In the long river of time, tea, this ancient and elegant beverage, carries the affection and attachment of countless people. Yet, in today's era, “technology and harsh practices” have quietly infiltrated this pure domain, bringing many troubles and frustrations to tea lovers.
Once upon a time, the word “technology” symbolized progress and innovation, a force worthy of praise. But now, it is being extensively applied to tea, which is known as the national drink, undoubtedly a sorrow on its path to glory.
As living standards rise, tea is increasingly loved by people, and the prices of some premium teas continue to soar, breaking people's imagination. Driven by huge profits, fake-making methods emerge one after another, constantly evolving. For us enthusiasts, the way of tea seems like an endless mountain to climb. After twenty years of studying tea, we still need to continuously update our knowledge of identifying fake teas, a taste that is a mix of various flavors.
Not long ago, a friend luckily obtained a serving of 2006 Silver Needle white tea. This is an extremely rare treasure. The 2006 Silver Needle is almost twenty years old! Recalling that the first white tea festival in Fuding, China's white tea production hub, was held in 2007, when the white tea industry had just embarked on a path of revival. As a pioneer in recommending white tea, my oldest stock dates back to 2012 only.
I shamelessly asked my friend for just one serving. Such precious tea naturally needed to be shared with friends. So, we waited eagerly for two weeks until two other friends were available, and only then did we decide to brew it.
Being fellow tea lovers, our excitement at that moment was indescribable. To do justice to this rare tea, even water from a several-thousand-yuan water filter seemed unworthy; we specially went downstairs to buy two buckets of Nongfu Spring water.
When the tea was ceremoniously presented, we carefully observed it. The buds were very tender and uniform, and the dry tea was already quite dark with plenty of downy hairs. But for some reason, I felt something was not right. Real Silver Needle should be covered with fine, dense tea hairs, dressed in silver, regardless of whether it is new or aged, it would not lose its downy hairs. However, this tea looked like worn velvet sofa fabric, with unevenly distributed tea hairs, revealing the original color of the tea body in some places, and the tea body displayed some rust-red hues. At first glance, it seemed to bear the marks of time. But the old Silver Needle I have seen, no matter how old, always has a green base color. It evolves from the fresh green of new tea, which is green with a white sheen, gradually turning into the gray-green, dark moss-green, or old pine needle green of aged tea, with gray-white downy hairs, resembling the reeds of late autumn. It never changes its base color to rust red!
We brewed the tea with utmost reverence. The first rinse of water was also cherished, each person getting a cup. The tea fragrance diffused with the heat, a strange floral aroma, but not the burst of aged rice, lotus, downy, medicinal, or cocoa-like aromas typical of old Silver Needle. Perhaps because we felt this tea was incredibly precious, everyone agreed that this floral aroma was charming.
But I had doubts, and didn't dare to say much. In the first proper brewing, using boiling water at 95 degrees Celsius, the Silver Needle swirled with the flow of water. After brewing, the tea liquor was a bright yellow color, with the floral aroma diffusing around us. Sipping slowly, there was no sweetness, purity, or intoxicating charm typical of old Silver Needle. The tea liquor wasn't unpleasant, but something felt uncomfortable.
The second brewing resulted in a tea liquor similar to the golden hue of semi-fermented oolong tea. But the true old Silver Needle should have a yellow color like old ivory, pure and not so bright. Drinking it further, everyone felt something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what exactly, and didn't dare to easily dismiss the quality of the tea. There was a sense of discomfort, unable to truly enjoy it.
At this point, I could confidently say that although this tea came in exquisite packaging and was expensive, with just one serving being rare, it was definitely not authentic Silver Needle! The raw material was wrong, and the age was also incorrect!
This was certainly the product of artificial aging and counterfeiting. After steeping in boiling water, the uneven red and green mixed in the leaf base indicated the result of partial high-temperature fermentation imitating the process of aged white tea. The floral aroma with a hint of fruity fragrance further confirmed this.
Looking back at the photo of the dry tea, the leaves were slightly curled, rather than standing upright like the husks of bamboo shoots, characteristic of Silver Needle. Undoubtedly, it was a high-quality imitation from Guangxi or Sichuan.
It is said that the first infusion is water, the second is tea, and the third and fourth are the essence. But after the third brewing, everyone agreed that we should stop brewing, it was simply not worth the effort of carrying up the Nongfu Spring water.
Perhaps not everyone is proficient in the art of tea, but the quality of tea speaks for itself. Truly good tea, regardless of one's understanding of tea, will make one feel comfortable and happy when consumed. Those “technologically enhanced” fake teas, if carefully observed, smelled, tasted, and felt with the heart, can be detected as wrong, even without rich experience in tasting.
To make up for this disappointment, I opened a bag of 2012 Silver Needle that I had been treasuring for a long time. This was a batch I purchased from the headquarters of Lvxueya back then, sourced from the pure organic tea plantation on Mount Taomu, with superior quality and price compared to most Silver Needle teas available on the market at that time.
The densely velvety tea hairs revealed the dark green of aged Silver Needle. Placing them in a cup preheated with boiling water, the unique aroma of aged Silver Needle wafted through, clearly perceptible to everyone nearby.
Brewing the tea, the first rinse of water was sweet and fragrant, directly conquering every picky neuron.
In the first proper brewing, the tea liquor of the aged Silver Needle was not flashy, but its aroma was captivating, full and layered, with aged, downy, rice, medicinal, and sweet floral aromas unfolding in succession. The tea liquor was smooth, sweet, and mellow, yet not overbearing.
Everyone was immersed in every serving of the 2012 Silver Needle, and even after eight or nine infusions, although the tea liquor had become slightly astringent, the charm of the aged Silver Needle remained lingering.
Such an exquisite treasure, who could compete with it!
In this world where authenticity and deception intertwine, we must continuously improve our ability to appraise tea, feel the soul of each leaf with our hearts, to avoid being deceived by “technology and harsh practices,” and truly appreciate the charm and essence of tea.