Tea lessons/advices - Share yours here...

[auhckw]

I will be sharing some of the tea lessons / advices I get from my tea hunting experience. Take note that below may come from different tea masters. It may or may not be right, just take it as a reference.

Feel free to share your experience too.

Just want to share what I’ve learnt today from a tea seller. This guy claimed he used to be a tea lover before becoming a tea seller. He has about 15 years of experience and has sampled many many teas (he threw mountain names, trees names, etc that he has sampled). Here is his advice for a noob like me:-

- First, learn how to drink water. Drink different types of water, drink water at a different temperature (hot, warm, cold, ice) and drink water in different clay/pots. If you can tell the difference of water taste, it will be easier for you to taste tea.
- When tasting tea, best NOT to use influential water and clay/pots.
- Drink all kinds of tea. Cheap. Bad. Expensive. Good. Young. Aged.
- Don’t look at the price before drinking tea. Expensive tea does not mean good. Price is influential. Usually people would think that expensive means good. So, rely on your own taste to decide whether is it worth the price and whether you are financially capable of buying it.
- Don’t listen to what the tea seller says about the character and flavor of the tea. When one listen to what the tea seller says, the brain will somehow influence your taste.
- Buy tea based on your preference. Let your taste decide. No point buying something that people says nice, but you don’t enjoy it.
- What do you seek for when buying tea? Health? Investment? Taste of Luxury? Show off?
- Experiment on different brewing timing based on your preference. Sometimes soaking it longer may give better taste but lesser health benefit. So what is your preference?
- Learn to identify what kind of bitter is good. Not all bitterness is bad.
- Usually when you first taste a new kind of tea, you may not like it. Learn to drink a few more rounds before concluding.
- Learn to feel the taste at the tongue, mouth and throat. Different types of tea will give different after taste. What kind of after taste you like? Some people like dryness, some people like sweetness, some people like bitterness, etc etc. Is all up to your own preference.
- Learn to identify from taste what is wet storage and dry storage. Decide which you like. Wet doesn’t mean bad. Dry doesn’t mean good.
- Always observe how tea sellers brew the tea. What kind of parameters, etc. Did they put a lot of tea leaves vs water?
- When investing on young puerh, since nowadays puerh is done in mass production… will the price increase like how it used to be in the future?
- He said one can easily find an aged raw in the future, but not many will keep cook as people tend to drink cook straight away.

~Lesson from HLMK~

[alan logan]

that sounds very honest and sensible, particularly about bewaring influence. i would only note that:
- deciding on preferences means that the drinker has educated his palate specifically to the product. subjectivity does not always do it all in appreciation. but when it comes to possessing a tea, of course the most important thing is that you like it.
- paying attention to all flavors and aromas that surround you is very interesting too as for "education"
- yet "education" can easily become some kind of myth : no one is starting from scratch. as long as you have a palate and nose and are not anosmic, you are all set.
- nose too is very important I think. tea is not only a "mouth and palate" product, it is also a "nose" product. We always talk about tea drinking, there should be a verb meaning "smell & drink" (smink?? )
- about the increase of price in the future : in fact nobody knows how prices would be in 20 or 40 years. Those who buy only a specific tea for investment are doing what a wise investor does not do : invest without diversifying.

[MarshalN]

I think he has it largely on point. There's not one point that I'll disagree with here.

The only thing I have to add though -- there's no such thing as water that's not "influential". Every water interacts with the tea differently, and it's important to find a water that works with the tea. Water A may work great with tea A, but it might be horrible for tea B while water B might be great. So, there's that consideration as well. Of course, if you live in place X and your water is usually from there, then you should adjust your tea buying accordingly.

Which is why it's also important to taste the tea as YOU will brew it, not as how the tea seller brews it. And he's absolutely right about not listening to the seller. I basically don't pay anybody any attention when someone's selling me tea.

Even the nose can deceive -- a tea can smell great but taste terrible. If you're into smells, sure, but most people don't buy puerh for that. Also, a puerh's smell can change dramatically in the space of a few years, so it's not a very good indicator of quality.

[tingjunkie]

Sounds like you have a very knowledgeable tea mentor there auhckw. Hang around and learn as much as you can. Although he seems to stress self-reliance (which is great and smart), there is no substitute for gleaning info and suggestions from the veterans out there. Thanks for reposting the advice!

Tea speculation is a crazy world. Just ask those who lost their fortunes when the puerh bubble burst! The only speculating I like to do is ask whether or not a tea will become even better in the future so I (and my friends) can enjoy it. I'm only begining my puerh journey, but so far I think old trees and high elevation is what to look for in a young sheng. I'll let the others go in for all the mountain-of-the-month worship.

[Dazed and Infused]

That's good info -- thanks for sharing!

[TwoPynts]

That's good info -- thanks for sharing!

+1

[auhckw]

When you buy tea, trust plays a very important role. If you don't trust the seller, you cannot trust the tea.

So, get to know the seller. Is he a salesman or someone who really knows and wanting to share tea / experience with you.

~Lesson from AH~

[auhckw]

I was taught on how to taste tea in this manner. In general, the method can be used to taste other liquids such as water, juice, wine, etc.

Basically, your upper lips should not touch the cup. Your lower lips to be intact with the cup. Suck the tea directly into the end of your tongue and let it flow gracefully down the throat. The taste at your throat defines the 'Aftertaste'. The longer the 'Aftertaste' the better the quality is.

While sucking the tea. There should be this sucking sound. You should not tilt your head up. The cup should remain horizontal. The tea should bypass your teeth and front portion of your tongue directly to the back of your tongue. The tea should not be spread out throughout your mouth. Once the tea is at the back of your tongue, let it flow into your throat. Don't swallow it.

Tea Tasting is much easier when tea is hot but not burning hot. Temperature around 60-80 degrees should be fine. You should not burn your tongue if you sucked it to the back of your tongue correctly. Also when doing tea tasting, you should stay focus and do not talk.

Not an easy task... Burnt my tongue and choked cause sucked too hard. Need a lot of practice

~Lesson from AH~

[auhckw]

My opinion for keeping puerh for aging...

The question you should ask yourself when buying puerh for aging is, what is the objective of aging the puerh? Is it for your investment or consumption?

For investment:-
-I've seen/spoken to people who buy in boxessss of toong for keeping. These people will usually go for those big factories ie Dayi, XiaGuan.
-It is a volume game and these people normally buy current year puerh as it is cheaper.
-Diversify the range of recipes when buying. As long it is standard recipe it 'should' be ok for the future as it is well recognized. Eg. 7542 y2010 - in 10 to 20 years time, it 'should' be still sought after.
-Buying in bulk requires you to choose trusted suppliers cause there are fakes out there and profit margin for suppliers are very high. So find trusted suppliers and those that is willing to give good discount. I've seen young puerh which was markup 300% (could be more) if you were to buy in few pieces and good discount was given if were to buy in toong and even more discount if were to buy in boxes.
-For the recent years, puerh are produced in mass production. Will there be oversupply in future? Will the return of investment as good as it used to be? You need a magical crystal ball to tell you

For consumption:-
-Sample and choose those that you really like now and 'hope' that it will age well. There is no guarantee. Personally, I don't buy puerh for investment. So I tend to choose better grade puerh for aging, as chances of better grade puerh 'should' be better in future. Again there is no guarantee but 'hope'.
-Better grade now doesn't mean it will turn out good in future. Cheaper grade now doesn't mean it will not turn out good in future. So diversify when buying.
-Since you are buying for the future, I would suggest you to buy raw and ripe now. Even though you may like raw now, it doesn't mean in the future you may not like ripe. So buy a little of both and when you are 'aged' too, your taste may change. Especially when our body gets older, some people make move towards ripe or aged raw then.
-Not sure it is just me, another thing I've found out is, as when you have tasted better and better quality tea, your expectations will go up. I have currently some puerh that was tasted good back then, but after tasting more high end puerh, those that was bought previously have actually become not that good to me. So drink premium puerh at your own risk

[theory]

Basically, your upper lips should not touch the cup. Your lower lips to be intact with the cup. Suck the tea directly into the end of your tongue and let it flow gracefully down the throat. The taste at your throat defines the 'Aftertaste'. The longer the 'Aftertaste' the better the quality is.

While sucking the tea. There should be this sucking sound. You should not tilt your head up. The cup should remain horizontal. The tea should bypass your teeth and front portion of your tongue directly to the back of your tongue. The tea should not be spread out throughout your mouth. Once the tea is at the back of your tongue, let it flow into your throat. Don't swallow it.

~Lesson from AH~

OK, I can't even come close to accomplishing this but I did note that the tea tastes different when I tried.

[debunix]

I have currently some puerh that was tasted good back then, but after tasting more high end puerh those that was bought previously have actually become not that good to me. So drink premium puerh at your own risk

+1

[Christopher]

Basically, your upper lips should not touch the cup. Your lower lips to be intact with the cup. Suck the tea directly into the end of your tongue and let it flow gracefully down the throat. The taste at your throat defines the 'Aftertaste'. The longer the 'Aftertaste' the better the quality is.

While sucking the tea. There should be this sucking sound. You should not tilt your head up. The cup should remain horizontal. The tea should bypass your teeth and front portion of your tongue directly to the back of your tongue. The tea should not be spread out throughout your mouth. Once the tea is at the back of your tongue, let it flow into your throat. Don't swallow it.
~

So I am newer to tea, and while I was drinking my Keemun Mao Feng today, I gave this a try, and was amazed at the new flavors I noticed that I have never came close to tasting before. I will most definitely continue to try teas this way. Thanks so much

[auhckw]

Why are some young raw puerh bitter?
If brewing parameters are right, high chance the puerh is not from spring leaves. Spring leaves are of the better quality and should have no bitterness.

Bitter young raw puerh is not good for health too. Don’t consume too much if you are on empty stomach. Either brew it at a lower temperature or let it age for some time, the bitterness ‘may’ go down.

Why is ripe puerh not as health either?
Ripe Pu-erh tea is made by fermentation of mold. If mold is not controlled well, it may be harmful to our body.

How to smell tea (as in the brewed liquid form)?
Higher quality tea’s aroma will smell like it is going down. Where normal/lower quality tea’s aroma will stay on top and the aroma is like going up.

Why are aged puerh expensive? Is it really good?
‘One’ of the reasons why aged puerh are expensive is because of the material it was made. Back then, demands are not a lot, most puerh uses good material from old trees. The better the material used then, the better it is and the more expensive it is now.

Unfortunately, this is not the case now. Big factories have to target volume and delivery consistent quality; therefore they will mix up few different grades of leaves. If one were to buy puerh for aging… take lower grade leaves to age will not create miracle. Lower grade leaves will still be lower grade in the future.

Where are all the high quality young puerh now?
These days it is difficult to find good quality young puerh in big factories as the raw material they use is of average mix. High quality puerh must come from very old tree (from hundreds to thousands of age) planted at high latitude. These quality puerh are limited. Hardcore puerh hunters and collectors will usually purchase them. Some may even book ahead. Also, the local government will purchase these high quality puerh as part of their gift exchange culture. Therefore, quantity is not enough for export. Not to mention not many sellers willing to purchase expensive young puerh as it may be difficult to clear stock.

Is loose young puerh better than compress?
In order to compress, steam (heat and water) will be used upon the leaves. This will decrease the natural quality of the leaves. So loose puerh is in a way better as it is un-steamed. People have no choice but to compress puerh for convenient sake.

Why is puerh from some of the famous mountain not worth to buy?
Not because due to overpriced by demand. Not because of limited quantity. It is because the quality is not it supposed to be. In order to produce quantity from the demand for these famous mountain, some factories will apply fertilizer to increase output of the leaves. Some will even chop off the middle part of old trees so that leaves will start growing faster on the outer side of the tree, which makes it not the same old tree any more. When a famous mountain becomes commercial, quality will usually drop. Good news is, there are still many mountains in china.

~Lesson from AH~

[auhckw]

According to people from China who do tea business, many tea sellers are actually just businessmen. Many sellers do not know how to really taste good quality tea. Some may even buy at a cost they want regardless of what quality they may get so long the factory is willing to produce.

Problem is not only with the sellers. There are many tea drinkers who are incapable of identifying what is good tea. This may be because:-
-they were not taught how to taste properly
-they may not have tasted better good quality tea to compare
-they may be under the influenced of what other people says
-they are just incapable of identifying the difference. Some people unfortunately falls under this category

~Lesson from AH~

[TIM]

My ego and impatient paid off.... A private commissioned raw puerh in wet storage for a year. This is the result. No Fun, Live and Learn. Why find ways to push time? Its not worth the prize.