How to identify the quality of wild black tea

YuanJia131

To identify the quality of wild black tea, a comprehensive evaluation should be made from multiple dimensions such as the appearance, aroma, soup color, taste, leaf base, and brewing performance of the dried tea.
Wild black tea (such as wild ancient tree black tea) has tight and smooth strands, with a strong and plump texture, obvious texture, naturally curved strands, and relatively uniform length and thickness. The color is dark and oily, with a distinct gelatinous luster, often accompanied by reddish brown "tea bank" small leaves or yellowish brown bud coat (characteristic of wild tea).
The aroma is pure and rich, with a subtle honey fragrance, floral and fruity fragrance, or unique mountain and wild floral fragrance. The aroma is steady and long-lasting.
Tangxiang (Hot Smell and Cold Smell): After brewing, the hot smell has a high and rich aroma, while the cold smell still leaves a residual aroma with distinct layers of aroma (such as honey fragrance at first, later turning into potato fragrance and milk fragrance).

The soup color is orange yellow translucent, golden translucent, or amber. The tea soup is clear and free of impurities, and the surface often has an oily sheen.
The taste is mellow and full, with a high sweetness (wild sweetness), strong mountain atmosphere, smooth tea soup, and no astringency (high-quality ancient tree black tea is not easily sour even when brewed with boiling water). The aftertaste is quick and long-lasting, with a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth, and extremely resistant to soaking (continuously brewing for more than 10 bubbles, the taste is still sweet, mellow, and the aroma does not fade).
The leaf base has good elasticity, thick leaves, clear leaf veins, irregular leaf edges and teeth, uniform and bright red color, and the leaf base is soft and elastic.
Wild black tea (especially wild ancient tree black tea) has a unique "mountain and wild charm" in aroma and taste due to different tree species (such as wild Dali tea) and growth environments (high altitude, wilderness). When identifying, it is necessary to make a comprehensive judgment based on the specific characteristics of the place of origin.