Some people favor the fragrance of Tea, while others are enamored with its sweetness. Drinking habits vary from person to person. “The right tea for you is good tea.” This is both a standard for tea enthusiasts when buying tea and a principle for tea merchants when selling it. It also represents the ethical standard of the tea industry. From a personal subjective standpoint, a good tea must be healthy and suitable for your body. For example, some teas make some people feel comfortable, while others might cause stomach discomfort. What's important is that the tea “suits your taste.” Below, we will explore several aspects to determine what makes good tea.

What Qualifies as Good Tea?

1. Clear and Bright Infusion Color

This is the most direct criterion for judging whether a tea is good. Regardless of whether the infusion color is red, green, black, white, or yellow, the key is that it should be “clear and bright.” A clear and bright infusion not only pleases the eye but also indicates that the tea has been processed well, with proper fermentation control and no signs of over-roasting.

One thing to note is that some teas with a lot of downy hair, such as Biluochun and Baihao Yinzhen, may shed hairs during Steeping, which can be mistaken for turbidity in the infusion. It's important to distinguish between the two.

2. Bitterness and Astringency Disappear Quickly

Bitterness and astringency are inherent flavors of tea. As the saying goes: “If it's not bitter and astringent, it's not tea.” If a tea lacks bitterness and astringency, it may seem bland and monotonous.

A well-processed tea will have subdued bitterness and astringency, but they are still present. The key is whether these flavors dissipate quickly in the mouth.

If the bitterness and astringency linger in the mouth, the tea cannot be considered good.

3. No Foreign or Watery Taste

Foreign Taste refers to flavors that come from outside sources, not inherent to the tea itself.

There are two scenarios for foreign tastes: one is when there are issues with the processing, leading to subpar flavors like grassiness, smokiness, or scorched taste; the other is when storage problems cause the tea to spoil or absorb external odors.

Watery Taste occurs when the tea flavor and water taste separate, resulting in a faint, fishy flavor.

A watery taste often appears when the tea infusion becomes lighter, but good tea will not exhibit this separation. For instance, even when a high-quality Longjing tea is infused until it's nearly as clear as water, it still retains a sweet taste without any fishiness.

4. Fresh and Lively Leaf Base

The leaf base of good tea, regardless of the type of tea, shares the characteristic of being fresh and lively. The leaves should be tender and glossy, smooth to the touch, and have a certain thickness and elasticity when pinched.

5. Leaves You Feeling Pleased

Do not consider this a subjective criterion. Good tea makes people happy because the aromatic compounds and certain components in good tea can uplift one's mood, broaden the mind, and refresh the brain after drinking it.