Tasting Pu'er: From Dry Leaf, Liquor Color, and Aroma to Flavor and Spent Leaves

Tasting tea isn't just for experts. As long as you know what to look at, smell, and taste, anyone can discover what's good about a pu'er. Tea evaluation usually looks at five aspects: appearance, liquor color, aroma, flavor, and spent leaves.

1. Appearance: Look at the Dry Leaf

Compressed Tea

• Compression: Pressed moderately, with neat edges, not loose or crumbling.
• Leaf shape: Leaves are clearly defined and intact, with little dust.
• Color: Raw (sheng) tea is dark green, gray-green, or chestnut brown with a natural sheen; ripe (shou) tea is reddish brown or brownish black, often with visible golden buds.
• Cleanliness: No foreign matter, no mold spots.

Smell the Dry Aroma

Put the tea in a warmed gaiwan, cover it, give it a shake, and smell. Is the aroma clean and clear? Is there any smoky, musty, or other off note?

2. Liquor Color: Look at the Brew

Pour the tea into a white porcelain cup or a clear glass fairness pitcher and hold it up to the light:

• Brightness: Good tea liquor is clear and bright, like a gemstone.
• Color: Young raw tea is yellow-green or golden; aged raw tea is orange-yellow or amber; ripe tea is deep red.
• Sheen: Good tea liquor has a glossy surface that looks almost "oily."

Cloudy, dull liquor may point to problems with processing or storage.

3. Aroma: Smell Three Places

• Lid aroma: Lift the gaiwan lid and smell the inside of it; this is where the aroma is most concentrated.
• Liquor aroma: Smell the tea itself before drinking.
• Cup-bottom aroma: After drinking, smell the empty cup. This aroma reveals the tea's underlying quality best, and good tea leaves a lasting cup-bottom aroma.

Common pu'er aromas: raw tea has floral, honey, fruity, and fresh, clean notes; aged raw tea has woody, camphor, and aged notes; ripe tea has aged, jujube, and sticky-rice notes.

4. Flavor: Feel It in Your Mouth

Take a small sip and let the tea rest in your mouth for a few seconds before slowly swallowing:

• On entry: What's the balance of sweet, bitter, and astringent?
• Texture: Is the brew thin or thick? Smooth or rough?
• Bitterness and astringency: Do they dissolve quickly, or linger on the surface of the tongue?
• Huigan (the sweet aftertaste): After swallowing, does sweetness rise back up from the throat? How long does it last?
• Mouthwatering: Do your cheeks, the surface of your tongue, and under your tongue feel continuously moist?
• Throat feel (houyun): Does your throat feel comfortable and smooth? Is there a cooling sensation?

With good pu'er, bitterness and astringency fade quickly, the huigan and mouthwatering effect last, and your mouth feels comfortable afterward.

5. Spent Leaves: Look After Brewing

Tip the brewed leaves onto a white plate and spread them out:

• Softness: Good spent leaves are soft and springy; press them with a finger and they bounce back.
• Wholeness: Leaves are intact, with plump buds.
• Color: Even and consistent; yellow-green for raw tea, reddish brown for ripe tea.
• Cleanliness: No scorched edges, no reddened stems or leaves (raw tea), and no charred, blackened leaves (ripe tea).

The spent leaves are the tea's "résumé": the quality of the raw material and the details of the processing are all written on them.

How to Practice

• Compare side by side: Brew two teas at once and compare them next to each other; the differences become more obvious.
• Keep parameters fixed: Use the same amount of leaf, water temperature, and time, so you can see the differences in the tea itself.
• Take notes: Write down the aromas and flavors you notice each time; over time you'll build your own flavor map.

For tasting terms, see A Pocket Glossary of Pu'er Tasting Terms.

The Tasting Environment

• Lighting: Look at liquor color in natural light or white light; yellow lighting can throw off your judgment.
• Smells: Keep the tasting space free of perfume, fragrances, cooking fumes, and other odors.
• Palate: Avoid strongly flavored food before tasting, and don't taste right after brushing your teeth.
• Teaware: White porcelain gaiwans and cups show liquor color and spent leaves most clearly.

The Cupping-Style Comparison

To compare several teas objectively, borrow a common approach from tea evaluation: brew each tea with the same amount of leaf, the same amount of water, and the same time, and compare them side by side. That way you remove differences in "brewing" and see clearly the differences in the "tea" itself.

At home you can simplify it: two identical gaiwans, 5 g of tea in each, 100°C water, about 1 minute of steeping, then pour both at the same time and compare. Brewing strong magnifies both strengths and flaws, making differences easier to spot.

Smelling at Three Temperatures

Tea evaluators smell the aroma three times:

1. Hot: Smell right after pouring to identify the aroma type, such as floral, honey, or aged.
2. Warm: Smell after it cools slightly to judge whether the aroma is pure or has off notes.
3. Cold: Smell after it has fully cooled to gauge how long the aroma lasts. Good tea still has a clear cold aroma.

When using a gaiwan at home, smell the inside of the lid, the fairness pitcher, and the empty tasting cup in turn, and you'll cover hot, warm, and cold just the same.

A Tasting Card

To compare several teas more systematically, borrow the professional evaluation method of using the same leaf, water, and time. See Taste Pu'er Like a Professional Tea Evaluator.

Three Things to Observe in Spent Leaves

• Color: Raw tea ranges from yellow-green to yellow-brown, ripe tea is reddish brown; even color indicates consistent processing.
• Softness: Press with a finger; soft and springy means good raw material and well-executed processing.
• Wholeness: Intact leaves with few fragments show care in both prying the tea apart and pressing it.

When to Taste

The best time of day for tasting is 9 to 11 a.m.: your sense of taste is sharp and hasn't yet been affected by lunch. Tasting right after a meal, lingering flavors can easily interfere with your palate.

FAQ

Do I need to drink a lot to taste tea? No. When tasting, a small sip is enough; the key is letting the tea rest in your mouth so you can pay close attention.

What if I can't pick out that many aromas? That's perfectly normal. Identifying aromas takes practice. Start with broad categories like "floral, fruity, honey, woody," and you'll gradually get more precise.

What is the cold aroma? The aroma that remains after the tea or the cup has fully cooled. A clear, lasting cold aroma means the tea has good aromatic depth.