“Ancient tree tea” (古树茶) is a quality criterion mostly used for high-end Pu’er and Dianhong. The two signs for ancient tree are transcribed as “gushu”. Another synonym is “old arbor tea”. What exactly is ancient tree tea? Why are Pu’er Teas made with material from ancient tea trees a class of their own? These are the questions we will be answering in this post.
“Artisanal tea” is one of the factors to take into consideration, when looking for superior quality tea. This post is part of a series of articles dealing each with one aspect of tea quality. So far, we have written about “directly sourced tea“, “spring tea“, and “high mountain tea“. In this post, we explore what artisanal tea exactly means. We also look into the upsides and potential downsides of artisanal tea.
Continue reading Artisanal tea (definition; risks and benefits for the tea quality)
High mountain tea (高山茶) is one criterion, among others, for superior quality tea. Just because a tea can be said to be “high mountain tea”, does not automatically make it is an outstanding product. However, when combined with other indicators, it is a good hint for quality. What exactly is high mountain tea, and why is it a sign for better quality?
Continue reading High mountain tea (a sign for superior quality tea)
Anhua Heicha (安化黑茶) is a dark tea variety from Anhua County in Hunan Province. The name of the tea means nothing more than dark tea from Anhua, or “Anhua Dark Tea”. There are a number of variations depending on the grade of the tea leaves used, and on the compressing techniques: Their names are Tianjian Tea, Huajuan Tea, and Dark Brick Tea
Pu’er Tea (普洱茶) is a famous dark tea variety from Yunnan Province. It takes its name from the place where it used to be exchanged and dispatched onto stretches of the Ancient Tea Road. Nowadays the administrative area of Pu’er City is much larger and also covers places of tea production. Because of different styles of romanisation, it is also spelled as “Pu-erh”.
