Many tea enthusiasts experience a dry mouth after drinking tea. Is this normal, or does it indicate poor-quality tea?

Setting aside pathological reasons, let's explore the relationship between tongue dryness and tea drinking:

First, dryness caused by tea polyphenols. Tea contains polyphenolic compounds that can form a water-impermeable film on the tongue, leading to dryness and astringency. Once this film breaks, it transforms into the commonly experienced sweet aftertaste, which is also a marker of good tea. This sensation is often more pronounced in teas with higher polyphenol content, such as green tea and raw Pu-erh.

Second, dryness due to drinking temperature. While hot or warm tea is recommended, excessively hot tea can scald the oral cavity, creating a dry sensation. Similarly, drinking overly hot water produces a comparable feeling. Additionally, Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Tea is bitter and cold, most effective at reducing internal heat. Heat is the root of many ailments; when heat is reduced, the upper body feels clear. Drinking it warm allows the tea's cold nature to subdue the heat energy, while drinking it hot causes the tea to disperse with the heat energy, also helping to neutralize toxins from food and alcohol."

Third, the so-called "strong fire energy" of some teas. On one hand, traditional medicine categorizes food properties into "four natures and five flavors": cold, cool, warm, hot (the four natures) and sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty (the five flavors). Among teas, green tea and white tea are considered the coolest, while oolong and yellow teas are relatively neutral and mild, and black tea and dark tea are relatively warm and hot in nature. On the other hand, some newly processed teas, such as freshly pan-fired and dried green tea or recently roasted teas, often retain unresolved "fire energy." Drinking these may cause a dry sensation on the tongue and throat for some people. However, most teas lose this characteristic after a period of storage.

The above are the main reasons for tongue dryness. Additionally, some individuals are sensitive to tea fuzz. For teas with abundant fuzz, like Biluochun or Baihao Yinzhen, the throat may feel irritated, leading to an itchy and dry sensation.

Thus, we understand why drinking tea can sometimes cause a dry feeling on the tongue. In fact, similar to how we perceive other tastes, to some extent, this is a normal phenomenon and nothing to worry about.
 

Author: Fei Yang

Source: Zhihu / Buzhi

Editor: Tea Bubble Network Xiao Qiao