Pu’er tea is often confusing for newcomers. They may have had an earthy, dark ripe tea and assume that is what all pu’er is like. It is not. As a matter of fact, the raw style is the original pu’er tea and the two types differ significantly. Let’s explore what makes a tea a ripe or a raw pu’er.
It’s a big subject and so many variables come into play and ripe and raw, as you know, are also two different animals as is the decision to blend or do single leaves. Let’s see if I can just free-form this on the keyboard and make any sense.
What a difference that one week made as I allowed more of the post-pressing moisture to dissipate. The fullness of flavor began to return and the aroma deepened. A month later, even better.