Drink Pu'er Like a Professional Taster: Sensory Evaluation Methods

At tea factories, tea competitions, and testing labs, professional tasters don't brew slowly in a gaiwan. Instead they use a fixed "sensory evaluation" method: the same amount of tea, the same amount of water, the same time, so every tea starts from the same line. The method looks serious, but it's actually great for practicing at home, and especially handy when comparing two or three teas.

Evaluation Equipment

• Evaluation cup: White porcelain with a lid, and a serrated pouring notch on the rim. Common sizes are 150 ml and 250 ml.
• Evaluation bowl: A white porcelain bowl that receives the liquor, for looking at its color and tasting.
• Spent-leaf tray: A white dish for spreading out the spent leaves.
• Balance or digital scale: Accurate to 0.1 g.
• Timer, spoon, and spittoon.

The white equipment is for judging liquor color and leaf color accurately.

Tea-to-Water Ratio and Time

China's national standard for sensory evaluation of tea (GB/T 23776-2018) specifies that loose dark teas (heicha) be evaluated in cylindrical evaluation cups at a tea-to-water ratio of 1:50, that is, 3 g of tea to 150 ml of water, or 5 g of tea to 250 ml of water, and brewed twice:

Tightly pressed compressed teas open slowly, so the times are extended according to how tight the pressing is: about 2–5 minutes for the first infusion and about 5–8 minutes for the second.

The Yunnan Tea Marketing Association's group standard for sun-dried green tea (the raw material of pu'er) uses 5 g of tea, 250 ml of water, and a single 4-minute steep. The details vary slightly between standards, but they share one point: only with fixed conditions can the comparison be fair.

The Five Evaluation Factors

During evaluation, tasters look at these five factors in order:

1. Appearance: The dry leaves' shape, color, wholeness, and cleanliness; for compressed tea, whether the shape is regular, whether the pressing is appropriately firm, and whether the surface is smooth.
2. Liquor color: Hue, brightness, and clarity. Raw tea ranges from yellow-green to golden; ripe tea is deep red. Bright and not cloudy is a good sign.
3. Aroma: Type, purity, and persistence. Smell it hot for aroma type, warm for purity, and cold for persistence.
4. Flavor: Strength, mellowness, huigan (the sweet aftertaste), and how quickly bitterness and astringency fade.
5. Spent leaves: Tenderness, color, evenness, and softness.

Each factor is weighted differently depending on the tea type. In the group standard for sun-dried green tea, for example, appearance is 20%, aroma 25%, flavor 30%, liquor color 15%, and spent leaves 10%. Flavor and aroma together make up more than half, showing that "how it tastes" is what matters most.

How to Practice at Home

No evaluation cups? No problem. Two identical gaiwans or mugs are enough for a simplified version:

1. Prepare: Weigh 3 g of each tea and put each into a cup of about 150 ml.
2. Add water: Pour in 100°C boiling water at the same time and cover.
3. First infusion, 2 minutes: Pour the liquor into white porcelain cups. Compare the liquor color first, then smell, then take a small sip.
4. Second infusion, 5 minutes: Fill again with boiling water and pour after 5 minutes. This time, focus on aroma and compare flavor.
5. Look at the spent leaves: Tip the leaves onto a white plate and compare color, softness, and wholeness.
6. Take notes: Write a word or two for each factor, for example "golden, bright liquor," "honey aroma, still there when cold," "bitterness fades fast, lasting huigan."

Evaluation brewing is stronger than everyday brewing; the aim is to magnify each tea's strengths and flaws. After a few rounds of practice, when you go back to everyday gaiwan brewing, you'll find yourself picking up a tea's characteristics more easily.

Evaluation vs. Everyday Tasting

The two don't conflict: evaluation helps you see a tea clearly, and tasting lets you truly enjoy it. For everyday tasting steps, read Tasting Pu'er: From Dry Leaf, Liquor Color, Aroma, and Flavor to Spent Leaves; descriptive terms are in A Pocket Dictionary of Pu'er Tasting Terms.

Compare one Bingdao Old Village Dragon Pearls pearl with another raw tea you have on hand using this method, and Bingdao's sweetness will come through very clearly.

How Scoring Works

Formal evaluation scores each factor and then adds them up by weight. Taking Yunnan's group standard for sun-dried green tea as an example:

When practicing at home, there's no need to score; describing each factor in a word or two is enough. What matters is using the same conditions each time, so your notes can be meaningfully compared.

Common Evaluation Terms for Flaws

Knowing these terms, when you taste a tea that seems off, you'll be able to say where the problem lies.

Small Rules for Evaluation

• Don't eat strongly flavored food or wear perfume before evaluating;
• Keep water temperature and time the same for every tea;
• Don't compare too many teas at once; three or four is best;
• Look at liquor color first, then smell, and taste last; a fixed order keeps your judgment from getting muddled.

FAQ

Why steep for so long in evaluation? Long, concentrated brewing magnifies a tea's strengths and flaws, making comparison easier; there's no need to brew like this for everyday drinking.

Is there a difference between 3 g to 150 ml and 5 g to 250 ml? Both have a 1:50 tea-to-water ratio; only the amount differs. Choose based on the cups you have.

Do you have to spit it out when evaluating? Professional tasters spit because they taste many teas at a time; when comparing two or three teas at home, it's fine to swallow.