Many people want to buy good tea and drink good tea, but they often struggle due to a lack of professional knowledge and the varying quality of different teas, which can leave them feeling disoriented. Today, we will introduce this knowledge to you. By mastering these points, you will be less likely to be tricked when buying tea.

Behind a good cup of tea lies meticulous care in every step, from planting the tea trees and harvesting the tea leaves to brewing the tea leaves... So what are the standards for good tea? Just as the world of tea ceremony is multifaceted, everyone's preferences and depths of understanding differ. How a cup of tea is defined as "good" varies from person to person.

However, conventionally, a good tea should include the following points:

 

 

1. Clear and Bright Tea Soup

This is the most intuitive standard to judge whether a tea is good. Regardless of whether the tea soup is red, green, black, white, or yellow, the key is that it must be "clear and bright." Besides being pleasing to the eye, a clear and bright tea soup indicates:

1. Excellent tea processing工艺 with no broken bits or dust.

2. Good storage conditions, free from dust and mold.

3. Abundant inner substances in the tea that have been well released.

4. Scientific brewing methods. Sometimes, brewing can cause good tea to appear turbid, such as using water that is too hot, or using a high-pour method for teas with many fine hairs.

 

 

 

 

2. Bitterness and Astringency Dissipate Quickly from the Tongue

No bitterness or astringency means it's not tea. Bitterness and astringency are inherent to tea, but the key is whether they can dissipate quickly. If the bitter and astringent taste remains in the mouth,所谓的 "lingering on the tongue," it should not be considered good tea. Some people might prefer this taste, but that can only be considered their personal subjective standard.

 

 

3. Free of Off-odors, Strange Flavors, and Watery Taste

1. Off-odors refer to smells that are not inherent to the tea itself, usually because the tea has absorbed other smells during production or storage, such as perfume, cosmetics, smoke, or other miscellaneous odors. Because tea has excellent absorption properties, extreme care must be taken during production and storage. Once an off-odor is absorbed, it is almost impossible to remove, ruining even the best tea.

2. Strange flavors refer to unpleasant tastes inherent to the tea itself, such as a moldy taste. There are also some indescribable flavors that make people feel uncomfortable. Some might say this is the unique characteristic of this tea, but don't believe them. Strange flavors often indicate problems with the tea, such as the presence of harmful substances like aflatoxin, which is detrimental to health.

3. Watery taste refers to the separation of tea flavor and water taste, presenting a faint fishy smell. A watery taste often appears when the tea soup becomes weak. Good tea will not show this separation; it will be light but not fishy. For example, good Longjing tea remains sweet even when brewed to a pale, watery consistency.

 

 

4. Vibrant Tea Base (Brewed Leaves)

The tea base of a good tea, regardless of the category among the six major tea types, shares the common characteristic of being vibrant. A vibrant tea base indicates:

1. Good raw material of the tea leaves. The tea base is a还原 of the fresh tea leaves.

2. Excellent tea processing工艺 that did not "kill" the tea.

3. Proper brewing that allowed the leaves to fully unfurl without being overcooked or spoiled by stewing.

 

5. Good Tea Must Be Free of Harmful Substances like Pesticide Residues

This is the bottom line for good tea. Drinking tea should not satisfy the palate at the expense of ignoring tea's healthy nature.坚决抵制 tea with excessive pesticide residues, heavy metals, and other harmful substances.

 

 

6. Good Tea Brings Pleasure

Do not think this is a subjective standard. Good tea brings pleasure because the aromatic substances and certain components in good tea promote the secretion of dopamine after drinking, thereby making people feel happy and clear-headed. In contrast, bad tea can make people feel more depressed the more they drink—similar to wine.

So, if you are unsure about the above standards, use this as the sole standard. After all, tea is loved by almost all countries and ethnic groups in the world, not through education but through its essence: drinking tea makes people feel good.

 

 

Not all cheap teas are bad, nor are all expensive teas flawless. The price of tea actually depends on many factors. Blindly pursuing expensive teas can often lead to confusion in the vast sea of tea... Improve your tea-buying skills, and soon you will form your own understanding of the tea ceremony and have a well-founded opinion on what makes a cup of tea good.

For tea drinkers, no amount of standards can outweigh good taste. A cup of tea, a good cup of tea, is ultimately about being right for your palate.