Tea Phrases That Should Mean Something but Don’t

In an earlier post, we looked at some of the common phrases that are tacked on to tea names such as “monkey-picked”, “superior grade” and their relevance.

This post is about phrases that SHOULD mean something but don’t.

It could be due to abuse of the phrase(s) or simply that they do not display the quality of the tea varieties in question.

Note that as with most of our writings, this is written with a Chinese/Taiwanese teas context in mind.

Premium/Artisan/Gourmet

These terms are used wantonly and indiscriminately, I confess I inadvertently fall into this trap too. When used at such frequencies though, surely it loses its relevance.

If every other tea vendor sells premium teas, pray tell what are “ordinary, run-of-the-mill teas”?

Heck, there is even no shortage of “premium tea bags” ignoring the fact that low grade tea leaves and fanning are used.

Premium means ‘of superior quality and value’ and those who are familiar with the market will agree that numerous teas that are considered cheap (if not inexpensive since cheap has become a derogatory adjective in this age) are still labeled- at least by the seller- as premium tea.

Price is definitely not the only consideration.

If we look at production quality, from an industry standpoint “premium shoumei” or “premium gunpowder” or “premium chun mei” are all considered oxy-morons.

*This is based on industry classification, not meant to disparage lovers of these teas*

Artisanal or gourmet are meant to convey the same meaning except artisanal goes a step further to entail items made by a skilled craftsman by hand.

Which is kind of every good quality Yancha or Dancong for example but even teas that are well-known for being machine-made are also labeled as artisanal.

Wild Grown

Wild grown is meant to convey the notion that it was buried in some ancient forest unspoiled by man.

First, as I mentioned in this post, there are some “wild grown” teas made from researched cultivars. In short, it’s often blatant misrepresented or creatively redefined.

Secondly, it’s not indicative of anything really.

If it’s an old tree- it would have value but wild grown doesn’t necessarily equate to old tree.

Wild grown in low elevation is worth less than cultivated at Mt Wudong for example.

In short, it’s not informative. Wild grown ancient arbor tree at a specified mountain would be interesting on the other hand.

Direct from the Farmer/Grower

It is simple economics, cut one layer in the supply chain and you get it cheaper AND give better returns to the grower, often portrayed as being abused by people further up the chain.

Hence buying directly from the farmer helps your pocket and assuages your conscience. Right?

Contrary to popular opinion, capitalism rules in China. Farmers- especially those who enjoy high repute- are in demand. For the most coveted areas, money alone won’t cut it, you need guanxi. No chance of farmers being squeezed there.

Secondly, increasingly the trend- in China at least- is that farmers sell to factories and producers as opposed to producing on their own.

Since the economic reforms, many pieces of lands were redistributed to the locals. While many can be trained to be excellent farmers, production, especially for oolong tea and wok-roasted green teas, is very much dependent on the skills of the masters.

A well-made tea in the hands of a specialist can fetch many times what an semi-skilled farmer doubling as a producer makes, even if the raw material is the same.

Considering the effort spent to produce tea- many of them are produced on the same day they are harvested into the wee hours of the night- it may be more worthwhile for farmers to stick to farming.

While this is not true across the board- certainly there are many farmers who produce their own tea- it is increasingly commonplace, particularly for oolong tea which is very labor intensive.

Single Origin/Estate

Perhaps a bit of context is required, this is usually catered for Western markets and markets more accustomed to teas from former British colonies.

There is the connotation these are of higher quality.

Single origin means teas from the same region while estate goes one step further, that estate.

Firstly, based on most conventional definitions of ‘best’- the best tea China is China are not grown on estates. Estates where they exist are owned by huge corporations churning out commercial offerings.

Secondly, single origin traditionally is used to denote “not a blend” where blend relates to teas from different regions such as Assam, Ceylon and so forth.

In that respect, it’s the norm- with some exceptions stated below- in China & Taiwan that most ‘artisanal’ offerings are from the same region, so much so that single origin in that respect is really superfluous.

Secondly, other than China and Taiwan, no other tea producing region has as complete an understanding of ‘cultivar’- ie. different sub-species of the tea plant. For example, the ‘modern Dahongpao’ can be a blend of Dahongpao, Shuixian and Rougui cultivars within the same region.

So depending on whether you are looking at the technical or historic definition of ‘single origin’, that ‘blended’ Dahongpao could or could not qualify.

Confusing? In a nutshell- single origin isn’t quite useful.

Nor does it denote higher quality. The most well-regarded Puers for example are blends and the ‘single origin Puer’ tend to be snubbed by purists.

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