When we first started drinking tea, we had an experience where the host solemnly took out a cup of tea and warmly greeted us, “This is almost twenty years old rock tea, which was stored by my father at that time. We don’t give this kind of tea a try in our factory
At this point, our expectations have been fully met, but the moment the tea soup enters our throat, there is no inherent perception of the taste of rock tea, such as orchid fragrance, cinnamon flavor, or strong and mellow flavor. Instead, a very unfamiliar acidity awakens our taste buds. However, the extremely smooth tea soup feedback on the tongue is also good. Is it good or bad?
In the aesthetic taste of rock tea, the so-called sour taste of aged tea, charcoal roasted flavor, and even the taste of some small varieties with strong “personal characteristics” are easily the focus of debate.
The same tea brewing process may result in the following situation:
This sour taste must be spoiled! “VS” You don’t understand, this is the soul of old rock tea
It’s the roasted caramel aroma of rock tea. “VS” Why does this tea have a charcoal fire smell? Is it burnt
Today, let’s talk about the aesthetic of tea and how these controversial flavors balance between flaws and individuality, whether they are a deliberate error or a personalized expression.
Part 01: Precipitation of slightly acidic aged tea over time or storage failure
It is difficult for us to find patterns in the tasting of aged tea.
Some rock teas have a rich and mellow aroma, with plum blossoms bursting from the top of the bowl and being washed out with hot water. Before you even drink, you already know that this is a cup of aged tea. The entrance is full of aged flavor, and the sour taste nourishes your cheeks, triggering a sweet and refreshing aftertaste. As you drink, the tea becomes sweeter and heavier, with a rich and lively experience mixed with aged plum blossoms.
Some tea leaves have a subtle aroma, and you may not even be able to feel the specific style of the first brew. However, as the tea becomes more transparent, the taste becomes more mellow and captivating, and the more you drink, the deeper the essence of the brewed tea becomes.
A 2017 Mazaidong old bush narcissus
The changes in aged tea are particularly complex, and the taste exhibited by rock tea varies significantly at different stages of aging.
In Professor Huang’s “A Brief Explanation of Chinese Old Tea”, there is a condensed summary of the aging process of aged tea: new tea – aged tea – transformation – rebirth – re transformation – re rebirth. From new tea to aged tea, tea is in a continuous process of transformation and rebirth. In addition, Professor Huang Caibiao summarized the aging styles of aged tea in each stage, which can be divided into four main types:
Chen Sour Type: The initial appearance of Chen fragrance is accompanied by plum fragrance, lotus fragrance, etc. The taste is pure and aged, with prominent fruit acid and a refreshing taste;
Chenmi type: Chenxiang with honey and fruity aroma, sweet and mellow taste with honey flavor;
Chenchun type: Chenxiang with milk aroma, jujube aroma, glutinous aroma, grain aroma, etc., with a warm and mellow taste;
Chenyao type: Chenxiang has a medicinal aroma, woody aroma, ginseng aroma, etc., with a rich and mellow taste.
At each stage of rock tea aging, there will also be different flavor tendencies, and the flavors exhibited during different aging processes may not necessarily represent the quality of the tea.
Additionally, it is important to emphasize a controversial characteristic of aged tea, which is its sour taste. During the aging process of rock tea, there is a normal acidification stage, which is now widely recognized as the 5-10 year aging period. On the basis of a relatively pure aging taste, a sour taste similar to “plum aroma” appears, usually defined as Wuyi acid, which is a normal manifestation of rock tea in the aging stage.
Of course, if there are obvious off flavors or unpleasant sour tastes, it is likely due to early process defects or abnormal sour tastes caused by spoilage during later storage.
The aging aroma of rock tea and the sour expression brought about by material transformation due to time precipitation are distinct manifestations of its personality. The delightful and precious “aged sour plum charm” and the pungent sourness of sour and spoiled tea can still be distinguished.
PART.02 Is the smell of carbon roasting traditional or a scene of overturning
The smell of charcoal roasted tea can be said to be the most recognizable flavor of Wuyi rock tea. Even people who don’t drink much tea can sensitively smell that this tea is different from others, with a fire smell.
Some tea lovers prefer tea with relatively light roasting, and they like to find the light floral and fruity aromas in the tea. The taste aesthetic also tends to be floral, sweet, and fruity in the tea making style.
Some people prefer tea with a higher degree of roasting, feeling the deep tea aroma left by caramel roasting in the dark brown dry tea.
Our predecessors told us that due to the demand for tea making to meet the market and the increasing number of people drinking rock tea, not everyone can accept the “sauce oil color” and high fire power of rock tea in traditional tea making, especially tea lovers in northern regions have a low acceptance of tea with obvious charcoal roasting style. Nowadays, the degree of roasting is much lighter compared to decades ago.
Some people think that tea with high fire power will mask the unique aroma and mountain scenery of different tea varieties, but there are also people who believe that high fire is necessary to highlight the “rock bone” of rock tea. Tea like this can only taste good, with a gelatinous feeling tempered by fire, and enjoy the pleasure of one sip.
2024 Guanke Foot Fire Cinnamon
The proper control of “fire” can determine the fate of tea, and success or failure may depend on the final step of charcoal roasting. The tea, which has been roasted, has a consistent black oil color that changes from the various varieties of raw tea in appearance, and the color of the tea soup has changed from the light yellow of raw tea to a bright orange red.
But there are also some teas that have not been fully roasted and show surface heat. After a short period of annealing, they turn green again, and the color of the leaves at the bottom is black, yellow, green, mottled and disorderly, which can also be distinguished.
If you smell impure tea mixed with smoke while drinking tea, it is likely because tea leaves accidentally fall into the charcoal pit during charcoal roasting and quickly carbonize and burn, producing burnt smoke that is absorbed by the highly absorbent tea leaves, leaving behind a smoky smell.
Part 03: Is the variety characteristic a symbol of identity or a taste of bugs
One of the reasons why small varieties can be tasted is that they have a unique personality and taste, such as a astringent base flavor and a strong aroma that overload the organs.
The new asexual variety of Jin Guan Yin, developed through hybrid breeding with Tie Guan Yin as the maternal parent and Huang Jin Gui as the paternal parent, inherits the high content of tea polyphenols and caffeine from the parental parent. It is more likely to exhibit the bitter substances of tea, which can cause the bitterness to persist when the green color is not in place. However, when the green color is in place, it is still good to make it sweet, perhaps because the bitter taste will be more surprising when the green color is in place.
Similarly, Dangui is even more obvious. It was bred using single plant breeding method from the natural hybrid offspring of cinnamon, and may naturally serve as a “cinnamon substitute”.
Although it has a high aroma with a sharp cinnamon flavor, it is also criticized for being too stimulating with only cinnamon aroma and no cinnamon flavor. However, it is said that on the basis of the picking standards of Da Kai noodles, Dan Gui can also have a complex aroma of fruit and frankincense by adding later heavy shaking.
Furthermore, even novice players can easily see the small sketch of a white cockscomb, which is a light yellow green color with a distinct green leaf red border outline (common form~).
The albino mutant variety has a high amino acid content, inherent freshness, clear soup taste, and rich floral fragrance, which subverts the understanding of rock tea and is considered unique and delicious. Some people criticize its lingering corn whisker flavor as being too fresh, and it is simply a defection from the rock tea army.
The tender buds of white cockscomb
In the eyes of passersby, the white cockscomb may seem ordinary, but in our previous collection of white cockscomb, we have shared several treasures to give it a proper name. The aroma of white cockscomb is elegant and light, and the soup is mainly sweet and moisturizing, like honey water.
Speaking of which, it is necessary to mention the origin of Bai Jiguan’s “Daocha” tea. As the exclusive tea drink for Taoists who practice meditation in Zhizhi Temple, its unique brewing method requires boiling water and low heat to activate the true flavor of “Daocha”. It may sound abstract, but its aesthetic points are indeed different from others.
PART.04 How to Find a Balance between Personality and Standards
There is a simple thinking logic that can be attempted: firstly, to trace the causes to see if it is scientifically reasonable, and secondly, to see if the taste is transformed from pleasure to pleasure.
There are three most common situations of true flaws: tea with an unpleasant odor, tea with strong throat locking sensation, and tea that is sour and astringent, all of which cannot be reasonably explained and will not transform into pleasure.
Besides that, you can also calm down a bit. For example, the fire flavor of charcoal roasting will not completely erode the aroma and taste that rock tea should have, it is not just a simple burnt bitterness. The bitter and astringent taste of small varieties is only a slight embellishment, which can quickly dissolve and transform into a sweet aftertaste.