Judging Quality

Quality of the tea can be determined through inspecting the dried leaves, the tea liquor, or the spent tea leaves. The "true" quality of a specific batch of Pu-erh can ultimately only be revealed when the tea is brewed and tasted. Although not concrete and sometimes dependent on preference, there are several general indicators of quality:

There should be a lack of twigs, extraneous matter and white or dark mold spots on the surface of the compressed Pu-erh. The leaves should ideally be whole, visually distinct, and not appear muddy. The leaves may be dry and fragile, but not powdery. Good tea should be quite fragrant, even when dry. Good pressed Pu-erh cakes often have a matte sheen on the surface, though this is not necessarily a sole indicator of quality.

The tea liquor of both raw and ripe Pu-erh should never appear cloudy. Well-aged raw Pu-erh and well-crafted ripe Pu-erh tea may produce a dark reddish liquor, reminiscent of a dried jujube, but in either case the liquor should not be opaque, "muddy," or black in color. The flavors of Pu-erh liquors should persist and be revealed throughout separate or subsequent infusions, and never abruptly disappear, since this could be the sign of added flavorings.

Young raw Pu-erh: The ideal liquors should be aromatic with a light but distinct odors of camphor, rich herbal notes like Chinese medicine, fragrance floral notes, hints of dried fruit aromas such as preserved plums, and should exhibit only some grassy notes to the likes of fresh sencha. Young raw Pu-erh may sometimes be quite bitter and astringent, but should also exhibit a pleasant “mouth feel” and "sweet".

Aged raw Pu-erh: Aged Pu-erh should never smell moldy, musty, or strongly fungal, though some Pu-erh drinkers consider these smells to be inoffensive or even enjoyable. The smell of aged Pu-erh may vary, with an "aged" but not "stuffy" odor. The taste of aged raw Pu-erh or ripe Pu-erh should be smooth, with slight hints of bitterness, and lack a biting astringency or any off-sour tastes. The element of taste is an important indicator of aged Pu-erh quality, the texture should be rich and thick and should have very distinct.

Whole leaves and leaf bud systems should be easily seen and picked out of the wet spent tea, with a limited amount of broken fragments. Twigs and the fruits of the tea plant should not be found in the spent tea leaves; however, animal (and human) hair, strings, rice grains and chaff may occasionally be included in the tea. The leaves should not crumble when rubbed, and with ripened Pu-erh, it should not resemble compost. Aged raw Pu-erh should have leaves that unfurl when brewed while leaves of most ripened Pu-erh will generally remain closed.