Tea Culture — Discover China

Tea is not suitable for everyone in the same way. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine: ① Green and white tea (cold in nature) — suitable for people with a hot constitution (aversion to heat/easily prone to internal heat/acne/constipation), clearing heat, reducing fire, and detoxifying. But people with a cold stomach will experience stomach pain and diarrhea when drinking green tea. ② Oolong tea (neutral in nature, slightly warm) — suitable for most people; semi-fermentation reduces irritation and helps digestion and cuts through greasiness. ③ Black tea/dark tea/ripe pu-erh (warm in nature) — suitable for people with a cold constitution (aversion to cold/cold hands and feet/easily prone to diarrhea), warming the stomach and dispelling cold. The elderly and the weak should prioritize black tea and ripe pu-erh. ④ Aged old tea (warmer in nature) — old Tieguanyin/old white tea/old pu-erh stored for more than 10 years, whose tea nature has transformed to extremely mild and moistening, suitable for everyone — this is another reason old tea is expensive. Tea drinking contraindications: do not drink strong tea on an empty stomach (harms the stomach)/do not drink green tea at night (caffeine affects sleep)/do not drink tea when taking medicine (tannic acid in tea affects drug efficacy)/do not drink large amounts of strong tea if anemic (tannic acid affects iron absorption). Tea is not better the more you drink — 3-5 cups per day (about 600-1000ml) is the appropriate amount.

Gongfu tea = the social ritual and life philosophy of Chaoshan people. Gongfu = skill and time (not kung fu = martial arts) — every movement in brewing tea has its particularities. The standard three-piece set: Mengchen pot (a small Yixing zisha pot, fist-sized) + Ruochen cups (as small as half a ping-pong ball, three of them) + Yushu stove (a sand kettle for boiling water). The iron rules of Chaoshan gongfu tea: ① The tea leaves must fill the pot — oolong tea (Fenghuang Dancong) filled to seven or eight tenths of the pot, so that when hot water is poured in, the leaves unfurl to just fill the pot ② "High pour, low decant" — the boiling kettle is raised high to pour in (letting the stream of water strike the tea leaves to release flavor better), and when decanting, the spout is held close against the cup rim (so nothing splashes out) ③ "Guan Gong patrols the city" — the three cups are arranged in a triangular formation, and the pot is circled over the cups while pouring so that each cup is equally strong ④ "Han Xin counts his troops" — the last few drops of concentrated brew are dripped into each cup in turn ⑤ Drink it hot — when the tea is at 60-70°C, sip it in one go, making a slurping sound with the tongue in the mouth (not impolite — it is drawing air and tea into the mouth together so the aroma fills the palate. Just like tasting wine). Chaoshan people drink gongfu tea at least 3-5 times a day: after breakfast, after lunch, afternoon tea, after dinner, before bed (weak tea). In Chaoshan, walk into any shop — the owner will invite you to sit down and have a cup of tea before talking business.

Pu'er = a drinkable antique. Raw tea — fresh leaves are kill-greened, rolled, and sun-dried into sun-dried maocha (green tea process), then pressed into cakes or stored loose for natural aging. Newly made fresh raw tea is similar to green tea (fresh and crisp); after 3-5 years of storage it begins to transform — tea polyphenols oxidize, microorganisms act, aroma compounds recombine — bitterness and astringency weaken, huigan strengthens, and aged aroma begins to emerge. Old raw tea aged more than ten years is the ultimate pursuit of Pu'er drinkers — the tea soup is red, thick, and translucent, the taste is mellow, smooth, and rich, and the salivation and huigan are long-lasting and linger. After drinking a good old raw tea, your mouth can stay sweet all day. Ripe tea — an artificially accelerated aging process (wo dui fermentation) invented only in 1973, using microorganisms (Aspergillus niger/yeasts, etc.) to simulate in 45-60 days the transformation that takes old raw tea decades. Ripe tea's soup color is deep red or wine red, and the mouthfeel is mellow, smooth, and rich, but it lacks the complex layers produced by the natural aging of old raw tea. Beginner: ripe tea is friendly (not bitter, not astringent, mellow, thick, and sweet); intermediate: the fresh briskness and changes of new raw tea; ultimate: the taste of time in old raw tea.

West Lake Longjing = the king of Chinese green tea. The core production area is only 168 square kilometers (West Lake Scenic Area + West Lake District), with an annual output of only about 500 tons, while the tea called Longjing on the market exceeds 100,000 tons—genuine West Lake Longjing is extremely rare. How to identify it: ① Appearance—flat, smooth, straight, with a color of emerald green or tender green tinged with a rough rice color (not the greener the better! Firing produces a natural rough-rice yellow) ② Aroma—bean flower fragrance or chestnut fragrance (Longjing from the core production area has a unique bean flower fragrance, which non-core production areas do not have) ③ Liquor color—tender green, bright and clear ④ Taste—fresh and refreshing with a sweet aftertaste, no bitterness or astringency (good Longjing has extremely faint bitterness) ⑤ Infused leaves—after brewing, tender green and uniform, one bud with one leaf or one bud with two leaves. Why is Mingqian Longjing (picked before Qingming) expensive? Because after a winter the tea plant has accumulated a large amount of nutrients, and the first batch of tender buds in early spring has the highest amino acid content (the source of umami) and the lowest tea polyphenol content (the source of bitterness and astringency)—so it is the freshest and sweetest. The price of Mingqian Longjing ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands per jin. After Qingming, tea polyphenols rise and the fresh sweetness declines. Although Guyu Longjing is cheaper, its flavor is stronger—veteran tea drinkers actually prefer it.

Chinese tea is divided into six major categories according to the degree of fermentation. ① Green tea (unfermented) — fixation (kill-green) prevents oxidation, retaining chlorophyll and tea polyphenols; clear liquor and green leaves; representatives: Longjing / Biluochun / Huangshan Maofeng / Xinyang Maojian. ② White tea (slightly fermented 5-10%) — withering + drying, the most natural process; representatives: Baihao Yinzhen / Bai Mudan (Fuding / Zhenghe). ③ Yellow tea (lightly fermented 10-20%) — one more step of menhuang (sealed yellowing) than green tea; representatives: Junshan Yinzhen / Mengding Huangya. ④ Oolong tea (semi-fermented 15-70%) — the widest range of fermentation, from lightly fermented Tieguanyin to heavily fermented Dahongpao; representatives: Tieguanyin / Dahongpao / Fenghuang Dancong / Dongding Oolong. ⑤ Black tea (fully fermented 80-90%) — tea polyphenols are completely oxidized into thearubigins/theaflavins; red liquor and red leaves; representatives: Zhengshan Xiaozhong / Jinjunmei / Keemun black tea / Dianhong. ⑥ Dark tea (post-fermented) — microorganisms participate in fermentation and continuous aging; representatives: ripe Pu'er / Anhua dark tea / Liubao tea. Key insight: the same tea plant can be made into any type of tea — what determines the tea category is the process, not the cultivar.

Tea is not suitable for everyone in the same way. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine: ① Green and white tea (cold in nature) — suitable for people with a hot constitution (aversion to heat/easily prone to internal heat/acne/constipation), clearing heat, reducing fire, and detoxifying. But people with a cold stomach will experience stomach pain and diarrhea when drinking green tea. ② Oolong tea (neutral in nature, slightly warm) — suitable for most people; semi-fermentation reduces irritation and helps digestion and cuts through greasiness. ③ Black tea/dark tea/ripe pu-erh (warm in nature) — suitable for people with a cold constitution (aversion to cold/cold hands and feet/easily prone to diarrhea), warming the stomach and dispelling cold. The elderly and the weak should prioritize black tea and ripe pu-erh. ④ Aged old tea (warmer in nature) — old Tieguanyin/old white tea/old pu-erh stored for more than 10 years, whose tea nature has transformed to extremely mild and moistening, suitable for everyone — this is another reason old tea is expensive. Tea drinking contraindications: do not drink strong tea on an empty stomach (harms the stomach)/do not drink green tea at night (caffeine affects sleep)/do not drink tea when taking medicine (tannic acid in tea affects drug efficacy)/do not drink large amounts of strong tea if anemic (tannic acid affects iron absorption). Tea is not better the more you drink — 3-5 cups per day (about 600-1000ml) is the appropriate amount.

Gongfu tea = the social ritual and life philosophy of Chaoshan people. Gongfu = skill and time (not kung fu = martial arts) — every movement in brewing tea has its particularities. The standard three-piece set: Mengchen pot (a small Yixing zisha pot, fist-sized) + Ruochen cups (as small as half a ping-pong ball, three of them) + Yushu stove (a sand kettle for boiling water). The iron rules of Chaoshan gongfu tea: ① The tea leaves must fill the pot — oolong tea (Fenghuang Dancong) filled to seven or eight tenths of the pot, so that when hot water is poured in, the leaves unfurl to just fill the pot ② "High pour, low decant" — the boiling kettle is raised high to pour in (letting the stream of water strike the tea leaves to release flavor better), and when decanting, the spout is held close against the cup rim (so nothing splashes out) ③ "Guan Gong patrols the city" — the three cups are arranged in a triangular formation, and the pot is circled over the cups while pouring so that each cup is equally strong ④ "Han Xin counts his troops" — the last few drops of concentrated brew are dripped into each cup in turn ⑤ Drink it hot — when the tea is at 60-70°C, sip it in one go, making a slurping sound with the tongue in the mouth (not impolite — it is drawing air and tea into the mouth together so the aroma fills the palate. Just like tasting wine). Chaoshan people drink gongfu tea at least 3-5 times a day: after breakfast, after lunch, afternoon tea, after dinner, before bed (weak tea). In Chaoshan, walk into any shop — the owner will invite you to sit down and have a cup of tea before talking business.

Pu'er = a drinkable antique. Raw tea — fresh leaves are kill-greened, rolled, and sun-dried into sun-dried maocha (green tea process), then pressed into cakes or stored loose for natural aging. Newly made fresh raw tea is similar to green tea (fresh and crisp); after 3-5 years of storage it begins to transform — tea polyphenols oxidize, microorganisms act, aroma compounds recombine — bitterness and astringency weaken, huigan strengthens, and aged aroma begins to emerge. Old raw tea aged more than ten years is the ultimate pursuit of Pu'er drinkers — the tea soup is red, thick, and translucent, the taste is mellow, smooth, and rich, and the salivation and huigan are long-lasting and linger. After drinking a good old raw tea, your mouth can stay sweet all day. Ripe tea — an artificially accelerated aging process (wo dui fermentation) invented only in 1973, using microorganisms (Aspergillus niger/yeasts, etc.) to simulate in 45-60 days the transformation that takes old raw tea decades. Ripe tea's soup color is deep red or wine red, and the mouthfeel is mellow, smooth, and rich, but it lacks the complex layers produced by the natural aging of old raw tea. Beginner: ripe tea is friendly (not bitter, not astringent, mellow, thick, and sweet); intermediate: the fresh briskness and changes of new raw tea; ultimate: the taste of time in old raw tea.

West Lake Longjing = the king of Chinese green tea. The core production area is only 168 square kilometers (West Lake Scenic Area + West Lake District), with an annual output of only about 500 tons, while the tea called Longjing on the market exceeds 100,000 tons—genuine West Lake Longjing is extremely rare. How to identify it: ① Appearance—flat, smooth, straight, with a color of emerald green or tender green tinged with a rough rice color (not the greener the better! Firing produces a natural rough-rice yellow) ② Aroma—bean flower fragrance or chestnut fragrance (Longjing from the core production area has a unique bean flower fragrance, which non-core production areas do not have) ③ Liquor color—tender green, bright and clear ④ Taste—fresh and refreshing with a sweet aftertaste, no bitterness or astringency (good Longjing has extremely faint bitterness) ⑤ Infused leaves—after brewing, tender green and uniform, one bud with one leaf or one bud with two leaves. Why is Mingqian Longjing (picked before Qingming) expensive? Because after a winter the tea plant has accumulated a large amount of nutrients, and the first batch of tender buds in early spring has the highest amino acid content (the source of umami) and the lowest tea polyphenol content (the source of bitterness and astringency)—so it is the freshest and sweetest. The price of Mingqian Longjing ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands per jin. After Qingming, tea polyphenols rise and the fresh sweetness declines. Although Guyu Longjing is cheaper, its flavor is stronger—veteran tea drinkers actually prefer it.

Chinese tea is divided into six major categories according to the degree of fermentation. ① Green tea (unfermented) — fixation (kill-green) prevents oxidation, retaining chlorophyll and tea polyphenols; clear liquor and green leaves; representatives: Longjing / Biluochun / Huangshan Maofeng / Xinyang Maojian. ② White tea (slightly fermented 5-10%) — withering + drying, the most natural process; representatives: Baihao Yinzhen / Bai Mudan (Fuding / Zhenghe). ③ Yellow tea (lightly fermented 10-20%) — one more step of menhuang (sealed yellowing) than green tea; representatives: Junshan Yinzhen / Mengding Huangya. ④ Oolong tea (semi-fermented 15-70%) — the widest range of fermentation, from lightly fermented Tieguanyin to heavily fermented Dahongpao; representatives: Tieguanyin / Dahongpao / Fenghuang Dancong / Dongding Oolong. ⑤ Black tea (fully fermented 80-90%) — tea polyphenols are completely oxidized into thearubigins/theaflavins; red liquor and red leaves; representatives: Zhengshan Xiaozhong / Jinjunmei / Keemun black tea / Dianhong. ⑥ Dark tea (post-fermented) — microorganisms participate in fermentation and continuous aging; representatives: ripe Pu'er / Anhua dark tea / Liubao tea. Key insight: the same tea plant can be made into any type of tea — what determines the tea category is the process, not the cultivar.