What are ancient tree tea, big tree tea, and small tree tea?

piaoyun

Tea friends often ask me how to distinguish ancient-tree tea, large-tree tea, small-tree tea, terrace tea, and so on. Today Qingyin will explain them all at once.

Ancient-tree tea
It is generally believed that tea from trees over a hundred years old can be called "ancient-tree tea." Trees around eighty or ninety years old are referred to as "old terrace" (old taidi).


Large trees and small trees
In well-known Pu'er tea mountains or villages, local tea farmers usually classify trees as large or small based on their size—that is, the tree height and the thickness of the main trunk. Large trees are usually older and their fresh leaves command higher prices; small trees are short, younger, and their fresh leaves are naturally relatively cheaper. Both large-tree tea and small-tree tea belong to mountain-origin teas but are not terrace tea.

Terrace tea (taidi)
This generally refers to tea trees planted in recent years or decades promoted by the government. They are often densely planted in lower, gentle tea gardens; the trees are shorter, planting density is high, and yield per area is relatively high. Because terrace tea is planted in concentrated areas, labor can be saved and management is comparatively easier—pruning, fertilizing, and spraying are common management practices in terrace tea.


Mountain-origin tea (shantou tea)
Named after a particular mountain or village, so it is also called village tea—for example, Laobanzhang, Bingdao, Xigui, Yiwu and other mountains or villages.

Ecological tea
Tea grown in a good, pollution-free ecological environment and produced with full-process controls according to green food standards is called ecological tea.

Organic tea
A pollution-free, purely natural tea produced and processed according to organic farming methods. During its production, no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, plant growth regulators, chemical food additives, or similar substances are used, and it meets the standards of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). It is certified by an organic (natural) food certification organization.

Arbor-type tea trees
Have a clear main trunk, with branching high up; trees usually grow 3–5 meters or taller.

Shrub-type tea trees
Have no obvious main trunk, branches are dense and often near the ground, with a short canopy; trees usually grow 1.5–3 meters.

Semi-arbor-type tea trees
Fall between arbor-type and shrub-type in height and branching.

Semi-arbor-type tea trees
The above are general definitions of various tea tree terms. In fact, looking at the current market situation, tea friends don't really need to dig too deeply into these. Driven by commercial interests, many large trees are called ancient trees, small trees are labeled as large trees, one mountain’s name is used to promote another, and where have all those terrace teas gone? Qingyin believes the factors that affect the quality of a Pu'er tea are its production process, the environment where the tea trees grow, then the mountain, woodlands, tree varieties, and so on.


Ancient-tree tea
Therefore, tree age and quality are only an indirect relationship, not a direct one. Whether a tea is good or not should not be judged solely by what merchants say or by advertising; you need to drink it yourself. If you can't tell, choose teas within an affordable price range that taste comfortable. There's no need to chase concepts like ancient trees or famous mountains too much. So truly there aren't that many ancient-tree teas. Tea is just a beverage; tea friends should view it rationally.

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but the heart will gradually become refined.
Make drinking tea a habit,
and refinement will become a normal part of life.