The relationship between “foam resistance” and quality.
When drinking tea, it is inevitable to talk about the foam resistance, but most people will arbitrarily say: This tea is resistant to brewing!
The implication is that this is a good tea. But after thinking about it, Pu’er tea or black tea must be more resistant to brewing than the finely crafted West Lake Longjing, but can you say that West Lake Longjing is not a good tea? Certainly not.
So what does the tea’s resistance to brewing have to do with it? Is the more resistant to brewing tea, the better?
First of all, we need to clarify a concept, foam resistance. It is indeed an aspect of judging the quality of tea, which reflects whether the tea contains rich substances and can withstand brewing, but it has no absolute relationship with the quality of tea.
Different teas have different characteristics. To judge the quality of tea, we must consider factors such as dry tea, aroma, taste, and leaf bottom, and cannot be generalized based on whether it is resistant to brewing.
For the same type of tea, generally speaking, the more durable the tea, the mellower the taste, the richer the aroma, the better the quality.
Therefore, whether it is resistant to foaming has no absolute relationship with the quality of tea.
So what are the factors that determine the foam resistance?
1. Varieties of tea trees
Theoretically speaking, trees have the highest content of tea polyphenols, followed by semi-arbors and shrubs, and the content of tea polyphenols in tea directly affects the degree of foam resistance.
Therefore, under the same or similar conditions, arbor teas have the highest foam resistance, followed by semi-arbor teas and shrubs. This is why Pu-erh tea is often more resistant to brewing.
2. The age and ecological environment of tea trees
The two factors of tree age and ecological environment are closely related, and the discussion of tree age must be meaningful under the same climate and ecological environment.
Strictly speaking, under the same climate and ecological environment, the older the tree, the more mellow the taste and the higher the foam resistance. This is also one of the reasons why some tea lovers pursue ancient tree tea.
But if the tea tree shows symptoms of aging when it is old to a certain extent, then that is another matter.
We usually talk about the importance of the growth environment of tea trees when we often say that good tea comes out of mountains and clouds.
The ecological environment around the tea tree is beautiful, the altitude is high enough, and the soil is fertile. The tea produced must be rich in inner quality and full in taste, and it will be more resistant to brewing.
3. Leaf tenderness
Under normal circumstances, tea with all bud tips is not resistant to brewing, while one bud with two leaves or three leaves is more resistant to brewing. After many times of brewing, it can be released completely.
For example: The raw materials of green tea are generally tender, and the tender shoots have a high phenol-to-ammonia ratio, and are delicious and fragrant. For oolong tea, one bud and three or four leaves are collected, the buds and leaves are connected to branches, and the leaves have a certain degree of maturity, and the tea stems are also rich in active ingredients.
Therefore, relatively speaking, oolong tea is more resistant to brewing, of course, it is also related to the different processing techniques of the two.
4. Processing technology in production
The processing technology is mainly kneading in the production. If the same raw material is twisted too much, the tea juice will be leached out quickly, and it will not be so resistant to brewing. Therefore, you must grasp the severity when kneading.
Secondly, the more complete the tea, the more resistant it is to brewing. The tea leaves are easy to brew out, but the degree of brewing resistance is not high.
Like some crushed red tea, after being kneaded and cut into small pieces, it is easy to brew a very strong taste, but after brewing once or twice, it will soon become bland.
5. Brewing method
The same tea, brewed by different people and at different times, has different brewing resistance. This is mainly related to the ratio of tea to water, but also to time and temperature.
For most teas, if the first two brews are not done properly, it will affect the subsequent aroma and taste.
If the brewing temperature is too high and the soaking time is too long, the substances in the tea will be leached prematurely and too much, resulting in a weaker taste.
After reading it, I believe everyone has a clear understanding of the relationship between brewing resistance and good tea.
When these conditions are almost the same, it is certain that the resistance to brewing does not necessarily mean good tea, but most of the good teas are relatively resistant to brewing.
