Characteristics of Fresh Tea Leaves

High-quality tea relies on excellent fresh leaf quality and superior tea-making techniques. So, what exactly is fresh leaf quality? Fresh leaf quality primarily encompasses three aspects: tenderness, uniformity, and freshness. Tenderness and uniformity are the primary indicators of fresh leaf quality, while freshness primarily addresses the quality of the fresh leaf harvesting, transportation, and management processes.

1. Tenderness

Tenderness refers to the maturity of the buds and leaves. Tenderness is the primary criterion for evaluating fresh leaf quality, a crucial factor in measuring tea quality, and a key indicator for tea grade. Generally speaking, a tea with abundant buds and leaves, robust growth, soft texture, and a light green color is a sign of good fresh leaf tenderness.

Fresh Leaf Specifications:

Fresh leaf specifications include bud, one bud and one leaf, one bud and two leaves, one bud and three leaves, and one bud and four leaves. Depending on the degree of leaf expansion, there are also variations in “one bud and one leaf, beginning to expand,” “one bud and two leaves, beginning to expand,” and “one bud and three leaves, beginning to expand.” Fresh leaves that mature and develop buds are called “open leaves.” When the first leaf is half the size of the second leaf, they are called “small open leaves.” When the first leaf grows to two-thirds the size of the second leaf, they are called “medium open leaves.” When the first leaf grows to the same size as the second leaf, they are called “large open leaves.”

Another type of fresh leaf has buds, but the internodes are extremely short, and the two leaves are opposite each other. These leaves are small, stiff, and thin. This is an abnormal new shoot, called “opposite leaves.” Opposite leaves are a type of precocious new shoot with a higher degree of tissue differentiation and development than normal shoots. Buds and leaves develop from nutrient buds and gradually increase in size before becoming leaves. As the buds and leaves grow, the leaves gradually increase in size and the buds gradually decrease in size. After completing a growth period, they form stationary buds. During this period, the leaves gradually expand and mature, with their area increasing and their mesophyll thickness correspondingly thickening, and the leaves gradually age. Therefore, compared to leaves, one bud and one leaf is more tender than one bud and two leaves, normal leaves are more tender than interleaved leaves, and newly expanded leaves are more tender than expanded leaves.

The Impact of Tenderness on the Chemical Composition of Fresh Leaves:

The tenderness of tea leaves is an outward manifestation of the various chemical components within the fresh leaves. Based on the metabolic characteristics of the tea plant, the formation of its vegetative organs, and the patterns of growth and development, we can understand the changes in the active ingredients within the fresh leaves. Regarding chemical composition content, the total amount of polyphenols, protein, caffeine, and water-soluble ash all decrease with decreasing tenderness. Reducing sugars, starch, cellulose, and chlorophyll, on the other hand, increase with decreasing tenderness. However, amino acids and water extracts, which are crucial for quality, show less pronounced changes. There is a relationship between the tenderness of fresh leaves and their chemical composition. Therefore, we cannot simply emphasize the high or low content of a single component in fresh leaves; rather, we must consider the impact of various active ingredients on tea quality.

Generally speaking, high levels of polyphenols, protein, amino acids, caffeine, and water extracts in fresh leaves indicate good quality leaves and the resulting tea is of higher quality. High levels of cellulose and lignin indicate coarse, old leaves and, consequently, lower quality tea.

The Impact of Tenderness on Tea Yield:

The tenderness of fresh leaves is directly related to tea yield and economic benefits. While tender fresh leaves confer high quality and a higher price, requiring fresh leaves to be too tender will affect tea yield and reduce economic benefits. Therefore, fresh leaf picking standards in production should be tailored to the characteristics of the tea plant and the quality requirements of the tea.

The Impact of Tenderness on Tea Quality:

There are many types of tea, each with its own unique quality characteristics, and therefore varying requirements for fresh leaf tenderness. For Chinese black and green teas, the general requirement for fresh leaf tenderness is one bud and two or three leaves. High-end, premium teas are often made from delicate buds and leaves. For example, West Lake Longjing and Huangshan Maofeng require fresh leaves with one bud and one leaf beginning to unfold. Taiping Houkui tea requires plump, young shoots with one bud and two leaves. Oolong tea requires young shoots with three or four leaves open to achieve its characteristically fragrant and rich flavor.

In short, different tea types have different requirements for fresh leaf tenderness, and the assumption that the tenderer the fresh leaves, the better is not true. Currently, fresh leaf tenderness is generally assessed by analyzing the mechanical composition of the buds and leaves. While each tea farm has established its own fresh leaf grading standards based on the characteristics of its tea, sensory evaluation is still the most widely used method in production. For example, the southern Anhui tea region has summarized three criteria based on its experience in sensory evaluation of fresh leaves: one is to look at the size, fatness, and quantity of the buds; the second is to look at the degree of leaf expansion; and the third is to look at the degree of aging and quantity of old leaves, single leaves, and one bud with three or four leaves.

2. Evenness

Evenness refers to the consistency of quality within a batch of fresh leaves and is a key indicator of fresh leaf quality. For tea production, good evenness is essential for all types of tea. If evenness is poor, with a mix of old and young tea leaves, tea-making techniques cannot guarantee high-quality tea. Specialty teas, in particular, require extremely high blending, requiring manual sorting of fresh leaves upon arrival to improve evenness. To improve the evenness of fresh leaves, various types of fresh leaf graders have been developed, achieving excellent grading results in production practice.

Fresh leaf evenness not only reflects consistency in tenderness but also in softness, bud and leaf length, color, and freshness. Many factors can affect fresh leaf evenness, including mixed tea varieties, inconsistent picking standards, and improper fresh leaf transportation and management. These factors can result in the mixing of different varieties, old and young leaves, and leaves arriving at different times.

If a batch of fresh leaves is of varying ages, the leaves will have varying softness and composition, creating significant challenges for tea production. For example, if the young and old leaves are unevenly distributed during the withering process, the degree of withering will be uneven, which in turn can cause young leaves to break and old leaves to become disjointed during rolling. Therefore, solving the problem of fresh leaf uniformity is the key to rationally formulating tea production parameters and improving tea quality. Currently, the main methods adopted in production are to strengthen picking management to prevent excessive picking; strengthen fresh leaf storage and transportation management and inspection work, and strictly control the uniformity of fresh leaves.

3. Freshness

Freshness refers to the degree to which fresh leaves retain their original physical and chemical properties. After being picked and removed from the tea bush, fresh leaves undergo a metabolic change.

As the leaves lose moisture, the activity of various enzymes within them intensifies, leading to a continuous breakdown and transformation of their constituents, reducing their consumption. Over time, this breakdown and transformation of constituents intensifies. Higher ambient temperatures increase the intensity of these breakdown and transformations, increasing dry matter consumption and resulting in a weaker aroma and flavor.

For this reason, fresh leaves are generally harvested and processed immediately to maintain their freshness, effectively preventing excessive loss of constituents and promoting tea quality. To determine freshness, the key factors to consider are changes in leaf color, odor, and leaf temperature. First, check for signs of reddening or reddening of the stems. Second, smell the leaves. Fresh leaves have a delicate fragrance; a strong, turbid odor indicates poor freshness. Third, test the leaf temperature. Freshly harvested leaves should be promptly transported to the factory and allowed to cool. If the fresh leaves are not delivered to the factory in time, they will accumulate in the bamboo or be exposed to the sun for too long, the leaf temperature will increase and the fresh leaves will deteriorate.

4. Fresh Leaf Grades

Fresh leaf grade standards and fresh leaf quality are two different concepts, yet they are closely related. Fresh leaf grade standards vary depending on the type of tea, variety, and color. For example, Grade 1 Gongfu black tea primarily consists of one bud, one leaf, or one bud, two leaves, beginning to unfold. Grade 1 Narcissus green tea primarily consists of one bud, two, or three leaves, with small openings. If tender buds are present, the tea is downgraded. Longjing and Biluochun, both renowned green teas, require one bud, one leaf, beginning to unfold, while Taiping Houkui requires one bud, two leaves, and a certain degree of maturity. Fresh leaf quality is a comprehensive indicator of fresh leaf quality, while fresh leaf grade standards refer to specific fresh leaf qualities. For example, whole buds have the highest leaf quality (primarily referring to tenderness and uniformity) and meet the fresh leaf grade standards for Baihao Yinzhen and Junshan Yinzhen. However, whole buds do not meet the fresh leaf grade standards for Longjing. In short, high fresh leaf quality does not necessarily equate to high fresh leaf grade standards. The quality of fresh leaves should be judged according to the fresh leaf grade standards of the tea variety and color being picked.