Buying tea is not an easy task. To get good teas, you need to master a lot of knowledge, such as the grade standards, prices and market conditions of various types of tea, as well as the evaluation and inspection methods of tea. The quality of tea is mainly distinguished from four aspects: color, aroma, taste, and shape. However, for ordinary tea drinkers, when buying tea, they can only look at the shape and color of dry tea. Quality is even more difficult. Here is a rough introduction to the method of identifying dry tea. The appearance of dry tea is mainly viewed from five aspects, namely tenderness, stringiness, color, wholeness and clarity.

Tenderness

Generally, tea with good tenderness meets the shape requirements ("light, flat, smooth, straight").

However, the tenderness cannot be judged only by the amount of fine fur, because the specific requirements of various teas are different, such as the best Shifeng Longjing has no fluff on the body. The tenderness of buds and leaves is judged based on the number of fluffs, 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. The one-sided picking of the bud heart is not appropriate. 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.

Strips

Strips are a certain shape of various types of tea, such as fried green strips, round pearl tea, Longjing flat, black broken tea granular shapes, and so on. Generally, 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 whether it meets the 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 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 inferior. Take the standard of green tea strips in Hangzhou as an example: first level: fine and tight, there are front seedlings; second level: tight but still have front seedlings; third level: still tight; fourth level: still tight; fifth level: slightly loose; sixth level : Rough loose. It can be seen that the priority is to tighten, firm, and sharp seedlings.

Color

The color of tea is closely related to raw material tenderness 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 inferior.

The color and luster of the tea has a lot to do with the origin of the tea tree and the season. 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.

Brokenness

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 layered layer according to the shape, size, weight, thickness, and size. Among them, the strong ones are in the uppermost layer, the dense and heavy ones are concentrated in the middle layer, and the broken and small ones are deposited in the lowermost 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, with a lighter taste and lighter water color; the lower layer has more broken tea, which tends to have a strong taste after brewing, and the liquid color is darker.

Cleaness

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 strange 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, smoke burnt taste and cooked stuffy taste 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 kind 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 will be able to quickly grasp the key points. . For non-professionals, it's unlikely that each type of tea can be judged as good or bad. It's just a few of the ones 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.

Aroma

The north is commonly known as "tea fragrance". After the tea leaves have been brewed in boiling water for five minutes, pour out the tea juice into the review bowl and smell whether the aroma is normal. Pleasant aromas such as floral, fruity, and honey aroma are preferred. The smells of smoke, rancidity, mildew, and old fire are often caused by poor manufacturing and handling or poor packaging and storage.

Taste

In the north, it is usually called "chakou." Where the tea soup is mellow and fresh, it means that the water extract content is high and the ingredients are good. The tea soup is bitter and rough and old means that the composition of the water extract is not good. The weak and thin tea soup indicates insufficient water extract content.

Liquid

The main difference between the liquid color and the freshness of the quality and the tenderness of the fresh leaves are reviewed. The most ideal liquid color is that green tea needs to be clear, rich and fresh, and black tea needs to be red and bright. Low-grade or spoiled tea leaves are cloudy and dull in color.

Wet leaf

The evaluation of wet leaf is mainly to see its color and the degree of tenderness. The more dense and soft leaves on the bud tip and tissues, the higher tenderness of the tea. Rough, hard and thin leaves indicate that the tea is thick and old and its growth is poor. The color is bright and harmonious and texture is consistent, indicating that tea-making technology is well processed.