I recently got the idea to make videos again. Previously, it was 'Lao Lv Talks Tea', which was the video content behind the 'Tea on Paper' articles. My tea content output mainly consists of several series: 'Tea Masters Biographies', 'Tea on Paper', and 'Lao Lv Talks Tea'. This time, for videos, I want to start a new series called 'Lao Lv Healthy Tea'. If you're interested, you can follow me in advance. The video content for 'Lao Lv Talks Tea' was a topic directory I manually organized. I'm not good at video editing, so it was all one-take. This time for 'Lao Lv Healthy Tea', I have no choice but to do one-take again, but for organizing topics, I used AI, which saved a lot of effort. I tried several, but I still find DeepSeek the best. I'll record my organizing process here. If you're interested in video creation, you must take a look; it might save you a lot of time and help you discover more worthwhile video ideas. Of course, I won't share the topic directory for healthy tea; I'll record it under the broad theme of tea. Of course, AI can't replace you. Use AI as a reference, refine it based on your own knowledge, and form your own copy for better results. The following is the DeepSeek record.

What are the categories of tea video content? (The green part is my question, as shown in the figure, and the rest are similar.)

I. Professional Knowledge and Science Popularization

This type focuses on imparting tea knowledge, is highly professional, and is suitable for audiences who want to systematically learn about tea.

• Tea knowledge popularization: Explain the six major tea categories (green, white, yellow, oolong, black, and dark), tea history, origin and terroir, production processes, etc. For example: "Understand Chinese Tea Classification in One Picture", "What Exactly is 'Rock Rhyme' in Wuyi Rock Tea?"
• In-depth tasting teaching: How to brew tea with professional utensils, how to appreciate the color, aroma, taste, and infused leaves of tea liquor. For example: "How to Taste a Pu-erh Raw Tea", "Blind Tasting Challenge of Ten Aromatic Oolong Teas".
• Tea ware knowledge: Introduce different tea sets (purple clay, porcelain, gaiwan, silver pot, etc.) including history, production, usage, and purchasing tips. For example: "Detailed Explanation of Purple Clay Pot Clay Materials", "How to Choose Your First Gaiwan".

II. Brewing Techniques and Teaching

Focuses more on "how to do it", is highly practical, and is a category with large traffic.

• Standard brewing methods for different tea types: e.g., "Glass Cup Brewing Guide for Green Tea", "Seven Steps to Brew a Good Gongfu Black Tea", "How to Pry and Brew Pu-erh Tea".
• Creative mixed drinks and cold brews: Combine tea with fruits, milk, alcohol, etc., to create fashionable drinks. For example: "Three Cold Brew Tea Tutorials You Must Learn This Summer", "Homemade Osmanthus Oolong Latte".
• "Beginner Mistakes" category: Correct common errors, such as "Five Reasons Why Your Tea Doesn't Taste Good", "Are You Using Your Purple Clay Pot Correctly?"

III. Reviews and Buying Guides

Similar to "digital product reviews", very popular among consumers, helping them "avoid pitfalls" and make purchasing decisions.

• Horizontal reviews of different brands/price points within the same category: e.g., "Blind Test of 8 Popular Jin Jun Mei: Who is the King of Value?", "500 Yuan vs. 5000 Yuan Pu-erh: How Big is the Difference?"
• "Unboxing and tasting": Share newly purchased tea, describe real feelings and purchase channels. This is also common in live streaming sales.
• Buying pitfall avoidance guides: e.g., "Three Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying West Lake Longjing", "How to Identify Aged White Tea That Has Been Artificially Aged".

IV. Tea Lifestyle and Aesthetics

These videos do not emphasize professional knowledge output but create an atmosphere and lifestyle, focusing on aesthetic experience.

• Immersive tea drinking: No narration or only a few subtitles, showing the process of boiling water, pouring water, and decanting tea through ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), which is very relaxing.
• Tea space display: Show your own tea room, tea table arrangement, flower arrangement, antiques, etc., creating an idyllic oriental aesthetic atmosphere.
• "Tea Vlog": Record a day of tea-themed life, such as going to a tea house, attending a tea gathering, or drinking tea in the mountains.

V. Origin Exploration and Behind-the-Scenes

Satisfies the audience's curiosity about the source of tea, with documentary and travel elements.

• Tea mountain trips: Go deep into Yunnan Pu-erh tea mountains, Wuyi Mountain rock tea areas, Fuding white tea areas, etc., interview tea farmers, and record the entire process from picking to making tea.
• Visiting time-honored brands/intangible cultural heritage inheritors: Visit well-known tea companies or non-genetic inheritors of tea making masters, showing the inheritance of traditional skills.
• Factory secrets: Visit modern tea processing factories to show the process of mechanized, standardized production.

VI. Culture, History, and Narrative

Content is more in-depth, usually appearing in documentary or long-form narrative formats.

• Tea culture documentaries: e.g., "Tea: The Story of a Leaf", systematically telling the spread and historical influence of tea globally.
• Tea ceremony/tea art demonstrations: Show tea ceremony processes from different regions of China, or Japanese tea ceremony, Korean tea ceremony, etc., focusing on ritual and cultural connotation.
• Historical story telling: Use animation or oral narration to tell historical anecdotes and celebrity stories related to tea.

VII. Entertainment and Cross-border Integration

Content is light and fun, aiming to attract a broader young audience.

• "Tea drinking challenges": e.g., challenge to drink 100 types of tea, drink the strongest tea, etc.
• Food crossover: Combine tea with desserts and catering, such as "Making Tea Eggs with Lapsang Souchong", "Matcha Thousand-Layer Cake Making".
• Fun science popularization: Explain tea knowledge with animation or funny skits, such as "If Ancient Celebrities Also Drank Tea".

Summary

Many excellent video creators often combine multiple categories, such as incorporating professional knowledge into origin exploration or sharing brewing tips in lifestyle Vlogs.

You can choose which type of video to watch based on your interests (whether you want to learn, buy something, or just relax).

According to these seven major categories, please help me organize video content topics. Each major category should have more than ten topics, and dozens would be even better (I continue to ask).

I. Professional Knowledge and Science Popularization

Suitable platforms: Bilibili, YouTube, Zhihu

1. "The Ultimate Guide to the Six Major Chinese Tea Categories"
2. "Fermentation Degree vs. Tea Polyphenols: Understand the Underlying Logic of Tea Classification in One Picture"
3. "What Exactly is 'Rock Rhyme'? Uncovering the Terroir Code of Wuyi Rock Tea"
4. "The Scientific Basis and Misconceptions of Pu-erh Tea's 'Getting Better with Age'"
5. "Flavor Map of Ten Major Pu-erh Tea Mountains: Differences Between Laobanzhang, Bingdao, and Yiwu"
6. "White Tea Grades: How to Distinguish Silver Needle, White Peony, Shou Mei, and Gong Mei?"
7. "Exploring the Dark Tea Family: Yunnan Pu-erh, Guangxi Liubao, Hunan Anhua Fu Brick"
8. "Four Major Oolong Tea Producing Areas: Comparison of Northern Fujian, Southern Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan Styles"
9. "Detailed Explanation of Tea Tasting Terminology: What are 'Shui Lu', 'Hou Yun', and 'Suo Hou'?"
10. "Tea Endogenous Substances: How Do Tea Polyphenols, Caffeine, and Theanine Affect Taste?"
11. "Evolution of Chinese Tea Methods Through the Ages: From Tang Dynasty Boiling to Ming Dynasty Infusion"
12. "Is 'Washing Tea' Really Necessary? Scientific Analysis of the Role of 'Warming and Moistening'"
13. "The 'Shelf Life' and 'Optimal Drinking Period' of Tea"
14. "Flavor Differences and Causes of Spring, Summer, and Autumn Teas"
15. "'Core Producing Areas' vs. 'Non-core Producing Areas': Where Does the Price Difference Lie?"
16. "Are the 'Golden Ring' and 'Cold Cream' in Tea Good or Bad?"
17. "In-depth Analysis of the Scenting Process of Jasmine Tea"
18. "The Difference Between 'Gongfu Black Tea' and 'Kung Fu Tea'"
19. "Tea Seed Oil, Tea Polyphenol Extracts: Cross-border Applications of Tea"
20. "The World's Three High-Aroma Black Teas: Keemun, Darjeeling, and Ceylon Uva"

II. Brewing Techniques and Teaching

Suitable platforms: Douyin, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu

1. "Beginner's Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Using a Gaiwan Without Burning Your Hand"
2. "Three Infusion Methods for Green Tea in a Glass Cup: Top, Middle, and Bottom"
3. "How to Brew a Good Gongfu Black Tea? Master the Secret of 'Quick Decanting'"
4. "Complete Process and Techniques for Brewing Ripe Pu-erh in a Purple Clay Pot"
5. "Complete Cold Brew Tea Manual: Tea Selection, Ratio, and Time"
6. "Office Convenient Tea Brewing Solutions: Review of Easy Brew Cups, Travel Cups, and Tea-Water Separation Cups"
7. "'Steeping' vs. 'Quick Decanting': Experiment on the Impact of Different Brewing Methods on Tea Liquor"
8. "How to Adjust Brewing Parameters (Water Temperature, Time, Tea Amount) to Save a Brew?"
9. "Recreate Milk Tea Shop at Home: Tutorial for the Popular Yashi Xiang Lemon Tea"
10. "Boiling Tea Around the Stove/Electric Ceramic Stove: Suitable Tea Types and Precautions"
11. "Creative Mixed Drinks: Making Yuanyang Milk Tea with Lapsang Souchong"
12. "The Correct Way to Whisk Matcha"
13. "Immersive Demonstration of Chaoshan Gongfu Tea Twenty-One Techniques"
14. "How to Brew Multiple Types of Tea with One Purple Clay Pot?"
15. "Travel Tea Set Experience and Recommendations"
16. "Comparative Review of Brewing with Different Water Qualities (Mineral Water, Purified Water, Tap Water)"
17. "The Principles Behind 'Han Xin Dians Bing' and 'Guan Gong Xun Cheng'"
18. "How to Easily Pry Pu-erh Tea Without Crushing It?"
19. "The Correct Way to Brew Tea in a Thermos Cup"
20. "Homemade Fruit Tea Recipes (Peach Oolong, Pineapple Black Tea)"

III. Reviews and Buying Guides

Suitable platforms: Bilibili, Douyin, Xiaohongshu

1. "Pitfall Avoidance Guide: 5 Tips to Identify Artificially Aged White Tea"
2. "Comparative Review of Real and Fake Jin Jun Mei: Tongmu Guan vs. Wai Shan"
3. "Horizontal Blind Test of 100 Yuan/1000 Yuan/10000 Yuan Raw Pu-erh: Where Are the Differences?"
4. "Unboxing Review of Ten Major Longjing Tea Brands (Shifeng, Lu Zhenghao, Yifutang, etc.)"
5. "Review of Popular Bagged Teas: CHALI, Chali, Lipton, Twinings"
6. "Comparative Tasting of White Tea of Different Years: 1-Year, 3-Year, 7-Year Aged"
7. "What Does 'Tuition Tea' Look Like? Revealing Common Characteristics of Inferior Tea"
8. "Online vs. Offline: Analysis of Pros and Cons of Tea Buying Channels"
9. "Recommendations for 'Daily Drinking Tea': Cost-Effective Teas Under 100 Yuan"
10. "Beginner's Guide to Buying Purple Clay Pots: How to Judge Clay, Shape, and Craftsmanship?"
11. "Review of Gaiwan Materials: Which is Better: White Porcelain, Celadon, Glass, or Wood-Fired?"
12. "Are 'Master Tea' and 'Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor Tea' Worth the High Price?"
13. "Introduction to Pu-erh Tea Brands: How to Choose Dayi, Xiaguan, Chengsheng Hao, and Rongshi?"
14. "Exploring Niche Teas: Anhui Yongxi Huoqing, Jiangxi Ninghong, Hunan Anhua Tianjian"
15. "Review of 'Internet Brands': Xiaoguan Tea, CHALI, Yinian Caomu Zhong"
16. "Review of Different Grades of the Same Brand (e.g., Bama Sai Zhenzhu 1000/2000/3000)"
17. "Unboxing '9.9 Yuan Free Shipping Laobanzhang': Let's See What It Is"
18. "How to Read Information on Tea Packaging: Understand Production Date, Grade, and Origin"
19. "Factors in Valuing Aged Pu-erh: Brand, Storage, and Appearance"
20. "'Tea Sample' Tasting Experience: How to Find a Tea That Suits You at Low Cost?"

IV. Tea Lifestyle and Aesthetics

Suitable platforms: Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Bilibili

1. "Morning Ritual: My 15-Minute Healing Breakfast Tea Time"
2. "ASMR Immersive Tea Drinking in the Rain: Healing All Anxiety"
3. "Creating My Mini Tea Table/Window Tea Station"
4. "Four Seasons Tea Table Arrangement Inspiration: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Themes"
5. "Solo Tea Drinking Vlog on the Weekend: One Person, One Pot"
6. "Tea Ware Collection Sharing: My Favorite Wood-Fired Cups"
7. "Tea and Incense: What Incense to Pair with Tea Tasting?"
8. "Tea and Reading: This Week's Book List and the Tea Accompanying Me"
9. "Traveling with Tea Set: What Is It Like to Brew Tea in the Mountains and Rivers?"
10. "Shop Visit Vlog: Exploring Healing Tea Houses in City Corners"
11. "Chinese Aesthetic Dressing: Attending a Spring Tea Gathering"
12. "The Art of Tea Snacks: What Snacks Should Be Paired with Different Teas?"
13. "Tutorial on Creating a Winter Atmosphere with Tea Boiling Around the Stove"
14. "My Tea Room Green Plant Pairing: Asparagus Fern, Acorus, Orchids"
15. "'Useless Beauty': An Ordinary Day of Flower Arrangement, Appreciating Tea Ware, and Drinking Tea"
16. "Traditional Culture Experience: Learning Song Dynasty Tea Whisking/Japanese Urasenke Tea Ceremony"
17. "Mother's Day/Father's Day: Brew a Warm Cup of Tea for Family"
18. "Tea and Music: Playlist of Chinese Style/Classical/White Noise Suitable for Tea Drinking"
19. "Night Tea: Non-Insomnia Tea Drinks Suitable for Evening"
20. "Slow Living Weekend: Full Record from Setting Up the Tea Table to Cleaning the Tea Set"

V. Origin Exploration and Behind-the-Scenes

Suitable platforms: Bilibili, YouTube

1. "Yunnan Pu-erh Tea Mountain Trip: Deep into Laobanzhang Village, Visiting the Tea King Tree"
2. "Fuding Panxi Town: Following a Tea Farmer for a Day, Recording the Birth of Silver Needle"
3. "Hiking Exploration of the Core Producing Area of Wuyi Rock Tea: 'Three Pits and Two Streams'"
4. "Visiting Jingdezhen: How Is a Handmade Blue and White Gaiwan Made?"
5. "Entering Yixing Dingshu Town: Revealing the Whole Process of Purple Clay Pot from Clay to Finished Product"
6. "Visit to a Modern Tea Factory: See How Machinery Replaces Traditional Tea Making"
7. "Exclusive Interview with Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor: Dialogue with Master of Wuyi Rock Tea (Da Hong Pao) Making Technique"
8. "Anhua Dark Tea: Unveiling the Mystery of 'Golden Flowers' (Eurotium cristatum)"
9. "Taiwan High Mountain Tea Gardens: Visit to Alishan, Lishan, and Dayuling"
10. "Hangzhou Meijiawu: On-site Record of Longjing Tea Picking Season"
11. "Visit to Hengxian, Guangxi, the Hometown of Jasmine Tea, to See the Night Scenting Process"
12. "Exploring Border Tea: Yunnan Fengqing Dianhong Journey"
13. "Behind the Scenes: Revealing the Process of Tea Packaging Design"
14. "Daily Work in a Tea Tasting Room: What Is It Like to Drink Hundreds of Teas in a Day?"
15. "Visit to a Matcha Estate in Shizuoka, Japan"
16. "Exploring Darjeeling Black Tea Estates in India"
17. "Insights into the Tea Auction Market: How Are Sky-High Priced Teas Born?"
18. "The Real Life and Income of Tea Farmers"
19. "Organic Tea Garden vs. Conventional Tea Garden: On-site Comparison"
20. "What Fun and Interesting Things Are There at a Tea Expo?"

VI. Culture, History, and Narrative

Suitable platforms: Bilibili, YouTube

1. "Tea Horse Road Documentary: The Expedition of a Tea Leaf"
2. "Close Reading of 'The Classic of Tea': What Lu Yu Tells Us"
3. "Origins of Japanese Tea Ceremony: How Did Tang and Song Tea Culture Cross the Sea?"
4. "British Afternoon Tea Culture: From Portuguese Princess to Victorian Era"
5. "Tea Trade and Cultural Exchange on the Silk Road"
6. "Emperor Huizong of Song and 'Daguan Tea Treatise': The Ultimate Aesthetics of Song Dynasty Tea Whisking"
7. "How Did Tea Become the Trigger for the Opium War?"
8. "Zen and Tea as One: The Thousand-Year Connection Between Buddhism and Tea Culture"
9. "Appreciation of Tea Paintings Through the Ages: From 'Xiao Yi Swindling Lanting' to 'Tea Tasting Painting'"
10. "Tea Culture in 'Dream of the Red Chamber': Tea Tasting at Longcui Nunnery (Liuan Tea, Laojun Mei)"
11. "Unique Tea Drinking Customs Around the World: Mongolian Salty Milk Tea, Indian Masala Chai, etc."
12. "The Tea Story Behind the 'Boston Tea Party'"
13. "The Road to Revival of Modern Chinese Tea: Stories of Pioneers Like Wu Juenong"
14. "The Science of Tea Variety Cultivation: Stories Behind Generation One, Two, and N"
15. "Appreciation of Antique Tea Ware: Tang and Song Tea Sets and Ming and Qing Tea Ware"
16. "Chronicle of Tea Advertisements: Look at Old Advertisements from the Last Century"
17. "Tea Culture in Dialects: Chaoshan 'Eating Tea', Sichuan 'Gaiwan Tea'"
18. "Tea Elements in Peking Opera/Pingtan"
19. "Tea and Health: Records in Historical Classics and Modern Research"
20. "The New Tea Road on the 'Belt and Road'"

VII. Entertainment and Cross-border Integration

Suitable platforms: Douyin, Bilibili

1. "Challenge to Drink All Types of Chinese Tea"
2. "Precision Tea Brewing with Laboratory Equipment (Graduated Cylinder, Balance, Thermometer)"
3. "Tea Blind Tasting Challenge: Can 'Old Tea Drinkers' Tell the Price?"
4. "Brewing Tea with Various Strange Containers: Trophy, Fish Tank, Hat..."
5. "When I Drink Tea with My Mom/Dad/Grandma: Generation Gap Collision"
6. "Cost Breakdown of 'A Cup of Tea': Who Earns the Money from Tea Garden to Tea Cup?"
7. "Cooking with Tea: Tea Eggs, Longjing Shrimp, Pu-erh Braised Pork Tutorial"
8. "Tea Drink DIY: Recreating Chayan Yuese's Youlan Latte"
9. "Tea-Flavored Desserts: Making Matcha Chocolate, Earl Grey Chiffon Cake"
10. "Tea Culture in Games/Anime: 'Genshin Impact' Teapot, 'Ghost of Tsushima' Tea House"
11. "Singing the Six Major Tea Categories in Rap/Animation Form"
12. "Giving Chinese Tea to Foreign Friends: What Are Their Reactions?"
13. "Unboxing the 'Most Expensive' Tea Sample: My Hands Are Shaking"
14. "'Online Dating Meets Offline': Internet-Famous Tea vs. Physical Store Tea"
15. "How to Elegantly Drink Tea While Petting Cats/Walking Dogs?"
16. "What Is It Like to 'Drink Only Tea for a Day'?"
17. "Using Memes/Jokes to Complain About Tea Drinking Moments"
18. "Exchange Drinks with a Barista Friend: I Drink Pour-Over, He Drinks Gongfu Tea"
19. "Creative Uses of Tea Leaves: Deodorizing, Fertilizing Flowers, Making Pillows"
20. "Hosting a Family Mini 'Tea Competition'"

Now we can use DeepSeek to generate articles based on each topic, and we can also modify the titles.

"The Ultimate Guide to the Six Major Chinese Tea Categories" is the article title. Please help me organize a detailed article covering the introduction of the viewpoint proposer, time, background, and which teas are included in each of the six major categories, and what is worth recording about these teas including origin, taste, craftsmanship, culture, etc., and also the shortcomings of the six major categories classification and future prospects.

The Ultimate Guide to the Six Major Chinese Tea Categories

An oriental leaf, evolving into countless aromas and flavors, yet also bringing confusion and controversy in classification.

China is the only country in the world that produces all six major tea categories: green, white, yellow, oolong, black, and dark. These six major schools each have their own merits and origins, forming the rich diversity of Chinese tea culture.

In 1979, Professor Chen Chuan of Anhui Agricultural University, one of the founders of tea science higher education, first proposed the scientific classification method of the six major tea categories in his article "The Theory and Practice of Tea Classification".

This classification laid the foundation for modern scientific tea classification and has been widely recognized and applied. After more than forty years of development, this classification system has finally gained international recognition.

01 The Origin of the Six Major Schools: Professor Chen Chuan and the Classification System

The history of Chinese tea classification can be traced back to ancient times, but it was mostly based on intuitive experience and perceptual knowledge. The Tang Dynasty "The Classic of Tea" records "coarse tea, loose tea, powdered tea, and cake tea"; the Song Dynasty "History of Song" records "tea has two types: piece tea and loose tea".

These classifications lacked systematization and failed to theoretically clarify the classification principles. Professor Chen Chuan's classification method proposed in 1979 divided tea into six categories: green, yellow, dark, white, oolong, and black, based on the order of flavanol content in tea.

This classification not only retained the tea category names summarized through historical experience but also conformed to the inherent changes and development patterns of tea. In April 2023, the international standard ISO 20715:2023 "Tea Classification", led by Professor Wan Xiaochun of Anhui Agricultural University, was officially promulgated, marking the international consensus of China's six major tea classification system.

02 Green Tea: The Fresh Choice of Non-Fermented Tea

Green tea is the most produced tea in China, with origins across the country. Its process characteristics lie in quickly killing the enzymes in fresh leaves after picking to inhibit the oxidation of tea polyphenols (non-fermented).

Green tea has the "three greens" characteristic: "dry tea is green, tea liquor is green, and infused leaves are green". Green tea is rich in chlorophyll and vitamin C, has a cool nature, and contains higher caffeine.

Depending on the fixing and drying methods, green tea can be divided into pan-fired, baked, sun-dried, and steamed. Representative famous teas include West Lake Longjing, Biluochun, and Huangshan Maofeng.

03 White Tea: The Natural Beauty of Slight Fermentation

White tea is a slightly fermented tea (fermentation degree 5%-10%), mainly produced in Fuding, Fujian. The production process of white tea is the simplest and most natural, with only two steps: withering and drying.

White tea gets its name because the finished tea is covered with white down, like silver and snow. Its liquor color is light, and the taste is fresh, clear, and refreshing. It is cool in nature and has the effect of reducing heat and lowering fire.

White tea is divided into bud tea and leaf tea based on raw materials. Bud tea is made entirely from the plump buds of Dabai tea, represented by "Silver Needle"; leaf tea uses one bud with two or three leaves or single leaves as raw material, with varieties such as White Peony, Gong Mei, and Shou Mei.

04 Yellow Tea: The Rare Product of Light Fermentation

Yellow tea has a slightly higher fermentation degree than white tea, generally between 10% and 20%, making it a lightly fermented tea. Yellow tea may be the least noticed and least present tea among the six major categories.

During the production of yellow tea, there is a core process called "sealing yellow", which gives it the quality of yellow leaves and yellow liquor and a unique sweet, mellow, and ripe taste. Yellow tea developed from mistakes or improper control in green tea production.

According to the tenderness of fresh leaves, yellow tea can be divided into three types: yellow bud tea, yellow small leaf tea, and yellow large leaf tea. Representative teas include Junshan Silver Needle, Mengding Yellow Bud, and Huoshan Yellow Bud.

05 Oolong Tea: The Rich Charm of Semi-Fermentation

Oolong tea, also known as qingcha, has a changeable temperament, possessing both the freshness of green tea and the mellowness of black tea. Its fermentation degree lies between green and black tea, ranging from 8% to 75%.

The process of oolong tea is complex and time-consuming, with "shaking green" being an important step, forming its special aroma and the characteristic of green leaves with red edges. Oolong tea aromas range from fresh floral to ripe fruit scents.

Depending on the origin, oolong tea is divided into four types: Northern Fujian oolong, Southern Fujian oolong, Guangdong oolong, and Taiwan oolong. Representative teas include Tieguanyin, Wuyi rock tea, and Phoenix Dancong.

06 Black Tea: The Mellow Taste of Full Fermentation

Black tea is a fully fermented tea (fermentation degree greater than 80%), originating from Tongmu Guan (village) in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian. The difference between black tea and green tea lies in an additional fermentation process.

The basic process of black tea includes withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying. Fermentation is the key step that forms the quality of red liquor and red leaves in black tea.

Black tea dry tea is dark and oily, with a generally high and persistent aroma, a sweet floral and fruity fragrance, and a mellow taste without astringency. The liquor and infused leaves are red. It is mild in nature, with lower caffeine, and has a lower stimulating effect on the nervous system.

Representative teas include Lapsang Souchong, Keemun black tea, and Dianhong.

07 Dark Tea: The Mellow Drink of Post-Fermentation

Dark tea is post-fermented tea, with relatively coarse and old raw materials, and due to long pile fermentation during processing, the leaves are mostly dark brown. The basic process of dark tea includes fixing, rolling, pile fermentation, and drying.

Unlike other tea types, the fermentation of dark tea does not rely on the enzymes in the tea itself but on enzymes produced by microorganisms, so it aids digestion and is gentle on the stomach. Dark tea dry tea is generally dark and moist, with a clear yellow liquor, mellow aroma, and mellow sweet aftertaste.

Dark tea is mainly produced in Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, etc. Representative teas include Anhua dark tea, Pu-erh tea, and Liubao tea.

08 Classification Controversy: Shortcomings and Disputes of the Six Major Tea System

Although the six major tea classification system has become an international standard, with continuous innovation in tea products and an increase in categories, this classification system has also shown certain limitations.

The classification of Pu-erh tea is the most prominent issue. In June 2023, the Yunnan Provincial Pu-erh Tea Association held a seminar on opinions and suggestions for tea classification, where experts had a heated discussion on "what kind of tea is Pu-erh tea?".

Some experts clearly stated: "Pu-erh tea does not belong to dark tea; Pu-erh tea should be listed as a separate category."

The six major tea classification is mainly based on process and quality characteristics but fails to fully reflect the deep chemical composition and efficacy differences of tea. The characteristic components of each tea type are unclear, and efficacy research is broad and lacks distinctiveness.

The traditional classification system also restricts the development of new products and innovative categories to a certain extent. People habitually fit new products into the framework of the six major categories, limiting the innovation space for tea products.

09 Future Prospects: Development Direction of Tea Classification

Future tea classification needs a more scientific theoretical foundation. In-depth research is needed on the formation mechanisms of the quality of the six major tea types and the identification of characteristic components. This includes clarifying the key process mechanisms, characteristic components of each tea type, and the efficacy of each tea type.

The tea classification system also needs to remain open and inclusive. With the innovation and development of tea products, the traditional six major tea classification may need adjustment and expansion, and even consideration of adding new tea categories.

Integrated innovation is the inevitable path for the development of the tea industry. It is necessary to integrate the theoretical and technological achievements of the six major tea types, break the shackles of the traditional "six major tea categories", and adopt modern flavor design and processing technology to develop more and broader products.

10 Conclusion: The Ultimate Meaning of Tea Tasting

The six major schools of Chinese tea each have their own characteristics and charm. Green tea is fresh and natural, white tea is simple and elegant, yellow tea is rare and low-key, oolong tea is rich and changeable, black tea is mellow and warm, and dark tea is mellow with aged fragrance.

Tasting tea is not just about tasting a beverage, but also experiencing a culture and a way of life. The foundation of Chinese tea culture can be summarized in three words: "observe, smell, and taste": "observe" means watching the shape of the tea leaves and infused leaves; "smell" means smelling the aroma; "taste" means tasting the smoothness and thickness of the tea liquor.

In April 2023, the international standard ISO 20715:2023 "Tea Classification" was officially promulgated.

This standard was led by Professor Wan Xiaochun of Anhui Agricultural University, jointly formulated with 31 tea experts from various countries, marking the Chinese six major tea classification system as an internationally accepted standard.

The future development of tea requires innovation in inheritance and exploration in science, allowing this magical oriental leaf to continue nourishing human health and culture.