Did you know that drinking tea should also vary from person to person? Have you been blindly following trends? It's important to know that incorrect tea drinking methods can harm your health.

Two misconceptions about drinking tea: Although China can be called the "land of tea," experts interviewed stated that people still have two main misunderstandings about tea drinking.

The first is thinking that more expensive tea is better.

"Nowadays, there are more and more high-priced teas. Besides satisfying people's taste preferences, they have also become a status symbol," said Zhao Yingli, a renowned Chinese tea scholar. "The price of tea is determined by its quality and grade.

Quality mainly refers to the tea's place of origin and tea plant variety, 'For example, everyone knows West Lake Longjing is good';

Grade is primarily related to the picking time and the part of the plant picked. Tender buds, one bud with one leaf, one bud with two leaves—the prices differ significantly. For the same Longjing tea, the Mingqian tea picked before the Qingming Festival is the most expensive."

Wang Qing, Executive Vice President of the China Tea Marketing Association, believes: "Ordinary people don't actually need to buy high-end tea. They can completely make their choice based on personal financial capability and different tastes." Zhao Yingli suggests that choosing tea priced between 100-300 yuan per jin is quite appropriate. "At this price, you can already buy tea with very good quality. I recommend that when purchasing, prioritize quality over grade. Some high-grade teas are picked too early and are too tender, while part of the tea's nutrition is precisely in the stems. Some less expensive teas have better health preservation effects."

The second misconception is only drinking tea without savoring it.

There are two kinds of tea: one is the tea among "firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea," and the other is the tea among "zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, and tea." The first kind of tea meets people's needs for "nourishing the body," such as quenching thirst, refreshing the mind, reducing internal heat, and aiding digestion; the second kind can satisfy people's needs for "nourishing the heart," such as expressing emotions, observing rituals, and comprehending truths.

Zhao Yingli, the renowned Chinese tea scholar, said that the greatest value of tea for people is primarily nurturing the heart, with nourishing the body being secondary. "Especially for middle-aged people, who are busy with work and under great pressure, they should give themselves some time to patiently brew a pot of tea and savor a pot of tea. People are prone to making wrong decisions when irritable. At such times, it might be wise to first slowly savor a pot of tea before making a decision."

Incorrect Drinking Methods Harm Nutrition

Regarding the biggest "mistake" in modern tea drinking, Zhao Yingli reminds us that the most inadvisable practice is using a large teacup and steeping a handful of tea leaves all day. This way, you cannot taste the true flavor of the tea, and prolonged steeping can easily cause heavy metals in the tea to leach out, which is harmful to health. "When drinking tea, it is essential to separate the tea leaves from the water. Even without professional tea ware, you can prepare a teapot or cup with a filter." Additionally, "not rinsing new tea, not discarding leftover tea, and not cleaning tea stains" are also common mistakes people make when drinking tea. Whether it's tender new tea or precious aged tea, the surface may have pesticide residues or dust mite contamination. It's best to "rinse" it by discarding the first infusion. Some people are reluctant to wash away the tea stains on their teapots, thinking it helps "nurture" the pot. In fact, tea stains are not only detrimental to health but also affect the taste of the tea.

Finally, Zhao Yingli reminds everyone of another misconception: the belief that drinking tea causes insomnia. "Many highly fermented teas, such as black tea and ripe Pu-erh, contain very little caffeine left. Not only do they not affect sleep, but on the contrary, drinking some digestion-aiding tea about an hour after dinner can help cleanse the stomach and intestines and promote sleep."