Evaluating Weeks Old Puerh Is A Good Thing!

It’s that time of year when our beloved puerh vendors have to decide when to release their newly pressed puerh.  One thing that I often read is that you shouldn’t evaluate a very freshly pressed puerh or maocha.  Some vendors even hold back their cakes for a few months before release.  Others tell customers that they shouldn’t base their decision on whether they like the puerh until a few months have passed.  I totally disagree with these statements.

Although I do understand that changes do take place pretty rapidly in this early month or two.  There is actually lots we can learn from very fresh maocha or newly pressed puerh cake.  In my experience of making green tea and compressed ddok cha in the mountains of Korea, very freshly made tea does have a different quality to it.  However, when you try enough very fresh tea you develop a taste for it and can easily determine quality.

If the puerh is of quality in these first few weeks, even 6 months later it will taste above the rest, regardless if some qualities change.  One of the best characteristics to look for in very young puerh is its energy, Qi, and the way it makes you feel.  This dimension doesn’t really change as much as the taste.  I find thickness of the tea liquor and a bit of the taste change the most during this early period. However, the change is somewhat predictable.  If you couldn’t determine quality from these early picked tea, then how could our vendors and producers select the best fresh maocha to press into cakes?

I don’t hold it against vendors who wish to release a more palpable tea especially as rubbery, smokey, and overly bitter qualities often dissipate over this time.  I see this very early stage as part of the lifespan of puerh.  If puerh is to be appreciated as it ages, then why are we not appreciating puerh infancy?

Peace