When the beginners first start drinking tea, they only need to pay attention to five points.
- finding the tea that fits your taste
The first point is the most important one. As long as it is the tea you love, that’s a good tea. Everyone has different taste, the price doesn’t necessary mean anything, same with the fame. The fame and the price is the results of the demand and supply in the market. However, the expensive tea might have the its reason being expensive. But the most important is that you have to find the tea that satisfy your taste.
- Aroma
Each type of tea has its own aroma, even the tea grown in the same land, but in different season, the aromas are different.
- Aftertaste
The reason that many people like to drink tea, is because the sweet aftertaste, when you feel your throat is sweet. Normally, the more sweater the aftertaste is, the more expensive the tea.
- Bitterness
When you drink tea, besides the aroma and the sweet aftertaste, the most frequent taste you can taste is the bitterness. Of course, some tea might not have the bitterness. Normally, the non-bitter tea is more expensive.
- soft water
This is an interesting vocabulary. The tea that brewed with soft tea make it smooth when you drink it. Without the soft water, the tea doesn’t taste that smooth.
The tea culture has deep and long history. Each step is very delicate:
Tea tasting 8 steps:
- Warm the teapot:
First, pour the hot water into the teapot, warm up the teapot. Once the pot is warm, you can pour the water out. The goal is late during the brewing, the bigger gap in the temperatures between the hot water and the cold teapot, teapot will absorb the heat and thus lower the temperature of the tea.
- Placing the tea
Putting the tea leaves into the warm teapot. The amount of the tea used depend on the tightness of the tea leaves. Don’t put too much. The tea leaves need to have space to spread themselves. Normally, for small teapot, the tea leaves can fill up one third to half. Or you can follow the personal preference, adding or reducing.
- Warm brewing
Pour the hot water into the teapot and don’t pause, and immediately pour into the tea leaves. Usually, you don’t drink this round of tea. It can be used to warm the cup later. The goal of this is to loosen the tightened tea leaves. Thus, you can maintain the same level tea.
- Pouring water
When you pour the water, you hand should be lifted up slightly, and inject the water circling. The elegant action makes the tea tasting process more enjoyable.
- Warm the cup
Use the water from the warm brewing into the aroma cup. Then pour the tea from the aroma cup to the tasting cup. Finally, pour the water into the water cube. Then, the cup warming process is completed.
- Serving the tea
The first round of tea into the tea serving pot, only need to sit for 45 second, which is long enough. Then, you will pour the tea from the serving pot to each aroma cup, making sure each cup has similar level of tea. If you don’t have tea serving pot, then arrange the cups in the line. And then pour the tea back and forth. The second-round increase 15 seconds, then the third-round increase 30 second. Then, you can pour it out and drink.
- Smell the aroma
Hold up the aroma cup, then take a good look at the bright and clear color of the tea and enjoy the happiness and aroma of the tea.
- Tea tasting
Pour the tea into the tasting cup from the aroma cup. Take a small sip, then slowly taste it. And finally, drink up all the tea in the cup.