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Pu'er Tea Knowledge

Comparative Tasting, Blind Tasting, and Tasting Notes

Drink a tea on its own and it's hard to say exactly what makes it good; put two side by side and the differences jump out. Comparative tasting, blind tasting, and tasting notes are the three most effective ways to build your own palate map, and you can start at home.

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

When a tea tastes off, don't rush to pour it out; figure out where the taste comes from first. Common off-flavors in pu'er include smokiness, sourness, stuffiness, wateriness, and foreign odors like paper and plastic. Some come from production, some from storage, and some fade with time.

Mouthfeel: Thick, Smooth, Viscous, and Fine-Textured

Mouthfeel isn't about flavor but about the texture of the tea in your mouth: how thick, how smooth, how viscous, how fine. Good pu'er is often described as full and silky with a fine texture, and these sensations relate to raw material, processing, and age.

Cha Qi: Is It Mystical?

Cha qi is the term heard most often in pu'er circles, and the hardest to pin down. It's how tea lovers describe a tea's overall strength and how they feel after drinking it; some call it intense, others gentle. Here we make cha qi a little more concrete through tea lovers' descriptions, the strength of the liquor, and caffeine content.

Giving Pu'er: A Heartfelt Gift

Pu'er keeps well and carries good symbolism, making it a popular gift. Whether it's for elders, coworkers, or clients, here's how to choose the tea and packaging to suit the recipient.

Throat Feel: After You Swallow

Throat feel (houyun) is the sensation in your throat after you swallow tea: moist, smooth, sweet, with a hint of coolness is good; dry, tight, prickly, or catching is a flaw. Where "throat-locking" and "throat-prickling" come from, and why your throat feels dry after drinking, explained in one place.

Bitterness and Astringency: Two Different Things

Bitterness is a taste on the tongue; astringency is a drying, tightening sensation in the mouth. The two often appear together but come from different compounds. Whether the bitterness dissolves and the astringency fades says more about a pu'er than how strong they are, and it determines how to adjust your brewing.

Huigan and Shengjin

Huigan is the sweetness that slowly returns after you swallow; shengjin is the moistening feeling of saliva welling up naturally in your mouth. These two sensations are the standards tea lovers use most often to judge pu'er. Shengjin at the cheeks, "a spring beneath the tongue," fast and slow huigan: learn how to sense them, and tea drinking gains another layer of enjoyment.

Reading the Spent Leaves: The Most Honest Evidence

Spread out the leaves after brewing, and the tenderness of the raw material, clues to tree age, the skill of pan-firing and fermentation, and whether it's a blend are all written there. Spent leaves are hard to fake, making them the most honest part of pu'er evaluation. Don't rush to throw them out after drinking; one minute spreading them out will teach you something.

Cold-Brew Pu'er: A Refreshing Summer Cup

Yes, you can cold-brew pu'er! Steeped slowly in cool boiled water in the fridge, it's less bitter and astringent, with a sweeter, smoother taste. Ratios, timing, raw vs. ripe, and storage: this bottle will get you through summer.

Tasting: Strength, Sweetness and Bitterness, Thickness

Taste carries more than 30% of the weight in pu'er evaluation. From strength, the balance of sweet, bitter, and astringent, and the thickness of the liquor to the harmony of "mellowness," break down a sip of tea in a fixed order, and you'll be able to describe what it's like.

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