe tea, the foremost is cleanliness, followed by purity. When tasting, one must be calm and focused. Carefully delve into every sensation and remember the different feelings brought by ripe teas of different ages. Over time, you will develop your own understanding and ability to鉴别 ripe tea. For more articles from Dong Yue Talks Tea, please follow Dong Yue Talks Tea: dyshuocha.