Knowledge
Buying & Quality
Telling authentic from fake, picking grades, freshness checks, why prices vary, packaging that matters.
Vacuum-sealed vs paper-wrapped tea — does packaging matter?
Depends on the tea. Greens, matcha, lightly-oxidized oolongs: vacuum-sealed protects aromatics — non-negotiable. Pu-erh: paper-wrapped is correct (pu-erh nee...
How fresh should green tea be when I buy it?
Real, especially for spring greens. Quality Chinese green tea (Longjing, Anji Bai Cha, Bi Luo Chun) peaks within 3–6 months of harvest and noticeably loses i...
Why is some tea so expensive?
Five factors compound: (1) Plucking — hand-picked first-flush 1-bud-2-leaves is 50× the cost of machine-harvested mature leaf; (2) Terroir — high-altitude mo...
What grade of tea should I buy as a beginner?
Skip both the bottom and the top. Don't buy supermarket bagged tea (industrial dust) — but also don't drop €100 on a famous-mountain Da Hong Pao your palate ...
How can I tell if pu-erh is authentic?
Check (in order): (1) Source — buy from vendors who name the producer, region, and year; (2) Wrapper — authentic factory cakes (Dayi, Xiaguan, Menghai) have ...