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That really is a very good question. Actually it can be extended to question all teas of origin. However, let me answer it specifically first.
Wuyi style oolongs are produced not only in nearby areas, but also in other tea regions, some even outside of Fujian. I cannot tell the difference by just looking at them. However, the taste tells. So what is it in the taste that marks the difference? How would you describe the difference between Yosemite and a neighbourhood park, or your backyard, or a run down lot in a bad neighbourhood? Or how would you describe the taste of a fine Kobe cut from a MacDonald burger “beef”? You won’t know it until you have experienced it. Beautiful poems, stunning pictures and hundreds of books are never nearly half as good as being there. That is the difficult part of word communication. Reality is so much beyond the capability of the language.Back to the real issue. There are merchants selling other productions as Wuyi. Some even in shops in tourist shops in Wuyi itself. Price is not a guarantee and neither is this or that Chinese government label (trusting any Chinese government certification is like trusting any used car dealer). However, once you have properly infuse a genuine fine quality Wuyi Shuxian or the likes, you’ll know there is a distinctive taste that differentiates a Wuyi from others. Most others.I know there are very good tea regions now attempting to make high quality production to compete with Wuyi. First lots are very convincing, but with their own finesse.Note also that even within Wuyi, there are many, many different qualities. Wuyi is not a very small place. Sometimes a real Wuyi one is not as good as a good imitation.As for the rest of the imitations, please judge it by the price-quality rule. You are buying a drink after all. If you think the difference does not matter to you, don’t pay for it. If you think you have discovered a very distinctive quality, enjoy it. But don’t cease to explore. It took me many years. I believe it’ll take you perhaps the same time as well.I think if you are getting joint pain, you should be consulting a physician to see which is the cause.
The teas that contribute to problems of the bone are mostly over grown leaves and those with twigs. Amounts of fluorides and aluminiums accumulate more in older parts of the plant. One issue with findings such as that cited in Daily Mail is that there is no discrimination as to the type of tea drunk. One prevalent tea product in the mass market is teabag, and the other, bottled tea drinks. Both are the lowest of all the low quality tea productions. Plantations sell their pruning wastes, ie what is mown from their tea hedges after plucking for better quality productions, including branches, clipped old leaves, etc as raw material to tea companies. Guess what you are drinking when you open your next plastic cap on that “Pure Green Tea” from Big Soft Drink Brand?I used to have joint pain too, even when I was much younger. It has been tea (good ones, of course), as well as a dramatic change of life style, that turns things around for me. That is one reason why I dedicate so much of my life in advocating it.Itoen owns their own plantations and is also a major tea buyer for many others within and outside of Japan for Japanese style green tea. They have very fine gyokuro too, but you have to get it in Japan or in their Japanese online shop. I am not sure about their online shop in the US, but I heard that they are there mostly to back up their ready to drink products. I don’t blame them, most people nowadays still cannot cut the habit of bottled drinks.
@daihoh, I am glad that you have a basic concept and accept the idea that different teas have different TCM properties.
The TCM idea of dampness goes way beyond the modern understanding of the word as relating to water. A lot of times in the modern city life style when people have too much nutrition, too much sugar, cold drinks and a lot of sitting down, dampness is often related to nutrient wastes deposited anywhere in our lymphatic or circulatory system. Theanine, a unique substance in tea, helps the system get rid of those. The waste would ultimately be dispelled through urination, but that’s a lot more complex than just diuretic. This is one topic that I promise myself to write before the next Spring harvest. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.There is another key issue to clarify: astringency in tea happens not as much in green tea than in black (red) teas, newer puers, and some oolongs. A green tea can be bitter. Would you like to write here the general TCM properties of things that are bitter?I’ll again follow up on that after you have written it.That’s okay when your tongue is white. It helps only very slightly, though and not at all in other conditions. I do not like brushing the tongue coz the endings on the papillae are extremely delicate and can be destroyed. When I brush my tongue at all, I’d do it very very lightly and using a very soft brush. It is, afterall, one’s own health that determines on how effective the taste buds work. On that note, overdose of wine and spicy food adversely affects your senses in tasting very fine tastes such as that of tea. Smoking and strong liquor are the worst enemies in taste. If you notice, those people or even chefs who drink and smoke a lot prefer food with much stronger tastes.
@happyman, this is a very difficult question to answer. There is an accreditation system in Hong Kong for TCM doctors but I’d say the majority aren’t that good. Think of it, it is the same for “Western” practice doctors. Some people rely on internet forums to check the reputation of a doctor. What I can say is, you have to try one to see if one really solves the problem for you.
@tea soul, Thank you for bringing this up. Perhaps I should write about that too. Actually new shengcha can be quite pleasant tasting when they have been steamed and baked through the compressing process.
@Betty, Thank you for bringing up the question. This is one fact that a lot of people, even some professional tasters, don’t notice. We rely on the papillae on our tongues to physically receive taste materials. Not only do the conditions of these little protrusions change throughout the day and affected by the different things that have passed through them, but also our very own health. The appearance of the tongue is actually one important indicator for TCM doctors during diagnosis. That is why when I don’t feel well, I don’t do tasting at all; the result won’t be true. I am posting an ancient drawing in a TCM book for your reference. There are modern photographic versions with very detail differences and variations, but they are too explicit to be posted here.
@sofie1212, I have the impression that you are in Hong Kong. If so, you have many choices.
I often encourage the use of ginger to drive TCM cold, wind and dampness evils because it is available in most places and it is simple to understand. It is not perfect. As one other reader points out, it can attract heat evils. It is spicy hot, so some people may not like it. There are also people whose yin qi is so overused to a point that they have hot TCM symptoms and yet any more TCM cooling agents would further weaken them. Each person’s condition is unique and what I am sharing are only some very basic common sense.If you feel that tea’s cool TCM would affect you, you may be weak in yin. The best thing is to find an experienced TCM practitioner to regain your balance. If that’s too much for you, include things like jujube (紅棗), wolfberries (杞子), yellow leader (北芪), and occasional chen-pi (陳皮) in your beverage or diet. These are are mild yin-tonic for supporting your fire energy. Some of them you can find powdered small packs for convenience. As you may know, nothing beats the real thing, but having the powdered ones is better than not having them.Find suppliers with reputation and who sell good quality ones. I trust only Eu Yan Sang.That sold zhuni pot is slab-bulit, ie without mould, if that’s what you mean by all handmade. Those that are produced with half-moulds are handmade too, don’t you agree? The Chinese term “手工壺” is not a precise term, I think. All new pots will be higher in price not only because the dramatically increasing price at the source, but also the value of the Chinese Yuan.
