As a worker in the tea industry, a problem often encountered is that some customers often say: "This tea is so light in taste, why is it worth the money?"
How to answer this queation?
First of all, we have to understand two concepts, called "fullness" and "brightness" of tea soup.
The so-called "fullness" of the tea soup refers to the thick and thin feeling of the tea soup entering the mouth.
The main factors affecting the "fullness" of tea soup are the content of amino acids, soluble sugars and pectin substances.
This is the question of whether the endoplasm is rich or not we often talk about, why the taste of ancient tree tea is relatively full, because the endoplasm of ancient tree tea is rich.
The areas where good tea grows are generally higher in elevation, abundant in rainfall, and fertile.
These conditions are conducive to the growth and nutrient accumulation of tea trees. The so-called high mountain clouds produce good tea.
These tea mountains are perennially filled with clouds and fog, and the sunlight forms blue blue light that is beneficial to plants to absorb and utilize under the diffuse reflection of the clouds and fog, making tea to synthesize more alkaloids and phenolic substances.
This is one of the reasons why the tea has a strong flavor.
High-altitude areas have strong ultraviolet rays, and nitrogen in the air is easily ionized and invades into the soil, creating rich nutritional conditions for the growth and accumulation of tea trees.
The higher the altitude, the greater the temperature difference between day and night, which will speed up the circulation of the tea tree's own nutrients, promote growth, and accumulate and store more nutrients.
After understanding "fullness", let's talk about "Brightness". Thickness and lightness are generally related to the brewing time and the amount of tea.
We often talk about light and thick, which is the feeling on the taste, not the fullness of the tea soup. Generally speaking, the better the tea, the stronger the flavor and the richer the flavor, and the less irritating the tongue.
Ancient tree tea grows in the woods, surrounded by tall trees to shade, forming a scattered light.
The tea tree is a shade-tolerant plant. Under shading conditions, the leaf curling of the tea tree can be reduced or not curled. The branches spread out into a horizontal shape, the leaf surface is enlarged and raised, and the leaf color becomes darker and more shiny. The aromatic substances increase, the crude fiber content decreases, the tenderness is lasting, and the polyphenol compounds have no shortcomings of too much or too little. The various ingredients in the fresh leaves are rich and coordinated, making the tea soup mellow, reducing the bitterness, aromatic and delicious, and irritating. It's small.
Simply put, inferior tea has a strong bitterness and astringency, so it feels thick.
Good tea has low bitterness and low irritation, so it feels lighter.
In terms of the content of tea, the main influences on taste are tea polyphenols, caffeine, theanine, and other aromatic substances.
In terms of spring tea and autumn tea, tender buds and leaves: theanine content: spring>autumn, bud>leaf; tea polyphenol content: spring<autumn, bud<leaf; caffeine content: spring<autumn, bud> leaf ; This is why spring tea is generally used for good tea raw materials.
The spring tea tree has rich nutrients, thick leaf flesh, high content of aromatic substances and vitamins, fresh taste, strong aroma and tight appearance.
In addition, the temperature is moderate in spring and the rainfall is sufficient. After half a year of winter rest, the spring tea buds are plump, green in color, soft in leaf texture, and rich in vitamins and amino acids, making spring tea taste fresh and pleasant in aroma.
Therefore, the better the tea, the higher the theanine content, that is, the higher the sweetness and freshness, the lower the bitterness, and the higher the smoothness, the lighter it will feel.
Inferior tea, on the contrary, has a high bitterness and is very irritating to the taste buds, and it will feel thick.
The better the tea, the richer content but the slower leaching speed, which is why the first few brews of high-end tea are not irritating, but are resistant to brewing.
At the same time, the better the tea, the more fragrant and smoother, the flavor, durability, and foam resistance are much better.
Why make poor-quality tea thick?
Inferior tea generally means late picking time, lower altitude, newer tree age, more general growth environment, and low content of substances.
The aroma of the variety is not obvious, the purity is not enough, and the bitterness is more obvious. In order to eliminate this kind of negative perception, the production process will try to reduce its bitterness and astringency and make it a little more peculiar, so it will be thicker.
A good tea must retain its most attractive fullness, freshness, and variety and aroma characteristics. Therefore, the original flavor will be preserved as much as possible during the production process, and the impact will not be so strong at the beginning.
Therefore, the better the tea, the smoother the taste, but the more clear and lasting aroma, the mellow and smooth taste, and the more resistant to foaming.