Under what circumstances will the sour feeling of Pu 'er tea appear?

YuanJia131

There are both normal and abnormal sensations of sourness.

Normal, it usually appears in the first few infusions and will fade later; abnormal, it persists throughout the entire tea-drinking process and remains difficult to dissipate from the mouth even long after drinking.

Here are two suggestions for dealing with the astringency of tea:

1. Brew with 100°C boiling water, as high temperature promotes the formation of complexes between tea polyphenols and caffeine, reducing the content of free astringent substances.

2. Add one additional tea rinsing (total of two rinses), allowing the tea to steep for 10 seconds each time. This helps release some acidic and astringent substances adhering to the surface, awakening the tea leaves and resulting in a smoother subsequent infusion.

Regarding the cause of a sour and astringent taste:

1. The fermentation of raw materials is incomplete, and the tea polyphenols (especially catechins) in the tea leaves are not fully oxidized into theaflavins and thearubigins. These residual free tea polyphenols directly impart astringency, while some amino acids (such as glutamic acid) combined with unconverted organic acids contribute a mild sour taste.

2. Impact of Raw Material Characteristics: If the raw material is overly tender, the tea polyphenols and organic acids in the tender leaves are higher. Inadequate fermentation control can easily result in retained astringent and sour flavors.