Whats a Good Cup of Chinese Tea?
Bitterness
Bitterness means a bad cup of tea right? Yes and No.
There are 3 types of bitterness described by Chinese, of which 2 are no good and 1 is heavenly.
Its hard to tell in English but here is Kams attempt (follow links to jargon page):
Type Mandarin Pronunciation Description
Plain
Bitter Ku Could be the original taste of certain kinds of tea like Puer. Or could be too much tea leaves used in the process. Or could be the result of slight over brewing.
Rough
Bitter Se This is a result of bad over brewing. Recommend throwing the cup of tea out or the Se taste will ruin your taste buds, and your tea day.
Minty
Bitter Gan Although the attributes are not ranked, lots of Chinese tea drinkers pay for this Gan thing, and big bucks for Hui Gan (recurring Gan). So you can guess this is the heavenly attribute most tea drinkers are looking for in a good cup of tea.
Flavor
There are 2 sides to the flavor attribute.
Side 1 is richer vs. thinner. Richer is always better than thinner. If you have good tea leaves but you are getting tea that tastes more like water than tea, its likely you have used a shorter-than-enough brew time, or lower-than-enough water temperature, or the wrong brewing process. Side 2 is heavier vs. lighter. But heavier is not necessarily better. Fully fermented teas have heavier flavor whole less fermented teas have lighter flavor. Its just the way the teas are.
Smoothness
Smoothness is one of the attributes that make Chinese tea expensive but its not a determining factor. Some teas are simply not the smooth type no matter how pricey they are, if you have a supposedly smooth tea, watch your brew time (dont over brew) and water temperature (dont be too hot) and you will be fine.
Aroma
This is another attribute that tea drinkers seek for. Its not necessarily the thicker the better. The tea should smell fresh and natural as well, both before and after brewing.
You cant go very wrong brewing aromatic tea. Unless you have flu, the aroma stays even if you overbrew (it doesnt taste good though).
Color
Color is something to appreciate during the tea drinking process.
Choose the right cup to brew your tea. Say, a white cup for Tei Guan Tin to show against the background, a glass for green Dragon Well to dance around and you will be able to enjoy your Chinese tea to the fullest.
Shang Jin
Ha, mandarin again. Here is what it means. Its wonderful to feel the tea still working an hour after you finish drinking it.
Just dont over brew your tea or it gets Se because Se tea definitely wont Shang Jin.
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