In the brewing of Pu-erh tea, everyone has their own methods. Ripe tea is more difficult to brew compared to raw tea. Its nature makes it harder to brew than raw tea; if not careful, it can result in weak flavor, thin texture, dull aroma, and unpleasant odors.

There is also the possibility that even with tea leaves of excellent quality and storage, one might brew a tea that causes dryness, irritation, and tightness in the throat, which is quite perplexing.

To brew ripe tea deliciously, we emphasize brewing techniques and a series of other issues. To firmly master these methods, one must first analyze the nature of the tea, identify its characteristics, and determine the brewing goals based on these characteristics, striving to work with its nature to highlight strengths and avoid weaknesses.

Smell: New ripe tea has a "wo dui" (pile fermentation) smell, or a stronger wo dui smell, which is determined by its fermentation process. Those unfamiliar with tea might mistake this smell for aged aroma, which is not entirely wrong as they are extremely similar. However, the aged aroma of ripe tea requires time to transform. Even tea from the current year needs to be brewed and carefully tasted to perceive it, while judging the wo dui smell and aged aroma by smelling the cake surface is difficult because the stronger wo dui smell masks the aged aroma.

Good ripe tea will develop a honey aroma or even aged aroma in the middle to late stages of brewing. During brewing, the first few infusions should suppress odors (wo dui smell, miscellaneous odors) and enhance the sticky, thick texture, balancing the aroma or shifting it backward. To brew a cup of tea with a not-too-strong smell but soft and smooth texture, one must control the concentration of the first few infusions to protect the performance of later infusions and improve overall durability. For the middle infusions, when the smell turns "mellow," the aroma can be appropriately stimulated. It is worth noting that aged ripe tea may have storage odors and dry leaf smells (lighter), but good aged tea will develop a excellent medicinal aroma in the middle stages of brewing.

Taste: New ripe tea has little刺激性 (stimulation); in contrast, raw tea is very stimulating. However, its soup texture is good. Although its astringency is not as good as tea that has been aged for a longer time, if brewed properly, it can present a sandy and sticky texture like bean soup.

From the above two points, it can be seen that new ripe tea is not rich enough in content and is generally not very耐泡 (durable for multiple infusions). This is not determined by the amount of tea stems, as we often say, but by the essence of the tea leaves, the production process, and later aging. In addition, the steps and utensils used for brewing ripe tea are very important. Only by constantly trying each type of Pu-erh tea can one become proficient in brewing and brew a memorable and excellent cup of tea.