The purpose of fermenting the raw Puerh tea artificially into the ripe Puerh tea is to make the internal compounds such as tea polyphenols (茶多酚) and tea pigments to oxidise, combine together or disintegrate apart so that the astringency of original raw taste will become the artificially mellowness. The above artificial fermentation process is the key know-how of Yunnan ripe Puerh tea.
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What are the criteria of a great ripe tea?
First of all, the basic principle of a ripe tea must be the mellow tea broth. Since the purpose of drinking ripe tea is to appreciate it when it is still young (e.g. just newly coming out from the factory), we do not want the raw and astringent taste which is still present in the tea broth.
In addition to the basic mellowness, the thickness of tea broth is also essential for a great ripe tea. For example, although some ripe tea’s tea broth is smooth, it is thin and not rich enough so that it does not have round and solid feeling. Such a ripe tea can only be sold cheaply and it is not a tea appreciation grade. Therefore, the thick tea broth of ripe tea is definitely an important element, which will add additional scores.
Third, the degree of fermentation of ripe tea has already determined its subsequent vividness and aging ability. If the ripe tea is heavily fermented at the beginning, although the taste will be very mellow at first, it however will sacrifice the room of further aging. It is because there is absence of small portion of raw tea flavor, which supposedly should have been reminded for future aging. That small portion of raw tea flavour is intended for future aging into the ripe tea mellowness gradually through time. On the contrary, if the ripe tea is slightly fermented at the beginning, although the tea broth is quite vivid and fresh, it will not be mellow enough for instant appreciation when it comes out from the factory. This violates the true meaning of drinking ripe tea when it is still young.
Therefore, if a ripe tea can strike a balance between the mellowness and the vividness, which provides slight huigan and good aftertaste, it is a well-fermented great ripe tea.
A great and gorgeous ripe tea must have these elements: mellowness, thickness, vividness, slight huigan, sweetness and good aftertaste.
In addition to the above conditions, if a ripe tea can also have the long years of aging and aged tea aroma, this aged ripe tea is even more precious!