meizitang

People judge tea by their senses such as sight, olfaction, gestation and touch to separately judge from shape, color, fragrance, taste, water color and tea-leaf. The judge method has two processes: viewing its shape while it’s dry and tasting its quality while it’s brewed.

1. Viewing the appearance means to watching tie-guan-yin’s appearance and color while smelling tea’s fragrance. If the leaves shaped fat, heavy, luster green emerald, and tea leaves are with clear fragrance, that is the high-quality tie guan yin, and the second-class if it’s on the other hand.

2. Tasting the quality while it’s brewed means to judging from the aroma, water color, taste and tea-leaf.

(1) Smelling: firstly smell, to see if the aroma is prominent; secondly distinguish the height, length, power and purity. When smelling , apply the method of smelling while the dargon well tea is hot, mild and cold. The tea with prominent and lasting aroma is the first-rank tea, and the secondary if it’s on the other hand.

(2) Tasting: take a little amount of tea with the tea spoon into mouth. Sucking and rolling by tongue in the oral cavity so that all parts of the mouth feel the taste and to give some reaction. If you feel pure and mellow taste, that belongs to first-class; if on the other hand that belongs to the secondary level.

 (3) Viewing the color of tea water: by viewing the color depth, lightness and darkness and purity. The first-class tea is with bright orange water.

(4) Watching the tea-leaf: pour the leaves brewed by boiling water in the plate with pure water and watch the leaves. If the leaves are soft, bright yellow and green with red edge, that is high quality.

To embody the aroma idiosyncrasy, we’d better pick the red-clay pot with a high burning temperature and flat round shape. The streak Anxi tie guan yin tea leaves can be fully soaked in water so that can smoothly release tie-guan-yin’s charming and aroma. The flat-shaped pot easily let the leaves lie comfily in it without extrusion.

  The above method applies to the light-baked tie guan yin tea. What about the mid-baked tie guan yin tea? How to avoid brewing with the burning smell? Choose the purple-clay pot with a low burning temperature. If the tea happens to be the aged tie guan yin tea, be sure to keep in mind that keep water full of the pot and be rapidly when pouring, so that the burning smell can be liberated.

  Brewing tea by the tea set with a high density and pouring water rapidly “squeeze” out the roasted Tie Guan Yin charming in a short time, which tastes like the Italian concentrated coffee espresso: extreme strong at lips and sweet at throat. If you want to brew the baked dargon well tea with strong aroma, the pot shapes are not required but the leaves amount should be right. Put leaves in the pot, taking the 60% part of the pot. Because the leaves baked are fragmentized, the apopore should be cared not to be blocked. Rush and pour quickly so that we can enjoy the true taste

2. Quality differences between the light-fragrant oolong tea and the traditional oolong tea
The light-fragrant oolong tea has its own producing technology and entirely different appearance and aroma from the traditional oolong tea. Compared with the Fujian traditional Anxi oolong tea with green leaves edged red, the light oolong has a obvious “three-green” character, that is, green leaves, tie guan yin tea water and green tea dregs. The light oolong tea leaf has a global or semiglobular appearance, which turns into a bud shape in the cup when brewed. The tea aroma is refreshing and lasting while the tea water is bright and sweet.
Produced by the traditional technics, the luscious-fragrant oolong tea including the Wuyi Rock tea, the Shuixian tea from north Fujian, the traditional Tie Guan Yin tea, the Guangdong Phoenix Dancong tea and so on. The Wuyi Rock tea leaves are sturdy with twisty and firm trabs while the leaf-surface is covered with white spots like frog skin, which is called “toad back”. The color of the leaves is luculent greenish brown, which is called “glory light”. The leaves are very clean without over-tender stems or over-old leaves. The tea water is with strong aroma, which even surpasses orchid, being deep and lasting. The taste is mellow and clean, sweet and enriching saliva; taste no bitter even drinking the strong tea, which is praised as the “sweet from the rock”, called as “the rock lingering charm”. Speak to the color of the tea water, it’s dark orange or yellow, limpid and vivid while the tea dregs and the leaf center are light yellow-green.
The trabs of the north Fujian Shuixian tea are firm and heavy with a luculent dark-green color. The tea water is aromatic as orchid and tasting mellow and sweet with a clear orange color. The luculent dark-green trabs of Anxi dragon well tea are frizzy, stout, firm and heavy with a dragonfly-head shape. The tea water is golden and bright, the tea dregs are incrassated with silk luster. It smells as fragrant as orchid and tastes mellow and sweet with a lasting aftertaste.

3. Comparing of the consumer groups between the light-fragrant and luscious-fragrant oolong tea
It is revealed by the market investigators that the consumption group of light-fragrant oolong tie guan yin tea has three main features: firstly, they are mainly youth with a larger proportion of ages from 21 to 35, and more women than men; secondly, intellectuals are in the majority; thirdly, the consumers love to buy tea in the exclusive agencies, that’s because the exclusive stores sell salable and dependable quality tie guan yin tea with full service.
The luscious-fragrant oolong tea predominants the old customers as its consumption group. These customers focus on the tea with great passion, and most of them have a successful career, are full of money, leisure, and artistic appreciation with a strong consumptive power. Currently, the Wuyi Rock tea has a market price of at least 500rmb yuan per 500g while the ceiling price of Dahongpao Tea reached up to 8800rmb yuan per 500g. The price trend shows that the luscious-fragrant oolong has a powerful market potential.
4.Technical definitions of the light-fragrant oolong dragon well tea and luscious-fragrant oolong tea
Using different methods of tea processing system, the aroma of the finished product will has different characteristics. The processing method of oolong tea combines the advantages of green tea and black tea, containing the processes of both semi-ferment and frying, so that the finished tea is along with flower and fruit fragrance, which is normally called “the made fragrance”. The main elements affecting “the made fragrance” are leaves manipulating, wrapping and kneading, and baking

1. Leaves manipulating. Both the light-fragrant and luscious-fragrant oolong tea require drying in the sun. Since the light-fragrant oolong tea needs a less extent of manipulation, the fresh fragrance would be difficult to be found if it’s without drying in the sun. Relative to the traditional Anxi oolong tea, the light-fragran tie guan yin tea needs a moderate degree of drying work with a water-loss rate better of 8%-12%. Tea leaves generally need be dried and turned over for three times before off the machine and twice when off the machine with a temperature around 20-22℃ and a relative humidity of 70%.
2. Wrapping and kneading. In the wrapping and kneading technic of the light-fragrant oolong tea, everything centers on the main line of forming quickly while keeping fresh and green. The formed mung bean shape, compared with the dragonfly-head shape of the traditional Anxi tie guan yin tea, has a better look and a higher appreciation value.
3. Baking. Baking is the last procedure of making the oolong tea. Traditional Anxi dragon well tea also has a fire complement procedure, but it’s for making the tea dry. Baking the light-fragrant oolong tea with slow fire is to gather aroma in the finished tea to enhance the good smelling. People in Chaoshan and south Fujian prefer the caramel smelling in leaves, so should relatively lift the baking temperature and prolong the baking time. Wuyi Rock tea, the typical representative of the luscious-fragrant oolong tea, baking with both gross fire and enough fire. Gross fire requires rapid baking with a high temperature to promote the mellow taste and aroma. Enough fire means baking with slow fire for a continuous long time, which may not only remove water while keep fresh but also has a good effect on promoting mellow aroma and pure water color

We all know that tie guan yin tea belongs to the oolong tea, so that now most people think that oolong tea is tie guan yin tea. That is a big mistake. Actually, there are some differences between oolong tea and tie guan yin tea. But what are they？

Tie guan yin tea belongs to oolong tea, is the representive of oolong, one of the Chinese ten famous tea. dragon well tea is between the green tea and black tea, belonging to half-fermentation tea. Tie guan yin tea has its own “Kwan-yin lingering charm”, fresh and elegant. In spite of the general health keeping effect, tie guan yin tea also has effects of anti-aging, anti-cancer, anti-atherosclerosis, anti-diabetes, diet fitting, anti-caries, heat curing, sobering up and obstructing smoking.

  As to the oolong tea, it is one variety of tea with unique character. Oolong tea is a variety of tea that through the process of water-removing, spinning, half-fermentation and baking. Oolong tea is evolved from the dragon group as the tribute and phoenix cake tea in Song Dynasty, which created in around 1725. Oolong tea’s pharmacological effect prominently represents in resolving fat, losing weight and other aspects. It is called the “ beauty tea” and “body-building tea” in Japan.

So now we know that tie guan yin is one branch of the oolong tea variety