2012 Xiangming GuDianMan Manzhuan

2026-09-03 - Reflections on rating tea…

Trying this tea has made me reflect on my current approach to writing about teas.

I’ve noticed how challenging it is to convey the character of a tea in words that may create an appropriate frame for others to grasp what it is like.

Tasting notes are one thing. The harder part is creating some tangible coordinates, a sense of the overall direction (and if you have had a few puerhs already you know the boundaries are set differently here, sweet does not mean sweet the way it does in some oolongs, the range is a different one).

Same goes for bitterness, or what I often call 'herbal notes' which is more a conglomeration of taste impressions I lack better words for, like a sort of bitter, mossy, dried grass type of backbone that shows up in so much puerh.

However, tasting notes are only a small part of what truly defines a puerh. For much of the rest, I still miss the experience to convey in a transparent way.

When drinking tea, there is a sense of feeling, - the energy and its depth, a clear sense of ‘this is a tea I would get more of’ and ‘this one is good, but not exceptional in the sense that I would invest in it’ and so i wonder if what I am doing here is of any real use - at least in an objective kind of way?

With this tea, for example I can tell that its more a ‘better factory tea’ in terms of bodyfeel and depth. The taste and aromatics are good overall but also muted in a way, like music playing at the same level, without much dynamic range. - Can be nice for some days, even makes for a very enjoyable focused session, but may not be what I’d buy more of.

Mainly because it lacks something, I find hard to pinpoint, but I guess it would be livelyness and depth. That’s something I find a lot in high end modern Gushu productions but also in well stored older puerhs, and even in some more roughly produced 2000’s style teas.

It’s the character, which makes it an interesting session, the way it shows through the leaves, through whatever taste it comes, the way it changes from the mouth to the throat and how it lingers afterwards. How deep it goes in the body (subjective certainly and even hard to actually pinpoint from day to day), how long it lasts, … all of that are making each one unique.

I noticed, each character has its own 'play' - each one can be enjoyed with and through its various facets, depending how open I am - rating goes in the way here - limiting the actual experience.

At the end, the variable that matters most to me (besides the leaf quality) - is the cleanlyness of the production and storage, allowing the plant to come through in an original way.