Tea Guide

Gongfu Tea Beginner's Guide: How to Choose Your First Cup of Chinese Tea

When Sarah from London first tried Gongfu tea, she strictly followed the video tutorial - using a 110ml white porcelain gaiwan, 95℃ mountain spring water, and pouring out the tea soup in 10 seconds. But the taste of the tea made her frown: "This is completely different from what I had in the Chinese tea house!" Three months later, she accidentally tried the light-fragrant Tieguanyin recommended by the tea master and finally understood the problem: choosing the right tea is more important than brewing techniques.

I. The Secret of Gongfu Tea: The Chemical Reaction between Tea Leaves and Water Temperature

The experimental data of the British Tea Association in 2023 shows that the release rate of tea polyphenols of different tea types at the same water temperature can vary by up to three times. This explains why professional tea masters adhere to the principle of "brewing tea according to the tea type":

Flavor Stability: High-quality tea leaves can tolerate brewing errors.
Aroma Recognition: Clear aroma types that beginners can easily perceive.
Taste Affinity: Designed with a low bitterness and astringency threshold.

These characteristics determine the success or failure of Gongfu tea, and beginners often start with misunderstandings in tea selection.

II. Detailed Explanation of Beginner-Friendly Tea Types: Systematic Training from Olfaction to Taste

1. Oolong Tea: The Best Teaching Tool for Aroma Identification

Recommended Core Logic:
The semi - fermentation process (20 - 70%) of oolong tea creates a natural flavor buffer zone - it can retain the freshness of green tea and the mellow taste of black tea. Its thick and tough leaf structure can withstand multiple high-temperature brews, making it especially suitable for beginners to practice water-pouring techniques and time control.

● Light - fragrant Tieguanyin

Flavor Coordinates: The dry tea presents a cold fragrance like an orchid bud in emerald color. The first brew releases the lily - of - the - valley flower fragrance moistened by the morning dew. After three brews, it transforms into the fresh green smell when a young bamboo is broken. The sensory test of the Chinese Tea Research Institute shows that 93% of beginners can accurately identify its iconic orchid rhyme, with a recognition success rate 37% higher than that of Longjing.

Advantages for Beginners: The ratio of tea polyphenols to amino acids is strictly controlled at 1:2.3 (1:1.5 for ordinary green tea), effectively reducing the bitterness and astringency threshold. Even if the brewing time error is up to 20 seconds, it can still maintain a sweet and fresh base.

● Phoenix Dancong Honey - Orchid Aroma

Flavor Coordinates: When hot-sniffing, it is like biting into a ripe peach, and the moment the juice bursts, it is mixed with the burnt aroma of roasted almonds. After entering the mouth, it transforms into the soft sweetness of litchi honey wrapping the tongue surface, and the after-taste lingers with the spicy freshness of ginger flowers after rain.

Advantages for Beginners: The caffeine content is only 2.8% (compared with 4.5% for rock tea), avoiding palpitations and insomnia after drinking. After the tea leaves unfurl, you can observe the fermentation feature of "green leaves with red edges", intuitively understanding the semi - fermentation process.

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2. Green Tea: Visual Teaching of Freshness

Selection Logic:
The unfermented characteristics of green tea make its amino acid content as high as 5.8% (tested by Kyushu University in Japan), providing the most direct umami impact. The core reason for recommending Rizhao green tea rather than famous green teas is that its mechanized picking standard ensures that each gram contains more than 45 complete tea buds, preventing beginners from misjudging the quality due to broken leaves.

Flavor Coordinates:

The tender buds in early spring unfurl in 80℃ water, releasing an umami base similar to kelp soup. In the middle section, the burnt sweetness of sugar-roasted chestnuts emerges, and the after-taste has a moist feeling like the morning mist in the bamboo forest. The tea leaves dance in the water like orchids blooming, and the brewing process itself is an aesthetic enlightenment.

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3. Black Tea: The Sweet Anchor in the Taste Safety Zone

Dianhong Black Tea Red Can-Orientaleaf Dianhong Black Tea Red Can Orientaleaf

Scientific Basis:
The theaflavin content of Dianhong Classic 58 is stably between 0.8 - 1.2%, which is the material basis for its amber-colored tea soup and sweet potato aroma. Its tannin content is only 0.7% (the average of Sri Lankan black tea is 1.9%), hardly producing astringency.

Flavor Coordinates:

The first brew is like biting into a freshly baked sweet potato, with a caramelized aroma coming towards you; the second brew transforms into the mellow taste of 70% dark chocolate; in the after-taste of the third brew, the sweetness of wild honey gradually becomes clear. The blind test of the Royal Tea Society of the UK shows that its sweetness perception intensity is 43% higher than that of Assam black tea.

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4. Ripe Pu - erh Tea: The Safety Cushion for Tactile Training

2021 Xiauguan Tuocha Ripe Pu-erh Tea Tuo丨Orientaleaf 2021 Xiauguan Tuocha Ripe Pu-erh Tea Tuo in Paper Pu-erh Tea Orientaleaf

Selection Logic:
During the pile-fermentation process, Eurotium cristatum increases the decomposition rate of EGCG (the main bitter substance) to 53%, and at the same time produces a large amount of the brownie (the key to a smooth taste). The concentration of its tea soup is not sensitive to water temperature fluctuations. Even if beginners have an unstable water-pouring technique, they can still obtain a consistent taste experience.

Flavor Coordinates:

Newly made ripe Pu - erh has a warm and sweet aroma like boiling red date peel. After three years of aging, it develops a glutinous sweetness similar to dried longan. For teas aged over five years, a stable aroma of old sandalwood will emerge. The wrapping feeling of the tea soup in the mouth is similar to rice soup, allowing you to directly feel the abstract concept of "thickness".

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5. White Tea: A Controllable Experiment of Time Variables

Teaching Value:
The flavor difference between new white tea and three-year-old white tea is like the comparison between fresh bamboo shoots and dried bamboo shoots, which is the best teaching material for understanding tea aging. Its simple process (withering + drying) excludes variable interferences such as roasting, making it suitable for beginners to establish a basic flavor memory bank.

Flavor Coordinates:

The current-year white peony has a fresh fragrance like dried honeysuckle, mixed with the plant sweetness of fresh reed stalks. After three years, it transforms into an interweaving of dried jujube and a light medicinal fragrance. For teas aged over five years, a cool after-tasting like menthol will emerge. Research by the Journal of Food Science in the US confirms that its aroma components change linearly with the number of aging years, with far more regularity than other tea types.

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III. Beginner's Forbidden Zones: Deconstructing Three Cognitive Traps

1. The Bitterness Trap of Raw Pu - erh

Data Warning:
The detection by Yunnan Agricultural University shows that the tea polyphenol content of new raw Pu - erh is as high as 28.6% (only 12.3% for ripe Pu - erh), and the proportion of ester - type catechins exceeds 60%. These substances will dissolve rapidly above 96℃, causing a choking sensation in the tea soup.

Flavor Risk:

High - quality raw Pu - erh indeed has the characteristic of "bitterness turning into sweetness", but it requires precise control: the water temperature error should be ≤2℃.
The brewing time error should be ≤3 seconds.
The water-pouring force should be stable.

For beginners who have not mastered basic brewing techniques, the failure rate is as high as 79% (experimental data of the China National Tea Research Institute in 2023).

2. The Taste Fraud of Famous Tea Imitations

Longjing Anti-Counterfeiting Guide:
The 2024 spot check by the Hangzhou Quality Inspection Institute found that among the "West湖龙井" sold on the market with a price lower than 800 yuan/500g, 93% were mixed with tea leaves from Guizhou or Sichuan. These imitations lack the real "fried bean aroma" and instead have a grassy fishy smell. Brewing with water temperature above 85℃ will expose the flavor of essence.

Alternative Solution:
Rizhao green tea uses northern tea tree varieties. The large temperature difference between day and night results in a high amino acid content (4.5%). It has an obvious chestnut aroma and its brewing resistance is 2.3 times higher than that of Longjing, and the unit price is less than one - third of that of authentic Longjing.

3. The Time Gamble of Old Tea

The Truth of Aged White Tea:
Research by Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University shows that the tea leaves of naturally aged old white tea present a reddish - brown reticular vein pattern, while the veins of faked old tea break due to carbonization after being catalyzed by high temperature and humidity.

Price Trap:
The so - called "1990s old white tea" has an average annual output of less than 50 tons, but the market circulation is more than 2000 tons. The price of tea cakes ranges from 300 yuan to 30,000 yuan per piece, lacking an authoritative identification standard, and beginners are extremely likely to fall into the trap.

IV. Q&A: 10 Practical Questions Most Concerned by Beginners

1. How to judge whether the tea has deteriorated?

Do not drink green tea when it turns yellow, white tea when it has a sour taste, or Pu - erh when there is white frost (not golden flower) on the surface.