Tea Expert Guesses Which Tea is More Expensive

I'm Emeric Harney and I'm a tea expert.

[slurping]

[bell ringing]

Tea A here is a tea bag.

Looks like a black tea has got a nice dark color

coming through the fiber here.

[inhaling]

Giving it a smell.

It has this kind of citrus aroma to it.

I wanna have a look here at the leaves inside.

So in a tea bag what we have here

is a grade of tea leaf called fannings.

And this is the smallest available to us in the market.

You know when we're at the factory

and we're producing these teas,

they are jostling through the machinery,

they are going through the oven.

And there's kind of little parts

that break off in the process.

But at the end what we do is we actually sort it

into these different sizes.

And so at the very top of the spectrum,

we do have full leaf tea which is the ideal product.

Fannings while they are the smallest,

they are also the most inexpensive.

They do serve this really great purpose

especially in the land of tea bags

because they infuse really quickly.

They have this large surface area so the water goes in

and it comes out and it pulls out

all of these really great compounds,

caffeine being a really important one.

Flavor, polyphenols, because of that faster rate

of extraction it actually can be almost an intense cut.

It's not as smooth, it's not as nuanced.

It can make it not as enjoyable for somebody.

Tea B is also a black tea.

It is in a sachet.

It usually means that we're using

a larger quality leaf size.

Which would yield a higher price point.

And giving it a smell it doesn't really have

too much aroma going on.

So I'm just gonna go ahead and open it.

And look at the leaf in here.

Opening up the sachet I'm a little bit surprised.

While it is a larger leaf size than tea A,

not as large as I would've expected it.

There's a lot of kind of these broken sizes.

Most of it's about a quarter inch long.

Maybe a third of an inch long.

A full leaf tea is definitely gonna be longer than that.

Let's get to brewing.

So looking at the brewed cups we see that they both kind

of have this really nice reddish color to them.

Tea A you know when we pull it up,

it has a little bit of an orange quality to it.

It's important for us to slurp the liquid

because then we can turn it into a gas,

which is something that we can smell.

And that's something that we have this limitless library

of knowledge of things that we've been exposed to

to reference it with.

[slurping]

In the world of tea we do this second part of it

which is where we pull it through our teeth.

And that's what that kind of that chirping noise is

that I'm making it's kind of silly.

It's important for us to do that

because we're continuing to aerate the product.

And it allows me to pinpoint more so

what I'm looking to find here flavor-wise.

[slurping]

Right off the bat I can tell

that this is an Earl Gray.

We've got a nice blend of black teas,

maybe from China that create this really even smooth base.

And then of course we do have the bergamot on top of that.

Moving on to tea B.

It has a little bit more of a darker quality to it.

Give it a nice smell here.

[slurping]

It's a bit more challenging to say what this is.

As a blend of black teas,

it could be a number of different things.

We see a lot of things on the market

like Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast.

I think it's definitely safe to say

it is a blended breakfast tea.

I'm kind of at a hard place here 'cause normally

when I see a tea bag against a sachet,

I inherently believe that the tea bag

is going to be of inferior quality.

We have a flat packaging style with a small leaf inside

of it and then we have a very nice kind of packaging style

with room for a larger leaf tea.

However when we opened these we did see that this

is I would say substandard for a sachet quality tea.

But, I still think that the higher quality leaf

is in here so I'm going to say

that tea B is a higher price point.

And I was right, I like being right.

That's awesome.

[laughing]

That's good.

You know I think I just stuck to my guns here

and I knew that more often than not

we're using the higher quality leaf inside of a sachet

than we are inside of a tea bag.

So we've got two green teas.

The finished leaf of tea A has this

very flat leaf quality texture to it

which is generally achieved through a pan firing method.

So when the folks are out in the fields

picking these leaves they bring them in

and they're gonna then start processing them.

And that's really where green tea

might differ from black tea.

It's all gonna be about the post processing method.

And in the case here they're gonna give it

a little bit of time to wither.

But really what they're gonna try

to do is fix it by exposing it to heat.

Getting it a little bit closer here

we're gonna [inhaling] try to get some flavors out of it.

[inhaling]

and I'm getting this very soft subtle note

of like steamed bok choy.

The skin of walnuts or peanuts, things like that.

That's really kind of consistent

with the idea of it being pan fired.

Tea B is definitely a different style here.

When we're looking at green teas from China specifically

we're used to seeing them fixed in a pan.

Or they might be oven fired.

When the tea is oven fired it kind of curls up on itself

and that's how we get this kind of twisted look to it.

This is actually quite consistent.

Like the leaf size and structure is pretty consistent

throughout the whole tea.

I'm gonna try to get something from the aroma.

[sniffing]

Oh wow.

A mixture of sweetness and like zucchini.

It's a very unique kind of combination.

I'm very excited about that.

[laughing]

Let's get these started.

With green tea we are gonna be

using less than boiling water.

It we were gonna use boiling water,

it would actually burn it and you'd get

a very unpleasant flavor in your mouth.

Tea A has this really beautiful clear color to it.

It's got this pale lima bean green.

I mean that's something that is really characteristic

of these pan fired Chinese green teas

called Dragonwell or Lung Ching.

The color of tea B is a little bit darker

and a little bit more muted.

It's not a high quality tea

as much as I had hoped it would be.

So starting with tea A.

[slurping]

Okay the walnut flavor is really predominant here.

More so than I actually expected.

And I think that might be because

it actually used a higher temperature when they

were firing it in a wok.

Definitely when we're using a higher temperature like that,

we might be trying to hide something

that is maybe a little unpleasant.

Tea B.

[slurping]

That sweetness is not there.

And that's a little disappointing unfortunately.

The aroma of this was very exciting

but this is a little bit more vegetal

than I expected it to be.

Tea B actually has a much more consistent leaf quality to it

which makes me think that more effort went into it.

And that it could command a higher price.

I do think that tea B is the more expensive of the two.

So let's figure it out.

I was right, that's good.

So in the end I was right about tea B

being more expensive.

That's largely because of the leaf structure.

We've got a really consistent leaf size here.

And it shows that there was a lot of attention to detail

and care put into managing the production of this leaf.

Tea A on the other hand,

it may not have had the same consistent structure

that we saw here in tea B

but it really had a great cup

and that's really what matters.

So what we have in front of me are two things

that don't really look like tea.

Tea A has this pale yellow color to it

as I look through a lot of small pieces.

I'm going to guess that it's a chamomile which is a flower.

Giving it a smell.

It really has this faint smell of green apples.

It really has that kind of fresh,

sweetness to it.

We're looking at fannings again since we're in a tea bag.

And you can see it has this interesting makeup

of these really small filaments

which are a little bit of combination of the stalk

of the chamomile and also the pollen that's there.

That's primarily what is going to be in a chamomile tea bag

is a combination of different parts of the plant.

There are some darker flecks in here

that I'm not used to seeing.

So that might be from where they get their chamomile from

or it might be something that we don't

actually want in our chamomile.

Tea B is in a slightly different style.

[sniffing]

It does have a stronger aroma

to it which is very interesting.

That's something what we want to smell

is something a little bit stronger.

It might be a fresher product.

Now this tea bag looks quite identical.

I have a feeling I'm going to be making quite a guess here.

A similar composition of filaments

and some squares of pollen.

There are those darker things as well.

Unfortunately though I really can't get much else

from just looking at the leaves here

so I think I'm really gonna have to taste them.

Tea A has this really thin color to it.

[slurping]

There is actually a nice sweetness to it.

It has this really pleasant honey quality to it

alongside those green apple notes.

Very enjoyable.

Now tea B has this really nice kind of rich color to it.

[slurping]

It's a little bit more earthy than I expected.

When I'm tasting chamomiles they have like I said

this lightness to them and this sweetness to them.

That bold body that it has is definitely unsettling

and it's not something that I really enjoy in a chamomile.

Because of that assessment I do think that this

has been made with slightly lower quality chamomile

and maybe that they're using a little bit more

of the twigs to kind of fill up some of the bag.

And so I do think that this is the lesser expensive

option of tea A and tea B.

Let's find out.

Argh!

That's bad, that's bad.

That's not cool.

So I really think what might be happening here

is a little bit of market play.

It's possible that a company has some sort

of prestige or premiumization to their name

and to the products that they have sold for so long

that they think that they can command a certain price point

and maybe they can.

This is not double the ingredient quality

of tea A and sometimes that just happens.

So we have two teas here.

But they look a little bit confusing to me

'cause I see that tea A kind of looks like a green tea.

But tea B kind of looks like a black tea.

So looking at tea A,

we have these really beautiful emerald hues of this green.

The leaves are a little bit twisted.

But I'm not seeing a lot of buds in them.

So I'm not thinking that this is traditionally

like what be a green tea.

Getting a little bit of the aroma,

[exhaling]

[inhaling]

Like a lemon taffy.

It's a little bit sweet.

It's a little creamy.

That'll be very very fun to taste.

Looking at tea B we have a much more darker,

more oxidized leaf here.

So we're looking at these kind of dark brown leaves.

There's a couple of twigs here and there.

Which isn't necessarily a great thing

for a high end tea.

The leaf size is pretty consistent.

But because there's a mixture of leaf and twig,

I'm already kind of thinking that this isn't necessarily

the higher end of the two.

Let's get a little bit more out of it.

[exhaling]

[inhaling]

Oh okay.

[sniffing]

This is very dark.

This is like sandalwood.

[exhaling]

[inhaling]

Like charcoal.

That's not entirely surprising because

it is more oxidized so the more oxidization there is

in a leaf the darker the flavor.

So that makes sense that this is kind of light

and floral and citrusy and creamy.

And this is darker and charcoaly and woody.

The only thing left to do is to make 'em into tea.

So I have a very strong inclination

that these are oolongs.

Oolongs fit into that category that lives

between green teas and black teas.

The lighter or the shorter the amount of oxidation,

the lighter the flavors.

The darker or the longer the oxidation period,

the darker the leaf is,

the darker the flavor is.

So I'm gonna start with tea A.

[slurping]

So a lot of that warm cream flavor

and citrus that I was talking about

has totally dissipated and it's not there at all.

The only thing that I'm getting is like lily of the valley,

gardenia, a lot of these floral notes.

Looking at tea B.

[slurping]

The cup here really kind of embodies the aromas.

We have these really kind of dark,

toasty, charcoal flavors in the aroma.

And then we're getting those right there in the cup.

Sometimes you know the aroma of the leaves

can tell you one story and then all of a sudden

when you taste the cup it's something completely different.

And there's really nothing but to do

but just to relish in the fact

that you've totally surprised yourself.

This is so spectacularly floral.

And I didn't get very much floral at all.

I really got a lot of these sweet flavors.

A lot of this kind of citrus creaminess from the leaves.

So that's pretty, that's fun.

There was a lot of effort that went into making this.

So I would say that tea A is the more expensive tea here.

Why don't we find out?

[laughing]

I mean there's not much of a contest there.

We're looking at oolong of this quality.

Where it evokes this much nuance and aroma and flavor.

It takes time, it takes effort to make that.

This is a very hot topic tea right now called matcha.

I can tell instantly that this is matcha

because it's powdered green tea.

And tea A has this beautiful vibrant color.

And that's usually the best indicator

of the quality of the matcha.

The brighter it is the more unnatural it looks,

the better it's gonna be.

I am gonna taste it a little bit from the powder.

It's not the most pleasant flavor.

It's like a young asparagus.

So there's a little bit of sweetness.

But there's still that really strong

underlying quality of vegetal flavors.

Looking here at tea B.

It's much more dull.

It's not an exciting bright green color.

It wasn't as nice of a leaf grade to start with.

It may have been older.

It may not have been shade grown.

It may not have been shade grown as long.

But it's definitely not a positive on this tea.

Yeah okay.

So that's giving me a much darker flavor.

There's very little sweetness.

Like nori seaweed, very dark spinach.

To understand about the quality of them each

is to really taste them.

Now matcha has a very different preparation

than the other teas that we've tried today.

Because it's powdered we actually are going

to be whisking it in to water.

So rather than infusing the flavor out,

we're actually just gonna be bonding

the matcha molecules to the water molecules.

So why don't we whisk 'em up.

So looking at tea A,

we have this really even layer of foam.

This beautiful color.

And that's what we're looking for with a good matcha.

In tea B we have a little bit of an uneven layer.

There's this little crescent here where we don't have foam.

And that sometimes can be user error

like maybe I didn't whisk this strong enough or well enough

but also sometimes it can mean

that maybe this matcha was clumping

and that it didn't blend well when I whisked it.

So we'll give tea A a try.

[slurping]

That's delicious.

This is what I think is perfect about matcha.

It has this really nice vegetal undertone

but it's sweet, it's delightful.

It's something that you could enjoy every day.

How nice it is does make me think that it is expensive.

[slurping]

Now this one on the other hand, tea B.

It's giving me a lot of a chlorophyll flavor

like a algae, alfalfa, spinach.

It's dull, it's not bright, which is important.

I think that tea B might be a little bit more

of a lower grade but I do think it is a step below this.

Let's find out.

Whoo!

That's different.

That is a quite a large price difference actually.

When you're shopping for matcha in the supermarket

there's gonna be a plethora of options.

It's become so so popular.

So if you're looking to add something

into your daily smoothie for an added dose

of maybe a caffeine or amino acids,

this is really great.

But if you're looking to enjoy something

that is bright and unique and vibrant,

you can't beat tea A.

Growing up I drank a lot of tea with my father

and with my grandfather.

And they imparted on me that tea time is any time.

So enjoy your cup of tea

and drink it any time of day.