Distinguish between old and new Pu 'er tea.
Because Pu 'er tea can be fermented continuously, the older it gets, the more fragrant it is, and the price is of course expensive. The new Pu 'er tea refers to the newly made Pu 'er tea, which is green in appearance and rich in taste. Old Pu 'er tea refers to Pu 'er tea that has been put in Chen Fangjiu for a long time, because after a long period of post-oxidation, the appearance of tea leaves is purplish red and the white hair turns yellow-brown.
Smell the fragrance of tea
Generally, poorly preserved Pu 'er tea will have a musty smell, and some merchants will add flowers such as chrysanthemums to cover up its smell. Therefore, if you see chrysanthemums or smell flowers in Pu 'er tea, it means that the quality of tea is not pure.
Distinguish the color of tea soup
Ask the clerk or boss to try it and observe the color of the tea soup. Because the aged Pu 'er is mellow for many years, the color of tea soup is dark, but it is by no means dark. However, the tea soup of the new Pu 'er tea is lighter in color. But this can only be used as a reference, because even new tea will be deep, and the best way is to try it.
Try drinking.
Tasting tea is the most important part of purchasing tea, because a cup of tea is good or not, you can know from the tasting that a good cup of Pu 'er tea will not be moldy or bitter. The newly-made Pu 'er has white hair and has not been aged, so it will have bitterness; Pu 'er tea is mild and non-irritating, so it tastes mellow.
Will Pu 'er tea deteriorate?
Pu 'er tea will go bad. During storage, the quality may be affected by the temperature and humidity of the storage environment. The relative humidity is below 80%, and if it is above 80%, Pu 'er tea will age rapidly. It's a wet warehouse, which means it's moldy. It destroyed the fibers and tissues of tea, leaving a mold residue.
If Pu 'er tea is properly preserved, it will be more fragrant with age, but when it is bought back, it will be found that there is a shelf life on the outer packaging of Pu 'er tea. This is because it is stipulated that food must be labeled. In fact, consumers can drink Pu 'er tea without paying attention. In addition, if tea is found to have a musty smell, it is generally caused by improper preservation and should not be purchased.
The taste of new Pu 'er tea is very strong and irritating, so people who are used to drinking alpine tea or Pu 'er tea are not used to it. Old Pu 'er tea has been in Chenfang for a long time. After a long period of post-oxidation, the quality of tea becomes mild and non-irritating, which can promote blood metabolism and not stimulate the stomach. It is said that it can also preserve health, help qi and replenish qi, and the longer it is stored, the higher the degree of oxidation, and the more mellow the tea soup tastes.
Know the year of Pu 'er tea: The price, grade and storage year of Pu 'er tea are an important factor. The asking price of a brick of Pu 'er tea can range from 100 yuan to 1000 yuan, mainly because Pu 'er tea has the saying that the older it gets, the more fragrant it gets, so the merchants have been moving, and the price is higher in 20, 30, even 50 and 60 years. Nevertheless, here is a simple method to identify the age of Pu 'er tea leaves for reference.
The distinguishing method between the year of Pu 'er tea and the appearance of tea: the new Pu 'er tea has fresh appearance, white fur and strong taste; Pu 'er tea is post-oxidized for a long time; The appearance of tea leaves will be purple-red, and the white hairs will turn yellow-brown.
Distinguish the color of wrapping paper: the white paper that pressed the aged Pu 'er tea has become obsolete with the passage of time, so the paper is slightly yellow. So you can start with the aging degree of hand-woven patterns and printed colors of paper, which can only be used as a reference, not as an absolute basis, because some unscrupulous businessmen may take advantage of this psychology and replace inferior products with yellowed old wrapping paper.
Know the year of tea: Generally speaking, the year of Pu 'er tea is divided as follows: 1949 Pu 'er tea produced before this period is called antique tea, such as Centennial Song Pin, Centennial Tongxing Tribute, Centennial Tongqing, Tongchanglao and Song Pinjing. Usually there is a piece of sticky rice paper in the tea cake with a name printed on it, called Feinei.
1949- 1967, the grade of tea production in China was changed from tea products, that is, the first batch was marked with red seals, the second batch was marked with green seals, and the third batch was marked with different colors on the tea characters on the packaging paper.
After 1968, the name of China Tea Company was no longer printed on the packaging of tea cakes produced at this time, but they were produced by various tea factories themselves, which were collectively called Yunnan Qizi cakes, including: Xueyin Green Cake 73 Green Cake, Big Mouth Small Green Seal, Small Yellow Seal, etc.