Off-Flavors and Defects: Smoky, Sour, Stuffy, Watery, and Foreign Odors

Good pu'er has a clean aroma and a pure taste. But drink tea long enough and you'll run into some flavors that seem "off." Some of these off-flavors are left over from production, some are picked up in storage, and some are just a matter of brewing. Once you know the source, you'll know whether to change how you brew, let the tea rest for a while, or accept that this tea simply has a defect.

Is Sourness in Pu'er Normal?

It depends on the kind of sourness:

• Slight sourness in ripe tea: New ripe tea recently out of the pile sometimes has a hint of sourness, related to organic acids produced by microbes during wodui. After some time in storage with ventilation, it usually fades gradually.
• Sourness from moisture: Tea stored in an overly humid environment develops a distinct sourness, often accompanied by a stuffy or moldy smell, and the liquor may darken. This is a storage problem.
• Fruity acidity in raw tea: Some raw teas have a slight fruit-like acidity that's refreshing and not harsh; it's part of the flavor and mostly isn't considered a defect.

The rule of thumb: sourness that's refreshing, very slight, and free of other off-notes is usually fine; sourness that's pungent and carries a damp, moldy note means you should check the storage. How to identify mold is in How to Identify Mold.

Where Does Smokiness Come From?

Common sources of smokiness in pu'er:

1. Firewood during pan-firing: Traditional pan-firing uses woks over wood fires; if the heat isn't well controlled or the smoke isn't vented properly, the leaves absorb the smoke.
2. Picked up while sun-drying or spreading: The leaves were left to dry in an environment with cooking smoke.
3. Drying temperatures too high: A scorched, burnt smokiness, usually accompanied by scorched edges on the spent leaves.

Slight smokiness often weakens after a few years in storage; tea with a heavy burnt-smoky taste often suffers in taste and throat feel as well. Details on making shaiqing maocha are in Pan-Firing and Rolling.

What Is a Stuffy Taste?

A stuffy taste (悶味) is an airless, unrefreshing smell, like a closed room or a hot, stuffy closet, or like the stewed smell of vegetables cooked under a lid too long. Common causes:

• Fresh leaves weren't spread out well and heated up in a pile;
• Leaves weren't spread to cool promptly after pan-firing, or were left piled too long after rolling;
• Storage that's sealed too tightly, or a hot, humid environment.

Stuffiness from processing is hard to get rid of; slight stuffiness from storage often clears up somewhat after some time in a ventilated, clean environment (commonly called "awakening" the tea). Also, leaving the gaiwan lid on while brewing and stewing the leaves at high heat can brew a stuffy taste. That's a brewing problem; just lift the lid after pouring.

What Is a Watery Taste?

A watery taste (水味) means the tea drinks like "water is water and tea is tea": the flavor floats on top of the water without blending in, and you can even taste the water itself. Common causes:

• Brewed too weak: Too little tea or too short a steep.
• Later infusions: The tea is spent and little substance remains.
• Thin raw material: Rainy-season tea and material low in substance naturally have a thin mouthfeel.
• Poor water: Chlorine or scale tastes from tap water.

The first two are fixed by adjusting your brewing; the last two call for different raw material or different water.

Where Do Paper and Plastic Smells Come From?

Tea readily absorbs odors, so its "neighbors" in storage matter a lot:

• Paper smell: The smell of new cotton-paper wrappers or cardboard boxes, or tea kept too long in a bookcase or cardboard box. Usually slight, and it fades after unwrapping and airing for a while.
• Plastic smell: Tea kept in unsuitable plastic bags or boxes, or stored somewhere with the smell of plastic products.
• Other foreign odors: Mothballs, perfume, kitchen fumes, cleaning products, and the varnish of wooden cabinets can all be absorbed by tea.

These odors are storage contamination; avoid them by keeping tea away from smelly environments and using clean, odor-free containers. How to deal with tea that has picked up odors is in Tea Absorbing and Picking Up Odors.

Steps When You Meet an Off-Flavor

1. Change the brewing first: Steep shorter, lift the lid, use fresh water, and rule out brewing problems.
2. Then check the spent leaves and dry leaf: Look for scorched edges, mold spots, or unusual colors.
3. Air it out for a while: Slight paper smells, pile aroma, and stuffiness often fade.
4. If a distinct moldy smell or foreign odor won't go away: We don't recommend continuing to drink it; contact the seller to ask.

Evaluation terms for off-flavors are in Negative Terms.

FAQ

Is sourness in pu'er normal? Slight sourness in new ripe tea or a refreshing fruity acidity in raw tea is usually fine; pungent sourness with a damp, moldy note means the tea got damp in storage.

Where does smokiness come from? Mostly from poor smoke venting during wood-fired pan-firing, cooking smoke picked up while drying, or a burnt smokiness from drying temperatures that were too high.

What is a stuffy taste? An airless, unrefreshing smell, which may come from improper spreading or piling during processing, or from overly stuffy storage or leaving the lid on while brewing.

Where do paper and plastic smells come from? Tea absorbs surrounding odors, so storing it in cardboard boxes, plastic containers, or smelly environments transfers them; slight odors fade with airing.