Plucking Standards: Single Bud, One Bud One Leaf, One Bud Two or Three Leaves
A pu'er cake's personality starts being decided the moment the tea is picked. How tender, how many leaves, by hand or by machine, from a terrace bush or up an ancient tree: every choice stays in the liquor.
What Does "One Bud Two Leaves" Mean?
At the tip of a tea shoot is an unopened bud, with the first, second, and third leaves growing below it in turn. When picking, the bud and leaves are taken together, and how many leaves are taken gives the name "one bud, X leaves":
| Standard | What's picked | Common uses |
|---|---|---|
| Single bud | The bud only | Golden-bud ripe tea, golden melon tribute tea, bud tea |
| One bud one leaf | Bud + 1st leaf | High-grade face sprinkling, very tender teas |
| One bud two leaves | Bud + 1st and 2nd leaves | Tender raw and ripe teas |
| One bud two or three leaves | Bud + 2–3 leaves | The most common standard for pu'er |
| One bud three or four leaves | Bud + 3–4 leaves | Thick taste, good sweetness; often used in blends and ripe tea |
Pu'er is mostly picked at one bud with two or three leaves. The reason is practical: Yunnan large-leaf tea has big, plump buds and leaves, and the second and third leaves are still tender and rich in substance; and since pu'er has to hold up to long storage, it needs leaves with some maturity to give the liquor its backbone.
Is More Tender Always Better?
Not necessarily. Tender and mature each have strengths:
- More buds: A fine aroma, a smooth texture, and an attractive appearance, but less depth of taste and staying power over infusions, and a higher price.
- Slightly more mature leaves: A thick liquor, noticeable sweetness, good staying power, and room to transform with storage.
The tea world often says pu'er "doesn't chase the most tender, it chases just right." One bud with two or three leaves balances aroma and backbone, which is why it's the mainstream. The same goes for ripe tea: the national standard divides loose ripe pu'er into 11 grades, with special grade having the most buds and the leaves getting sturdier further down; each has its fans. See Grades of Ripe Loose Pu'er.
When Is Tea Picked?
- Time of day: Mostly from after the morning dew has dried until around noon; fresh leaves picked on rainy days hold more water and are harder to process.
- Season: Spring tea in March–May, summer tea in the rainy season, autumn tea (guhua tea) around August–October. Seasonal differences are in Spring Tea, Summer Tea, and Autumn Tea.
- Rounds: Terrace tea can be picked several rounds a season; to let the trees recover, many villages pick ancient trees only once or twice a season.
Hand-Picking vs. Machine-Picking
| Hand-picking | Machine-picking | |
|---|---|---|
| Selectivity | Only buds and leaves meeting the standard are taken | Cut in one pass, mixing old and tender |
| Integrity | Intact buds and leaves, little damage | More broken and fragmented leaves |
| Efficiency | Slow, high labor cost | Fast, suited to level terrace gardens |
| Suited to | Ancient trees, large trees, high-grade terrace tea | Large, flat terrace gardens |
Yunnan's tea regions are mostly on mountain slopes, and ancient and large trees vary in height, so the vast majority of pu'er raw material is still hand-picked. Machine-picking is mainly used in level, neatly pruned terrace gardens.
How Pickers Climb Ancient Trees
Ancient tea trees haven't been dwarfed, and their main trunks are often several meters tall, so picking is quite a sight:
- Bamboo ladders: A bamboo ladder is set against the tree, and the picker stands on it to pick the outer buds and leaves.
- Climbing the tree: Skilled pickers climb right onto the main branches, feet on the forks, one hand steadying themselves on the tree and the other picking.
- Baskets and cloth bags: Fresh leaves go into a back basket or a cloth bag at the waist, emptied once full.
A skilled picker can often gather only a dozen or so kilograms of ancient-tree fresh leaves a day, far less than from terrace tea. When climbing to pick, pickers must avoid fragile branches and must not strip a tree of all its buds and leaves at once, so as not to harm it. Care of ancient gardens is covered in Understory Tea and the Management of Ancient Tea Gardens.
After the Fresh Leaves Are Picked
Picked leaves need to get back to the primary processing workshop quickly, so they don't get crushed and overheated in the basket. In Yunnan, fresh leaves are often spread and kill-greened from the evening into the night of the same day, so workshops are often busy until late during the picking season. The next step, spreading, is covered in Spreading Fresh Leaves: To Wither or Not to Wither.
Reading the Plucking Standard from the Infused Leaves
After brewing, spread out the infused leaves and count the buds and leaves, and you can roughly tell the plucking standard: many buds and small, intact leaves mean tender picking; clearly recognizable one-bud-two-or-three-leaf sets are pu'er's common standard; many single large leaves and coarse stems mean rougher picking or more mature material. Intact leaves with few torn edges usually mean hand-picking; many broken leaves and fragments may mean machine-picking or crushing during processing. It's the most direct way to get to know a tea's raw material.
FAQ
How many leaves are picked for pu'er? Most commonly one bud with two or three leaves; high grades use one bud with one or two leaves, and ripe tea and blending material also use one bud with three or four leaves.
What does "one bud two leaves" mean? Picking the bud at the tip together with the two tender leaves below it.
Is more tender always better? Not necessarily. More buds give a fine aroma and smooth texture; slightly more mature leaves give a thick liquor that holds up to infusions and storage. Each has its uses.
Is pu'er hand-picked or machine-picked? The vast majority is hand-picked; machine-picking is used only in level terrace gardens.