How to distinguish Longjing tea from Longjing tea before Yu?

Tea before the Ming Dynasty and tea before the rain are the names of spring tea in different stages of Jiangnan tea area in the Yangtze River basin in China according to the solar terms. "Tea before tomorrow" is the tea picked before Tomb-Sweeping Day, and "Tea before rain" is the tea picked before Tomb-Sweeping Day and Grain Rain. The tea before Ming Dynasty was tender and of good quality, while the tea before Yu Dynasty was of good quality. Tea leaves after Grain Rain and before long summer are generally coarse and old, with poor quality. Therefore, ordinary consumers like to buy West Lake Longjing tea before the Ming Dynasty. How to distinguish between tea before tomorrow and tea before rain is mainly judged from the following aspects.

1. Picking time and time to market: The picking time of West Lake Longjing Qian Ming new tea is of course before Qingming, and due to global warming, the time to market West Lake Longjing Qian Ming new tea is getting earlier and earlier. Basically, West Lake Longjing Qian Ming new tea has been listed in March. Before the rain, West Lake Longjing tea, also known as spring catechu, is usually picked in front of Grain Rain after the Qingming Festival and usually listed in April and May.

Second, the external characteristics are different: the tea leaves of West Lake Longjing new tea before Ming Dynasty are thick, short and tender, and the buds of the new tea before Ming Dynasty are like the hearts of lotus seeds, so this kind of tea is sometimes called lotus seeds. On the other hand, before the rain, the tea leaves of West Lake Longjing Tea were thin, long and old. This kind of tea has not only buds, but also a flag gun with one bud and one leaf or a tongue with one bud and two leaves.

Third, the nutritional components are different: the picking time of these two teas is different, so the nutritional components of these two teas are also different. Compared with the West Lake Longjing tea before the Ming Dynasty, the West Lake Longjing tea before the rain has higher nutritional content. The main reason is that the temperature rises quickly after Qingming, the buds and leaves grow faster and the accumulated inclusions are richer, so the West Lake Longjing tea is more resistant to soaking before rain.