There are two ways to drink tea: one is to drink it in large bowls without discerning the subtle flavors, merely to quench thirst; the other is to sit quietly in front of a table, concentrating and savoring it carefully. This article refers to the latter.
Tea lovers may appreciate its elegance and charm, its vastness and grandeur, the tea culture passed down over thousands of years, or its unique flavor. Regardless, everyone wants to understand Pu-erh tea. However, this is a vast and extensive endeavor. Many new tea enthusiasts struggle to grasp the essentials while exploring blindly. This article aims to offer a preliminary introduction on how to taste raw Pu-erh tea, based purely on personal experience. If it proves useful to tea lovers, I would be delighted.
To taste raw Pu-erh tea, one must first understand its characteristics and tasting elements. Then, during the tasting process, gradually perceive each flavor characteristic the tea presents. This is a process that requires calm and focus to fully appreciate. It involves coordinating many sensory parts of the body. Tasting Pu-erh tea is a very serene process. Though Pu-erh tea appears rough in form, it is actually delicate. If you drink it in large gulps like alcohol, you may not appreciate its wonders even after ten years. Of course, you could say, "It's just tea; why be so serious? How you drink it doesn't matter." That is also valid. But just like life, if you don't take it seriously, you won't gain much from it. The difference is only momentary.
Raw tea is primarily appreciated for its aroma, sweetness, returning sweetness and salivation, throat sensation, smoothness, and bitterness.
Aroma is often the most appealing. The forms of aroma during tasting are as follows: dry tea aroma, cup-bottom aroma, tea soup aroma, and aftertaste aroma.
Dry tea aroma is easy to understand—the natural fragrance emitted by the tea cake. Commonly, new tea has a fresh, sweet aroma; wet-stored tea may have a musty smell; poorly stored tea might have absorbed other odors.
Cup-bottom aroma is most apparent after the first rinse. After discarding the rinse water, swirl the fairness cup, and when it has cooled slightly, bring it to your nose. The tea fragrance will rush forth. New tea often exhibits a fruity or floral cold-cup aroma, which is very fresh, sweet, and rich. Cold-cup aroma is the most direct form of a tea's fragrance.
Tea soup aroma is not as easily perceived as cold-cup aroma. Usually, when the tea soup is held in the mouth, gently stir with the tip of the tongue, breathe slightly through the nose, and concentrate on sensing the fragrance in the tea soup. This aroma is very rich and layered. For example, a twelve-year-old Da Yi Green Big Tree tea might exhibit fresh wood and wild mushroom aromas, and as the number of infusions increases, these two aromas overlap and change in intensity.
After swallowing the tea soup, a slight fragrance rises slowly in the throat. This is the aftertaste aroma. Generally, after drinking three or four infusions, pause for a few minutes and carefully sense the changes in the mouth and breath to perceive the tea's回味 and韵味 (aftertaste and charm).
Some tea soups have a floating aroma, often seen in newly made teas. When the tea soup is held in the mouth, the aroma drifts unpredictably between breaths, appearing and disappearing. For teas with a stable aroma, one can feel the fragrance like a continuous silk ribbon sliding through the breath, as if it has shape. For teas with a very strong aroma, like Nanming Jiaren's 2015 new tea "Jingmai," it is extremely obvious. Jingmai's orchid fragrance is subtle and elegant, and the aroma is rich from dry leaves to tea soup.
The sweetness of the tea soup is perceived when the tea soup enters the mouth and contacts the tongue. When the tea soup enters, focus attention on the tongue, slow down the flow of the tea soup, and carefully sense the sweetness where the tongue, cheeks, and tea soup meet. Of course, for most teas, the bitterness upon entry is stronger than the sweetness. A few mountain teas have higher sweetness upon entry. Sweetness is relatively representative of Lincang teas, such as Bingdao and Xigui ancient tree teas, which are very sweet upon entry. Nanming Jiaren's 2015 ancient tree tea "Xigui" is a typical example. For detailed introduction, please refer to WeChat (dyshuocha).
Bitterness and astringency seem unavoidable in new tea. For tea, bitterness is very normal. Some people give up on a tea after the first bitter sip. In fact, we often say, "The bitterness upfront is followed by sweetness." This feeling is confirmed in Lao Man E bitter tea. Bitterness and astringency are inherent to tea and are unavoidable. How bitter is Lao Man E bitter tea? One sip makes you want to throw the cup. But over the years, Lao Man E bitter tea has continued to rise in price and is in short supply. What everyone seeks is the moment of "bitterness ends, sweetness comes."
Returning sweetness and salivation are two different sensations. Returning sweetness is the very clear and moist sweet taste produced on the cheeks and tongue after swallowing the tea soup. Returning sweetness accompanies bitterness and occurs after the bitterness. How quickly a tea's bitterness transforms into returning sweetness is an important indicator of its vitality. Tea with good vitality has richer internal quality and greater potential for later transformation.
Returning sweetness is relatively easy to perceive. After drinking two or three infusions, pause for two minutes and focus on the area of the throat near the tongue. You can feel a returning sweetness, similar to that after eating green olives. For example, Nanming Jiaren's 2015 new tea "Yue Quan" has a very obvious reaction in terms of returning sweetness and salivation.
Salivation is the easiest of the many flavors to experience. Within minutes after swallowing the tea soup, saliva emerges from under the tongue and even the cheeks. The often-mentioned "spring bubbling under the tongue" refers to salivation, which is generally more obvious in current year's new tea.
Throat sensation usually becomes more apparent after four or five infusions. Throat sensation can manifest in more than one way. For example, the throat may feel cool and refreshing, or there may be a noticeable empty feeling in the throat when breathing, or a sweet fragrance may spread from the throat throughout the breath during回味. The manifestation of throat sensation is both physical and mental refreshment, a feeling of openness and pleasure. Nanming Jiaren's meticulously produced 2015 five-hundred-year Jingmai ancient tree tea, while showcasing Jingmai's subtle orchid fragrance, exhibits an extremely clear and sweet early spring flower charm in the throat sensation, which is very enticing.
What does "smoothness" feel like? The simplest method is to take a large mouthful of tea soup, slowly stir with the tip of the tongue, and feel the texture as the tea soup flows over both sides of the mouth. A smooth tea soup gives a feeling of clear, spring-water-like moisture as it flows, and after swallowing, the mouth and throat do not feel dry. Instead, they remain refreshing and slightly sweet.
For aged tea, there is another aspect worth savoring—aged aroma. Raw tea stored in Kunming will gradually develop an aged aroma after at least five years of dry storage. Aged aroma is a very warm feeling, with a unique nostalgic气息. For tea with a strong aged aroma, you can smell it before tasting by sniffing the tea soup. After swallowing the tea soup, take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. Between breaths, there is a smell of old wood, like pushing open an aged wooden door, with sunlight passing through dust and falling on the wood, emitting an old and warm smell. It is very comfortable and makes one情不自禁地沉淀下来 (involuntarily settle down). The charm of aged tea lies in this flavor full of experience and years.
When tasting raw tea, focusing on its aroma, sweetness, bitterness, astringency, returning sweetness, salivation, throat sensation, smoothness, and the tea energy possessed by very few top-quality teas, one can basically perceive its true flavor and thus discern the general quality level of a tea. If there are other unclear aspects, you can add my personal WeChat (dydy800) to discuss together. As for how to taste ripe tea, we will explain in detail next time. Please follow the Dong Yue Speaks Tea WeChat (dyshuocha) public account.
By Dong Yue (Founder of Nanming Jiaren, Senior Tea Artist). The "Dong Yue Speaks Tea" series of articles are now simultaneously updated on well-known websites such as Sohu, Today's Headlines, Tea Talk Net, China Tea Net, and Banxia Tea Net.