As Pu’er tea is understood and accepted by more and more people, tasting Pu’er tea has become a healthy, fashionable and elegant way of leisure and entertainment. The tasting of Pu’er tea is a process of comprehensive perception. It is mainly to identify Pu’er in the process of comprehensive application of vision, taste and smell. Perceive Pu’er and experience Pu’er with heart.
In the process of tasting tea, the most inescapable discussion is the discussion about the aroma, aroma, taste, throat rhyme, etc. of the tea. Today we will discuss the three major difficulties in tasting Pu-erh tea: the nature of water, throat rhyme and tea aroma.
The nature of the water in Puer tea
When tasting Pu-erh tea, such a noun is often used—the nature of water. There is also the word “water taste” similar to it. In fact, the taste of water and the nature of water are two different concepts:
The nature of water refers to the various tastes caused by the tea soup of Pu’er tea in the mouth. In addition to taste, other feelings can be attributed to the properties of water.
The properties of water can be divided into smoothness, easy melting, activity, sandy feeling, full-bodied, thin, sharp, etc. Among them, smoothness, easy melting, activity, sandy feeling, and full-bodied are the characteristics of the best Pu-erh tea, while lightness and sharpness are the characteristics of the best Pu-erh tea. The characteristics of these Pu-erh teas.
①Smooth
It means that the tea soup is smooth and smooth in the mouth, and the tea is soft. The smoothness is characteristic of ripe Pu-erh tea and Pu-erh tea that has been melted by Chen Yi. The degree of smoothness increases with the increase of Chen Yi’s melting time, which is the embodiment of “more aging and more fragrance”.
② easy to melt
It is easy to melt in the mouth, which is one of the characteristics of high-quality aged Pu-erh tea. After long-term reasonable storage of raw Pu-erh tea and cooked tea, the nature of the water can reach the state of easy melting. Generally speaking, the “meltability” of raw tea is more elegant than that of cooked tea. It takes a long time for raw tea to reach the state of “easy to melt”.
③Activity
It means that the tea leaves are very active, and the tea soup gives the tongue a lively taste. This is also one of the important criteria for high-quality Pu-erh tea. The nature of the lively water gives people a sense of vitality, which can fully display the different flavors of Pu’er tea. Generally, the activity of tea soup of dry warehouse Pu-erh tea is better than that of wet warehouse Pu-erh tea and cooked Pu-erh tea.
④ sandy feeling
After tasting high-quality cooked Pu-erh tea, it is like drinking a bowl of red bean soup. This thick sandy smooth feeling will bring a comfortable feeling to the mouth. The sandy and smooth feeling of Pu’er tea water is closely related to the storage time and storage conditions of Pu’er tea. The longer the time, the more obvious the sandy feeling will be.
⑤ mellow
It refers to the mellow taste, not directly related to the thickness of the tea soup. After the Pu-erh tea is aged and melted, the mellow and mellow feeling in the tea soup is the mellow feeling. Mellowness is one of the characteristics of high-quality Pu-erh tea. The longer Chen Yi melts, the better the quality, and the heavier the mellowness and sweetness.
⑥ weak
Contrary to the mellowness of water, the tea soup with weak water quality lacks mellowness when drunk in the mouth, and the water quality also feels light and bland. Generally speaking, the nature of the thin water is mostly due to the fact that the inner quality of the tea itself is not rich enough. Because the nature of water is light, it will often cause the style of small utensils, which will make tea drinkers feel frivolous, weak, unstable and resistant.
⑦ sharp
Sharpness is often caused by the thin nature of water, which makes the mouth feel like touching a sharp blade. The lack of mellowness and heavyness at the entrance of the tea soup will cause a feeling of thinness, extremeness and sadness. Create a feeling of repulsion and rejection. Generally, for Pu-erh tea made from green shrub trees and some lower-quality Pu-erh teas, the tea soup is mostly weak and sharp.
“Water taste” is used to describe the taste of a brewed tea down to a certain level – infinitely close to the taste of water. This phenomenon is mainly reflected in two aspects:
- The taste of tea is separated from the taste of water, and the concentration of tea soup drops to a very low level.
- The tea soup has the smell of boiled (stuffy) tea leaves, because when the tea is brewed close to the tail water (the last end), it will be stuffy for a while.
Throat Rhyme of Pu’er Tea
Throat rhyme refers to the feeling when tea flows through the throat. The feeling of throat rhyme is mainly manifested in three aspects: sweet, moist and dry. Throat rhyme has always been the most favored by tea drinkers. In particular, more experienced tea connoisseurs also attach great importance to the characteristics of throat rhyme. It even advertised its strong throat rhyme, and raised the price of tea products.
①Sweet
Gan is sweet aftertaste, and this taste is very similar to sweetness. Tea soup can bring sweet throat rhyme, which is loved by all tea drinkers. The taste of Gan is more subtle, not as elegant as incense. It is often accompanied by a bitter taste. It is often said that “hardship comes with joy”. There are many tea drinkers, so they like tea soup with bitter taste. It is because of the bitterness that can return to happiness. But Pu’er tea also has good tea that is not bitter but sweet.
②throat moistening
Moisturizes the throat, moistening the throat is the first step to quench thirst. Then add enough water, the depression caused by lack of water. It can be eliminated immediately, the chest is comfortable, the throat is moistened, and the thirst can be eliminated. Taste the tea soup that can moisten the throat and melt easily, the more you drink, the more you want to drink. It is because the moist feeling makes people feel stable, full, comfortable and satisfied.
③ restlessness
Anxiety refers to restlessness, a feeling of uneasiness after drinking tea. Inferior tea greenness, improper production or deterioration of tea leaves may cause a sense of irritability. Some aged Pu-erh tea products are too sealed during storage. If brewed immediately after opening, there will be irritable situations. It must be placed in a relatively large container. After a period of recovery, the irritability will naturally disappear.
Once the tea has a sense of irritability, it cannot be rated as good tea. Tea tasters are the most difficult to accept the feeling of restlessness. Not only does it directly bring discomfort and anxiety, but also because of the appearance of irritability, even if you have the most beautiful and characteristic tea products, they will all be denied immediately.
The tea smell of Pu’er tea
Simply put, it is the body’s reaction after drinking Pu’er tea. This reaction can be strong or weak, benign or negative. Some people are more sensitive and can feel it, while others are relatively slow to respond. Generally speaking, the benign Pu-erh tea with strong reaction will make people feel happy. We think it is the high-quality Pu-erh tea with strong tea flavor.
We must “observe the color, smell the fragrance, taste the drink, and observe the bottom” to identify the quality of Pu’er tea. Tasting is just one step, but this step is indeed something that every tea drinker cannot ignore. Therefore, don’t make the nature of water, throat rhyme, and tea smell mysterious and easy to melt. It’s just that everyone feels differently when drinking tea.
As long as you understand and master the method, you can enjoy tea happily.
