Chinese tea purchase

For beginners, the concept of daily tea is somewhat misleading. For example, if someone cannot distinguish between the six major types of tea and is unsure about their personal preferences, it's too early to discuss daily tea. However, for seasoned tea drinkers who drink tea every day, not having a suitable daily tea can be quite inconvenient and uncomfortable, as constantly grappling with the same issue is a sign of immaturity. Experienced tea drinkers around us often spend considerable time selecting their daily tea. Since everyone has different constitutions, determining which type of tea feels most comfortable to drink requires trying out various teas over an extended period. After comparing and tasting different teas for a long time, if one finds a particular tea that leaves them feeling refreshed and they never tire of drinking, it can be considered as daily tea. Of course, the price of this tea should also fall within an acceptable range. Some teas are unsuitable for daily consumption. The first category includes rare products. For example, famous ancient tree teas from specific mountains, where there might only be dozens of trees producing a few dozen kilograms of dried tea annually, yet there are many buyers.…...

How to choose the right Pu'er ripened tea for yourself Taste preference: Consider whether you prefer a rich and strong, smooth and sweet, or other unique flavors. If you like a strong taste, choose one with a heavier fermentation degree; if you prefer sweetness, look for one made from better raw materials and with moderate fermentation. Body reaction: If your stomach is more sensitive, it's advisable to choose ripened tea with moderate fermentation and less stimulation; if your constitution tends to be cold, ripened tea is generally more suitable. Aroma type: Some ripened teas have different aromas such as aged, jujube, glutinous rice, etc. Choose based on your preference for aroma. Brand and reputation: Choose well-known brands or manufacturers with good reputations, as their quality is generally more reliable. Price range: Based on your financial capability, determine an acceptable price range and select high-quality teas within this range. Tasting: Try to sample the tea before purchasing to judge whether it suits you through actual tasting. Observe the appearance: Ripened teas with neat and clean leaves and fewer fragments usually indicate more care in both raw materials and production techniques. Tea infusion color: A bright, clear, and reddish infusion often reflects…...

Pu'er tea can be divided into ripe and raw tea, with the price of raw tea generally varying according to the prices from different mountains. The price of this type of ancient tree Pu'er tea usually ranges between 300 to 600 yuan, but as the years increase, the price of raw tea becomes higher. The sweetness in ancient tree Pu'er tea comes with a naturally rich honey fragrance, a smooth and delicate texture containing a strong yet restrained tea aroma, and the bitterness is also reserved. So, what is the price of centennial ancient tree Pu'er tea? 　　1. How Much Does Centennial Ancient Tree Pu'er Tea Cost Per Pound? 　　The price of Pu'er ancient tree tea is relatively high, and the price for centennial ancient tree Pu'er tea is even more expensive. The price of centennial ancient tree Pu'er tea is generally between 1500-30000 yuan per pound, with ordinary quality centennial ancient tree Pu'er tea priced at 1500-3000 yuan per pound. Some lower-quality centennial ancient tree Pu'er teas are priced at 1800-2500 yuan per pound, while better quality ones are priced at 3000-6000 yuan per pound. 　　Secondly, the price of medium-quality centennial ancient tree Pu'er tea is around 6000-8000 yuan…...

How to buy tea has always been a challenge for ordinary tea enthusiasts. It’s easy to be misled by merchants and fall into traps. Here are some common pitfalls—see if you’ve fallen for any of them. 01. Misconception One: Blind Faith in High-altitude Tea In the tea world, there is a saying, “High mountains produce fine teas,” which means that high-altitude teas have strong aromas and good taste quality. Why do “high mountains produce fine teas”? This is because the fresh and refreshing flavor comes from amino acids, whose content is inversely proportional to temperature and sunlight. Generally, the temperature is lower at higher altitudes; for every 100 meters increase in altitude, the temperature drops by 0.6°C, resulting in a 6°C difference at 1000 meters. High mountains often have fog, and when sunlight hits the fog layer, most of it is reflected back, with only scattered light reaching the tea leaves. With less light and lower temperatures, the fresh and refreshing flavor is higher. However, “high mountains produce fine teas” is not an absolute rule. If the altitude is too high and the temperature is too low, the tea may not grow well. After passing through the fog layer, ultraviolet…...

Each type of tea has a unique aroma and flavor, primarily due to factors such as processing methods, raw materials, and geographical environment. The quality of a tea can ultimately be judged by its dry leaves, aroma, flavor, liquor color, and infused leaves. Good Mountain Store discusses the relationship between tea quality and taste from several aspects of mouthfeel. How to appreciate a good tea – taste is crucial. First, Bitterness and Astringency No matter what kind of tea, it will have a bitter taste because it contains polyphenols and caffeine. The overall mouthfeel of a cup of tea is mainly composed of bitterness, astringency, freshness, and sweetness. The balance between bitterness and sweetness is one of the most fascinating aspects of tea. Bitterness, mainly composed of caffeine and polyphenols, contributes to the bitterness in the tea liquor. Bitterness is an indispensable flavor in all teas. Without bitterness, something always seems to be missing, as if there were no bones. Astringency is the uncomfortable sensation caused by polyphenols acting on the mouth. Bitterness and astringency together form the thickness and stimulating character of the tea liquor. High-quality teas should not be overly bitter; the history of tea can also be…...

Many tea enthusiasts tend to discard the "tea residue" after drinking their tea. However, this seemingly exhausted residue can actually reveal much about the quality of the tea. The leftover tea residue is professionally referred to as "leaf base." In professional tea evaluations, assessing and scoring the leaf base is a final step. After being soaked in water, the tea leaves absorb moisture and expand, returning to their original shape. The reasonableness of the tea's picking, processing, and storage can all be discerned from the leaf base. When examining the leaf base, one should primarily focus on its tenderness, color, uniformity, and degree of expansion. Tenderness Pinch the Tea Residue, Examine the Leaf Quality Tenderness refers to the proportion of buds and tender leaves within the tea, as well as the overall tenderness or maturity of the leaves. It’s not always easy to distinguish the content of buds and tender leaves when the tea hasn’t fully expanded, but it becomes clearer when examining the leaf base. By laying out a few tea leaves flat, we can determine their picking grade, such as single bud, one bud with one leaf, and so forth. To assess the overall tenderness of the leaves,…...

Did you know? The quality and taste of Pu'er spring tea are excellent, with better tenderness than ordinary teas. This can be seen from the buds of dry tea leaves, where ancient tree teas have short and dense buds that aren’t plump. Additionally, the leaf shapes of Pu'er spring tea do not conform to a high degree of regularity. Compared to summer tea, which has longer and thinner stalks, and autumn tea, which is fatter and more downy, spring tea appears more compact and robust, with less regularity in shape. If you have the opportunity to visit tea regions in Yunnan personally, you will find that the fresh leaves of ancient tree teas of the arbor type have a lot of down, feeling like velvet when touched, with very good texture. Moreover, after brewing well-processed dry tea, the leaves at the bottom are full and leathery, without any dryness. Differentiating Pu'er Spring Tea One: Observe From the leaf shapes, ancient tree teas show better tenderness. By comparing dry tea leaves, it can be found that most of the buds of ancient tree teas are quite short and not plump, with dense buds. Most Pu'er spring teas do not have a…...

The compressed Puer tea is collectively known as compressed tea. Compressed form is the most common presentation of Puer tea, but this does not mean that Puer tea cannot also be in loose form. But why is Puer tea made into compressed form?This is determined by the characteristic of Puer tea to improve with age through post-fermentation. Advantages of Loose Leaf: 1. The integrity of the leaves is preserved. By observing the appearance of the tea leaves, we can better judge the quality of the tea. 2. Faster aging. With a lower density and larger gaps, loose leaf tea has ample contact with air, leading to a faster oxidation rate. 3. Convenient for drinking. Brewing is more effortless, and the amount of tea can be well controlled, ensuring no waste of leaves, making it very suitable for daily consumption. 4. Original flavor is better preserved. After compression, compressed tea undergoes high-temperature steaming, which is akin to another round of fermentation, whereas loose leaf tea does not, thus preserving more of the original flavor of the tea. Disadvantages of Loose Leaf: 1. Takes up more space and is less convenient for storage. Compared to the same quantity of compressed tea, loose…...

When buying tea, it's important to know how to select it and identify whether any fragrance has been added. You can start with these five points. 1. Smell the Dry Aroma Tea is a natural product, and the aroma of dry leaves is generally not very intense. If you take a handful of dry tea and smell it, a light and natural scent usually indicates that no additives have been used. Conversely, if the dry tea has a strong, overpowering scent that lingers in your nose, it is likely that fragrance has been added. 2. Rub the Tea Leaves Between Your Fingers You can rub the tea leaves between your fingers. If your hand becomes coated with powder or changes color, this indicates that some additives have been included. 3. Infuse at Low Temperature and Smell If brewed with water at 80 degrees Celsius, the tea appears cloudy or has a very high aroma, it is likely that fragrance has been added. This is because most teas require water above 90 degrees Celsius for their aroma and flavor to be released, whereas most fragrances dissolve and emit scent rapidly at 80 degrees Celsius. 4. Observe the Persistence of the Aroma…...

Although many of us still love drinking tea, we are not very familiar with many types of tea. As a relatively popular type of tea, Pu'er tea is favored by many people. How do you identify raw and ripe Pu'er tea? Methods for Identifying Raw and Ripe Pu'er Tea 1. Ripe Tea Process: Pick fresh leaves, fixate them, roll, dry the rough tea, and the loose tea becomes raw. Health and artificial fermentation are quick, using a sprinkled water pile reaction process, which then becomes ripe loose tea that is pressed into shape to form ripe tea (Pu'er tea.) in blocks. Color and aroma of tea infusion: The tea liquor is black or reddish-brown, some with dark golden buds. There is a thick stack smell from the sprinkled water, similar to the taste of longan, and with heavier fermentation, the wet mat has a less dull taste. Taste: Sweet and rich water, almost no bitterness, and can be soaked in water for a long time. Liquor: In cases of lighter fermentation, it is mainly dark red, and in cases of heavier fermentation, it is primarily black. Leaf bottom: Sprinkled water pile, with lighter fermentation, the leaf bottom is reddish-brown but…...

Pu'er tea is known as a drinkable antique, renowned for its characteristic of improving with age. As the culture of Pu'er tea becomes increasingly popular, more and more people are becoming enamored with the collection of aged Pu'er teas. How should one go about selecting aged Pu'er tea? Does the value of Pu'er tea increase with its age? How can one select high-quality aged tea? ① Judging the Raw Material For teas produced before 2008, there was no distinction between ancient and younger trees, nor concepts like single-origin or tall-tree teas. Therefore, the focus here is on judging the grade of the tea: special grade, first grade, third grade, fifth grade, etc., and determining the season of harvest. Additionally, prior to 2008, most Pu'er tea production was handled by larger factories. Among the products of the four state-owned factories, there were very few pure batches; blending was highly prevalent in both raw and ripe teas, as well as black teas. (Thus, if you observe unevenness and a mix of sizes in the leaf base, it may be due to blending.) Generally, the higher the grade of the dry tea, the stronger the leaf base activity and the higher the price…...

We all know that fruits and vegetables have their best seasons for tasting, so do different types of tea also have their optimal seasons for drinking? Tea can be enjoyed at its best flavor in any season. However, due to different processing methods, each type of tea has its own characteristics, which means there are ideal seasons for drinking each type of tea. This concept is distinct from seasonal fruits and vegetables. Drinking the right tea in different seasons can be more beneficial to your health. Green Tea Wilt: No Wilt Fermentation Level: Non-fermented, Fermentation Degree 0% Nature: Cold Season to Drink: Summer Representative Teas: Longjing, Lushan Cloud Mist, Xinyang Maojian, Biluochun, Huangshan Maofeng, Tai Ping Houkui, Liu'an Guapian, Duyun Maojian, Mengding Ganlu, Anji White Tea, etc. White Tea Wilt: Heavy Wilt Fermentation Level: Slight fermentation. New tea approximately 5-20%; Aged white tea approximately 20-80% Nature: ● Cold ● Cool ● Neutral Season to Drink: ● Summer ● Autumn Representative Teas: Taimuszhen Silver Needle, Baihao Silver Needle, Bai Mudan, Gongmei, Shoumei, New Process White Tea, etc. Yellow Tea Wilt: No Wilt Fermentation Level: Lightly fermented, approximately 20-30% Nature: Cold Season to Drink: Summer Representative Teas: Junshan Silver Needle, Mengding Yellow…...