How to Identify Good Dianhong Black Tea？

The types of Dianhong tea can be classified into Dianhong Golden Needle, Dianhong Pine Needle, Dianhong Golden Bud, Dianhong Golden Spiral, Red Spiral, Dianhong Golden Silk, Wild Dianhong Tea, and others. One of the quality characteristics of Dianhong Gongfu tea is the prominent appearance of its tips, with tip colors ranging from light yellow, chrysanthemum yellow, to golden yellow. In areas like Fengqing, Yun County, and Changning, Gongfu tea typically has chrysanthemum-yellow tips, while in Menghai, Shuangjiang, Lincang, and Puwen, the tips are more golden. The tips of tea harvested in the same garden during spring tend to be lighter, usually light yellow, while summer tea tips are often chrysanthemum yellow, and autumn tea tips are typically golden.

Dianhong Gongfu tea is characterized by a rich aroma and strong flavor. The aroma is particularly good in areas of western Yunnan such as Yun County, Fengqing, and Changning, with some parts of Yun County producing Gongfu tea with a long-lasting, floral scent. The flavor of Gongfu tea from southern Yunnan is strong and stimulating, while the Gongfu tea from western Yunnan is mellower, with a slightly weaker stimulation but a fresh and lingering aftertaste. High-quality Dianhong Gongfu tea is known for its plump and robust leaves, tightly rolled strips, dark and glossy color, prominent golden tips, and bright liquor color, making it a superior grade of Gongfu tea. The characteristics of Dianhong tea can vary by grade, requiring careful selection and identification.

Identification Methods for Dianhong Tea

Identifying from the Appearance (Strips)
Wild Dianhong tea leaves are tight, slender, dark, and glossy, with a robust texture. The leaf veins and serrations are clear and irregular. The leaves are flexible and elastic, with good resilience. In contrast, ordinary Dianhong tea leaves are thinner, with wavy edges, regular serrations, and less flexibility, appearing small, thin, and brittle.

Identifying from the Aroma
By smelling the tea’s aroma, wild Dianhong tea has a more stable and lasting fragrance, while ordinary Dianhong tea has a more fleeting and shorter scent.

Identifying from the Taste
Wild Dianhong tea offers a rich and full-bodied flavor, with a strong sense of mountain freshness. It brews quickly, retains its flavor over many infusions, and leaves a lasting fragrance in the mouth and cup. The aftertaste is refreshing and long-lasting. Ordinary Dianhong tea tends to have a thin, watery taste, with a shorter aftertaste and less durability.

Authentic Dianhong Gongfu tea is known for its rich aroma and strong flavor. The best aroma comes from the western Yunnan tea regions, such as Yun County, Fengqing, and Changning, with some areas of Yun County producing Gongfu tea with a long-lasting floral fragrance. Southern Yunnan’s Gongfu tea has a strong and stimulating taste, while western Yunnan’s Gongfu tea is milder, with a fresh and pleasant aftertaste.

How to Select Dianhong Tea

1. Appearance Identification

Strips: Key points for identification include the tightness, weight, flatness, roundness, and straightness of the strips, as well as their uniformity. Tight, heavy, round, and straight strips are considered superior, while loose, flat, curved, and short strips are inferior.
Tenderness: This is identified by the thickness of the strips, the visibility of golden tips, and the prominence of the tea buds.
Color: Identifying key points include the luster and uniformity of the color. Generally, bright and uniform colors are considered superior, while dull and uneven colors are inferior.
Wholeness: Key points for identification include the content of lower-grade tea. Less content is better, while more content is inferior.
Purity: Key points for identification include the presence of stems, coarse leaves, and tea dust. Purity refers to the proportion of non-tea substances in the tea. High-grade Dianhong tea requires high purity, with minimal stems, coarse leaves, and dust. The purity is usually determined by manual selection, which significantly increases the cost of high-grade tea.

2. Internal Quality Identification

Aroma: (Note, aroma is evaluated based on the brewed tea) The key points for identification include freshness, purity, coarseness, and duration. High-quality Dianhong tea has a strong and lasting aroma that remains after the tea cools down. Mid-grade tea has a high but short-lived aroma with less persistence, while low-grade tea has a weak and short aroma, often with a coarse green scent.
Liquor Color: The key points for identification include depth, brightness, and clarity. The best Dianhong tea has a bright red color, with a golden ring around the rim of the cup and a phenomenon known as “cold turbidity” when it cools. Mid-grade tea is mainly red and bright, while low-grade tea has a dark or murky color.
Leaf Base: The key points for identification include tenderness and color.
- Tenderness: Evaluates the softness, thickness, presence of buds, and the degree of leaf curling. Generally, soft, thick, and bud-rich leaves with curled edges are better, while the opposite indicates lower quality.
- Color: Identifies the redness, presence of stems, and the degree of fermentation. Top-grade tea has many buds, whole leaves, uniform softness, and bright red color, while tea with mixed colors and dullness is of lower quality.

Growth Environment of Dianhong Tea

The main production areas of Dianhong tea are located in the high mountains and valleys west of the Lancang River and east of the Nu River in southwestern Yunnan, including counties such as Fengqing, Menghai, Lincang, and Shuangjiang. Additionally, there are production areas in Baoshan, Dehong, Honghe, and Simao.

Yunnan is located in southwestern China, between 97° to 106° east longitude and 21°9′ to 29°15′ north latitude. The main tea-producing areas are mostly distributed near the Tropic of Cancer, within a latitude range of no more than 3°, known as the “Biological Optimum Zone” by scientists. Out of 128 counties in Yunnan, 120 produce tea, with the key tea-producing counties located at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,000 meters. Yunnan has a climate characterized by simultaneous rain and heat during the rainy season and cool, dry conditions during the dry season. The annual average temperature is maintained between 15°C and 18°C, with a daily temperature difference of over 10°C. Tea can be harvested for nine months a year, from early March to late November.

The complex terrain of Yunnan, with its intersecting mountains and deep valleys, creates a unique plateau and mountainous climate. The tea-growing areas feature rolling hills, abundant clouds, intertwined streams, and fertile soil rich in red and yellow loam with high humus content, providing excellent natural conditions for tea production.

Based on geographical location, Yunnan is divided into three tea-producing areas: western Yunnan, southern Yunnan, and northeastern Yunnan.

Dianhong is produced in the natural areas of western and southern Yunnan. The western tea area includes the prefectures of Lincang, Baoshan, Dehong, and Dali, which account for 52.2% of the province’s tea-growing area and 65.5% of its total production, making it the main production area for Dianhong tea. Counties like Fengqing, Yun County, Shuangjiang, Lincang, and Changning produce over 90% of the Dianhong tea. The southern tea area, which includes the birthplace of tea, covers the prefectures of Simao, Xishuangbanna, Wenshan, and Honghe, with 32.7% of the province’s tea-growing area and 30.8% of its production. Dianhong tea is produced in Xishuangbanna and regions like Jinghong and Puwen.

Growth Environment of Dianhong Tea

The production areas are characterized by rolling mountains with an average altitude of over 1,000 meters. The region has a subtropical climate with an average annual temperature of 18-22°C, annual accumulated temperature above 6,000°C, and significant temperature differences between day and night. The annual precipitation is 1,200-1,700 mm, with a climate characterized by “foggy mornings and evenings during sunny days, and cloudy mountains during rainy days.” The dense forests, deep humus layers formed by fallen leaves, and fertile soil contribute to the growth of large and robust tea trees with plump buds and leaves covered in dense white hairs. Even when the leaves grow to 5-6 pieces, they remain soft and tender. The tea leaves from this region have the highest content of polyphenols and alkaloids among Chinese teas.