Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

As we all know, there are many types of Puerh tea aromas. However, if you categorize these aromas, there are generally four main categories: varietal aroma, regional aroma, craftsmanship aroma, and aged aroma. In general, the better tea will have these four types of aroma.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
So, if the aroma of Puerh tea is categorized according to these four categories, how is it differentiated and what is the difference between the four categories of aroma?

Characteristics of the four categories of aroma

1.Craft Fragrance:
As the name suggests, it is the aroma produced during processing. Among the four types of aroma, only the craft incense comes from the process, the aroma of the craft incense is not the surface of the incense, but from the inside out, so such an aroma at the beginning will be more fragrant, but the more you bubble the less fragrant.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

2.Aged Aroma:
The main source of stale aroma comes from mellowing, therefore, stale aroma is normally not found in new tea, only old tea will have such fragrance, and the characteristic of stale aroma is that the more it is brewed, the more fragrant it is, and the tea itself is more resistant to brewing. Aroma Characteristics of Puerh Tea

3.Variety fragrance and regional fragrance:
Because the raw materials for making aged tea are mainly groups of primitive species, genetically unstable, with different forms, and different populations are affected by the same geographical influence and tend to assimilate, the tea of the same geographical area shows the complexity of species, but the style is relatively uniform characteristics, so for beginners, the same local varieties of incense and regional incense are combined for identification is more scientific and reasonable. Aroma Characteristics of Puerh Tea

Variety and regional aroma is the basis of the craft and aging aroma, the four have a strong “fusion” and “variability”, the stronger the craft aroma, the less clear the regional and varietal aroma, and similarly, the stronger the aging aroma, the less clear the regional and varietal aroma will be. In the aged tea, the difference between the region and the variety is more reacted in the human body, such as “aftertaste”, “soup” and other sensory categories, therefore, rely on the aroma to judge the origin of the tea is unscientific.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Variety of incense and regional incense in the new tea is easy to experience, the method and experience the same old incense, the more bubble to the back of the more obvious, that is, the variety and regional incense.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Hanging Water Comparison to Identify Craft Aroma in Puerh Tea

The purpose of this method is to strip the tea of its craftsmanship aroma, because craftsmanship aroma has been frequently used to counterfeit the “mountain head gas”, which is the biggest sheep’s head. Characteristics of process aroma: the beginning of the aroma, the more the tea is steeped to the back, the less the aroma. The disadvantage of craft incense: it does not blend well with the tea soup. Methods: the same bubble of tea, divided into two groups of comparison, water, tea, equipment to maintain the same, a group of water injection, rush injection, another group from the center of the slow hanging water, try to keep the bottom of the tea does not move, thirty seconds or a minute out of the soup, compared to drinking.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

The more serious the craft fragrance, the more will show the following characteristics.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
1, heavy flavor, hanging water after the bitter and astringent taste is particularly heavy.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
2, taste fusion difference is big, the tea soup and flavor fusion of the brewing is good, hanging water is very poor, bitter and astringent flavor free.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
3, the odor pleasantness difference, craft incense heavy tea, volatility is reduced, its pleasantness greatly reduced, hanging water odor compared to the pleasantness of the infusion of the big difference. Generally speaking, the less process fragrance tea, the more conducive to chunhua. This method can also be used to identify improperly stored tea.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Compare the smell of the leaf bottom and the tea broth to identify the storage of aged tea

Tea in the process of chunhua, very concerned about the “critical point”, too dry, the aroma is easy to volatilize, the texture is easy to decline, and too hot and humid, the aroma is easy to dull, easy to lose the aftertaste, so the chunhua environment for the aged tea, is exceptionally important. Usually, the storage is too down, will leave a lot of foreign odor, the environment is too extreme, will also produce irreversible consequences, here to provide a tip for the identification of too dry and hot and humid storage.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Methods: When brewing tea, do not break the tea gallbladder, water injection should not be too fast, into the back water (usually refers to the second third of the total number of bubbles), experience the odor of the tea soup while brewing, compared to the smell of the bottom of the leaves. The odor of the bottom of the leaf is stronger than that of the tea broth, usually the storage environment is too quiet, and the air circulation is not good, the odor of the bottom of the leaf is lighter than that of the tea broth, indicating that the storage environment is too fluid. If the odor of the bottom of the leaf smells more stale than the aroma in the tea broth, it means that the storage environment is too wet, and if the odor of the bottom of the leaf is younger than the tea broth, it means that the storage environment is too dry. Ideally, under the premise of eliminating the heterogeneous odor, the odor of the leaf bottom and the tea broth present roughly the same characteristics, and the odor of the tea broth is slightly older than that of the leaf bottom.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Experience five levels of tea aroma

Primary tea aroma, water fragrance, tea aroma superficial fluttering, smell, drink, characterized by the odor emanating in the air when brewing tea, as well as tea cup cover, etc., smell very fragrant, but after the entrance, the aroma that is a substantial decline, or even no aroma, light left bitter.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Secondary tea aroma, incense into the water, most of the tea aroma diffusion, a small portion of the tea into the tea broth, this type of tea aroma to give people the experience of: smells very fragrant, drink is also fragrant, but does not smell so fragrant.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Intermediate tea aroma, water contains aroma, a small portion of the tea aroma is diffused, most of it is incorporated into the tea broth, and the aroma that is incorporated into the tea broth sinks, partly dispersing from the mouth and partly dispersing from the throat. The way to experience such tea aroma is to hold your breath when the tea broth enters your mouth, and when the tea broth goes down your throat, shut up and breathe out slowly and deeply from your nose, paying attention to experience the source of the aroma.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Premium tea aroma, water-born aroma, tea aroma and tea broth are extremely well blended, smells almost fragrance-free, but after drinking, the aroma slowly comes back out from deep in the throat, unusually long-lasting. The feeling of the soup of this kind of tea is usually more oily and moist.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

Top tea, water that is fragrant, this kind of tea, must be raw materials, technology and chunhua are very high quality of the old tea, its Chenxiang rich and rich, and the tea soup is completely integrated, tea soup flow to where the Chenxiang to where, and the tea soup will be with the evaporation of the tea fragrance and present a wonderful “sense of”, drink, there is “ soup that is fragrance” wonderful feeling. Soup is fragrance, fragrance is soup” wonderful feeling.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

When you are a beginner, to experience different levels of tea aroma, the most important thing is to rely on repeated comparisons, focusing on the allocation of attention, to experience the fragrance into the water, the most critical thing is to compare the aroma that evaporates from the tea when brewing tea and the aroma when drinking tea, if it is more fragrant to drink, you should move your attention to the throat and the mouth, to experience the degree of the fragrance contained in the water, if the tea broth is more fragrant than the tea soup contained in the mouth after drinking it, you should put your attention on the throat area for a long time, to experience the If the tea soup is more fragrant than in the mouth, then focus on the throat area for a long time to experience the water-born fragrance, focusing on the characteristics of the aroma emitted from the throat area after the tea soup is swallowed, the durability and concentration.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma

The relationship between the blend, fullness, and volatility of an aroma.

Fusion degree: refers to the degree of fusion of the aroma and the tea broth, the higher the degree of fusion, the more the characteristics of aquatic fragrance.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
Volatility: refers to the degree of volatility of the aroma, the higher the volatility of the tea, the more people feel that the aroma is rich, floating.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
Fullness: refers to the sum of the aroma. Under the premise of not going to the water, a tea all the number of bubbles together, volatile and fused in the tea broth in the sum of the aroma. Tea with a high degree of fullness will show not only a good blend of aroma, but also a high degree of volatilization, and even produce a wonderful feeling of “water is fragrance”, commonly found in the mellowing of the better number of tea.
Tea with a high degree of aroma fusion is characterized by a high degree of fullness. The reason is that the volatility of the aroma of a new tea with high volatility without mellowing will decrease with mellowing. Although later mellowing may increase the concentration of the aroma, the loss in the early stage will affect the total amount and quality of the aroma.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma
Theoretically, under the premise of the same raw materials, in terms of the fullness of aroma, aged tea is superior to new tea of any kind of process. The fusion of aroma in a new tea is the most critical indicator to maximize the fullness after mellowing.Characteristics of Pu-erh Tea Aroma