When we sit down with a cup of tea, we continue a journey enabled by millions of years of evolution in both our bodies and the tea plant. Physical and psychological advantages and disadvantages exist for all of us, and there are many factors that contribute to our experience, some beyond our control and often things that we are ignorant to consider. The following list, by no means exhaustive, is intended to list the major factors at play when we take a moment of our lives to have a cup of tea.
1) The Dry Tea Leaf:
The live tea leaf carries a significant amount of aroma and flavor compounds that transform during processing into the many colors of the tea rainbow. These compounds are created through a myriad of factors that affect the bush during its time spent growing:
– the cultivar of tea bush (clonal vs wild, Assamica vs. Sinensis, etc.)
– composition of the soil (clay, silt, sand, amount of organic matter, etc.)
– use of fertilizer (to speed up growth is to create a less substantial tea)
– climate (average temperature, amount of rain, etc.)
– altitude (high altitude usually translates to slower-growing bushes, giving the leaves more time to accumulate minerals)
– insect damage (in the case of Oriental Beauty and some second flush Darjeeling’s)
– aspect of the land (a South facing slope will affecting the amount of sunshine a bush gets, aspect also affects drainage, etc. the amount of sunlight a bush receives will affect its bitterness, less sunlight less bitter)
– any recent pruning performed on the bush (this will cause the bush to repair itself and take energy away from leaf creation)
– age of the bush (old bushes grow slower and create teas with milder primary flavors, but more secondary, and tertiary flavors)
– the leaf picking criteria (different types of leaf have different chemical balances, older leaves generally have more compounds)
– harvesting period (early spring, late spring, summer, autumn, and winter will all contain different levels of chemicals present in the leaves
These compounds are manipulated during processing via withering, bruising, rolling, fixing (via heat), drying, and sometimes wet smothering, fermentation, sun-drying, aging, microbial activity, and roasting. Therefore, the choices made from leaf to finished product are plentiful, and the ramifications are enormous on the final quality. Tea will then (generally) deteriorate over time giving most somewhat of a ‘best before’ date depending on their storage.
To summarize: the potential of volatile aromatic compounds, taste compounds, cooling or warming compounds, astringency, bitterness, tartness, pungency, texture, color are born in the tea and will be manipulated during the infusion.
2) The Infusion of Tea and Water:
All of the aforementioned compounds play a role during the infusion of the dried tea leaves and water. What is extracted from the leaves and its resultant flavor is based on several factors:
– composition of the water (TDS, hardness, pH)
– oxygenation of the water (how long it has been boiling)
– temperature of the water (higher temperatures will pull flavors from the leaves more aggressively)
– length of time infusing (longer duration allows for more accumulation of compounds from the tea)
– concentration of infusion (the ratio of tea leaves to water)
– the use and influence of tea ware (clay, especially porous earthenware will greatly affect the flavor of the result, various metals used for the kettles, tea pots, etc.)
Suffice it to say that there are many factors from leaf to cup that exist and have been playing their roles before the consumer enjoys their result, and all of this accounts for approximately 20% of the experience.
3) The Drinkers Methodology:
With cup in hand, the methodology involved with consumption and its olfactory related techniques become a factor
– temperature at which the tea is consumed
– frequency of sips (the repeated stimulation of the tongue can play a vital role in the flavor experience, especially with teas in the oolong category such as Da Hong Pao, Traditional Tie Guan Yin, and Phoenix Oolongs)
– volume of sips (how much flavor is being exposed to the taste and aroma receptors each time)
– oxygenation of sips (breathing in air with the tea, allowing for a heightened olfactory experience)
– breathing between sips (slow deep breaths, fast shallow breaths, drawing air in through the mouth, the nose, etc.)
– the movement of tea within the mouth
– the speed at which it is swallowed
The methodology is something that can be learned and perhaps comes naturally through drinking experience. Breathing techniques such as oxygenation and retrohaling can vastly improve the olfactory experience of anything we consume. The opportunity to have a great experience will be greatly hindered by improper (or lack of) technique. Fortunately, there is nothing difficult about improving such basic skills as drinking or breathing, it is all in the willingness to observe and learn.
4) The Drinkers Physical Perception Abilities:
– the production of saliva and its composition (based on age, diet, exercise, body vitamin levels, etc.)
– the density and amount of taste buds and odor receptors
– the shape and curvature of the nose
– the condition of the olfactory system (oral hygiene, the potential of circumstantial changes due to recently consumed foods or drinks: Szechuan peppercorns, miracle fruit, spicy peppers, artichokes, etc.)
– genetics that disable certain receptors (certain ethnicities have large populations that do not detect the bitterness of caffeine, for example)
– differences in DNA absorption as the tea passes through the taste receptors to the nervous system
We are not all dealt the same hand in life, that is the hard truth. Our experiences with flavors and aromas are not equal. From the threshold of aromatic compounds needed in a brewed tea for a drinker to detect the aroma, to their perception of bitterness. These things cannot be changed, they make us who we are. Thankfully, as tea drinkers, we have a lot of control over the result we brew. With knowledge of brewing parameters and how they affect the result, we can fine-tune these variables to suit our perception abilities.
5) The Drinkers Psychological State and Ability:
Don’t waste good tea on a bad day. If you’re not in the mood to have a great experience, a great experience will not come.
– culture (predisposition of thoughts and mannerisms, this is a significant contribution to the overall psychological state)
– memories (potential for triggers during aroma and flavor exploration)
– expectations (a high expectation can be met with absolute bliss or crashing disappointment, expectations are important and they are a major contributor to one’s overall mood, the memorability of an event, and the attention one is willing to devote to a subject)
– mood (the optimism or willingness to enjoy and search for an experience or to allow a foul mood to deny such opportunities, one would expect to have a great tea while in high spirits, while the same tea offers little comfort when feeling sad)
– attention (distractions ranging from social or work obligations, conversation, entertainment, etc.)
– alertness (sleepy, sluggish, drunk, normal, active, focused, etc.)
– olfactory training (the mental ability to dissect configural aromas into elemental constructs, transcribe scents into tangible words, etc)
The greatest teas will evoke and create memories, this is a hallmark of their quality. The elephant in the room is that our cultures predispose us to love, hate, ignorance, praise, and of course, many other emotions both positive and negative. It is often a large part of our character and something that is frankly hard to ignore. If culture predisposes someone to enjoy tea, wonderful. If it has the opposite effect, then consider it a nuisance in the path of their enjoyment. Expectations, mood, and the amount of attention one is willing to give something are influenced by a preconception instilled by culture.
If someone is able to temporarily rid themselves of culture with negative preconceptions, the amount of freedom gained and newfound power to experience something at face value will be an enormous boon to their psychological enjoyment. This might seem a bit lofty of a statement regarding leaves and water but I believe it to be worth mentioning.
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