Damn the Original Aspiration: Make Tea That Feels Good for the Body!

This is the thirty-first article in my 'Tea Talk on Paper' series. Click to read more 'Tea Talk on Paper' articles.

1. Original Aspiration.

Make tea that feels good for the body!

In one sentence, this is what I have been striving for over the past eight years. If I were to express it clearly in three sentences, it would roughly be:

1. Make tea with low stimulation and mild taste;

2. Make tea that does not cause dampness or is low-dampness, or in other words, warm-natured tea;

3. Make tea that feels smooth in the body and has good activity.

This is the determination I made starting in 2016, which can be considered my original aspiration when I left e-commerce tea selling and entered the second phase, starting to make good tea. I have kept my word. Since 2016, I have personally controlled the production of every crowdfunded tea and every Houyue tea product, started to guard the harvest of famous mountains, and focused on arranging ancient tree tea.

However, starting from 2017, I began to encounter many difficulties, various difficulties. Entering 2019, it became even more difficult. In 2024, it has become increasingly difficult. This suffocating feeling makes it hard to persist... Omit ten thousand words here.

To this day, I have not changed this original aspiration, but I do not know how much longer I can hold on.

In recent years, I have become increasingly withdrawn, unwilling to write articles, unwilling to post on social media, unwilling to go out, unwilling to participate in any tea circle activities. All the stubbornness in my life has been devoted to this matter. I hope this is not the last stubbornness.

While I am still persisting, I am writing this article formally to talk about these things.

In case, I mean in case, I make a change and no longer hold on, this article can be considered an explanation. Not for others, but for my own aging years.

2. Problems in the Industry.

I have observed the tea industry for over a decade. The problems that long-term tea drinkers encounter can be summarized into these categories:

1. Due to long-term and heavy tea consumption, various health problems arise. For example, difficulty conceiving, poor sleep, or even chronic insomnia, body dampness, habitual tea drunkenness, tea intolerance, premature graying, etc.

1. Due to long-term and heavy tea consumption, various supplements are needed: drinking high-proof aged liquor, eating beef, lamb, seafood, various food supplements, and medicine supplements. The body is externally strong but internally weak for a long time, leading to stroke or even sudden death.

1. Becoming sensitive to tea. Unable to drink tea; when guests are drinking tea, they drink water or drink very little. For example, I almost dare not go out to drink tea. If I drink the wrong tea, the day is ruined; a small sip can make me uncomfortable all day.

Some people say, "It's not as serious as you say." Saying this means your body is still fine, or you pay attention to your diet, or you haven't been drinking tea long enough or in sufficient quantity. If you don't feel it, please stop reading.

3. Is There a Solution?

Many people who know me know that I have studied under several tea-making teachers. Here, I won't name them but thank them all. Through the guidance of my teachers and my own summary, I believe there are methods to solve these problems. Roughly, there are these methods (feel free to add and discuss):

1. Reduce tea consumption. Drink as little as possible; do not drink tea after Shen Shi (3-5 PM); if there are no guests to taste tea, try not to drink. This method suits practitioners who do not need to be heavily involved in tea tasting, but not most tea makers, tea artists, or sellers.

1. Switch to aged tea. Instill in customers the concept that tea needs to be stored, and it is best not to drink tea that is not decades old; new tea can be tried lightly. "The older, the more fragrant" is the best shield, and putting on the armor of aged tea for the body is one method. After all, aged tea has very little stimulation and is suitable for drinking in large quantities.

1. Drink tea that feels good for the body. A certain President Zou said that among raw teas, there is a knife. Indeed, we must admit that many new raw teas do have this knife, but this knife can be handled and removed. New raw tea can also be drunk in large quantities. No need to argue; I can provide such tea. Let's see if it's a mule or a horse. This article will not expand on this topic. I will write several articles about tea that feels good for the body, so please continue to follow.

4. Failed Persistence.

Effort does not necessarily lead to success, but without effort, success is certainly impossible.

Similar chicken soup for the soul has been force-fed to me repeatedly since I was young. At first, I was disdainful. I believed my fate was in my own hands, not heaven's. I was someone who could change my fate, the chosen one. Unfortunately, reality's slap in the face comes slowly, but it always comes. In recent years, I have learned what it means to be slapped in the face.

In 2016, I thought I could change the tea industry, or at least change the niche market I was in. Now, I think the only thing I can change is myself, the self that has been whipped by the industry.

Starting in 2016, we conducted various experiments, from raw tea to black tea, from white tea to ripe tea, executing with high profile and striding forward regardless of cost. In 2017, we misjudged and made over forty tons of sun-dried black tea, failing at the first hurdle. In 2018, we turned to Dehong and began to fall into the abyss. In 2019, the pandemic year, we still persisted.

In recent years, I dare to say that none of my Laobanzhang and other famous mountain ancient tree teas are fake. I dare to say that all the teas I make, even new teas, have extremely low stimulation and mostly smooth body sensations. Even a tea we deliberately named "Taidi Tea" (plantation tea) has very low harm to the body and is suitable for drinking more.

Educating the market suits me, after all, I can also talk eloquently and "fool" people. But opening up a new front, cultivating and re-educating the market, suits gods. Unfortunately, I am not a god. "Body comfort" is such a new front. After all, most people are unaware of the harm of tea and do not understand what tea that feels good for the body is.

The destined failure has already arrived and is unavoidable.

This is me from 2016 to 2024.

Articles and images are original. Author: Lü Jianfeng, WeChat: ynwuse, working at 51 Pu'er Net, initiator of Houyue Crowdfunding Tea, co-founder of Dehong Ancient Tea.