Though Chinese tea has a history that spans thousands of years, tea farmers and crafters continually come up with techniques for making new and interesting teas. In the early 20th century, one farmer in Taiwan experimented with using leaves that showed damage from bug bites, and created the first Eastern Beauty tea. The commercial success of this risky experiment proved there was something special about this novel processing choice, but it was only recently that modern science has shed some light on the reasons behind the unique flavor.

Today, bug bitten leaves are used to make many different kinds of tea, in what seems like a wider variety every year. While some famous styles use bug bitten leaves by definition, others use the phrase mi xiang to denote a bug bitten version. This title translates directly to “honey fragrance”, and describes the naturally sweet characteristics of many bug bitten teas. As strange as it may sound, the attacking insects play a big part in the flavor of the final tea.

Across the world, flavored teas are some of the most popular. Famous styles like Jasmine Green, Masala Chai, and Earl Grey are all made with a base of Camellia sinensis tea leaves and added flavor. Despite the occasional snobbery of purists, flavored styles come in a wide range of quality, from mass produced tea bags at the grocery store to whole leaves flavored with organic ingredients. To check the quality of flavored teas, it is important to ask how the extra flavors were added.

Whether you’re an experienced tea drinker or just getting started, you’ve probably heard some advice about controlling the temperature of your water. But recommended steeping instructions often vary, with differences between styles, vendors, and even individual teas. How can you be sure you’re getting the best flavor in every brew?

A variable temperature kettle is one way to ensure you’re always using the right temperature for the tea you’re brewing, but these complex appliances can be an expensive investment, and don’t pack easily for travel. They’re also a very modern invention - countless generations of tea drinkers have learned to brew tea well without the aid of precise temperature control, and you can too!

Shopping for pu-erh can be confusing. With the added variables of age and fermentation, pu-erh is one of the most diverse categories of tea, and the growing popularity of the style only makes it easier to find bad examples. Since shopping for pu-erh can feel like a guessing game, it’s tempting to look for signs of quality in simple visual distinctions, like whether the tea is pressed into a cake or left in loose form. So what can we really tell about the tea from the way it is packaged?

White teas have only gotten more and more popular with each year we’ve been in the tea business. Amid western marketing that promotes a wide range of health benefits and the modern affluence of Chinese connoisseurs, the demand for traditional white tea has skyrocketed, and continues to increase with each new harvest. As with most “famous” teas, this demand long ago outpaced the supply from the traditional farms that earned the famed reputation in the first place. Today, many white teas are grown outside the traditional region of Fuding County, Fujian, but purists consider these to be imitations, even if they're made with traditional crafting methods.

Picking the right teapot can be difficult, whether it’s for your first brewing set or just a new addition to your growing collection. Finding a single pot with the right combination of size, pour, and heat retention is critical, since these factors can directly impact the flavor of your brew. Add aesthetics to the mix, and the perfect pot can seem elusive, if not imaginary. One way to narrow the search is to consider the material the pot is made of.

Cast iron teapots, for instance, have gained great popularity in modern times, and are commonly used to serve tea in cafes or restaurants. In contrast, most tea connoisseurs opt for small pots, often made of unglazed clay, for their daily brewing sessions. What is the difference, and which material is the best choice for your next brewing vessel?

In wine tasting, the ultimate test of quality is the lingering flavor that remains on the palate long after the tea has been swallowed. This characteristic is called the ‘finish’, and the longer its subtle complexities linger on the tongue, the better the quality of the wine.

The same concept is easily applied to tea - while many mediocre teas can present a pleasant taste on the front of the tongue, it is only those of truly high quality that leave a delightful lingering finish in the back of the throat. In Chinese, tea drinkers often call this quality the hui gan, or ‘returning sweetness’. But as with many other Chinese tea terms, the specific translation of this phrase is debatable. What does it taste like? Does every tea have it in varying degrees, or is it only found in certain tea types? How is it different from what we call the ‘finish’ in English?

There are many variables that contribute to the flavor of tea in your cup, but one of the most commonly overlooked is the quality of water. As brewed tea is made up of nearly 99% water, this primary ingredient definitely deserves some consideration.