When it comes to learning about tea, you frequently hear about how some individuals drink 5-10 types of tea a day or travel to the innermost regions of Xishuangbanna to pick tea leaves and what not.
There is value to that- maybe not drinking 5-10 types of tea a day, more like drinking 1 tea 5-10 times in a week- but often a neglected medium of learning is the old fashion way- reading.
Seeing is believing?
I know many who are contemptuous of book learning- certainly if you could watch Chen Guohua ‘yaoqing’ and roast Dahongpao, you would learn more than if you read about it.
But firstly- how often do you get an opportunity to do that?
Secondly, do you think Chen Guohua would bother to explain what he is doing to you- unless you’re related to Xi Jinping (in which case I would need your help to open some doors)?
Thirdly, it is not the most efficient way, at least from time and capital outlay.
Just read the ‘guides’ that some of the attendees of these processes wrote. Very often, they have no idea what the locals were doing and the locals made no attempt to clear the air.
Even if you had a guide for Wuyishan, how about Mt Wudong? Hangzhou? Huangshan? Yiwu?
It’s not the case that if you see one, you’ve seen them all.
How Longjing is produced is markedly different from Huangshan Maofeng, though both are green teas.
Or Tieguanyin from Wuyi Shuixian. Heck, even production of Wuyi Shuixian and Zhangping Shuixian differ markedly.
If you went through the major tea producing regions in China, you would probably take years considering the harvest season is the same and you need time to find someone you can trust to show you the true picture.
Leverage on the work of others
One of the common major mistakes that many ‘tea experts’ make is assuming that there is little to no tea related scientific research and it’s a bunch of hillbillies working based on centuries old methods.
That couldn’t be further from the truth- at least in China. There are more than 47 tea research institutes in China and at least 36 Universities that offer tea as a major.
Numerous publications have documented a wide spectrum of tea related scientific research, from characteristics of 95 cultivars to the specific chemical compound that causes certain taste or liquor colors.
Extensive detailed scientific research has been done in China on numerous topics and many are available in commercial publication.
For example in 叶乃兴’s 白茶-科学。技术与市场, one of the numerous experiments documented included a comparison in the change of polyphenol content over a given withering period between FuAn Dabaicha cultivar and Fuding Dahaocha.
Not exactly the stuff of ancients and immortals.
Buying Guide
What kind of guide do you need?
“Let your taste buds be your guide. Taste, taste, taste. If you like it, buy it.”
Right?
Then what tastes good now may not be worth more.
Case in point- young Sheng Puer.
For reasons that warrant a separate post, if a 2 year old Sheng Puer tastes smooth and sweet, it is not going to age well. By the same token, its value is often lower than something that tastes bitter and astringent (but with chaqi and huigan) today as that would age well.
It’s true you rely on your tastes, but not in the manner you expect.
Then there’s the matter of fraudulent claims.
The Dayi cake by Menghai Tea Factory is probably one of the best known brand names for Puer and one of those considered a benchmark for quality.
‘Everyone’ says Puer gets better with age, so if you see a 1985 7542 Dayi Cake at an affordable price, you will buy every single tong in the warehouse.
Right?
Wrong. Dayi trademark was established in 1989. Lots of books can tell you that. Price of such books costs less than that of acquiring a fake cake.
Or for example if you are offered a Wuyishan Zhengyan ‘Wild Grown’ Huang Guanyin.
Sounds exciting doesn’t it?
Firstly, I have my reservation if there is any true wild grown tea tree in that coveted 70 square kilometer area in Wuyishan.
Secondly and more conclusively, Huang Guan Yin is the creation of Fujian Agricultural University not a ‘natural cultivar’, something that again can be found in a number of books.
The lists goes on and on, Tieguanyin harvested in early April, ‘autumn picked teas’ of varieties that are only harvested in spring and so forth.
In this caveat emptor world, knowledge is power.
Recommended Readings
Unfortunately though my preferred language is English, there are few English books I can recommend that covers tea in much depth.
For those who read Chinese, these are a few recommended publications:
1) 中国茶经- 陈宗懋 ，杨亚军上海文化出版社
-The most comprehensive- if one can ever be comprehensive on tea- and authoritative guide to tea. About a thousand pages jam packed with information on production, tea, chemistry and more.
2) 中国茶普- 宛晓春中国林业出版社
Just under 200 types of teas with photos of dry leaves, liquor and wet leaves. Highlights harvest times plus picking requirements.
3) 茶学概论-周巨根、 朱永兴 中国中医药出版社
An overview of production techniques, cultivars, storage and other vital information. A slim booklet that provides a good primer on the essentials
4) 品茶图鉴:214种茶叶、茶汤、叶底原色图片) 陈宗懋、俞永明、梁国彪、 周智修 黄山书社
Similar to no 2) but greater focus on descriptors. Combined with 2) can provide a good introduction to the better known teas in China.
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