Tea lovers often say that finding a true confidant in life is difficult, and finding a good tea is also hard. Tea friends always ask, what is the standard for good tea? What kind of tea can be considered good tea? In fact, the world of tea is diverse, and everyone's preferences may differ. How a cup of tea is defined as good varies from person to person. However, whether the tea is good or not will be told by your body.

【Promoting Saliva】

1. Salivation in the Cheeks

When tasting tea, notice if saliva is secreted in the cheeks. Among the components within tea leaves, tea tannin and certain other ingredients can stimulate the inner walls of the mouth to tighten and收敛, creating an astringent sensation and promoting salivation.

However, not all astringent sensations lead to salivation. Some inferior teas, despite having a very astringent broth, do not promote salivation, leaving the mouth feeling constricted and the cheek muscles uncomfortably spasmed. This kind of astringency without salivation is called "astringent but not open".

2. Salivation on the Tongue Surface

Salivation on the tongue surface, besides the physiological feeling of quenching thirst and comfort, offers a higher level of tea tasting artistry compared to cheek salivation. It transitions from the wild, forceful, and rough urgency of cheek salivation to the tame, delicate, gentle, and细致 sensation of tongue surface salivation.

3. Spring Under the Tongue

When drinking top-notch rock tea, the tea broth, after contacting the bottom of the tongue through the oral cavity, will slowly promote salivation under the tongue, creating a continuous feeling of tiny bubbles welling up. This phenomenon of salivation under the tongue is called "spring under the tongue".

【Sweet Aftertaste (Hui Gan)】

The sweet aftertaste of tea,亦即 "sweetness". People generally dislike bitter tea, while excessive sweetness is also不利 for health. A faint hint of sweetness brings us a pleasant experience.

For example, Qian Hong Early Spring Tea is carefully selected from each tender bud in early spring, undergoing the stringent "Zong's Eight Methods" tea processing steps and meticulously crafted by experienced tea masters with thirty years of expertise. The bitterness and astringency in the tea are gradually reduced, while the sugar content remains in the leaves. After brewing, organic acids, flavonoids, and sugars are slowly released into the tea broth, revealing a subtle, almost elusive sweetness. This sweetness does not appear as a direct刺激 to the taste buds but slowly反馈 from the root of the tongue, hence tea tasters often call it "sweet aftertaste" (Hui Gan).

Compared to an immediately apparent sweetness upon入口, this "sweetness after bitterness" aftertaste is more dramatic and is more often associated with the quality of good tea. Therefore, good tea often carries a "sweet aftertaste," and the intensity and persistence of this aftertaste are often used as indicators for judging good tea.

【Tea Qi (Energy)】

Scientifically speaking, Tea Qi is a somatic sensation. When we drink tea, it is not merely a natural reaction of "cold, cool, warm, hot," but a cultural phenomenon, carrying human energy—full, rich, sharp, and起伏—even rising to philosophical, artistic, religious, and other cultural emotions. The better the tea, the stronger the somatic sensation (Tea Qi) it brings.

1. The Culture of Tea Qi

"Tea Qi" is a vehicle that allows people to achieve a momentary "carefree wandering" of the mind. Drinkers, aided by Tea Qi, attach their emotional release to the tea body, tea aroma, and tea charm, riding on it to travel far, letting the mind roam freely, and communing alone with the spirit of heaven and earth. Because this phenomenon shares remarkable similarities with the mental journeys and meditation experiences in Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, it makes Tea Qi mysterious and elegant during tea tasting.

2. The Realm of Tea Qi

Savoring "Tea Qi" is also about seeking a life境界,寄托 a life ideal. Once one gains insight, even without tea, the "Tea Qi" in the heart can resonate持久ly, just as an ancient poem chants: "Spring has百花, autumn has the moon, summer has cool breezes, winter has snow. If idle matters do not burden the heart, it is always the good season in the world."

Good tea will make your body speak.