The most crucial step in tea appreciation is brewing and tasting, which involves steeping the tea leaves first and then evaluating them. The general procedure is: appreciating the soup color — smelling the aroma — tasting the flavor — examining the brewed leaves.

 

 

Today, let's talk about the step of "appreciating the soup color."

Because the tea polyphenols in the tea soup oxidize quickly upon contact with air, causing the tea soup to change color easily, it is important to appreciate the color promptly. This mainly involves distinguishing the depth of the color, whether it is normal, its brightness or darkness, and its clarity or turbidity from aspects such as hue, brightness, and clarity.

 

 

Why is some tea soup green and some red, some bright and some dark?

Answer: The color of tea soup can also be judged by hue, brightness, and chroma.

Hue refers to the type of color. The color of tea soup mainly varies between green and red, which is related to the degree of tea fermentation. The less fermentation, the greener the soup color; the more fermentation, the redder the soup color. There are non-stepwise changes in between, such as yellow-green, golden yellow, and orange-red.

Brightness refers to how light or dark the color is, which is related to the degree of tea roasting. Tea that is lightly roasted has a brighter soup color. As the roasting degree increases, the soup color becomes darker.

Chroma refers to the saturation of the color, which is related to the amount of soluble substances in the tea soup. The more soluble substances are dissolved, the thicker the tea soup, which is manifested as high chroma in the soup color. Conversely, the fewer soluble substances, the more watery the tea soup becomes, and the lower the chroma of the soup color.

 

 

Common terms for evaluating tea soup color:

Lü Yan (Vivid Green): Clear, bright, and vivid; light green and shiny.

Huang Lü (Yellow-Green): Green with a hint of yellow, resembling the color of a semi-ripe orange, also called Cheng Lü (Orange-Green).

 

 

Lü Huang (Green-Yellow): Soup color that is more yellow than green.

Qian Huang (Light Yellow): Soup color that is yellow and light, also called Dan Huang (Pale Yellow).

 

 

Cheng Huang (Orange-Yellow): Soup color that is yellow with a hint of red, resembling orange or tangerine.

Cheng Se (Orange): Soup color that is red with a hint of yellow, resembling tangerine red.

Shen Huang (Deep Yellow): Dark yellow; soup is yellow and deep without luster.

Qing An (Bluish-Dark): Soup color tinged with blue, lacking luster.

Hun An (Turbid-Dark): Soup color is turbid and dark, synonymous with "turbid." There are many precipitates in the soup, making it murky and unclear, difficult to see the bottom of the cup.

Hong Tang (Red Soup): Commonly seen in aged tea or tea over-roasted. The soup color is light red or dark red.

Qing Huang (Clear Yellow): Tea soup is yellow and clear.

 

 

Jin Huang (Golden Yellow): Tea soup is clear, primarily yellow with a hint of orange.

Hong Yan (Bright Red): Soup color resembling amber with a golden rim, characteristic of high-grade black tea.

 

 

Hong Liang (Red Bright), Hong Ming (Red Clear): Soup color not very strong but red, transparent, and lustrous is called "Hong Liang"; transparent but slightly less lustrous is called "Hong Ming."

Shen Hong (Deep Red), Shen Nong (Deep and Strong): Red and deep, lacking bright luster.

Hong Dan (Pale Red): Soup color is red and light.

 

 

Shen An (Deep Dark): Soup color is deep and dark, slightly blackish, also called Hong An (Red Dark). Often seen in black tea that is over-fermented or stored for too long, indicating aged quality.

Hong Zhuo (Red Turbid): Regardless of depth, the soup has many precipitates and is turbid, making the bottom difficult to see.

Leng Hou Hun (Cooling Turbidity), Ru Ning (Creaming): When concentrated black tea soup cools, a light brown or orange milky turbidity appears, called "Leng Hou Hun" or "Ru Ning." This phenomenon occurs in good quality black tea.

 

 

Jiang Huang (Ginger Yellow): After adding milk to broken black tea soup, the color becomes ginger yellow, bright, rich, and full. This is a sign of strong soup quality and good tea.

Nong Liang (Strong and Bright): Tea soup is strong and transparent. Although not as bright and lustrous as "Nong Yan," it still has some luster.

 

 

Xian Ming (Fresh and Bright): Fresh, bright, slightly lustrous, not very strong but not weak either.

Qing Che (Clear), Ming Liang (Bright): Clean and transparent tea soup is called "Ming Liang." Bright and lustrous, with a clear view to the bottom and no sediment or suspended matter, is called "Qing Che."

Ming Jing (Clear and Clean): The substances in the soup are not very abundant, but it is still clear and bright.

Hun Zhuo (Turbid): The tea soup contains a large amount of suspended matter, poor transparency, making it difficult to see the bottom of the cup.

Hun An (Dim): The soup color is not bright but has no suspended matter, slightly different from "turbid."