Chapter Five: On Taste

Sweetness and luminousness are valued while bitterness and roughness are not. Only tea produced in Songluo and Tiger Hill is of a good quality. Tea from elsewhere can not surpass. Proper brewing is also crucial for making a good cup of tea. The tea liquid will be watery if it (the water together with the tea leaves) is hardly boiled since the tea is not completely brewed. It will be limpid if it is over boiled since the fresh taste is lost. Tea drinkers usually first pour water in the tea ware to halfway, then put in the tea leaves and then fill it up with more water.  Foam in the form of flowers gradually appear, according to the degree of infusion. When taking a small sip its pure fragrance can be experienced. After a while the taste becomes smooth and lasts for long. Unconsciously one’s mouth suddenly feels the sweet dew arising. If water and fire are improperly handled, or tea utensils are not clean, tea’s natural taste will be destroyed, even good tea such as Songluo can’t be spared.  If one drinks up all the tea in one go, he will not be able to describe its taste.