The characteristics of Pu'er tea are determined by its unique processing technology and raw materials. Compared with other tea varieties, Yunnan large leaf species used to make Pu'er tea contain more substances. Meanwhile, Pu'er tea belongs to post fermentation tea, which reserves a large transformation space for later storage. So how long is the best time to drink Pu'er tea?
According to different production methods, Pu'er tea is divided into raw tea and cooked tea. From the perspective of tea quality and drinking value, the newly produced Pu'er raw tea has no obvious aroma, and the taste and taste of tea soup can not show the common features of high-quality Pu'er tea, such as moistening, thick, mellow, slippery, etc. the overall drinking value is not high, and the stimulation is still strong.
Therefore, in order to improve the comprehensive quality of raw tea, and ultimately achieve 'more aging and more fragrant', the storage process is essential; In the new tea period, although the tea quality of Pu'er tea is milder than that of raw tea after wodui fermentation, and it also initially has the similar aroma and taste with that of old Pu'er tea, the wodui taste and dryness often felt when drinking the new tea need to be stored before it can slowly fade away.
Seeing this, some tea friends may think that since the core value of Pu'er tea is "the older and the more fragrant", is the longer the storage time, the higher the drinking value of Pu'er tea? In fact, this is not the case.
Generally speaking, food packaging is required to indicate the shelf life, beyond which it can not be continued to eat. With the increase of storage time, the quality of such drinks with long-term storage value, such as Pu'er tea, changes in a curve of 'rising, rising to a certain peak, then slowly declining'.
That is to say, although Pu'er tea can be 'more aged and more fragrant', there is a time limit in the process of storage. After reaching the best drinking point, if it continues to be stored, the quality of Pu'er tea will not rise but fall. Many hundred year old Pu'er teas with good storage but "tasteless" in the end are due to the fact that they have passed the best drinking period.
Some true tea friends may ask, 'how many years will it last to reach the best drinking period of Pu'er tea?' as for this question, there is no or no unified answer in the industry.
There are many kinds of Pu'er tea products. Different raw materials, blending processes and pressing forms will give each Pu'er tea different characteristics. The differences in storage areas and warehouse conditions will affect the transformation speed and final quality of Pu'er tea.
Because of the particularity of different production and storage of Pu'er tea, it is unpredictable whether the transformation speed of Pu'er tea is fast or slow, and what kind of changes will happen.
In the face of this uncertainty, experienced Pu'er collectors often open their warehouses every six months or every year for evaluation, and make appropriate adjustments to the parameters of the storage environment according to the existing changes of tea products, so as to make Pu'er tea continuously transform in a better direction.
Only after a comprehensive horizontal comparison of the appraisal records of different storage years of the same Pu'er tea can we draw a general conclusion about the best drinking period of the tea. This time point may be 8 years, or 10, 12, 15 years & hellip; & hellip; can not be generalized.
It should be noted that if it is determined that a certain Pu'er tea has reached the best drinking period, it is the best choice to leave the warehouse in time for drinking.