Theme - Experiencing tea

„hou long; 喉咙 - The throat. Often used in describing the experience of tea drinking. A pleasant feeling in the throat is a key factor in evaluating the quality of tea; 喉咙舒服/喉咙不舒服 - a comfortable or uncomfortable feeling in the throat.“

„Astringency
Astringency invariably accompanies bitterness. In some Puer the astringency is more pronounced, the bitterness slightly weaker. A benefit of astringency is that it can help promote salivation. If this is felt on the underside of the the tongue it is a further mark of good tea.“

„Then there is the more nuanced problem of what to do with the samples. It’s quite easy to say that sampling widely will give you experience in tea drinking. In practice, however, that’s not so simple. Of course, trying all kinds of teas will most certainly give you experience. However, it is experience on a relatively shallow level. Certain kinds of teas, such as really bad or really good teas, will probably manifest themselves quite readily. Others, however, are not so obvious. It is actually easier to try teas if you, say, cup them, but then it becomes work and the process is not very enjoyable. This is, ultimately, a hobby, and not a job (for me anyway) so taking the fun away like that is basically missing the point.“