Basic skills for selecting Tea: First, pay attention to the dryness of the tea. You can gently pinch it with your fingers to test. If it crumbles easily and the leaves are uniform in size with few fragments, it is high-quality tea. Smell the aroma of the dry tea; if it has a clear and pleasant fragrance, it is a quality tea. If the aroma carries off-flavors or sour notes, it is not advisable to purchase. Observe the color of the tea infusion; if it is clear and bright, it is good tea. If the infusion is murky or dark in color, it is not a good tea.
What are the basic skills for selecting tea:
1. Tenderness
Tenderness is a fundamental factor that determines quality. The saying “dry look at the appearance, wet look at the leaf base” refers to tenderness. Generally, tea with good tenderness will conform to the typical shape requirements for its type. Additionally, you can judge by the presence of tips and white down on the leaves. Good tips with visible down indicate high tenderness and well-executed processing. If the raw material lacks tenderness, even excellent processing won't produce tea with tips and down.
2. Shape
Shape refers to the specific appearance standards of different types of tea, such as the strip shape of stir-fried green teas, the round shape of pearl tea, the flat shape of Longjing, or the granular shape of black broken tea. For long-shaped teas, assess the tightness, straightness, thickness, roundness, and weight. For round teas, evaluate the tightness, uniformity, weight, and hollowness of the particles. For flat teas, observe the level of smoothness and conformity to the typical shape.
3. Color
The color of tea is closely related to the tenderness of the raw materials and the processing techniques used. Each type of tea has a specific color requirement, such as the dark lustrous black of Black Tea, the emerald green of green tea, the olive-brown of Oolong Tea, or the dark oily black of dark tea. However, for all types of tea, a consistent, bright, fresh, and lustrous color is preferred. If the color is uneven, dull, and lacks luster, it indicates inconsistent raw material quality and poor processing, leading to inferior quality. Wholeness: Wholeness refers to the integrity of the tea's appearance and the degree of fragmentation, with uniformity being preferable to fragmentation.
The color of the tea infusion varies depending on the Fermentation level. Generally, green tea presents a honey-green color, black tea a fresh red, white-tipped oolong an amber hue, Jin Xuan oolong a golden yellow, and baozhong tea a honey-yellow. In addition to these standard colors, the tea infusion should be clear, fresh, and glossy, without any murkiness or sediment.
4. Taste
Due to the differences between various types of tea, their tastes vary. Some require a clear and mellow flavor, some emphasize a stimulating taste with a slight bitterness, while others prioritize a sweet, smooth, and full-bodied flavor with a lingering aftertaste. In general, teas with less bitterness, a sweet and smooth taste, and a rich aroma in the mouth or a lasting throat sensation are considered high-quality. If the bitterness is heavy, or there are stale or smoky flavors, the tea is not of good quality.
5. Leaf Base
Leaf shape uniformity: Uniform leaf bases are preferred, while those with many fragments are of lower quality. Leaf body elasticity: Use your fingers to pinch the leaf base; generally, greater elasticity indicates better quality, suggesting young leaves and proper processing. Rigid and hard leaf veins indicate older leaves or aged tea. Leaf age: Fresh tea has a bright and clear leaf base color, while old tea has a yellowish-brown or dark color.
Fermentation level: Black tea is fully fermented, and the leaf base should appear bright red. Oolong tea is semi-fermented; the ideal leaf base shows green with red edges, with red edges on each leaf and a pale green center. Lightly fermented oolong teas and baozhong tea have red edges at the deeper serrated positions of the leaves, with the rest of the leaf presenting a pale green color, which is normal.