Detailed Appreciation of Oolong Tea and Green Tea

 

 

Tea Fragrance Workshop: Boiling the ups and downs of life, burning away worldly vanity, the sound of zither strings and Qin charm, blue smoke curling gently to clear the mind, the fragrance of orchids from spring and autumn begins, and a thousand ages are all in one pot of tea.

 

Tea tasting is a comprehensive art.

Tea leaves have no absolute good or bad; it completely depends on personal taste preferences. That is to say, all kinds of tea have their high-grade and low-grade varieties. Among teas, there are high-grade oolong teas and inferior oolong teas; there are top-grade green teas and low-grade green teas. The so-called good tea and bad tea are based on a comparison of quality grades and subjective likes and dislikes.

Today we will introduce the following two categories of teas for appreciation in detail:

First, high-grade oolong teas and their famous cultivars, such as Tieguanyin, Golden Cassia, Dongding Oolong, and famous Wuyi teas, Fenghuang Dancong, etc.;

Second, mainly fine green teas, as well as some high-grade famous teas among white tea, black tea, and yellow tea. These high-grade famous teas combine color, aroma, taste, and shape, or have outstanding performance in one or two aspects.

Bad tea does not mean tea that has gone bad, but rather refers to inferior quality. Generally speaking, judging the quality of tea can start from observing the leaves, smelling the aroma, tasting the flavor, and examining the infused leaves.

1. Observe the Tea (Examining the Leaves)

Examining the leaves means appreciating the dry tea and the shape changes of the leaves after brewing. Dry tea refers to the leaves before brewing; brewing refers to infusing the dry leaves with boiling water to release the inner qualities of the tea liquor.

The shape of tea varies with different types, including flat, needle, spiral, eyebrow, pearl, ball, half-ball, flake, curved, orchid, sparrow tongue, chrysanthemum, naturally twisted, etc., each with its own graceful form. After brewing, the shape of the tea leaves undergoes various changes, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, like graceful dances, until they fully unfold into their original form, pleasing to the eye.

 

When observing dry tea, check the dryness of the leaves. If they feel a bit soft, it is best not to buy them. Also, look at whether the leaves are neat and clean. If there are too many stems, yellow leaves, dust, or impurities, it is not top-grade tea. Then, examine the shape of the dry leaves. The shape is formed by rolling the tea, and each type of tea has its fixed shape standard. For example, Longjing tea is sword-shaped, Dongding tea is rolled into half-balls, Tieguanyin is tightly rolled into balls, and jasmine tea is cut into fine strips or pieces. However, just looking at the dry leaves can only give about 30% of the information; it cannot immediately tell whether the tea is good or bad.

Due to different production methods, tea tree varieties, and picking standards, the shapes of tea leaves are very rich and varied. Especially for some fine famous teas, most are handmade, resulting in even more colorful and diverse forms.

(1) Needle shape—round and straight like a needle, such as Nanjing Yuhua tea, Anhua Songzhen, Junshan Yinzhen, Baihao Yinzhen, etc.

(2) Flat shape—flat and straight, such as West Lake Longjing, Maoshan Qingfeng, Anji Baipian, etc.

(3) Strip shape—in the form of slightly curved strips, such as Wuyuan Mingmei, Guiping Xishan tea, Jingshan tea, Lushan Yunwu, etc.

(4) Spiral shape—curled like a snail, such as Dongting Biluochun, Linhai Panhao, Putuo Buddha tea, Jinggang Cuilu, etc.

(5) Orchid shape—shaped like an orchid, such as Taiping Houkui, Orchid tea, etc.

(6) Flake shape—in the form of flakes, such as Lu'an Guapian, Qishan Mingpian, etc.

(7) Bundle shape—in the form of bundles, such as Jiangshan Green Peony, Wuyuan Moju, etc.

(8) Pearl shape—round like pearls, such as Quangang Huibai, Yongxi Huohuo, etc.

In addition, there are half-moon shapes, curled shapes, single-bud shapes, and so on.

2. Observe the Color

(1) Dry tea color

Tea is divided into six major categories by color (referring to dry tea): green tea, yellow tea, white tea, qing tea (oolong), black tea, and dark tea. Due to different production methods, the colors vary, with red and green, blue and yellow, white and black. Even for the same type of tea with the same production process, there will be some differences in color due to tea tree variety, ecological environment, and picking season.

For example, fine high-grade green teas have colors ranging from tender green, emerald green, to green and glossy; high-grade black teas have colors ranging from bright red, dark and glossy with red hues.

The bluish-brown glossiness of northern Fujian Wuyi rock tea, the sand-green glossiness of southern Fujian Tieguanyin, the yellowish-brown glossiness of Guangdong Fenghuang Shuixian, and the dark green glossiness of Taiwan Dongding Oolong are all representative colors of high-grade oolong teas and important indicators for identifying the quality of oolong tea.

2) Liquor color

The color presented by the solution after the components of the tea leaves are dissolved in boiling water is called the liquor color. Therefore, different types of tea have distinct liquor colors; and even within the same type of tea, different varieties and grades will show certain differences. Generally speaking, top-grade teas have bright, glossy liquor. Specifically, green tea liquor is light green or yellow-green, clear and not cloudy, bright and limpid; black tea liquor is dark and glossy, and if a golden oil ring forms around the edge of the liquor, commonly known as a "golden ring," it is even more superior; oolong tea liquor is preferably bluish-brown and glossy; white tea liquor is slightly yellow, with yellow showing green, and has a luster.

 

 

Place an appropriate amount of tea leaves in a glass cup, or rinse them with hot water in a transparent container, and the leaves will slowly unfold. You can brew several cups at the same time to compare the quality of different teas. The tea that unfolds smoothly, releases its essence most vigorously, and has the softest and most graceful leaves is the best tea.

Observing the tea liquor should be done quickly and promptly, because the polyphenols dissolved in hot water easily oxidize and change color upon contact with air. For example, the liquor of green tea oxidizes and turns yellow; the liquor of black tea oxidizes and turns dark, etc. If delayed too long, the tea liquor may become cloudy and produce sediment; for black tea, when the liquor temperature drops below 20°C, a creamy turbidity often occurs, commonly known as "cold cream," which is the result of the combination of black tea pigments and caffeine forming a yellowish slurry-like insoluble substance. The early appearance of cold cream with a pinkish color indicates a tea with strong flavor and bright liquor; cold cream appearing dark brown indicates a tea with dull flavor and dark liquor.

The color of the tea liquor also varies in depth depending on the degree of fermentation and the level of roasting. However, there is a common principle: regardless of the depth of color, the liquor must not be cloudy or dull; clear and transparent is a prerequisite for good tea liquor.

Generally, as the liquor temperature drops, the color gradually deepens. Under the same temperature and time, the color change of black tea is greater than that of green tea, large-leaf varieties greater than small-leaf varieties, tender tea greater than older tea, and new tea greater than aged tea. The color of the tea liquor observed within 10 minutes after filtering is most representative of the original color of the tea. However, remember that when making comparisons, you must compare the same type of tea.

(3) Infused leaf color

This refers to appreciating the color of the leaves left after the tea has been brewed and the liquor removed. In addition to observing the color of the infused leaves, one can also observe their tenderness, smoothness or roughness, and uniformity.

3. Appreciate the Posture

During the brewing process, the tea leaves absorb water, become moist, and unfold, sometimes like spring bamboo shoots, sometimes like sparrow tongues, sometimes like orchids, or like ink chrysanthemums. At the same time, due to gravity, the leaves produce a sense of motion. When Taiping Houkui unfolds, it resembles a lively little monkey, flipping up and down in the water; when Junshan Yinzhen unfolds, it looks like emerald bamboo reaching for the sun, with needles standing upright; when West Lake Longjing unfolds, it resembles spring orchids in full bloom. Such beautiful scenes, reflected in the cup of water, truly make one feel intoxicated even before drinking the tea.

4. Smell the Aroma

Appreciating the aroma of tea generally requires three steps. First, smell the aroma of the dry tea (dry sniff), second, smell the fully revealed aroma of the tea after brewing (hot sniff), and third, smell the persistence of the tea aroma (cold sniff).

First, smell the dry tea. Some dry teas have a fresh aroma, some a sweet aroma, and some a roasted aroma. This should be done before brewing. For example, green tea should be fresh and refreshing, black tea should be strong and pure, scented tea should be fragrant to the nose, and oolong tea should be rich and elegant. If the tea aroma is low and heavy, or has burnt, smoky, sour, moldy, stale, or other off-flavors, it is inferior.

Place a small amount of dry tea in a container (or directly grab a handful of tea leaves in your hand) and smell the fresh, rich, or sweet aroma of the dry tea, and determine if there are any off-flavors or impurities.

The method of smelling the aroma is mostly done by wet sniffing, that is, after brewing the tea, depending on the type of tea, after 1 to 3 minutes, bring the cup to the nose and smell the aroma emitted from the surface of the tea liquor; if using a cup with a lid, you can smell the aroma on the lid and the surface; if using an aroma cup as an intermediate vessel (like when Taiwanese brew oolong tea), you can smell the aroma from the cup and the surface. In addition, as the temperature of the tea liquor changes, the tea aroma can be distinguished as hot sniff, warm sniff, and cold sniff. The focus of the hot sniff is to determine the normalcy of the aroma, the type of aroma, and the intensity of the aroma; the cold sniff judges the persistence of the tea aroma; the warm sniff focuses on identifying the elegance or vulgarity of the tea aroma, i.e., superiority or inferiority.

 

 

Generally speaking, green tea with a fresh, refreshing, and even fruity or floral aroma is considered good; black tea with a fresh, floral aroma is considered superior, especially those with a strong, lasting aroma; oolong tea with a rich, ripe peach-like aroma is considered best; scented tea with a pure, fragrant aroma is considered excellent.

Looking through a glass cup can only show the surface quality of the tea leaves; it cannot fully capture the aroma and taste of the tea, so brewing a pot of tea to taste it carefully is necessary. After the tea is brewed and the liquor is poured out, you can immediately open the lid of the pot or lift the teacup to smell the hot aroma of the tea liquor, and determine the type of aroma (vegetable, floral, fruity, maltose). At the same time, determine if there are any smoky, oily, burnt, or other off-flavors. This can help judge the freshness, degree of fermentation, and level of roasting of the tea. After the tea liquor temperature drops slightly, you can taste the tea. At this time, you can carefully discern the clarity, intensity, and purity of the tea liquor aroma and smell the medium-temperature tea aroma to better understand its characteristics. After finishing the tea liquor and the tea leaves have cooled, you can also go back and appreciate the cold aroma of the spent leaves and sniff the aroma left at the bottom of the cup. For inferior tea, the aroma will have already disappeared by this time.

The technique of sniffing the aroma is very important. You should start sniffing the aroma about 5 minutes after the tea liquor has been infused. The most suitable temperature for sniffing the aroma of the infused leaves is 45–55°C; above this temperature, it feels hot to the nose; below 30°C, the tea aroma is low and heavy, and especially for aromas contaminated with smoke, wood, or other off-flavors, they can easily volatilize with the heat and become difficult to distinguish.

When sniffing the aroma, hold the cup with your left hand, bring it close to the rim of the cup, and gently or deeply sniff the aroma emitted by the infused leaves at the bottom of the cup with your nose. You can also insert your entire nose into the cup, close to the leaves, to increase the contact area with the aroma and enhance the olfactory sensation. To correctly judge the height, length, strength, clarity, and purity of the tea aroma, you should repeat the sniffing once or twice, but each sniff should not be too long to avoid olfactory fatigue and loss of sensitivity; generally, it takes about 3 seconds. The process of sniffing the tea aroma is: inhale (1 second) — pause (0.5 seconds) — inhale (1 second). The aroma sniffed in this way is the "high-temperature aroma." Additionally, you can sniff the "medium-temperature aroma" of the tea while tasting. After tasting, you can also sniff the "low-temperature aroma" or "cold aroma" of the tea. Good tea has a lasting aroma. Only tea with a high and lasting aroma will have a lingering aroma, cold aroma, and be considered good tea.

There are also three methods for hot sniffing: first, sniffing the aroma from the steaming vapor; second, sniffing the aroma left on the lid of the cup; third, using an aroma cup to slowly and carefully sniff the aroma left at the bottom of the cup. For example, after brewing Anxi Tieguanyin, there is a strong natural floral aroma; black tea has a sweet aroma and fruity notes; green tea has a fresh aroma; scented tea, in addition to the tea aroma, has different natural floral fragrances. The aroma of tea is related to the freshness of the raw materials used and the skill of the production technique. The finer the raw materials, the more aromatic substances they contain, and the higher the aroma.

Cold sniffing is done after the tea liquor has cooled, allowing you to smell other aromas that were originally masked by the aromatic substances in the tea.

5. Taste the Flavor

Refers to tasting the flavor of the tea liquor. The flavor of the tea liquor is the result of the comprehensive reflection of various flavor compounds such as sweetness, bitterness, astringency, sourness, spiciness, fishiness, and freshness. If their quantities and proportions are suitable, the flavor becomes fresh, mellow, and enjoyable, with a lingering aftertaste. The best tea flavor is slightly bitter but with a sweet aftertaste. Good tea tastes mellow, thick, and lively; the throat feels sweet and smooth for a long time after drinking.

It is generally believed that green tea has a fresh, refreshing, and brisk flavor; black tea has a thick, strong, and brisk flavor; oolong tea has a rich, mellow, and sweet aftertaste, which are important indicators of top-grade tea. Since different parts of the tongue have different sensitivities to flavors, when tasting, the tea liquor should be rolled around the tongue to correctly and comprehensively discern the taste.

When tasting the flavor, the position of the tongue should be correct. After drawing the tea liquor into the mouth, press the tip of the tongue against the upper front teeth, slightly open the lips, and slightly lift the tongue so that the tea liquor spreads across the middle of the tongue. Then, using abdominal breathing, slowly inhale air through the mouth, allowing the tea liquor to roll slightly on the tongue. After inhaling twice, discern the flavor. If a tea liquor initially tastes bitter, raise the tongue position and press the tea liquor to the back of the tongue to further assess the degree of bitterness. For tea liquor with a smoky taste, after drawing the tea into the mouth, close the lips, press the tip of the tongue against the upper palate, inhale through the nose, expand the mouth cavity to allow the air to fully contact the tea liquor, and then exhale through the nose. Repeat this two or three times for a clear judgment of the smoky taste.

The most suitable temperature for tasting tea liquor is 40–50°C. If it is above 70°C, the taste organs can easily be scalded, affecting normal evaluation; when it is below 30°C, the sensitivity of the taste organs for evaluating tea liquor is reduced, and the flavor-related substances dissolved in the tea liquor gradually precipitate as the temperature drops, causing the flavor to change from harmonious to inharmonious.

When tasting, the appropriate amount of tea liquor for each sip is about 5 ml. If too much, the mouth feels full, making it difficult to swirl and discern the flavor; if too little, the mouth feels empty, making it difficult to discern. In about 3 to 4 seconds, swirl 5 ml of tea liquor in the mouth twice and taste it three times. That is, a 15 ml cup of tea liquor is drunk in three sips, which is the process of "tasting."

Tasting should be natural, not too fast, and not too forceful when slurping, to avoid drawing food debris between the teeth into the mouth, mixing it with the tea liquor and adding off-flavors. The main purpose of tasting is to discern the tea's richness, strength, briskness or astringency, freshness or staleness, and purity or impurity. To truly taste the original flavor of the tea, it is best not to eat foods with strong irritating tastes before tasting, such as chili, onions, garlic, or candy, and also not to smoke, to maintain the sensitivity of taste and smell. After swallowing the tea liquor, the throat should feel soft, sweet, smooth, and flavorful, with lingering fragrance in the mouth and teeth, and a long-lasting aftertaste.