Characteristics of Premium Teas

“Five Tastes Traditional Tea” registered trademark meets all the requirements of the premium teas.

Our collection includes the rarest varieties of teas of the highest grades, grown, collected and processed manually in tea provinces, packed and carefully placed in authentic packaging, under the personal control of company representatives, delivered from China, India, and Nepal in the shortest possible delivery time.

In order to distinguish Premium Chinese teas you need to have the expert level knowledge of the following parameters:

1. Thorough knowledge of each tea variety

• Cultivation area of tea varieties

Each type of tea in China has its own, strictly defined, geographical origin or so-called “terroir”. In other words, each type of Chinese tea has its own “birthplace”, a place where this tea was born and processed in each individual way.

Terroir is a term used to describe the soil, climate, altitude and latitude and other overall conditions of a particular growing region. And some teas are either named after the place in which they are grown, or are only considered authentic with relation to a specific terroir.

• History of the origin of the tea varieties.

Each type of tea in China has its own history of origin.

• Taste and visual characteristics of the most prominent tea varieties

It is essential to know the properties of taste and appearance of each tea variety.

• Evaluation of quality gradations.

There are multiple gradations of quality within each type of Chinese tea, from the highest to the lowest. The grade of tea directly affects the value of the product. Classification of tea, based on the degree of fermentation, is important for the tea experts in China. But what is more important is to classify teas first by their varieties, and then by quality characteristics within each variety.

• Freshness of tea

The freshness of tea is one of the indicators of its premium qualities. But it is important only for some types of tea: Green Tea, White Tea, Yellow Tea, Light-fermented and Medium-fermented Oolong.

Red (Black) Tea, Aged (Dark) Tea, and Heavy-fermented Oolong teas, on the contrary, with time develop their flavor and aromatic qualities if stored properly.

2. Thorough knowledge of the production steps of each type of tea

• Harvesting tea by hand

Hand-picked teas are known for a higher quality plant product as compared to the tea leaves picked by machine. The quality of tea directly depends on the time of picking. The time of the day, the days of the year and the seasons greatly affect the quality and the price of the product.

• Hand processing of tea

Manual processing is a time-consuming and meticulous process, requiring a large time and labor costs. Hand-processed teas have exceptional quality and are significantly better than the mechanically-processed teas.

• Manual packaging

The tea should be packed quickly and directly at the production location in order to minimize contact with air. This will help to maximize the quality and preserve the freshness of the tea. Packaging rooms should be clean, specially equipped to maintain certain climate conditions to preserve the tea.

3. Thorough knowledge of proper storage conditions

The tea collected and processed in the tea gardens should be properly stored based on the specifics of its production technology.

There’s a clear and direct link between proper storage conditions and flavor, aroma and health properties of tea. Because of the contact with air and moisture, tea can lose up to 80% of its properties.

For example, Green and White teas require cold temperatures for storage, from +5 to +10 degrees Celsius. Light-fermented and Medium-fermented Oolong need below zero temperatures, and Medium-fermented Oolong also need vacuum packages. Red (Black) Tea, Aged (Dark) Tea, and Heavy-fermented Oolong teas should be stored at room temperatures, as they mature with time.

4. Thorough knowledge of the tea business specifics

• Strict quality control at all production stages - from harvesting and processing to packaging and delivery.
• Delivery.

Delivery of tea carried out in the shortest possible time.

• Restrictions on the production volume and complications with exporting from China.

In China, there is a strict limit established by the government on exporting the premium sorts of tea from the country. Therefore, unlike low-quality teas, which are mainly produced for export, it is very difficult to find and export premium teas outside of the country.

• Prices

Prices for specialty teas in China are set at a very high level and tend to go up. Pricing is affected by the production volume of a tea variety, which, for its part, is affected by climatic conditions, tea garden size, temporary and human resources used during the production process, and also a rarity of tea, freshness and logistics costs and of course - the quality of tea.