The rawness of puerh tea is a quality that is representative of the natural state of the leaf. At its most basic and unprocessed form, chewing a freshly picked tea leaf delivers fresh green, vibrant, bitter notes. This base is the foundation for supporting the microbial activity and development under post-fermentation. The processing of traditional puerh tea in the past has always tried to preserve the rawness of puerh tea. Historically for a long time, drinking young puerh tea was not widely accepted because the raw character of puerh tea lacks the attractiveness and appeal of other types of tea. Only when the processing of puerh tea was later tweaked utilizing high heat to cook away the rawness of the tea, and introducing more pleasant aromas and taste to the brew that drinking young puerh became more widely accepted and thereafter gain in popularity. This change would cause the modern style of puerh tea to be known as a "drink now" however under this process the ageing ability would be compromised or become questionable at best.
Note: The concept of the “rawness of puerh tea” is used to describe the base material, tea leaves that retain their raw nature. To better understand this state is to think of an unripe fruit, an example that hits close to the mark is The Green Banana.
