What is the guide to avoiding pitfalls when buying Longjing in Hangzhou West Lake?

First of all, to be clear, the text will mention Longjing, but it is not meant to be derogatory.
What is meant by authentic here is to distinguish it from all teas that are not West Lake Longjing tea, any tea that tries to pass itself off as West Lake Longjing. It is not directed at Longjing tea.

1, easy to enter the West Lake Longjing misconceptions

Myth No. 1: The earlier you drink West Lake Longjing, the better (Ming Qian tea)?

There are two points here, can not be called misconceptions, mostly a matter of mentality.
The problem with pursuing early tea is that: when you meet a crooked businessman, it is easy to sell you Wu Niu early as West Lake Longjing; the other is that in fact, in recent years, for Longjing 43, Ming Qian (West Lake Longjing) tea is almost always Longjing 43; groups of species West Lake Longjing generally half a month later, before the rain tea you are likely to encounter.

On the one hand, according to the tea time to market, then, Wu Niu early (Longjing tea process) > Longjing 43 (group soil species second breeding of West Lake Longjing) > Longjing group species (group soil species West Lake Longjing).

On the other hand, Longjing 43 tea species is characterized by strong buds and strong seedlings that grow fast and are resistant to cold and frost. After all, it is a cultivar that is planted for large areas to allow tea farmers to increase their income, plus nowadays people realize that Ming Qian tea is better for self-drinking or for giving away, in order to be early.

So, if you want to drink the West Lake Longjing of the old tea tree of the group soil species (locally also called “earth tea”), I am afraid to wait until after the Longjing 43 listed, and then a little later.

In addition, the morning tea is easy to drink too much fire; general morning tea refrigerated for a week, drink a lot of calm.

Myth two: the authentic taste of West Lake Longjing is “fried soybean fragrance”?

Conclusion: The flavor of West Lake Longjing tea can be “fried soybean fragrance”; but better is “bean flower fragrance, clear flower fragrance”.

Then why is “fried soybean fragrance” more perceived? I can only say that this is the same as Ming Qian tea, in the final analysis, are business. Fried soybean fragrance, is the local people say “old fire tea”.

Very early, the tea making process is primitive, plus the tea season around Qingming, the air is humid. So the tea farmer fried tea leaves a little too hot, so that he tea endoplasm more stable, to avoid moisture absorption and change of taste, naturally reduce customer complaints, enhance efficiency. Over time, this taste has settled down and become the classic flavor of West Lake Longjing.

There will be low-end coarse old tea, to “fried soybean fragrance” as a criterion, to cover their low-grade not into the “essence”.

The early spring tea produced in the West Lake area Meijiawu, Shifeng area, such as the normal tea making process, without the old fire and raw green smell of West Lake Longjing is tender flowers with fragrance, the taste is more fresh and soft.

The last is that now many tea merchants and even tea farmers began to use the machine frying, overheating problems no longer, from the taste alone, can not say that the authentic taste of West Lake Longjing is “fried soybean fragrance”.

Myth 3: Origin grade = tea grade?

West Lake Longjing tea planting base is divided into a protected area and a secondary protected area, some businesses emphasize their tea from a protected area, in an attempt to confuse the “”primary protected area”” and “primary tea” concept.

The so-called primary protection zone and secondary protection zone delineation is mainly a matter of prescribed land use, the authority of the expropriation, not the standard of evaluation of the quality of the production area.

In addition, the quality of Longwu, like the secondary protected area, is also very good, and the 2018 Ming Qian tea is more than 1000 pounds.

So why is it that the West Lake Longjing in the primary protected area (also known as the core production area), often sells well, with high prices and a wide audience?

The bottom line: buy West Lake Longjing, a small part of the self-drinking, more as a gift to give, you can not always add a sentence when someone receives the tea: secondary production areas also have good tea? The other party received the tea, full of doubts.

Too much trouble for yourself, embarrassing for both sides.

In the end, it became a demand-determined price, price and then linked to fame, complementing each other, the status rocketed upward.

Myth No. 4: The greener you drink West Lake Longjing, the better?

It is true that the green is good, which is also the characteristics of West Lake Longjing, but the real West Lake Longjing green is yellowish brown rice color. The kind of green shiny, but not authentic West Lake Longjing.

On the one hand, because the West Lake Longjing as bud tea, shade, short sunshine; fried yellow green bright color mixed into one; the other is after frying high temperature, water analysis out, will also let the original sharp green fade, to the hands of tea drinkers, become authentic West Lake Longjing should have the color.

Myth 5: taste concentration and quality are related?

The taste of West Lake Longjing is on the light side. The earlier sprouted Longjing 43, generally 10 to 15 days earlier than the Longjing group species on the market, the later picked West Lake Longjing or the later sprouted group species of West Lake Longjing, the more concentrated, the more resistant the tea will be to brewing.

2、How to buy authentic West Lake Longjing

2.1 Know what is the authentic West Lake Longjing tea enterprises legitimate business West Lake Longjing tea enterprises, is required to get the “West Lake Longjing” brand authorization.

Put another way, dare to sell “West Lake Longjing” without authorization and take legal risks, sell you fake West Lake Longjing, and what dare not?

Founded in 2013, Hangzhou West Lake Longjing Tea Management Association, is the registrant of the “West Lake Longjing” geographical indication trademark, the “West Lake Longjing” trademark enjoys exclusive rights and management rights.

As of February 2, 2023, Hangzhou West Lake Longjing Tea Management Association announced the following 144 authorized enterprises of the “West Lake Longjing” trademark in 2023.

2.2 Recognize the authentic West Lake Longjing anti-counterfeit mark Anti-counterfeit traceability mark is the second basis to directly determine whether you buy “West Lake Longjing” in addition to the brand.

“West Lake Longjing” trademark management authority in the West Lake Longjing Tea Management Association, but the anti-counterfeiting mark has been a very strict, official level of things.

Strict to what extent? How many anti-counterfeiting labels are issued each year, label specifications, applications, and the final exhaustion to be destroyed, the entire rulemaking, is responsible for the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Hangzhou Rural Development Bureau), Hangzhou Municipal Administration of Market Supervision, which is the GOV level, to eliminate the abuse of the West Lake Longjing brand.

The latest official news in 2023 said that the new year West Lake Longjing anti-counterfeiting mark specifications are:

“Proof mark N (for tea farmers)” with specifications of 125g and 250g per mark.

“Proof label Q (for enterprises)” each logo specifications are divided into eight kinds of 20g, 30g, 50g, 100g, 125g, 150g, 200g and 250g.

If changes are needed, the city’s agricultural and rural authorities will dynamically adjust the relevant specifications according to the actual situation. So generally speaking, the tea you buy, whether it is a tea farmer or a corporate store, is to have these things.

2.3 If you buy offline

If you want to go to Hangzhou to buy offline, the official authorization of the West Lake Longjing enterprises opened with their respective brands of specialty stores and franchises. Can maximize the risk of avoiding the risk of buying fake West Lake Longjing.

If you are not in Hangzhou and want to buy West Lake Longjing offline

1, master the basic knowledge of West Lake Longjing origin (tea farmers), grade, brand.

2, fixed to a tea store to buy, from the root to ensure the stability of tea quality. learn to identify the true and false merits of West Lake Longjing, is to understand the right and wrong;

Learn to fix to buy in a tea store, is to understand the pros and cons. The pros: the high probability of getting a genuine West Lake Longjing. The store owner also knows that you are not a passing customer, plus the continuous consumption, he does not need to get rid of such a “loyal and may come to him at any time to distinguish right from wrong” customer.

When there is a new tea, you will have the opportunity to be invited for a tasting. This is something that tea store owners who know how to do business often do.

There are also some disadvantages: can not tea store owners kill or not, you will face a problem of price comparison; at the same time, if it is a gift demand, a single tea store to choose the packaging style, will also face the problem of a single style.

General tea store gift boxes, not too bad, but too fashionable is not a lot. This aspect of the tea store do not have too many extravagant expectations.

2.4 Notes on buying West Lake Longjing offline

1. Verify the business situation by phone before you go. In order to avoid encountering problems such as closed stores and relocation, if you need to go, it is recommended that you can locate the store through the map and find the store and then contact the phone to verify, so as not to pounce.
2. Franchise stores are named after various corporate brands or entity store trade names, so pay attention to differentiation. Generally authorized to sell West Lake Longjing store name is not called franchise, partly named after the brand of tea enterprises, partly named after the store name. We also look forward to the gradual standardization of the management and operation of the West Lake Longjing entity.
3. Buy brand tea, newcomers do not try loose tea. Not loose tea can not, is our novice tea friends knowledge base is limited.

Buy tea, we seek the optimal solution —- that is, where can we maximize the possibility of buying authentic West Lake Longjing, we go to recommend where; rather than let people just find a place to buy a tea store that can not see the brand logo, but also to buy a pack of loose tea?

2.5 If you buy online
1, from the product logo to ensure that the genuine product

Directly look at the merchant’s verbal or the appearance of the product packaging can be introduced; if it is an e-commerce platform, look directly at the page introduction.

Longjing and West Lake Longjing, and not just let the merchant yell.

Whether it is Longjing or West Lake Longjing, there are respective management departments. “Longjing” is the “Zhejiang Province Agricultural Technology Promotion Center” is responsible for the management of the use; “West Lake Longjing” trademark is by the “West Lake Longjing Tea Management Association “is responsible for the management of the use.

To sell Longjing and West Lake Longjing, you need to have the “Commercial Standard Use Certificate” and the related anti-counterfeit label shown above.

2、Small-scale trial purchase

The first time to buy tea online platform, in addition to ensure that the platform is reliable, naturally is not suitable for a one-time purchase of too expensive, too much tea. Not that we tea lovers are not strong enough, but worried that the enemy is too cunning!

At this time, it is very necessary to choose the small size for trial purchase. West Lake Longjing itself has a standardized 20g, 30g small size standard; at the same time some e-commerce platform, live will have opened the main package inside the small package to try, unsatisfied can be refunded activities, you can also try.

3, West Lake Longjing online purchase recommendations