The world of Puer tea is complex, but not unfathomable. Ideas about the importance of knowing a tea’s provenance make the thing seem more complicated – what is important is to be able to assess if tea is any good irrespective of its origins. It is knowledge that might take some time to acquire and some persistence in tea tasting, but it is accessible.

The Fragrance of Tea

For the main, Puer fragrances can be divided into two kinds; distinct and indistinct or explicit and implicit. The Distinct fragrance of Raw Puer tea is immediately obvious as a delicate, bright fragrance; a fresh, crisp aroma that is uplifting.

Good quality old tea has a ‘matured’ fragrance (chen wei). This comes from tea that has been stored well and matured without any adverse effects. (cang wei – a ‘dank,musty’ smell that can be detected in old tea that has been stored poorly – should be clearly distinguished from chen wei which is quite different).

If, when smelling tea there, is any strange or unpleasant smell, one may well consider not proceeding further to tasting the tea as it will likely not be satisfactory, but sometimes with older teas that have been in storage for a long time there can be some storage type smells which will wash out after a few steeps, in which case the tea is worth persisting with.

Indistinct fragrance is, by nature, restrained, hidden and it is only by steeping the tea and then smelling a cup that has just been emptied of tea can one appreciate this fragrance. This fragrance in the cup does not always translate to a fragrance in the broth, which is certainly a superior experience, but sheng Puer is not highly fragrant.

Again, when tasting the tea, if there is any odd or un-natural smell one might well desist from drinking it.

The Appearance of Tea

The appearance of dry tea leaves is affected by the form, be it loose, cake, brick, bowl and so on, how much sunlight the leaves have absorbed, the production methods, etc.

If the leaves appear dried out, lifeless or impoverished in some way it is an indicator that there has been a problem with the production or storage of the tea.

Also, picking over the leaves, they should look plump, fertile, with an appearance of abundance. The tips should be delicate with distinct hairs on the leaves and a uniformity to the overall appearance. The spent leaves of quality Puer tea will ideally still have some elasticity in them.

Closer Examination of Puer

High quality broad leaf variety tea (camelia sinensis assamica) should not produce any uncomfortable effects such as prickling, tingling or numbing. Nor should there be any errant aromas or flavours such as smokiness, sourness, mouldiness, dry or drying sensations.

Some things to avoid;

Prickling, Tingling, Numbing

The rule of thumb is that ancient tea trees are over 100 years old. Their ability to resist natural problems; diseases and infestations is high. This variety of tea tree has existed in this habitat for thousands of years. The trees are already extremely resilient and the environment in which they are growing has mostly been left in untouched. There is no need for tea farmers to use agro-chemicals. But where any such chemicals have been used it is often reckoned that it will likely take 7-10 years for the residues to abate sufficiently for the trace to disappear.

The best test is to see if, when drinking tea, there are any of the above sensations on or near the tip of the tongue, or in the throat. If this is so one can be reasonably certain that agro-chemicals are present.

Smokiness

The art of making tea from ancient tea trees is very old. Hand-roasting is not easily mastered. Any slight error will influence the taste of the tea. Smokiness or yan wei is one example but it should be distinguished from a burned flavour or hu wei. The latter, typically arises when tea is not well roasted and is not uncommon. Yan wei or smokiness may come from processing or because the tea was been stored in a farmer’s house where there was an open fire, and has picked up some smokiness from there. Smokiness is not necessarily a negative trait. Much early Bulang Shan tea had a smokey quality, but it was still good tea. As farmers skills and situations have improved, smokey tea has become much less common.

Sourness

In new tea, sourness is most likely due to inadequate airing after the rolling process or, after pressing tea into cakes, they have been immediately exposed to the sun. The tea soup will likely be turbid. Sometimes it can be because of problems in the production process but can also be something that happens as a phase in the ageing process. Some Yiwu teas are like that, and go through a stage where they have a slightly sour fruity note – 梅子味/mei zi wei. This will naturally disappear after some time.

Fishy, Mouldy Aromas

Fishy aromas have typically been associated more with shou Puer than sheng and is a result of the pile fermentation process. In the past some shou Puer would still have a prominent fishy note, sometimes even after years of storage, In recent years it has become much less common.

The Inherent Qualities of Tea

Raw Puer tea naturally has bitterness,astringency, fragrance and sweetness.

Bitterness

Broad leaf variety (sinenesis assamica) is high in natural constituents; polyphenols, caffeine, theine, etc. A particularly bitter flavour is a special characteristic of the broad leaf variety, but it is important that it transforms quickly and does not linger. This is a mark of good quality Puer. NB there is a sub-variety in Yunnan – Var. ku cha which has different characteristics and does not transform in the same way.

Astringency

Astringency invariably accompanies bitterness. In some Puer the astringency is more pronounced, the bitterness slightly weaker. A benefit of astringency is that it can help promote salivation. Pleasant astringency will last for a short while and then dissolve, giving way to sweetness, etc. If an astringency does not abate -化不开/hua bu kai, or is uncomfortable, it is a sign of an inferior quality tea.

Fragrance

Broad leaf variety old tree tea aromas are sometimes divided into the following;

fruit-flower fragrance, honey-flower fragrance, honey-sweet fragrance
date-jujube fragrance, orchid flower fragrance, camphor fragrance
sticky rice fragrance, lotus flower fragrance, mellow-aged fragrance

In reality, with old or ancient tree tea, the aromas are often not that distinct and easy to pinpoint, and may well sit somewhere between a few of the basic categories listed above. There are also quite often earthy, vegetal, grassy-herbal fragrances that are not listed. The spectrum of sheng Puer aromas is both subtle and broad.

Some teas are more noticeably fragrant, others have a less obvious prolonged fragrance. Although there are many different kinds of fragrance, they should all be natural, smooth and easy to get a feeling for. These fragrances may only appear when the tea is drunk and may will not be evident when smelling the dry tea. Some teas produce a very obvious ‘bei xiang’ others not so, but the broth is none-the-less fragrant.

Sweetness

When one drinks raw Puer tea it will fairly quickly turn sweet. It is a sweetness that is generally discerned more in the throat rather than the mouth.The stronger, more long-lasting, more even the flavour, the better the tea is thought to be. Some teas are sweet in the mouth but produce less of a hui gan, others may be less sweet in the mouth but with a ‘hui gan‘ appearing more in the throat. Some, the hui gan appears quickly, others slowly. Likewise, not all Puers are equally sweet.

Smoothness, Softness

When stored in the correct environment the tea, over time will change, hence – post-fermented. Due to this, the bitterness and astringency will slowly transform. The flavour will soften, become more mellow, rich, the character will become more rounded and mature.

Recollections

Any good thing or experience in life can leave one with a profound memory that is hard to forget, particularly when it is sensory, of which smell and taste are perhaps the most evocative. Drinking pure sinensis assamica can be such an experience. Much is said on Puer tea and there is a fair bit of misunderstanding about what makes good tea. Inordinate weight is often given to where a tea comes from or it’s age without appreciating what that implies – many places produce good Puer tea, each with it’s own unique characteristics, but these are all in addition to the above qualities discussed above.