Quotes - Experiencing tea

„Mr. Gao showed us how to identify gu shu (ancient tree) tea leaves by looking at their texture, rubbing them between your fingers, and eating them raw. Old tea trees produce thicker, more leathery leaves that don’t easily come apart when you rub them. And gu shu buds should be white & shiny. When you chew them, the flavor is very bitter but there is also a strong sweet fragrance, and the juice is relatively easy to swallow. Tai di cha (terrace plantation tea) is also bitter but with a strong, lasting astringency on the sides & front of the tongue, and the juice is harder to swallow.“

„I found my early blogging efforts, basically writing down my impressions of the tea I drank every day, to be a worthwhile exercise – it helps me process what I’ve had and what I thought, and once in a while I go back to my own ideas back then and realize how I have developed as a drinker, as well as how a tea may have changed over time. Many of my earlier perceptions are flawed, if not outright wrong, or at least have been modified over time by my experiences since then. Writing about it constantly here helps me work through those thoughts.“

„Tea learning is, at the end of the day, a solitary experience. No one knows what you’re tasting, so no one but you can teach yourself.“

„The important thing of all this tea drinking and learning is not so much the drinking itself, but the critical reflection and evaluation that takes place simultaneously. Forget about what others tell you – what do you feel and think when you’re drinking this tea? How does it compare with what you have tried? How does it challenge what you already think you know?“

„Or perhaps you experiment with different parameters, water, ware, etc. and notice that it performs differently under different circumstances. This type of knowledge is not possible if you only have 25g of a tea. It can really only come with drinking 200, 300, or even 1000g of the same tea.“

„There is also knowledge that you can gain from drinking the same tea over and over again that you cannot from sampling. This may involve the tea changing on you – a traditionally stored puerh gradually losing its storage taste, for example. Or, it can just be that you start noticing nuances that were there, but were not necessarily obvious the first few times you try it.“

„In some ways, by doing so you’re basically cupping the tea without cupping it – you’re testing whether or not the tea is good for your style of brewing. Even then, however, a good tea drinker should be adjusting to the tea and trying to brew it as best s/he can, which means that the first try can come out horribly wrong.“

„What instead happens is that some teas require multiple tastings to reveal themselves one way or another. Sometimes the first time you brew a tea it doesn’t come out quite right not because it’s bad, but because you are still adjusting to it. It helps when you’re using the same teawares all the time, so that the only variable is the tea“

„Then there is the more nuanced problem of what to do with the samples. It’s quite easy to say that sampling widely will give you experience in tea drinking. In practice, however, that’s not so simple. Of course, trying all kinds of teas will most certainly give you experience. However, it is experience on a relatively shallow level. Certain kinds of teas, such as really bad or really good teas, will probably manifest themselves quite readily. Others, however, are not so obvious. It is actually easier to try teas if you, say, cup them, but then it becomes work and the process is not very enjoyable. This is, ultimately, a hobby, and not a job (for me anyway) so taking the fun away like that is basically missing the point.“

„One of the things I often advocate for newcomers to tea drinking is to sample widely. Learning about tea is, on some level, not very difficult at all. It requires experience and an active mind to reflect upon and learn from the experiences gained. To gather this experience though, the only way to really do it is to drink a lot of tea. Reading about it or hearing about it really doesn’t do much good, for it is only theory that lacks backing from practical experiences.“

„You can’t know what is good without knowing what is bad, just like you can’t be aware of the range of possible tastes among shuixian if all you’ve had are light roasted ones. Sampling is about broadening horizons, and it is a low risk way to stretch into areas that you might not be familiar with.“

„life’s too short to be drinking bad tea“

„Most of the meditation techniques are using the very same principles we need to perform a good gongfu cha: calm, concentration and a ritual. No wonder we can achieve a very similar outcome! Under good conditions, what emerges is our real Me, speaking from the bottom of our heart. We become the Chinese ideal, a zhen ren, a true man (or woman). We have no needs, no desire. We are fulfilled with the simple happiness of a cup of tea.“

„To master the skill of gongfu cha, one needs all his senses and a great amount of concentration. As we gain experience, our movements become more automatic, like rituals. We can brew tea without really thinking, like we drive our car. In a calm setting, our mind is focused on the tea we brew. The choice of a good tea, the harmony of the tea set we use, the way we beautifully arrange the tea table... everything heightens our concentration and peace of mind.“

„Beyond the senses, tea is also a cultural and spiritual pleasure that can open the doors to many other areas. “

„Hearing:
It's the sound of soon to boil water, and then the flowing in the gaibei and the cups. It's also the sound of tea bags, of porcelain. And then it's the sound of silence during the tasting...“

„Touch:
You, the person brewing the tea is entitled to touch the tea leaves with (clean) hands. What does this contact tell you about the tea? (For me, a 'heavy', compact leave is a sign for a good quality tea.)
Then there is the pleasure of touching the porcelain and to feel it in your mouth. Do you notice how a cup with a different shape will change the taste and pleasure of the tea? And can you find which cup is best for your tea (I tend to prefer old and thin cups).“

„Taste:
Sweet: on the tip of the tongue. Lingering mellow taste: How does it evolve over time? Acidity/astringency: on the back and on the sides of the tongue. What defect does the tea have? Yun/cloudiness: How is the finish? Are there any special feelings after the tea has left your mouth? Dry feeling: do you experience dryness in the mouth and throat?“

„Smell:
The hot tea leaves: after pouring the tea from the gaibei. Again, a different smell! You can also smell the empty gaibei: a strong smell means that the leaves could have been brewed a few more times.
The empty cup: you can use it as a wen xiang bei! The empty pitcher can also be used as a big wen xiang bei!“

„Smell:
Dry leaves: smell the leaves before you brew them. You can smell them before and after you put them in the heated gaiwan.
The gaibei's lid: lots of fragrant smells accumulate below the lid. Smell and you'll know when the tea is ready. You can also smell it after you pour the tea out.
The tea: interestingly, the brew doesn't smell as strong as the lid or the empty glass!“

„Sight:
Shape of dry leaves: Put the leaves you intend to brew on a small plate or in a tea cup. Then look at the leaves, their color, their shape...
Color of the tea (in the cup): Is this a beautiful, lively color?
Clarity of the tea: How shiny, how pure is the tea brew? “

„Gongfu cha is an interactive pleasure for our 5 senses.“

„Smoothness, Softness and Character of Puer Tea
Puerh tea is a type of post-fermented tea. When stored in the correct environment the tea, over time will change, hence - post-fermented. Due to this, the bitterness and astringency will slowly transform. The flavour will soften, become more mellow, rich, the character will become more rounded and mature.“

„The Sweetness of Tea
When one sips Raw Puerh tea it should very quickly turn sweet in the mouth. The stronger, more long lasting, more even the flavour, the better the tea.“

„Fragrance
Broad leaf variety old tree tea aromas can generally be divided into the following;

fruit-flower fragrance, honey-flower fragrance , honey-sweet fragrance, date-jujube fragrance, orchid flower fragrance , camphor fragrance, sticky rice fragrance , lotus flower fragrance , mellow-aged fragrance

Some teas are highly fragrant, others have refined and prolonged fragrance. Although there are many different kinds of fragrance, they should all be natural, smooth and easy to get a feeling for. These fragrances appear when the tea is drunk and are not evident when smelling the tea.“

„Astringency
Astringency invariably accompanies bitterness. In some Puer the astringency is more pronounced, the bitterness slightly weaker. A benefit of astringency is that it can help promote salivation. If this is felt on the underside of the the tongue it is a further mark of good tea.“

„Bitterness
Broad leaf variety (Sinenesis Assamica) is high in natural constituents; polyphenols, caffeine,theine, etc. A particularly bitter flavour is a special characteristic of the Broad leaf variety, but it is important that it transforms quickly and does not linger. This is a mark of good quality Puer. NB there is a sub-variety in Yunnan - Var. ku cha which has different characteristics and does not transform in the same way.“

„Fishy, Mouldy and Dry Flavours
All one's sense organs can be used in assessing tea, but Fishy, Mouldy and Dry Flavours it should be smelled and tasted. Most problems that arise are related to poor quality tea or poor storage. “

„Sourness in Raw Puer is due mostly to inadequate airing after the rolling process or, after pressing tea into cakes, they have been immediately exposed to the sun. The tea soup will likely be turbid.“

„Tea that is picked in the summer, often referred to as Yu Shui Cha, is not of high quality. In the rainy season, levels of sunshine are comparatively low so it is often not possible to sun dry tea so a wood stove is used to dry it. This can produce a smokey aroma and flavour. With time it will abate, but not considerably, so any smokey tea that one has not witnessed being made is probably best put to one side.“

„Smokiness
The art of making tea from ancient tea trees is very old. Hand-roasting is not easily mastered. Any slight error will influence the taste of the tea. Smokiness or yan wei is one example but it should be distinguished from a burned flavour which is described as hu wei. The latter, typically arises when tea is not well roasted and is, unfortunately, not uncommon. Yan wei or smokiness is caused by oven drying. “

„The best test is if, when drinking tea, there are any of prickling, tingling, numbing sensations on or near the tip of the tongue. If this is so one can be reasonably certain that agro-chemicals are present.“

„Prickling, Tingling, Numbing
Ancient tea trees are all over 100 years old. Their ability to resist natural problems; diseases and infestations is high. This variety of tea tree has existed in this habitat for thousands of years. These trees are already extremely resilient and the environment in which they are growing has mostly been left in untouched. There is no need for tea farmers to use agro-chemicals. But where any such chemicals have been used it will likely take 7-10 years for the residues to abate sufficiently for the tea to be drinkable.“

„Closer Examination of Puer
High quality broad leaf variety tea (camelia sinensis assamica) should not produce any uncomfortable effects such as prickling, tingling or numbing. Nor should there be any errant aromas or flavours such as smokiness, sourness, mouldiness, dry or drying sensations. “

„The Appearance of Tea
The appearance of dry tea leaves is affected by the form, be it loose, cake, brick, bowl and so on, how much sunlight the leaves have absorbed, the production methods, etc.

If the leaves appear dried out, lifeless or impoverished in some way it is an indicator that there has been a problem with the production or storage of the tea.

Also, picking over the leaves, they should look plump, fertile, with an appearance of abundance. The tips should be delicate with distinct hairs on the leaves and a uniformity to the overall appearance. “

„Again, when tasting the tea, if there is any odd or un-natural smell one might well desist from drinking it.“

„Indistinct fragrance is, by nature, restrained, hidden and it is only by steeping the tea and then smelling a cup that has just been emptied of tea can one appreciate this fragrance. Alternatively, one can also smell the steeped leaves. “

„If, when smelling tea there is any strange or unpleasant smell, one may well consider not proceeding further to tasting the tea as it will likely not be satisfactory“

„Good quality old tea has a 'matured' fragrance (chen wei). This comes from tea that has been stored well and matured without any adverse effects. (xing wei - a 'fishy' smell that can be detected in old tea that has been stored poorly - should be clearly distinguished from chen wei which is quite different). “

„The Fragrance of Tea
For the main, Puerh fragrances can be divided into two kinds; distinct and indistinct or explicit and implicit. The Distinct fragrance of Raw Puerh tea is immediately obvious as a delicate, bright fragrance; a fresh, crisp aroma that is uplifting“

„In the Western market, tea drinkers often end up buying a few pots in the beginning that don’t quite “fit.”
Maybe the size is wrong, the clay is poor, or is simply not a match to any of our desired teas. Perhaps the shape and craftsmanship are just not pleasing to us.
Owning bad teapots, experienced collectors will remind you, is “tuition” that helps you start to recognize better teapots from the others.“

„Some more obvi­ous man­i­fes­ta­tions of cha qi are a heat­ing or cool­ing of the extrem­i­ties (eg, sweaty palms when drink­ing a ‘warm­ing’ tea like aged puerh or heav­ily roasted oolong), a flush­ing of the face, or a mea­sur­able change in mood. In a small group, tea can either lead to deep con­ver­sa­tion, giddy laugh­ter, or con­tem­pla­tive silence.“

„Pos­si­bly the most neb­u­lous of tea’s qual­i­ties are ascribed to 茶氣 [chá qì] — a tea’s “energy.” Most read­ers will prob­a­bly be famil­iar with at least some of the wide rang­ing effects it is attrib­uted with. Prac­ti­cally any phys­i­cal or men­tal stim­u­lus out­side of the mouth, nose, and throat falls into the realm of cha qi.“

„The next place to focus is feel­ing in the throat. Tea here can be cool­ing or warm­ing, rough or wet. Often drink­ing good tea will give you the sen­sa­tion of a ball in your throat. It is good to con­sider how far down the tea goes — in other words, where the sen­sa­tion is no longer appar­ent. If the tea slips down with­out any notice, it is just a drink. Many good teas will stop some­where in the mid­dle of your throat. If it gives a pleas­ant feel­ing all the way down to your core, it is truly some­thing special.“

„After ini­tial taste and aroma, the first thing tea drinkers are likely to focus on is known in Chi­nese as 回甘 [huí gān]. In Eng­lish, a near lit­eral trans­la­tion is “Return­ing Sweet­ness,” but we can think of this loosely as after­taste. You can expe­ri­ence this clearly in most good teas, and prob­a­bly already have. In the best teas, though, the taste can go on for hours.“

„zhang wei; 樟味 - Camphor flavour. This is sometimes present in old tea tree Puer. Due, it is said, to the presence of Camphor Laurels in tea gardens where they were planted as a form of natural pest control. “

„yun; 韵. Charm, appeal, allure. A difficult term to render into English as it refers to a quality of tea that 'cannot be apprehended by the five senses.' Generally used with hou; 喉 - throat. Hou yun. A pleasant feeling that lingers in the throat after swallowing tea. Distinct from hui-gan. “

„tian xiang; 甜香 - 甜, tian - sweet.香, xiang - fragrant. Used to refer to Puer tea that has a sweet - fragrant flavour “

„shi cang; 湿仓 - wet storage. Storage that is intentionally humid. Done in order to attempt to speed up the ageing process of Puer tea. It has risks associated with it from effectively shortening the 'life' of the tea, having a deliterous effect on the plant constituents - not least the aromatics compounds to ruining the tea altogether.“

„ping wen; 平稳. Smooth, steady, even. Used to refer to the taste of tea. Puer should be smooth and steady without any sudden changes in the flavour as steepings progress. A sudden change or loss of flavour is an indicator of poor quality. Good Puer can be steeped 20 to 30 times and maintain it's flavour. “

„nei xiang;内香 - refers to a kind of fragrance that is not 'yang' or obvious. Often not perceived till after the tea has been swallowed. Sometimes also 幽香 - you xiang.“

„Ku Cha; 苦茶 - Bitter Tea. The tea from a variety of tea tree (Camelia Sinensis Assamica var.Kucha) found in an area around Mensong.“

„ku se; 苦涩 - Bitter and astringent. The nature of new raw Puer is a little astringent and bitter, followed by a sweet aftertaste. However, a bitterness with no sweet aftertaste is not typical of Puer and an astringency which is not comfortable would not be considered good tea. “

„kou gan; 口感 - Literally mouth-feeling. Dictionary definitions vary between mouth-feel referring strictly to textural character - i.e. 质地/zhi di, others to a broader definition of flavour. In tea drinking it is largely referring to the former, but cannot be easily separated from other gustatory and olfactory sensations.“

„hou long; 喉咙 - The throat. Often used in describing the experience of tea drinking. A pleasant feeling in the throat is a key factor in evaluating the quality of tea; 喉咙舒服/喉咙不舒服 - a comfortable or uncomfortable feeling in the throat.“

„hui gan; 回甜 - Hui 回- return, come back, reply. 甜, gan-sweet. Together - sweet return, sweet aftertaste. Used generally to refer to the aftertaste of tea, be it sweet or not.“

„gan cang; 干藏 - dry storage. Referring to tea storage that tends to be dry rather than excessively humid. Storing raw Puer in an excessively dry climate will have a harmful effect on the tea.“

„gan; 干 - dry. Sometimes used to describe a certain feeling in the mouth, typically on the tongue or in the throat that is either due to the nature of the tea, or the way it has been processed or stored. Distinct from astringrent. See also 燥/zao“

„chui niu; 吹牛. 吹 - chui, to blow. 牛 - niu, cow, but in this case can be read as 公牛 or bull. An almost default aspect of tea drinking - 'shooting the bull'. The talk that often accompanies tea drinking and can be peppered with much knowledge, a little exaggeration and some humour. Also 吹牛皮. 皮 - skin or hide. 'Blowing the bulls hide.'“

„chen wei; 陈味 - Aged, mellow. An expression which in Chinese can be used to refer to the flavour of aged alcohol, tea, etc. “

„cha yi; 茶仪 - Tea ceremony. Not generally used to refer to the daily habit of tea making and drinking. Most habitual tea drinkers would be unlikely to use this term in reference to their tea-making activities. Not common parlance in Yunnan tea making circles“

„cha qi; 茶气 - Tea nature. The inherent energetic qualities in tea. That which makes it tea. Sometimes rather unsatisfactorily interpreted as 'tea energy'; translating qi as energy suggests perhaps a rather too narrow idea of qi but it is an interesting term to consider since many people use the term. Ideas and experiences of cha qi vary considerably; the taste of tea, the appearance of the leaves (particularly after steeping i.e. the life in the tea), any physical or psychological experiences one may have as a result of drinking tea are all aspects of cha qi. One cannot satisfactorily dissociate one from the other just as one cannot isolate sunshine from wind, which are both manifestations of weather, tian qi. If it did not have cha qi it wouldn't be tea, it would be something else. From a western point of view perhaps, cha qi is due, in some good part, to the presence of caffeine, theine, etc. The active constituents.“

„cang wei; 仓味. The flavour of tea that has been stored (poorly). Often used to refer to the aroma of 'Wet Stored' tea.“

„bao, 薄 - thin, flimsy, weak. Used to describe tea that is lacking in flavour, body, 'thickness'. “

„Hui Gan 回甘, Hui Tian 回甜, Sheng Jin 生津, & Hui Yun 回韻…In literally term, Hui Gan, sometimes referred to as Hui Wei, is to reflect sweetly on a past event. Borrowing from the term 'to reflect', Hui Gan in tea is, simply put, a reflection on the sweetness of the tea - when one drink the tea, when the tea slides through the cavity of the mouth into the throat, there comes, after a short while, a sweetness that rises up from the throat. This sweetness is sometimes accompanied with a fragrance. Do not keep the upper and lower mouth pressed together when sipping tea, but create a cavity instead by lowering the jaw. Let the tea wash over the entire inside of the mouth, and then direct the tea to slide from the sides of the jaw into the throat. While holding the empty cavity, breathe out instead of in after you swallow the tea, there is warmth in the breath accompanied by a fragrance, and the same fragrance that rises up from the throat. This is Hui Gan.“