A good cup of tea, five tastes!
What are the five flavors in tea?And where did it come from?Let's take a look
The sweetness of tea — tea polysaccharides
There are many substances with a sweet taste in tea, such as alcohols, sugars and their derivatives, phenols, cool amines and certain amino acids. Among them, the main sweetening components are soluble sugars such as monosaccharides and disaccharides.
Tea polysaccharide is a biologically active complex polysaccharide, which is a class of acidic polysaccharides or acidic glycoproteins that bind to proteins. The composition and content of tea polysaccharides vary according to the different varieties of tea trees, the management level of tea gardens, the picking season, the age of raw materials and the processing technology. For example, the content of oolong tea is higher than that of green tea and black teaOr the older the raw material, the higher the content of tea polysaccharides.
The umami of tea — amino acids
The fresh taste in the tea soup is actually related to the amino acids in the tea leaves. Amino acids, as one of the three most important substances (tea polyphenols, amino acids, and caffeine) that make up the taste of tea, have a fresh taste and can harmonize the bitterness in tea.
Of course, the content of amino acids varies from one type of tea to another. As the fermentation time increases, the amino acids contained in the new tea will gradually decrease. Therefore, among the six major tea categories, white tea and green tea with a low degree of fermentation will contain more amino acids.
Astringency of tea — tea polyphenols
Astringency, in fact, is not a taste, it is not a reaction of a substance acting on the taste buds, it is a feeling. Polyphenols bind to proteins in the epithelial tissue of the oral mucosa and solidify into an impermeable layer that produces a sensation called astringency.
The content of tea polyphenols in new tea is about 20%-30% depending on the variety, and at the same time, the tea polyphenols will be decomposed to reduce the content and the astringency will also be reduced. If the polyphenol content in the tea is more, it will form a taste of astringency and then sweetness, which makes people have an endless aftertaste.
The bitterness of tea — caffeine
The bitterness in tea is mainly caffeine.
The content of caffeine in tea is about 2%-5%, and the content of caffeine is closely related to the growth and metabolism of tea plants. To put it simply: the new shoots of tea that grow vigorously have a higher caffeine content. This is also the reason why summer tea is often more bitter than spring tea.
Caffeine has an effect on activating cerebral cortex cells, stimulating gastric juice and bile secretion, and is the main substance for their preference for tea. And it is easy to dissolve in hot water, so when making tea, you can reduce the bitterness in the tea soup by lowering the water temperature.
The sour taste of tea — organic acids
The sour taste in tea mainly comes from organic acids, but there are also some other low levels of ascorbic acid, gallic acid, theaflavins and theaflavin.
Sourness is also one of the elements that regulate the flavor of tea soup. A small part of the sourness in tea is inherent in fresh leaves, and a large part is formed during tea processing.
Therefore, when tasting oolong tea and black tea, it is easier to taste the sourness in the tea leaves. In other words, in the taste composition of fermented tea, the sour taste is more important.
Did you have tea today?Come and tell me what kind of tea you've been drinking lately