Balance, the basic characteristics of a good cup of tea

Being balanced is the golden mean. We pursue a balanced body constitution by all means, down to drinking a simple cup of tea. The essence of a good cup of tea is to be balanced, peaceful and beneficial to the body.

We may think drinking a cup of tea is a simple matter that does not warrant our attention. We may buy a cup of coffee at Starbuck and not pay any more attention to it. However, to practitioners of life cultivation like us, there is no trivial matter to life cultivation, and drinking a cup of tea is very important to us.

Let us get to the chase.

01 Each to his own

It is not my cup of tea. Or, is it?

When drinking tea, some people like it vigorous and exciting, some people like it strong and fragrant, some people like it fresh and elegant, some people like it sweet and refreshing. Different people have different tastes, and different people have different body constitutions, which are suitable for different types of tea.

Now we use tea as an example to illustrate how a food or drink will affect our body constitution, and how we use food or drink to seek a balanced body constitution.

01 Tea classification

Tea is divided into six categories. Different teas have different characteristics and meet the needs of different tastes and body constitutions. Even the nature of tea will change with the year.

It is a living tea, such as white tea. When new, the tea is fresh and elegant, and as it ages, it gradually becomes milder and mellower. Tea lovers with different body constitutions and tastes can find a suitable tea. White tea can be called the Tiger Balm in the tea world.

02 How do you know which tea is good for you

Whether a certain tea is good or not, our body will tell us the answer. After drinking some tea, the body and mind feel clear and smooth, and the armpits feel a fresh breeze. After drinking some other tea, the body feels nauseated, the mouth is astringent and numb, and the qi and blood are stagnant.

Drinking tea with compatible tea properties will accumulate energy in the body and produce positive effects. Tea with inappropriate tea properties will deplete energy and blood, and drinking too much will be useless.

For some people, some of the inappropriate teas are due to the mismatch between the body constitution and the nature of the tea, and some discomforts are due to the lack of craftsmanship in making tea. If the nature of the tea is not suitable, we can easily avoid it. If the craftsmanship is lacking, we need to keep our eyes opened.

03 Choosing the right tea

Choosing tea requires not only discerning the nature of the tea, but also inferring the taste to match our taste preferences. For white tea, which has a wide range of tea properties and flavors, how to choose a good tea is even more of a challenge.

Balance and neutral are the basic qualities of a good tea. Balance and neutral are not bland, fragrance less or tasteless. Balance and harmony are in line with the original taste of tea. For example, freshly made white tea requires sweetness and freshness, aged white tea requires mildness and mellowness, and a good tea also requires purity and no impurities.

The tea that conforms to the characteristics of this category is called balanced and the tea that is gentle and non-irritating to the body is called peaceful.

The best way to buy a tea is to go into a tea shop and tasting the different kind of tea before purchase. It is similar to wine tasting, if you know the routine.

04 Effects

Many tea drinkers think that the new white tea is cold in nature. In fact, a well-withered white tea is not very irritating. For most tea drinkers, it can be said that the tea is cool in nature but not cold. The cold nature is actually due to the lack of some tea processing craftsmanship, resulting in jerky white tea with insufficient withering. This kind of white tea is not sufficiently withered, and its chemical substances are not fully transformed. There is little transformation of irritating substances such as tea polyphenols, resulting in low human body affinity. It is really a black sheep because it is not prevalent.

As a naturally grown natural plant, the tea tree has its own self-protection mechanism and a natural protection mechanism against insects and animals that feed on tea leaves. Therefore, fresh tea leaves have an astringent taste and contain some natural substances that stimulate taste buds and the body. This makes insects or animals that feed on tea leaves to eat less so as to protect the continuation of the tea tree.

The withering process of white tea not only makes the tea soup fragrant and full of flavor, but also decomposes and reduces the content of substances in the tea that are irritating to the human body, so that the tea will nourish a human body to its balanced state.

The production of white tea requires moderate withering. Insufficient withering will cause astringency, while excessive withering will result in a weak taste. Improper operation may result in a yeasty and rancid taste.

05 Difference between thin and balanced

Here we also need to clearly distinguish the difference between thin and balanced. Thin means that the water extract in the tea soup is less, and the material content is out of proportion and unbalanced. Balanced means that the water extract is appropriate, the material content is in a coordinated proportion, and the taste is full, which is good for the taste buds and physical intimacy.

Do not confuse thin with balanced. Do not be misled by merchants who are using balanced as a guise and offer actually thin tea. For new tea drinkers, they need to drink more, compare and appreciate more, and improve their tasting skills. Drink more good tea, communicate more with senior tea drinkers, and establish standards. Use your body to feel, rather than listen to stories, and let your body tell you the answer.

02 A brief summary

Balanced are the basic characteristics of a good tea, and they are also the common characteristics of good tea. A good tea should not only meet its expected characteristics, but also be clean and friendly to the body. That is, it is balanced.

Drinking tea to gain a balanced body constitution is only an example. We should do it with every food and drink that we take. They all have an effect on our body health. If you ignore them, it is at your own peril.

To gain more knowledge on the nature of food and how it affects your body, read more articles on Mustang Dietary Technique on this website. Use the search function on the website to simplify your search.

In future articles, we will focus on the classification of body constitution into nine types and the methods of adjusting each type into the balanced type.

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