Huigan and Shengjin

Ask tea lovers whether a pu'er is good, and eight out of ten will start with: "The huigan is great," or "The shengjin comes fast." These two words are practically the common language of pu'er tasting. Neither describes the flavor at the moment the tea enters your mouth; both are changes that appear slowly in the mouth after you drink.

What Is Huigan?

Huigan (回甘, "returning sweetness") is the sweetness that slowly rises from the back of the tongue, the throat, and the mouth after you swallow the tea. It's different from the "sweetness" you taste on entry:

The most common pattern is "bitterness turning to sweetness": a touch of bitterness on entry fades within seconds, and then sweetness rises from the throat. Many people consider this shift from bitter to sweet the most captivating thing about pu'er.

Research hasn't reached a single conclusion about what causes huigan. It's generally thought to relate to how the bitter, astringent, and sweet components of the tea change in the mouth: as the bitterness and astringency fade, the relative sense of sweetness becomes more noticeable, and sugars and amino acids remaining in the mouth also contribute sweetness.

What Is Shengjin?

Shengjin (生津) is the feeling of saliva welling up naturally after drinking tea, leaving the mouth moist and comfortable, much like your mouth watering at the sight of a sour plum, only gentler. Pu'er's ability to bring on saliva and quench thirst is one reason so many people love it.

Shengjin is often linked to astringency: the tea polyphenols make the mouth's surfaces pucker, and as that puckering fades, the mouth feels more moist. So in a good tea, moderate astringency actually brings good shengjin; but if the astringency is too heavy and never fades, all that's left is dryness.

What Are "Shengjin at the Cheeks" and "A Spring Beneath the Tongue"?

Tea lovers distinguish several kinds of shengjin by where it appears:

• Shengjin at the cheeks: Saliva wells up along the sides of the mouth near the cheeks. The most common, and it comes quickly.
• Shengjin on the tongue: The surface of the tongue becomes moist; a subtler sensation.
• Shengjin beneath the tongue: Saliva rises continuously from under the tongue, lasting a long time.

"A spring singing beneath the tongue" (舌底鳴泉) is how tea lovers describe shengjin beneath the tongue, likening the saliva to a spring welling up endlessly from under the tongue; some even say it's as if you could hear it. Tea lovers often regard shengjin beneath the tongue as the finest sensation, because it comes from deep down and lasts long. These are experiential descriptions from the tea world; everyone's mouth perceives things differently, so there's no need to force yourself to feel the same thing.

What Do Fast and Slow Huigan Mean?

Huigan has two aspects: speed and persistence.

• Fast huigan: Appears within seconds of swallowing. Common in teas with more noticeable bitterness and astringency that dissolve quickly, such as some raw teas from the Menghai region.
• Slow huigan: Takes ten-odd seconds to 1–2 minutes to appear gradually, but often lingers a long time.
• Lasting: The huigan lasts several minutes; your mouth may still be sweet some time after you've finished.
• Short: Sweet for a moment, then gone.

The tea world often says "fast huigan is not as good as lasting huigan": something that arrives quickly and disappears just as quickly is less appealing than something gentle that stays long. Which is better really comes down to personal preference; fast, intense huigan makes a strong impression, while slow, lasting huigan is more absorbing.

The strength of huigan also depends on brewing: too weak and you won't feel it; too strong and the bitterness and astringency overwhelm everything, masking the huigan.

How to Sense It More Clearly

1. Hold the tea in your mouth for 2–3 seconds before swallowing.
2. After swallowing, close your mouth, breathe through your nose, and wait quietly for 10–30 seconds.
3. Pay attention to the back of your tongue and your throat; sweetness usually starts there.
4. Then pay attention to your cheeks and under your tongue, and see whether saliva wells up.
5. Take a sip of plain water and compare; after a tea with good huigan, even plain water tastes sweet.

That last point is fun: after a tea with good huigan, a sip of plain water often tastes sweet. It's a handy little test for huigan.

Which Teas Have Pronounced Huigan and Shengjin?

Generally, raw tea is more pronounced than ripe tea, because raw tea retains more tea polyphenols, making the shift from bitterness and astringency to huigan more vivid. Commonly cited examples in the tea world are the sweetness and huigan of the Bingdao area and the bitter base and rapid huigan of the Lao Banzhang area. Ripe tea's huigan is gentler and its shengjin softer; its focus is on mellowness, thickness, and smooth sweetness. To experience it for yourself, try a Bingdao Old Village Dragon Pearl and pay special attention to the sweetness after swallowing in the third and fourth infusions.

For other related terms, read A Small Dictionary of Pu'er Tasting Terms and Throat Feel.

FAQ

What is huigan? The sweetness that slowly rises from the back of the tongue and throat after you swallow the tea; it's different from the sweetness you taste on entry.

What is shengjin? The feeling of saliva welling up naturally after drinking tea, leaving the mouth moist and comfortable.

How do shengjin at the cheeks and "a spring beneath the tongue" differ? Shengjin at the cheeks appears along the sides of the mouth and comes quickly; "a spring beneath the tongue" describes saliva rising continuously from under the tongue, which tea lovers regard as deeper and longer-lasting.

Is fast or slow huigan better? Each has its character; the tea world often says lasting huigan matters more than fast huigan. Fast and intense or slow and lingering comes down to personal preference.