When buying tea, some tea friends will ask about the tea’s resistance to brewing.
Some teas, after being brewed for 3 times, the tea soup becomes obviously lighter and the water tastes heavy. Generally, we say that this tea is not resistant to brewing.
In some cases, the concentration of the first to third bubbles is reduced, but from the fourth to the seventh, the tea taste slowly rises again, showing wonderful and rich changes, and it can even be tasted slowly to ten or twenty.
So what elements affect the resistance of tea?
Is the more resistant the tea, the better?
The first influencer is tea tree age and growth environment
Tea gardens in high-altitude areas benefit from forests, vegetation, and animal activities. They are rich in organic matter. The tea contains abundant ingredients and has a reasonable composition. After production, it is more resistant to foaming and refreshing.
We usually talk about the importance of the environment for the growth of tea trees when the mountains and clouds produce good tea.
Generally speaking, the older the tree, the more mellow the taste, and the more resistant the tea to brewing. This is one of the reasons why many people pursue ancient tea.
The second influencer is tea age and integrity. In general, teas with all buds are less resistant to brewing, while teas with two or three leaves with one bud have a higher resistance to brewing.
This is because the crude and old raw materials are richer in connotative substances such as tea polyphenols, and they must be brewed many times before they can be released.
This is also the reason why delicate teas have an average resistance to brewing, while thick and old teas have a higher resistance to brewing.
In addition, the more complete the tea, the more resistant to foaming. The broken slag of tea leaves easily soaks the flavor, so it is not so resistant to soaking.
Thirdly, the method of rolling plays an significant role. Rolling is an important step in tea making. The process of rolling is to destroy the cell structure of the tea, let the tea juice flow out, and an enzymatic reaction occurs. If the same raw material is twisted too heavily, the tea juice will be leached quickly, and it will not be so resistant to foaming. So be sure to control the strength when rolling the tea.
Some people say that the brewing method has an impact on the tea's bubble resistance, and it is true. If the first two bubbles are not soaked well, it will affect the aroma and taste that follow. The same tea, brewed at different times by different people, has different bubble resistance. This is mainly related to the tea-water ratio, but also time and temperature. Generally speaking, the lower the amount of tea, the less resistant the tea is to foaming; the higher the water temperature, the lower the resistance to foaming; the slower the speed of the soup, the less resistant to foaming. Otherwise, tea is more resistant to foaming.
In general, tea leaves are not resistant to foaming and are affected by many factors and cannot be generalized.
However, the quality of the raw materials and the proper processing should be the two most important factors.
Is the more resistant the tea, the better?
Resistance is indeed an aspect to judge the quality of tea.
The resistance reflects that the tea is rich in substances and can withstand brewing, but it has no absolute relationship with the quality of the tea.
Different teas have different characteristics, and the quality of the tea should be judged by combining factors such as dry tea, aroma, taste, and leaf bottom.
When we are tasting a tea, we need to explore from all angles and aspects.