"Tea Talk on Paper" No. 21: What is Good Tea?

This is the twenty-first article of "Tea Talk on Paper".

I have been making tea for 9 years, from not being able to tell raw and ripe apart at the beginning, to now going up the mountains to make tea myself. The most frequently asked questions are: What is good tea? / What tea has the best value? / Is this tea good? / I spent tens of thousands on this tea, can you take a look? ... Similar questions are even more common on Baidu, WeChat, and Toutiao.

Good tea

Actually, they are all asking the same question, which is the topic I want to discuss today: What is good tea?

Is there a tea that is universally recognized as good?

There are a thousand Hamlets among a thousand tea drinkers. Due to differences in lifestyle, taste, work style, and purpose, the understanding of good tea is definitely different. A truck driver needs a strong cup of tea; a beautiful woman sitting by the café window might prefer milk tea; the IT guy in the office likes barley tea; the young mother at home prefers black tea; the elderly like to drink coarse aged yellow leaves because they are diuretic; bosses with private offices like to brew ancient tree raw tea... Of course, these are just examples, please don't take them personally based on your identity.

Let's look at tea itself; there are even more varieties. Wuyi rock tea has numerous varieties and extremely rich variety resources. Historical records mention over a thousand varieties, and the Wuyi Tea Annals record as many as 264 named varieties from Huiyuan Rock alone. Yunnan Pu'er tea has the concept of mountain origins, with no less than a hundred famous ones, and there must be tens of thousands of unknown tea mountains (villages). With so many varieties and mountains, how can one distinguish them all?

Consumers have different preferences, and there are many tea regions and types. To figure out the concept of good tea, it is impossible to start from specific teas. A universally recognized good tea does not exist. You say Jin Jun Mei is good, but the guy next door says he never drinks black tea, only Pu'er. You say Lao Banzhang is good, but a bunch of people say they only drink Bingdao. You say Bingdao is good, but old tea connoisseurs say it's too mild and they prefer strong and thick flavors.

It is impossible for one tea to be liked by all tea drinkers.

So what is good tea? An endless discussion won't work. Don't worry, let's chat while drinking tea.

Tea drinkers can be roughly divided into several types.

1. Those who drink it as a beverage.

Tea is the number one beverage in the world, with the broadest base and the longest history, unmatched by any other drink. The audience is vast; many tea drinkers just drink casually without much fuss. As long as the taste is right, it quenches thirst, and the body feels comfortable, that's enough. These people may also drink coffee, cola, or juice; tea is not much more important than these. For them, tea is just a beverage, more flavorful than water, and similar to other drinks; they can all be consumed. Such consumers may continue drinking a tea they approve of. Brand teas often become their first choice due to higher visibility, easier selection, and psychological safety. Since this group is the largest, tea consumption is enormous. This is why many in the tea industry say that some brand's sales figures are fake; they don't see many people drinking it, so how did they sell billions? Where did it go? Most of it is here.

1. Those who need it for image, business, or showing off.

This group is also large. In Guangzhou or Zhongshan, as long as there is an office, you can find tea tables and tea trays. In many homes, most also have them. Do they all drink tea and like tea? Not necessarily. I have met many who drink tea because people around them drink, or for office reception, or because the boss likes it and they learn to drink. For many such reasons, they all drink tea. These people also like to talk about tea, enjoy listening to tea stories, and tea unintentionally becomes part of their lives. Their per capita tea consumption is even higher. They chat over tea, do business over tea, and give tea as gifts. They buy some well-known brand teas and also like niche teas. The tea doesn't have to be great, but it should have a story or background. This is the main battlefield for teas with high-end packaging, big names, but average quality, like Pu'er concepts such as Bingdao, Banzhang, and ancient trees, which sell best.

Rolling

1. Tea enthusiasts.

In a vast country like China with over a billion people, the number of tea enthusiasts is also very large. According to this year's data from the China Tea Marketing Association, 600 million people drink tea, and 40 million drink Pu'er. Among them, tea enthusiasts certainly account for a few percent, and the number is astonishing. Tea lovers generally have these characteristics: "read tea books, visit tea exhibitions, attend tea gatherings, follow tea media such as official accounts, Toutiao accounts, Weibo, participate in tea forums, follow masters and other tea celebrities, like to post or share tea articles on social media, like to brew a cup of tea when chatting with people, have explored all the tea shops in their area, like to wear Chinese-style clothing such as tea robes, often buy tea, buy tea pets, have one or even multiple sets of tea ceremony utensils, attend tea training lectures." If you have more than five of the above characteristics at the same time, congratulations, you have a seemingly elegant hobby: tea.

Tea enthusiasts like to do some research first, communicate with others, learn online, taste, apply for samples or buy samples, and finally buy tea. These people buy large quantities of tea, and many also like to share their tea. They also like to give tea as gifts when visiting relatives. Their tea consumption is large, and they are the main user group for niche brands and mid-to-high-end teas such as ancient tree teas.

1. Super tea fanatics.

They have gone beyond the category of tea enthusiasts, or they are the ultimate among tea enthusiasts. In addition to some characteristics of enthusiasts, they may have the following: "tea is the main way to quench thirst, brew tea whenever free, like to participate in tea competitions even flying to them, like to talk about tea, go to the mountains to find tea, go to the mountains to make tea, as long as the tea is good, price doesn't matter, have professional tea storage spaces, persuade others to drink tea, have special water for brewing, special tea ware, more than five Yixing clay pots, discuss tea processing techniques, teach others to make tea, and when drinking tea, they must talk about body sensation and qi." Tea fanatics do not like to drink well-known brand teas, and even if they do, they only drink specific types or batches from famous brands with a story. They like to go deep; as long as the tea is good, they are willing to pay. This group likes to chase mountain origins and masters, and they are willing to pay. They are the biggest contributors to the high prices of ancient tree teas.

1. Tea industry practitioners.

This is easier to understand, like me, who both makes and sells tea. According to the China Tea Marketing Association, there are over two million tea shops nationwide, and the number of practitioners is incalculable. Many of them sell brand teas. A considerable number of these shops also have Taobao stores, and many do WeChat business, selling tea in their Moments.

There are also some tea opinion leaders who use their superior tea tasting, tea talking, or tea brewing skills to sell tea, using tea to support tea. Many cities have such opinion leaders, and some sell very large quantities, far exceeding ordinary tea shops. These people choose tea based on roughly two dimensions: easy to sell and good to drink. The lower-level ones only care about selling well; the higher-level ones first check if it tastes good, then see if it can sell well. If both are satisfied, that's the best.

I summarize that tea drinkers are roughly these five types. Which one are you?

Fresh leaves cooling

No matter which type, you can always find a tea you like. Although tea drinkers' preferences are diverse, they can always find one or more teas they like. Of course, this preference may change over time, with knowledge, income, and social circles, but within a certain period, it is relatively stable.

What is good tea? It is the tea you like.

What you like, regardless of price, regardless of who made it, regardless of masters, without needing to know how the tea came to be. If it tastes good and makes your body comfortable, then for you, this is good tea. It is worth drinking more and continuing to drink. You don't need to worship masters, don't need to listen to those truths that even tea sellers don't believe, don't need to spend time learning some "fake tea culture." Just drink tea.

For yourself, the cup of tea you like is good tea.

Articles and images are original. Author: Lü Jianfeng, WeChat: ynwuse, working at 51 Pu'er Net, initiator of the Houyue crowdfunding tea, convener of Yunnan Houyue Black Tea Co., Ltd.