"Tea Talks on Paper" No. 27: Can Raw Tea Really Be Drunk?

The Pu-erh tea industry is like a martial arts world; you talk your talk, I talk mine, you scold me, I scold you. Most of these people, including me, are just trying to sell tea.

Recently, Mr. Zou scolded those who sell new raw tea and those who define Pu-erh tea standards, believing that these people sell undrinkable new raw tea to consumers and define undrinkable new raw tea as Pu-erh tea. Mr. Zou thinks these people will be nailed to the pillory of history. Pu-erh tea practitioners have also scolded Mr. Zou in various ways, even resorting to personal attacks. For a time, the Pu-erh tea industry was filled with scolding. Tea drinkers are confused: if raw tea can't be drunk, then isn't raw tea Pu-erh tea?

Houyue factory sun-drying and processing fresh leaves

Currently, there are roughly three schools of thought on raw tea processing:

1. Storage School.

New tea is lightly killed to retain strength, believing it will transform better during later storage. In my view, this is an unverifiable claim. For example, a large amount of aged tea stored in Dongguan warehouses is almost all made with this process. Now it really doesn't taste good. Many such teas on the market are unwanted even at tens of yuan. You can't say the raw materials of these teas are all inferior; I don't quite believe that. There should be a considerable amount of ancient tree tea among them. These Dongguan teas are not popular in the market now. The fundamental reason is that they don't taste good; the liquor is hard, thin, bland, and weak. I've drunk some, and my body felt very uncomfortable. Logically, with age (all over ten years), what's the reason? I boldly guess it's a processing issue. From this point, Mr. Zou's view that only after ten years can raw tea be considered Pu-erh tea seems unreliable. Then does it need longer, 30 years, 50 years, or go all the way to 100 years?

1. Immediate Drinking School.

Using some oolong and black tea techniques, fully withering the fresh leaves to reduce bitterness and astringency and enhance aroma. New tea indeed tastes good with high aroma. Taking Bingdao as an example, this process, combined with the excellent quality of Bingdao fresh leaves, has indeed stolen many high-end green tea customers. If you carefully drink real Bingdao and then top-grade green tea, you'll see if they taste very similar. This process is now mainstream but is heavily attacked by some industry insiders. For instance, Wuzheng loudly claims this process kills the core value of Pu-erh tea's "more fragrant with age." No wonder Wuzheng only makes ripe tea; perhaps their raw tea made with this process is undrinkable.

1. Thorough Kill-Green School.

This school currently has very few followers. They are not favored by the Storage School and are often attacked by the Immediate Drinking School. They believe that thorough kill-green requires very high temperatures for fresh leaves. Isn't that green tea? But our Houyue used this process to launch a tea on the market, and it was very well received. Moreover, it was in 6-gram mini cakes; I believe no one would store them; they would drink them immediately. The market responded well, but the industry complained. A friend of mine, Mr. Wang, privately told me it was no longer Pu-erh tea.

Thoroughly kill-green Pu-erh raw tea – Houyue crowdfunding eighth product

Back to the topic of whether new raw tea can be drunk. Let me guess Mr. Zou's viewpoint:

1. New raw tea cannot be drunk because it hasn't "ripened"; it needs time to become "ripe."
2. I guess Mr. Zou does not agree with the thorough kill-green process and also believes that raw tea made with this process is not Pu-erh tea.

So for Mr. Zou, the only way for raw tea to become Pu-erh tea is through time – ten years.

Let me summarize the views of most people who oppose Mr. Zou:
Raw tea is fundamental; raw tea has a long history; raw tea has a large audience; raw tea is the basis for ripe tea, etc.

But the raw tea on the market indeed hasn't "ripened," and our bodies are indeed not suitable for long-term consumption of such new raw tea.

This leads to a dead end, with both sides scolding each other. If nothing changes, I believe this chaotic scolding will continue for decades.
I also participated in the scolding. I clearly opposed Mr. Zou. Please refer to "Tea Talks on Paper No. 19: Raw Tea Is Absolutely Not Sun-Dried Green Tea."
My view is that thoroughly kill-green new raw tea can also be drunk long-term. The raw-ripe debate in Pu-erh tea is simply nonsense.

I have conducted market tests, so I have the right to speak.

Don't mind the objections of these tea authorities; some authorities must be opposed, otherwise, how can the industry progress? If you agree with this view, feel free to add my WeChat 673998 to communicate. Please don't add me if you just want to scold.
If you haven't drunk tea made with this process, please find such tea to drink before opposing my view. Calmly and carefully brew a cup, then decide whether to oppose.

Alright, the article is finished. It took me over half an hour. I'm too lazy to proofread. Time to drink tea.