What Aspects Should You Consider When Choosing China Green Tea?

CHINA GREEN TEA leaves are mainly viewed from five aspects, namely tenderness, stringiness, color, wholeness and clarity:

1.Tenderness
Tenderness is the basic factor that determines quality. The so-called "look at the shape when dry, and the bottom of the leaf when wet" refers to tenderness. Generally, tea with good tenderness can easily meet the shape requirements of the tea (such as "light, flat, flat, straight" in Longjing). In addition, it can also be identified from the presence or absence of front seedlings in the tea. The front seedlings are good and the pekoe is exposed, which means that the tenderness is good and the workmanship is good. If the raw material has poor tenderness and no matter how good the workmanship is, the tea sticks will also have no front sprouts and pekoe. However, the tenderness cannot be judged only by the amount of hair, because the specific requirements of various teas are different. For example, the excellent Shifeng Longjing has no hair on the body. Furthermore, the fluff is easy to fake, and a lot of them are artificially made. The tenderness of buds and leaves is judged based on the number of hairs, which is only suitable for "fluffy" teas such as Maofeng, Maojian and Yinzhen. What needs to be mentioned here is that the tenderest fresh leaves also have a bud and a leaf. It is inappropriate to pick the bud heart one-sidedly. Because the bud core is the imperfect part of the growth, the contained ingredients are not comprehensive, especially the chlorophyll content is very low. Therefore, tea should not be made from buds purely in pursuit of tenderness.

2.The rope
The strips are the certain shape specifications of various types of tea, such as fried green strips, round pearl tea, Longjing flat, black broken tea granular shapes and so on. In general, long-striped tea depends on the elasticity, straightness, strength, thinness, roundness, and weight; round tea depends on the tightness, uniformity, weight, and emptyness of the particles; flat tea depends on the smoothness and compliance with specifications. Generally speaking, the strips are tight, the bones are heavy, round and straight (except for flat tea), indicating that the raw materials are tender, the workmanship is good, and the quality is good; if the shape is loose, flat (except for flat tea), broken, and there is smoke and coke The taste indicates that the raw materials are old, the workmanship is poor, and the quality is poor. Take the standard of green tea strips in Hangzhou area as an example: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Feng Miao is the best.

3.Color
The color of tea is closely related to the tenderness of raw materials and processing technology. All kinds of tea have certain color requirements, such as black tea black oily, green tea emerald green, oolong tea green brown, dark tea black oily color and so on. But no matter what kind of tea, good tea requires consistent color, bright luster, oily and fresh. If the color is different, the shade is different, and it is dark and dull, it means that the raw materials are different, the workmanship is poor, and the quality is poor.
The color of tea leaves is also closely related to the place and season of the tea plant. Such as high mountain green tea, the color is green and slightly yellow, fresh and bright; low mountain tea or flat tea has dark green and light color. In the process of making tea, due to improper technology, the color often deteriorates. When buying tea, judge according to the specific tea purchased. For example, Longjing, the best Shifeng Longjing, its Mingqian tea is not emerald green, but has a natural brown beige color, which is bright yellow. This is a major feature of Shifeng Longjing, which is obviously different from other Longjings in color. Because the price of Shifeng Longjing is so high, tea farmers will create this color to impersonate Shifeng Longjing. The method is to slightly over-fry the tea leaves during the frying process to make the leaves yellow. The difference between true and false is that the real lion peak is well-proportioned and smooth, light yellow and tender green, with a delicate fragrance of tea; the false lion peak is pine and hollow, rough and yellowish, with the aroma of tea and fried soybeans. It is indeed not easy to judge without multiple comparisons. But once brewed, the difference is very obvious. The fake Shifeng that has been fried does not have the rich and tender fragrance that Longjing should have.

4.Whole
Whole and broken refers to the shape and degree of brokenness of the tea. It is better to be even and broken into second. A more standard tea review is to place the tea in a tray (usually made of wood), so that under the action of the rotating force, the tea will form an orderly layer according to the shape, size, weight, thickness, and whole. Among them, the strong ones are in the uppermost layer, the fine and heavy ones are concentrated in the middle layer, and the broken and small ones are deposited in the lowest layer. For all kinds of tea, it is better to have more middle tea. The upper layer is generally rich in coarse and old leaves, the taste is lighter, and the water color is lighter; the lower layer has more broken tea, and the taste is often too strong after brewing, and the soup color is darker.

5.Clarity
It mainly depends on whether the tea is mixed with tea chips, tea stems, tea powder, tea seeds, and the amount of inclusions such as bamboo chips, wood chips, lime, and silt mixed in the production process. Tea with good clarity does not contain any inclusions. In addition, it can also be identified by the dry aroma of the tea. No matter what kind of tea, there must be no peculiar smell. Each type of tea has a specific aroma, and the dry and wet aromas are also different, which need to be determined according to the specific situation. The green aroma, the smell of smoke and the cooked smell are not desirable. The easiest way to judge the quality of tea is the taste, aroma and color of the leaf tea after brewing. So if allowed, try brewing as much as possible when buying tea. If you prefer a certain type of tea, it’s best to find some information about the tea to accurately understand the characteristics of its color, flavor, shape, and compare the teas you buy with each other. If you have more times, you can easily grasp the key points quickly . For non-professionals, it’s unlikely that each type of tea can be judged as good or bad. It’s just a few of them that you like. The tea from the place of origin is generally purer, but the quality of the tea varies due to differences in tea making techniques.