The Silk Road Teas Guide to Fine Tea

Part 1

Understanding Fine Chinese Tea

What makes a Chinese tea unique?

China is divided by endless mountain ranges, valleys, and rivers creating naturally distinct growing regions. Long before modern transportation made travel between these places easy, individual valleys developed what might be called local tea customs or traditions. A cultivar such as Mao Feng or Mei Zhan, in time, spread widely through propagation, eventually being grown and adapting to conditions in many provinces. Generations of local cultivation and tea making shaped how that tea tastes in a particular region. Farmers have worked with cultivars that thrive in their microclimate and develop processing techniques to create flavors and aromas that cater to local tastes. Over time, the result can be a tea with flavors and aromas quite different from the same cultivar grown in the next mountain range. This geographic migration and adaptation is a primary reason China has such a great diversity within its six varieties of tea.

This is one of the things that makes fine Chinese tea so fascinating.

Why can the same tea taste different from one region to another?

Tea cultivars have traveled throughout China for centuries. While many are now grown across several provinces, most trace their history to an originating varietal and region.

Mei Zhan, for example, originated in the Wuyi Mountains as an Oolong but is now cultivated widely. Oolong cultivars grown near Xiamen on the Fujian coast are descendants of Wuyi varietals, yet local cultivation and processing have created very different teas.

The Xiamen styles tend toward greener leaves and low oxidation. Traditional Wuyi teas are darker, more oxidized, and thinner in leaf appearance. The genetic relationship may remain, but generations of cultivation and tea making have created distinctly different characteristics.

The same principle can be seen in black teas. Tea plants native to Yunnan and India's Assam region share a botanical history, yet the teas produced from them can taste remarkably different. Yunnan black teas tend toward lush, malty, spicy flavors, while Assam traditions have developed their own distinctive character.

What is single origin tea, and why does it matter?

For us, one of the pleasures of fine tea is tasting the character of a particular place and harvest.

Many of the teas we select are single origin and unblended. Rather than blending different lots to create exactly the same flavor every year, we allow an individual harvest to express itself.

Weather changes from year to year. Temperatures before the spring harvest may be warmer or cooler. Rainfall varies. The timing of the first growth changes. All of these factors influence the leaves.

We select these "fresh teas" because they capture that moment.

A particular year's lot may be sweeter than the year before. Another may offer more aroma, a slightly different finish, or a flavor note we did not find in the previous harvest.

For us, that variation isn't a flaw. It is part of what makes fine tea interesting.

What is a tea cultivar?

Most of the teas we drink ultimately come from closely related tea plants, but generations of cultivation have created an enormous range of local cultivars and clonals.

A cultivar is a tea plant selected and propagated for particular characteristics.

Over generations, a cultivar will adapt to the local terroir and thereby become associated with a particular region and flavor profile.

Understanding cultivars helps explain why two teas that are technically the same "variety" of tea can taste remarkably different.

Part 2

How We Source and Select Our Teas

What happens in China each spring before a tea becomes a Silk Road tea?

How does Silk Road Teas source its teas?

Silk Road Teas has had a presence in China since 1992.

For decades, our teas have come through a network of farms, factories, brokers, cooperatives, and tea companies. Some of our suppliers have worked with us for more than 30 years, and most of these relationships extend well beyond a decade.

They have become trusted partners and friends.

These relationships matter because our suppliers know the styles and grades of teas we look for each harvest. Importantly, they understand the harvest period we want to source our teas within, and the specific cultivars, styles of leaf, and flavor profiles that interest us. When spring arrives, our conversations and sourcing plans can therefore be timely and focused to ensure we have the opportunity to procure China's higher grades of the spring harvest.

During the harvest, samples of freshly picked teas are gathered by key suppliers as they become available. At the height of the early spring season, reflecting both the immediacy and the abundance of the harvest, we often taste 15 to 20 lots in a day.

Three steps of evaluation are applied to every sample.

1. Dry leafFirst, we examine the appearance and aroma of the dry leaves.
2. AwakenWe introduce a small quantity of hot water to the leaves to awaken them and allow a check of the aroma and health of the leaf.
3. Steep and tasteWe then steep two grams of each tea for two minutes in a six ounce Gaiwan and taste.

In this way, every lot is evaluated.

We are looking for an appearance, aroma, flavors, and a finish we have come to associate with that cultivar through years of tasting it.

Tea buying requires concentration and memory. We think of this process as essentially "listening to the tea."

What does Silk Road Teas look for when selecting a tea?

Appearance matters. Aroma matters. Flavor matters. But none of these exists in isolation.

We look at the uniformity and condition of the leaves. We smell the dry leaf and then evaluate how the aroma changes when the leaf meets hot water.

Once steeped, we pay close attention to the first flavor that arrives on the palate. Then we look for the secondary notes that follow it.

• How does the tea finish?
• How long do the flavors linger?
• How does the tea feel as you swallow it?

Exceptional tea should have dimension. We generally reject teas that have been over-fired or dominated by a single note. Excessive astringency or pungency can obscure the more delicate qualities of the leaf.

What continues to fascinate us after decades of tasting is how differently skilled tea makers might express the same cultivar. Two teas harvested at essentially the same time and from the same cultivar can taste noticeably different because of decisions made during processing.

For each lot, for each crafted flavor, the tea maker matters!

What makes an exceptional tea exceptional?

There is something remarkable about tasting a beautifully made first-pluck tea.

With famous spring varieties such as Yin Zhen, Anji White, Bi Luo Chun, and Mao Feng, the earliest harvests can offer an extraordinary sweetness. Subtle flavors appear in the first taste and continue through the finish.

As temperatures rise through spring and the leaves mature, those delicate notes change. The window of early spring tea flavors is brief.

An exceptional tea captures the "spring" moment while also demonstrating the skill of the person who made it to carry it through to the cup.

We look for clarity rather than simply strength. Complexity rather than a single dominant flavor. Tension between sweet and astringent with sweet winning.

And perhaps most importantly, we look for a tea that makes us want to take another sip.

Why doesn't Silk Road Teas make every year's tea taste exactly the same?

Because nature doesn't work that way.

Temperature, rainfall, sunlight, harvest timing, and countless other factors change from year to year. Small-batch, single-origin teas reflect those differences.

Large commercial tea brands blend lots to maintain a standardized flavor profile. There is nothing inherently wrong with that approach, it just isn't what interests us most.

We would rather find the best expression of a tea from that year's harvest.

Some years may be sweeter. Others more aromatic. A particular lot may offer an unexpected secondary note or heightened tension between pungency and sweetness, or an especially long finish.

How are Silk Road Teas prepared for shipment from China?

Every lot we purchase is kept separate.

Our suppliers clean and sort the teas before they leave the farm or factory. Because we source from different farms, factories, and provinces, the selected teas are eventually gathered at a central temperature-controlled warehouse for packaging.

Each lot is vacuum sealed in a lined kraft bag, heat sealed, packed into international-grade cartons, and identified with article and lot information before shipment to the United States.

Part 3

Understanding the Spring Harvest

Why a few days or weeks can make an extraordinary difference in the tea you drink.

Why are early spring teas so highly prized?

We believe many of the finest tasting Chinese teas are harvested early in spring.

Spring temperatures offer a perfect climate for the development of wonderful tasting teas. Daytime temperatures are rising and nights are still cool. This "stress" of warm and cool, expand and contract, works to create essential taste compounds the tea maker can then shape and pronounce.

Almost all of the green, white, and black teas we source are harvested and have been purchased by the Qing Ming holiday in early April.

Another key reason we have gravitated to this model for procuring tea is simply that the Chinese prize these teas and they know good tea! These are the teas they buy each year. Additionally, these teas are not made for export as their quantities are too small.

The weather is an important part of the reason.

As spring progresses and temperatures increase, the buds and leaves of the early pick season grow larger and their flavor changes as the leaves must protect themselves from the increasing heat. Flavors become more singular, less nuanced. That fleeting quality of the earliest harvest is one reason tea lovers sometimes describe Pre-Qing Ming teas as offering a "taste of spring."

What does Pre-Qing Ming mean?

Pre-Qing Ming refers to teas harvested and processed before China's Qing Ming holiday on April 5th.

These are among the earliest teas of the spring season, typically fine pluck standard, and often highly prized.

Cool mountain nights and gradually warming spring days encourage slow growth, producing small, dense, tender buds and leaves. Quantities are limited and the flavor can be exceptionally nuanced.

For tea lovers, these teas offer something that cannot be reproduced later in the season. These lots offer the character of the year's first growth.

What is spring flush tea?

Spring flush refers to teas produced from the first pluck of March into April in a period known as "before the rain."

Silk Road Teas purchases essentially all of its teas during this early spring harvest period. Oolongs, including Tieguanyin and Dan Cong styles, are harvested later because their larger leaves develop more slowly.

What does "fine pluck" mean?

Fine pluck describes the standard used when selecting leaves from the tea plant.

For many of the highest-grade teas, this means harvesting a bud and one leaf or a bud and two leaves. In some teas, a bud and three leaves can also produce an exceptional cup.

The tea plant is apical dominant, thereby directing considerable energy toward its new spring growth. These young buds and uppermost leaves are the singular distinguishing characteristic of the finest early-season teas.

The plucking standard affects appearance, texture, aromas, and ultimately flavor.

Noting the pluck standard is one of the first things we look at when evaluating a tea.

Part 4

How Fine Tea Is Made

The traditional techniques tea makers use to transform fresh leaves into remarkably different teas.

What is oxidation in tea?

Oxidation is the interaction between the tea leaf and air after harvesting.

The degree of oxidation is one of the primary factors determining the color, aroma, and flavor of the finished tea.

Green tea is essentially unoxidized. Oolong is partially oxidized, with styles ranging from lightly oxidized Tieguanyin to considerably more oxidized Dan Cong style teas. Black and red teas, heicha, undergo much greater oxidation thereby producing the amber, red, and brown colors associated with their brewed liquor.

Controlling oxidation is one of the fundamental skills of tea making.

What does "pan fired" mean?

Pan firing is a traditional technique in which tea leaves are heated in a wok-like metal pan.

For green tea, this heat stops enzymatic activity and prevents further oxidation while helping preserve the leaf's green color. The firing process can also contribute important aromas and flavors, including the toasted and nutty qualities associated with teas such as Dragon Well and certain varieties of Mao Feng.

If the leaves are healthy, handled carefully once plucked, then the firing temperature, timing, in process movement, and the skill of the tea maker determine the finished tea.

What is "killing the green"?

"Killing the green" is the traditional term for applying heat to freshly harvested green tea leaves to stop oxidation.

The leaves may be steamed or pan fired at high temperatures shortly after harvesting. This deactivates the enzymes responsible for oxidation and helps preserve the fresh green character of the leaf.

From there, the leaves can be shaped into the many forms associated with Chinese green tea, including flat leaves, twisted leaves, and rolled or ball-like shapes.

What is withering?

After tea leaves are harvested and cleaned, they may be allowed to rest while some of their natural moisture evaporates.

This is called withering.

As the leaves lose water, they become softer and more pliable, making them easier to roll, shape, and process. Withering also begins creating some of the aromas and flavors that will ultimately appear in the finished tea.

The degree of withering depends on the style being made.

With white tea, for example, withering is one of the defining processing steps preserving the natural shape of the leaves while the tea then undergoes a drying process either by the ambient temperature or a gas oven firing.

Part 5

Understanding Flavor

What to look for in the cup and why fine tea offers so much more than simply "strong" or "mild."

What do the different types of tea taste like?

There are tremendous differences within every category, but certain flavor characteristics commonly appear.

These descriptions are a starting point, not a set of rules. Cultivar, terroir, harvest timing, and processing can create remarkable variations within every class of tea.

That discovery is part of the pleasure.

Are green teas always grassy and mild?

No.

Green tea can be grassy, but it can also be nutty, sweet, floral, vegetal, herbaceous, pungent, and surprisingly rich.

Cultivar, growing conditions, harvest timing, and local processing traditions all affect the result.

Some green teas have a noticeable natural astringency behind their sweeter notes. Others, such as certain Dragon Wells, develop distinctive roasted chestnut flavors through pan firing.

Is certified organic always an indication of the highest-grade tea?

Not necessarily.

In China, certified organic teas are often produced primarily for export markets, while many of the most prized first and early spring harvests are consumed domestically. This is also changing, as the domestic market looks for more organic offerings, the farms and factories are responding with earlier pick organic lots.

As a result, organic lots can sometimes come from later harvests with larger leaves and softer, less nuanced flavor profiles.

This doesn't make organic tea inferior. We source many excellent organic teas. It simply means that certification and cup quality are different measures.

When selecting tea, we consider farming practices alongside cultivar, harvest timing, craftsmanship, aroma, and, above all, how the tea tastes.