What are the indicators of "quali-tea?" When it comes to tea, there is a big difference between good tea and great tea. With loose leaf teas, contents are not hidden and disclosed within a tea bag. All ingredients are exposed for the viewer to see. So you don't have to be an expert on tea to separate the real from the real fake. You can simply see, smell, taste, and touch tea to test it's quality. See below for our tips on indicating quality tea.
Sight: How Does The Tea Look?
If your tea looks crumbled or contains wood fragments, it is possible that your tea was crushed, torn, and curled into small, hard pellets. This process is known as the CTC method which is less expensive and leaves the tea less flavorful. The unbroken tea leaf process (Orthodox Method) is always preferable, whether it's a leaf or bud. The teas are higher quality, less likely to be bitter, and contain more subtle and multi-layered flavors than CTC teas. So when looking at teas, look for unbroken and uncrumbled leaves to make the right decision.
Smell: How Does The Tea Smell?
When it comes to tea, your first impression will most likely be it's smell. Opening a canister or pack of new tea, you should be greeted with the teas natural aroma. Smell for all teas vary but are usually light and airy. If a scented tea is unnoticeable or loses it’s smell quickly, the quality is poor.
Touch: How Does The Tea Feel?
Bad tea crumbles under pressure so to say. Whatever the tea, it should not crumble easily; if it does, it has been baked too long, old or stale.
Taste: How Does The Tea Taste?
One of the best ways to judge a tea, of course, is by the taste! Remember that tasting tea is like tasting wine. Develop your palette. When brewing your tea, check that the flavor is sweet and matches the description of the tea that you purchased, which you should either already be somewhat familiar with. For example, if the contents of a tea contains very distinct flavors like Turmeric or Blueberry, you should be able to distinguish the flavors. The aftertaste should linger for a noticeably long time as well.
Want to test Premium Steap Teas? We set the quality standard for our teas very high to ensure that our customers will get quality and exotic flavors. Come in or order a sample pack online to see if our teas stand up to the "quali-tea" test. We are sure we will make the grade!
