Do you have the right water for brewing tea?Written by Tea Hub
Many people know that quality of tea leaves is very important for brewing a good cup of tea. However, not many people realize that water that they use to brew tea is as important, if not more important, for brewing a good cup of tea. Mr. Zhang Dafu of Ming dynasty wrote in his Mei Hua Cao Tang Bi Tan that “Tea leaves need water to be brewed into a good cup of tea. 100% quality water can brew 80% quality tea leaves into a 100% quality cup of tea. On other hand, 80% quality water can only brew 100% quality tea leaves into an 80% quality cup of tea.”Lu Yu had detail discussions about tea brewing water in his famous tea book Cha Jing (Tea Bible). Generally speaking, hard water is not good for brewing tea. Water with PH value of greater than 7 may darken color of tea liquor and lighten taste of tea.
| | Judging the quality of your Pu-erh Bing Cha by its appearance Written by Tea Hub
As we discussed last week, a Pu-erh Bing Cha’s shape and leave presentations on surface of a cake reveal its quality. A good quality Pu-erh Bing Cha must be in round, regular shape, have even thickness and smooth surface, and tea leaves must be well compressed without breaking into layers. An extremely tightly compressed (flat) Pu-erh Bing Cha will take longer time to age. Those flat Pu-erh Bing Cha normally will become less flat after being aged for a few years and leaves loosing up during aging process.Many experienced Pu-erh collectors know how to judge a Pu-erh by surface leaves. The quality of leaves and composition of leaves and buds all hold future of a Pu-erh Bing Cha. Adding tea buds to leaves will make a Pu-erh Bing Cha sweeter. However, it is strength of leaves that affect aged taste of a Pu-erh Bing Cha. The balance between buds and leaves is crucial to a Pu-erh Bing Cha’s taste. You can find perfect balance in our Young Green Ancient Tea Tree Pu-erh Bing Cha (http://www.teahub.com/puerhtea.htm).
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