1. The Color of the Tea Leaves

Good new tea leaves are generally fresh, bright green or dark green. Good green tea has a jade-green color and appears very moist and fresh. Good roasted tea has a grayish-green color with a slight sheen. Poor-quality tea will have obvious black focal points or deep brownish spots, and if the tea contains old leaves or yellow leaves, the color will not be uniform.

2. The Shape of the Tea Leaves

Each type of tea has its own characteristic shape. If the tea leaves are relatively uniform in size, thickness, and length, they are of better quality. If the tea leaves are coarse, loose, and broken into short pieces, they are of poor quality.

3. Smell the Aroma of the Tea Leaves

Good tea leaves usually have a very distinct tea fragrance, which can be light and fragrant, rich and aromatic, or sweet and fragrant. Poor-quality tea will have a charred, bitter, or stale old smell.

4. Taste the Tea Liquor

The tea soup brewed from good tea leaves is very sweet, fresh, mellow, and thick, with a pleasant sweetness that lingers in the mouth for a long time. If it tastes bitter, astringent, muddy, or has other odd flavors, then it is poor-quality tea.

5. The Dryness of the Tea Leaves

If you can pinch the tea leaves firmly and they crumble into powder, it indicates they are quite dry and are good tea. If they cannot be pinched into powder, it means the tea has absorbed moisture and is prone to spoilage, making it poor-quality tea.

The above teaches you how to distinguish the quality of tea from 5 aspects. Now you know how to tell good tea from bad, right?