Chinese have a soft spot for the word "wild", from wild meat, wild vegetables to home flowers are not as fragrant as wild flowers, and this trend has spread to the tea world. However, we need to look at the "wildness" of tea rationally.
The wild tea mentioned in Lu Yu's "Book of Tea" actually refers to wild tea, that is, undomesticated tea trees. These tea plants are diverse, their quality and aroma are uncertain, and they may contain unknown toxins, making it risky to drink directly. Therefore, from a modern point of view, Lu Yu's "the wild one is on the one and the garden is second" is no longer applicable.
Nowadays, the wild tea that is often referred to is actually wilderness tea, that is, the tea trees that were once artificially planted but later abandoned and grew naturally. These tea plants have accumulated a large amount of nutrients due to the lack of human intervention for a long time, and they are of high quality. However, not all abandoned tea plantations can produce wilderness tea, and there is no uniform standard for the time of abandonment.
There is an essential difference between wilderness tea and wild tea, the former is abandoned after artificial cultivation, and the latter grows completely naturally. Old tea customers love wilderness tea, because of its rich taste and wild charm, which is very different from the tea garden tea planted in a standardized way.
In short, the wild beauty of tea is desirable, but blind pursuit can bring hidden dangers. When tasting wild tea, we should be rational and cautious.