Wuyi Rock Tea, as a commodity, inevitably involves quality assessment issues during its production, processing, sales, and tasting processes. So, what aspects does the quality assessment standard for Wuyi Rock Tea include?
Wuyi Rock Tea Quality Assessment Standards
Wuyi Rock Tea emphasizes intrinsic quality, primarily focusing on the two factors of aroma and taste. Currently, tea quality is mainly assessed through sensory evaluation, which requires proficient skill and rich practical experience.
Generally, determining the quality of tea through scientific methods involves the following factors: A. Tea Master's Sensory Factors: such as shape, color, taste, liquor color, and leaf bottom. B. Physical Factors of Tea: such as the content of dark fragments, green fragments, yellow fragments, impurities, and the specific gravity and buoyancy of the tea. C. Chemical Factors of Tea: such as ash content, moisture content, water extract, as well as the content and proportion of important components like essential oils, tannins, caffeine, etc.
High-quality finished Rock Tea must meet the following standards:
1. Shape: Should be substantial and heavy in weight, with strips of moderate length, tight and slightly fine. However, for Shuixian and large-leaf varieties, the strips can be slightly thicker but must strive for purity, neatness, and aesthetic appeal.
2. Color: Should exhibit a distinct greenish-brown color, commonly referred to as "precious color." The surface of the strips should also show small white spots resembling frog skin, which is a characteristic of proper rolling and adequate roasting.
3. Aroma: As a semi-fermented tea, Rock Tea must possess the fresh fragrance of green tea and the ripe aroma of black tea. The stronger the aroma, the better, with a fresh, subtle, and long-lasting fragrance being top-grade. Lacking this cannot be considered fine tea.
4. Liquor Color: The liquor color of Rock Tea is generally a deep orange-yellow, clear and bright. It is prized if the color does not fade significantly even after the third or fourth infusion.
5. Taste: High-quality Rock Tea should have a rich and fragrant taste upon entry, feeling smooth and lively throughout the mouth and throat. Initially, there might be a slight bitterness from the tea elements, but this should gradually give way to a refreshing sensation and a pleasant, sweet aftertaste. The quality of Rock Tea is almost entirely determined by the superiority of its flavor and the richness of its aftertaste (Yunwei).
6. Infusion Times: Typically, tea that can be infused more than five times without its original flavor becoming weak is considered good. The best can be infused eight times or more while still retaining aroma.
7. Leaf Bottom (Spent Leaves): Good tea leaves, after brewing with boiling water, should unfold easily and be extremely soft. The leaf edges should show a silvery-vermilion color; the green part in the center of the leaf should be clear, light green, slightly tinged with yellow. This is often described as "green leaves with red borders."
Regarding physical factors, such as the content of tea stems, yellow flakes, tea dust, and other impurities, the requirement is that they be as minimal as possible. Tests for moisture content, water extract, essential oils, tannins, caffeine, etc., must not exceed specified limits.