What standards are used to evaluate tea quality?

/Nguyen Ngoc Tuan/

Tea is one of the drinks that Vietnamese people are familiar with. Enjoying a cup of tea early in the morning is a habit of many people; it helps refresh the spirit and is very good for health.

In the past, people who understood tea before enjoying it often learned very carefully about its origin and how to grow, care for, and process it. The small tea petals are even, slender, curved, and soft…, which are one of the criteria for choosing tea. Plus, the sophistication of tea-making art and the harmonious combination of teapot and water will produce delicious cups of tea that meet the criteria of taste, color, and aroma.

Nowadays, learning from the elders and understanding tea is not enough. Because there are many types of tea on the market. However, whether or not you can hunt for delicious tea leaves depends on the mind of the grower, processor, trader… and the “wisdom” of the customer. There are many types of “dirty tea” that poison tea drinkers with stimulants, pesticides, additives… which directly affect consumers’ health. So, how do you recognize clean tea – good tea?

A. Evaluating good tea requires considering the following standards:

– Choose the proper tea from a region suitable for soil and climate.

– How to harvest tea leaves: choose buds, one bud, one leaf, one bud, two leaves…

– Seasons and tea leaf picking techniques.

– The technique for processing fresh tea leaves is essential in increasing tea output.

– Consider the finished tea leaves’ shape, color, and taste.

B. Five standards for evaluating tea quality

Tea has both aroma and taste that combine perfectly, but if it is lacking, it will lose its value. Tea drinkers appreciate the pure aroma and then the taste of tea. Tea has thousands of flavors, and nothing is more precious than finding your favorite flavor.

To evaluate the quality of tea, we can reduce it to five general standards, including APPEARANCE – COLOR – FLAVOR – TASTE – CHEMISTRY. These five standards assess the type of tea leaves used to brew tea.

Test the quality of teas.

The process from starting to prepare tea to making tea to having a cup of tea to enjoy and ending enjoying tea is a closed cycle, taking place sequentially. This process forms five standards: APPEARANCE – COLOR – FLAVOR – TASTE – CHEMISTRY to evaluate tea quality.

IMAGE: Image of dried tea leaves before brewing.

COLOR: The color of the tea after each brew.

FLAVOR: The characteristic aroma of tea after each brew.

CHEMISTRY: Image of tea leaves after finishing brewing.

a. Evaluation of the SHAPE of dried tea leaves before brewing includes:

– Shape of dried tea leaves.

– Color of dried tea leaves.

– Quality of tea leaves: buds – buds – leaves.

– Impurity ratio.

– Moisture content of dry tea.

– The scent of dried tea leaves

b. Evaluate the COLOR of tea leaves after each brew

– Characteristic color.

– The clarity of the teacup.

– The durability of the color is mixed many times.

c. Evaluate the FRAGRANCE of the tea after each brew

– Characteristic scent.

– Quality of pure natural incense or flavoring.

– The intensity and intensity of the scent.

– Fragrance retention – how long the fragrance remains in the mouth.

– Concentrate on smelling to analyze the scent.

Hold a cup of hot tea in your hand, bring it to your nose, keep your head slightly bowed, and slowly move the hot teacup back and forth in front of your nose. Eyes half-closed to focus on analyzing the elegant yet passionate, complex yet seductive scent.

d. Evaluate the change in TASTE of each cup of tea when drinking

– Characteristics of taste.

– The intensity and lightness of the taste.

– Taste durability – aftertaste remains in the throat after swallowing.

It would help if you did not take a sip when trying tea and then drink it in one gulp. We should hold the tea in our mouth and chew for a while so that the tea awakens all the taste nerves in the oral cavity from the tip of the tongue to the throat. A delicious cup of tea will leave a lasting impression in your mouth. After swallowing the tea, the tongue and throat have a rich, long-lasting aftertaste.

We can get four different tastes: Sweet at the tip of the tongue, salty near the center, sour on both sides of the tongue & bitter at the base of the tongue.

Sweet sweetness must be distinguished between food additives and pure natural sweetness. The astringent taste of tea is due to the tannin content in tea leaves, branches, and stems. Tea with good quality or a high fermentation rate will reduce the amount of tannin in the tea. Foreign flavors mixed in tea will reduce the quality of the teacup. Good tea must ensure purity.

e. CHEMICAL EVALUATION – The transformation of tea leaves after finishing brewing

– Remove the tea leaves from the pot and put them in a bowl of cold water to see the shape of the tea leaves after brewing. Dried tea leaves steeped in boiling water will expand, giving the image of the original tea leaves when harvested. Pay special attention to the scent of tea leaves that remain after brewing. Based on this, we will re-test the quality of the raw materials to come to an accurate conclusion. Poor quality tea will not have the characteristics of appearance, color, viscosity, and much debris.

C. Other evaluation standards

Along with the five standards of appearance – COLOR – FLAVOR – TASTE – and CHEMISTRY, a good tea – famous tea must also meet the following standards:

– Hygiene and food safety.

– Origin – clear origin.

– Meets standards such as VietGap, organic, and ISO for quality.

The product must be friendly, well-known, popular, and bring many material and cultural values to the community.

Enjoying tea, first and foremost, is the aroma, followed by the taste. Remember the old saying: Freshly dried tea, freshly ground coffee. Choose the correct type of tea and quality at the right time to have your desired delicious cup of tea.