Changes to our Guided Tea Tastings
Central to our studio experience has been our Guided Tea Tasting sessions. We’ve received a tonne of great feedback from those that have attended a session and are always looking for ways to improve the experience.
We’ve updated the format of the Guided Tea Tastings with the following changes:
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Casual Tea Sessions
We also get that not everyone is able to dedicate 1.5hrs of their day to a tea experience. We get that sometimes, you just want a nice, relaxing spot to rest and chill for a bit before moving on to your next destination. We get it. Which is why we’ll now be offering Casual tea sessions – i.e. servings of individual teas – for yourself or to share at the studio.
Click here for the latest tea menu
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Occasionally, we’ll be holding specially themed or guest workshops / events at the studio. Sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date with what’s happening at the studio.
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Did you know that we also have a YouTube channel dedicated to all things Chinese tea? Well we do. On the channel we’ll be sharing our thoughts on different teas, tea types, talk about the history and culture that surrounds Chinese tea and anything else that we can think of that’s related to tea. Check it out.
]]>As we inch closer to Christmas, there are certain smells and tastes that immediately make us think of the holidays. For some, the sweet and spicy Christmas pudding is the quintessential flavour of Christmas. Or maybe it's a great big glazed ham, or roast turkey. Or if you're in Australia where it's summer down under, it's all about seafood and summer fruits like peaches, nectarines, maybe even lychees. Whatever your signature flavours of Christmas may be, there's bound to be a tea that matches. Here's a list of a few teas that we think are perfectly suited to the silly season.
--- SUMMER VIBES ---
While for most, Christmas-time evokes memories of snow and everyone gathering around a fireplace, for us in the southern hemisphere, it's all summer, heat and beach-vibes. And the following teas make for the perfect summertime drink, especially when Cold Brewed.
White Peony (White Tea) and Misty Pine (Green Tea)
Light, vibrant and refreshing, nothing screams a fresh spring or summer like a White Peony White tea or a Misty Pine Green tea. Lighter on the flavour spectrum, these teas would go well with any Christmas seafood feast.
Cold Brew any of these ahead of time for a delicious, ready-to-go drink that's sure to impress the folks at your Christmas feast.
--- CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE ---
For the more typical Christmas vibes, something a little more warming, with slight hints of spice are in order.
Smokey Lapsang Souchong 2013 (Red/Black Tea)
This tea evokes feelings of sitting and gathering around a campfire or the fireplace. With flavour notes of dried fruits and a slight, zingy sourness that hits the back of the tongue, this is one tea that if you take a sip and close your eyes, you'd think you're in a more typical, northern hemisphere Christmas setting.
Notorious DHP and Stone Orchid (Rock Oolong Teas)
Continuing the spice route, Rock Oolongs such as Notorious DHP (aka Da Hong Pao) and Stone Orchid (aka Qi Lan) are just as cozy and will warm you up in all the right spots. With light roasted and notes of spice, these teas are perfect for if you want to evoke feelings of a warm, cozy Christmas in winter.
--- AFTER THE FEAST ---
Christmas is the one time of the year you're allowed to go all out and eat like there's no tomorrow. Ham, turkey with all the trimmings, roast potatoes, an abundance of prawns – suffice to say, we all tend to feel a little full and bloated after the big Christmas feast. And if we don't can we really say that we celebrate Christmas at all then?
Full Metal Ripe 2012 and Tuo 2008 (Ripe Pu'erh Tea)
For such occasions, one requires a good digestif to help it all go down and settle the stomach. Enter Ripe Pu'erh tea. This dark, rich, earthy style of fermented tea is thick and smooth in texture. It's low on caffeine (though not completely devoid of it), helps relaxes you and makes for the perfect tea to have during or after meals.
--- THE MORNING AFTER ---
Boxing Day, or, the morning after Christmas. It's a day of leftovers, cleaning up and all around recovering from what's been another big festive season. And you're going to need something to perk you up, to give you a bit of a kick in the butt to get you going.
Ice Breaker 2019 and Concrete Jungle 2016 (Raw Pu'erh Tea)
Raw Pu'erh teas will get you there. Strong in flavour and somewhat bitter (in a good way), these Raw Pu'erhs are sure to wake you up and get you going for the day. I find these can be used instead of coffee to give you a bit of a kick to get you going in the morning, especially when brewed for longer and stronger.
Whatever teas you end up drinking, there's bound to be one to match any kind of Christmas you're going for.
]]>Last week, we held a Tea and Mooncake event at the tea studio to celebrate the 2022 Mid-Autumn / Moon Festival (Sat Sept 10). Being one of the most significant and important holidays in the Chinese calendar, we wanted to celebrate this time of the year by bringing tea lovers together to enjoy a few different types of mooncakes alongside a course of fine Chinese teas as well.
The general theme for the tea and mooncake pairings this year was "harmony". Given the occasion – the Mid-Autumn / Moon Festival being a time of family reunion and harmony, we figured that would be our guiding principle to judge if a pairing worked or not. And we're happy to report that it did!
Here are the four tea and mooncake pairings we served at the event.
We started things off with a traditional Cantonese White lotus paste mooncake and paired it with our Bamboo Forest, non-smokey Lapsang Souchong Black tea. The depth and body of this black tea helped to cut through the rich, sweetness of the mooncake to produce a smooth, harmonious texture and feeling when they were both paired. The light citrus and malty notes of the tea also lingered on the palate, and were heightened when paired with the sweetness of the lotus paste.
Pairing 2:
Five Nut Mooncake x Tuo 2008 (Ripe Pu'erh Tea)
I have to be honest, the Five nut mooncake isn't a favourite of mine. It often is strange mix of sweet and savoury that I'm not really a fan of when it comes to mooncakes. However, being another very traditional style of mooncake that contains a great deal of symbolic importance (the five nuts represent five key virtues – benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, courtesy and trust), I figured it's an important mooncake to include in the mix.
So the goal was to pair it with a tea to make it enjoyable, even for me – and the perfect tea it turns out is a Ripe Pu'erh, in this case, Tuo 2008. The dark, earthy flavours of a Ripe Pu'erh helped to reduce the "strange" flavour that's typical of this mooncake and actually made for a very smooth and harmonious combination. The candied mandarin in the mooncake also served as a nice accent to compliment the tea, and the crunchy and chewy texture of the mooncake also paired quite well with the earthiness of the Ripe Pu'erh.
Pairing 3:
Lava Custard Mooncake x Concrete Jungle (Raw Pu'erh Tea)
After two courses of fairly traditional style mooncakes, we moved on to something more modern. The first of our modern style mooncakes was a sweet, Lava Custard mooncake. This mooncake, like the others is quite dense and sweet and had a taste and texture similar to a custard fudge cake. Definitely a lot more dessert and cake-like than the traditional styles of mooncake. To balance out the rich sweetness of this mooncake, we paired it with a Raw Pu'erh – Concrete Jungle.
A 2016 Raw Pu'erh tea from the Bulang mountains, it's a tea that has great depth, body and a little bitterness to boot. We brewed the tea a little stronger than usual so that the bitterness comes through a little more to cut through the sweetness of the lava custard mooncake. The sweet and bitter flavours of the pairing played off each other quite well, coming together to form another harmonious flavour and texture (notice a theme here with these pairings).
Pairing 4:
Snow skin Mango Mooncake x Duckpoop Dancong (Oolong Tea)
Snow skin Mooncakes are a little different in that they're usually served cold, and come in a range of sweet, fruit flavoured fillings.
We chose a mango snow skin mooncake and paired it with our Duckpoop Dancong Oolong tea. The floral fragrance of the Duckpoop Oolong tea paired really well with the mango flavours, and the fruitiness of the mooncake enhanced the floral notes of the tea. We thought it'd be ideal, after having a series of fairly heavy and strong flavoured mooncakes, to finish off the event with something more refreshing and light.
We had a lot of fun putting together the event and sharing tea and mooncakes with other tea lovers at our tea studio this year, and it seems, a great time was had by all. The question is, how are we going to top this year's event next year? I guess we have another year or so to figure that out.
]]>Now that you have this pot though, what next? Crack open your favourite tea and let 'er rip? Not quite. Before using this pot for the first time, it's best that you season it. Because Yixing zisha teapots are unglazed, they tend to have a clay-like aroma attached to them that can have unwanted effects on the tea that you’re brewing. Seasoning the pot will remove this effect and will allow you to start brewing better tea.
Important note: As Yixing zisha teapots are pourous and tend to absorb the flavours of the tea that you brew, it’s recommended that you dedicate and only brew one type of tea with every zisha teapot. So choose wisely.
HOW TO SEASON YOUR YIXING ZISHA TEAPOT
After all this, your Yixing zisha teapot is now ready to use. Happy brewing!
]]>This is a line I hear quite often and to some extent, I agree. Everybody enjoys different things and have different tastes. If you enjoy it, who am I to say it’s bad?
That attitude I find, from the perspective of a tea vendor, doesn’t quite cut it and really, is a bit of a cop out. As a tea vendor, our aim is to bring you the best teas we can find, and to show you something that’s unique and of quality. How do we decide if it's of quality though?
While we do take tea seriously, we don't go through and attempt to judge/grade every single tea that we sample or check it off against some specific list of criteria. Where's the fun in that? That being said, there are 3 specific things that we do generally look for when it comes to deciding whether or not what we're drinking is in fact "good tea." And a little hint, it goes beyond "it smells and tastes good."
AROMA IN THE TEA LIQUOR
Can you taste the tea's aroma in the tea liquor? Is the tea's aroma reflected in its flavour or, do the leaves only smell nice but, when you go to brew the tea, all you can taste is water? Usually, lower quality teas or, teas that have had flavourings or essential oils added will smell fragrant and aromatic, but, when you go to brew them, the aromas disappear far too quickly and what you're left with is a thin, flavourless brew that almost tastes like water. What you smell isn’t what you taste and in fact, the flavours are usually very one dimensional.
With good teas, what you smell is also what you taste and more. The aroma of good tea is complex and gradually reveals itself to you in the tea liquor as you drink it. So more than just considering whether or not we simply like the flavour and aroma of a particular tea, we also consider whether or not you can taste the aroma in the tea liquor.
AFTERTASTE
Is there a pleasant but more importantly, a lingering aftertaste to the tea that you’re drinking? We’ve found that the flavour of lower quality teas tend to disappear quite quickly, and sometimes, even before you’ve swallowed the tea, leaving you wanting. Great teas leave a pleasant, lingering aftertaste that hangs around long after you’ve drunk the tea. As one tea producer explained it to us (and we’re paraphrasing + translating here):
Think of where the flavour stops in the tea that you’re drinking. With lower quality teas, the flavour stops almost immediately at the front of your tongue (too thin and the flavours don't stick) while others travel to the back of the tongue (better but still leaves you wanting). Good tea has an aftertaste that lingers down to your throat, and the best teas linger even longer and return flavours all the way from your gut.
Now, we’re not saying that great tea makes you throw it back up; it’s more to do with how long does the aftertaste and sensation of the tea linger and stay with you after you’ve drunk it. It’s something that you really get once you’ve had a chance to experience it and understand what to look out for but, is definitely one of the things that we consider when judging whether a particular tea is good or not.
TEXTURE
Everyone always talks about flavour and aroma but surprisingly, not many talk about the texture of the tea. Maybe because for a lot of tea out there, there isn’t much texture at all and it’s just thin and watery. When it comes to Chinese teas though, texture is just as, if not more important than the flavour of the tea. When hanging out with many Chinese tea drinkers and connoisseurs in China, oftentimes, they’ll comment on the texture of the tea first (it’s smooth, rough etc) before mentioning anything about flavour or aroma. Different types of tea will have different textures but in general, no matter the tea, you want something that’s smooth, a little thick and mouth filling. It shouldn’t feel like you’re drinking flavoured water because good tea is much more than that. Tea shouldn’t be harsh or rough either and as weird as it sounds, lower quality teas have textures that can only be described as feeling rough.
While each of the different tea types – white, green, oolong, red/black and dark teas – also have specific category level criteria that we won't go into in this post, if you keep the above 3 points in mind anytime you try out a new tea, it might open up your experience and appreciation for when you do encounter truly great quality tea. Think of it more as a basic framework on which you can use to start to experience different teas in a deeper, more meaningful manner.
Happy brewing :)
Check out our range of Chinese teas sourced directly from farmers and producers in rural China
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Such tiny, mini cups, how can you get a decent cuppa out of that? One sip and you're done! When brewing tea in the traditional, Chinese, gong-fu way, small, somewhat tiny cups are traditionally used. Some people think it's a hassle to always have to refill your cups and that such tiny cups are no where near enough to quench a thirst or satisfy ones craving for tea. But there are good reasons for why the tea cups are small – taste, appreciation and there's a social aspect as well.
Taste and appreciation
One reason for the small cups is because they're better for taste and appreciation of fine quality teas. When brewing tea the traditional gong-fu way, the general rule is, more leaves, less water, quick infusions. This releases different characteristics of the tea and with each subsequent infusion, the taste changes and evolves. The small cups allows you to really appreciate the taste and flavour of each stage of the tea. For example, our Phoenix Honey Orchid oolong really benefits from brewing in the traditional gong-fu style.
Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong tea
The first infusion highlights the floral fragrance inherent in the tea. On the second and third infusions, the more fruity, lychee and stone fruit flavours start coming to the fore. Subsequent infusions then show off the honey-like sweetness of the tea, which slowly gives way to a pleasant bitterness and general oolong flavour of the tea. It's a slow journey but one that allows you to appreciate all the subtle taste, flavours and qualities inherent in fine Chinese teas.
Sharing is caring
There's also very much a social aspect to brewing tea in the traditional gong-fu style. Whilst tea in the West is synonymous with quiet, me time, tea in China is usually the opposite. Tea is used as a means for bringing people together, whether it's family, friends or even strangers. One of the first things you're offered when entering a Chinese household is some tea, whether you asked for some or not. Even retail shop owners would have a gong-fu tea setup in their shop and would offer tea to customers.
In Chinese culture, the relationship between host and guest is an important one. The host would always offer tea to his/her guests and conversations would be had over tea. Hosts would always need to be vigilant in ensuring that their guests' cups aren't empty for too long. It's an important gesture in hospitality and shows that the host is treating the guest(s) with respect and has their undivided attention. And also, if there's a lull in the conversation, the host at least has something to do in continuing to brew more tea and thereby breaking the awkward silence. Whether intentional or not, I see it as a welcomed aspect of sharing this type of tea drinking with friends and family.
Collectivist vs. Individualist
Western cultures are generally seen to be individualistic societies – that is, focusing on self, what I want and what I want to achieve – whilst Asian cultures tend to be more collectivist societies, where it's more important to maintain harmony within the group or family. This is no where more evident than with the differing approaches to the subject of tea.
As mentioned earlier, in Western countries, tea is often associated with quiet, me time. Hence the big cuppa teas we like to brew for ourselves and enjoy at our own leisure. In China though, tea is more associated with sharing and hospitality. You offer tea to your guests and constantly need to top up their small cups with a fresh brew. Whilst I have nothing against big cups of tea, I also think that we could all do with spending some more face-to-face time with our friends and family. And what better way to do that than over small cups of tea?
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The Mid-Autumn Festival (aka Moon Festival here in the Southern Hemisphere) is one of the most significant and important holidays in the Chinese calendar. In 2019, we held a Tea and Mooncake event where brews of 4 different teas were paired with 4 different types of mooncakes. The event was a blast and great fun was had by all. We wish we could've held the event again this year but of course, a little thing called COVID-19 kind of got in the way. So as a bit of a throwback, we thought we'd highlight the 4 tea and mooncake pairings we featured at our event last year.
Pairing 1:
Coconut Mooncake x Rising Dawn (Oolong Tea)
We started things off light and sweet with a coconut filled mooncake paired with our Rising Dawn (aka Bai Ya Qi Lan) Oolong tea. A complimentary pairing where the sweet and floral nature of the tea is enhanced by the sweetness in the coconut mooncake.
Coconut isn't exactly a traditional filling when it comes to mooncakes, and seems to be more prevalent in south-east Asian countries and communities.
Pairing 2:
Mung Bean Mooncake x Yellow Rose (Oolong Tea)
Things get a little stronger with this pairing as we move on to the even sweeter Mung Bean Mooncake. We balanced this with the light, roasted flavours of our Yellow Rose Rock Oolong, which helped tone down the sweetness of the Mung Bean. Conversely, the sweet Mooncake also brought out more of the light floral notes of the tea.
Pairing 3:
Lotus Seed Mooncake x Crimson Dusk (Red / Black Tea)
A Red/Black tea paired with the strongest flavoured mooncake. A fairly traditional mooncake, it also commonly contains a salted egg yolk inside so you get a mixture of sweet and salt. The stronger, fruity and slightly malty flavours of our Crimson Dusk was the perfect match to cut through both the sweet and salty flavours of this mooncake.
Lotus Seed Mooncake x Crimson Dusk Red/Black tea
Pairing 4:
Snow skin Lychee Mooncake x Ice Breaker (Raw Pu'er)
Snow skin Mooncakes are a little different in that they're usually served cold, and come in a range of sweet, fruit flavoured fillings. We chose the lychee mooncake and paired it with our Ice Breaker Raw Pu'er. An interesting contrast pairing, the strength and bitterness of the tea did well to cut through the sweetness of the mooncake.
The thing is, I wish we could say we had some special, scientific method for coming up with these pairings but really, it was a matter of trying out different combinations with different teas to see which pairings we thought worked and were the most interesting. And with new and different flavoured mooncakes being developed every year, the pairing possibilities are endless.
中秋节快乐!
]]>We're heading towards the tail end of 2020 and unfortunately, COVID-19 still continues to be a pain in the butt for all. There were promising signs here in Sydney a few months back when things began re-opening again but alas, fluctuations in cases up and down have meant that there's still a whole lot of uncertainty around what's safe and what isn't. Because of this, we've decided to try something new, making a few changes to our Enmore tea studio and how it's run.
Semi-closing the studio
The biggest news is that we are semi-closing our tea studio to the general public for the foreseeable future. What do we mean by semi-closed? In short, the doors won't be open for walk-ins. However, if you are in the area and want to come in for a tea session, whether it's a single tea session or a guided tea tasting, please let us know ahead of time via email or, DM us on Instagram or Facebook.
We'll have an open studio weekend once a month so that we can continue to share in person, our passion for tea with other tea lovers.
The Teapository
Semi-closing our studio frees up a bit of time for us – time that we'll be using to change our studio setup so that it becomes more of a creative space for us to focus on creating tea-related content. Our Teapository YouTube channel has been a little neglected lately as we've been trying to juggle both shop and video production and for now, we'll be switching our focus from running a weekend tea shop to creating more content for The Teapository.
We'll be trialling this new setup and focus for a little while, see where it takes us and will re-evaluate from there. We really appreciate all the love and support we've been getting from tea lovers out there and we hope to continue to bring great tea and tea content to you for a long time to come. Our website will still be up and running and you can always get your tea fix online.
]]>WHAT IS OOLONG TEA?
Simply put, Oolong tea is a semi-oxidised tea that sits between a green and a black tea. With green tea, there is very little, close to zero percent oxidation and with black tea, the leaves are fully oxidised. Oolong tea sits somewhere in between, with some types leaning closer to the green side, sitting at around 10 – 20% oxidation, and others leaning more to the black tea side at 70 – 80% oxidation. These varying levels of oxidation is one of the reasons why there are so many different varieties of Oolong teas, each with their own unique flavour profiles. This makes it one of the most interesting and exciting types of teas to experience and explore for us tea nerds.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF OOLONG TEAS
The best way to explain the different types of Oolong teas available is through the key regions that have historically produced Oolong teas: Southern Fujian (home of Tie Guan Yin aka Iron Goddess), Northern Fujian (Rock Tea), Guangdong (Dancong) and Taiwan.
Southern Fujian Oolong
The Southern Fujian region is the home of Tie Guan Yin, one of the "Top ten teas of China." It’s perhaps the most widely available and well-known type of Oolong tea around and is a ball-rolled type of Oolong. Flavour-wise, it’s generally quite floral and the levels of oxidation range from light at 20% to medium at 50%. The most popular versions around the world tend to be the greener types with a light roast.
The Southern Fujian region however produces more than just Tie Guan Yin Oolongs. Other varieties such as Huang Jin Gui (aka Golden Osmanthus) and Bai Ya Qi Lan are also becoming increasingly popular with tea lovers worldwide. Bai Ya Qi Lan in particular is a wonderfully complex, floral and aromatic tea that looks very similar to Tie Guan Yin in that it’s also a ball-rolled Oolong, but has a different flavour profile and full yet soft mouthfeel.
Northern Fujian Oolong (aka Rock Teas)
The northern Fujian region produces a distinct type of Oolong tea known as “Rock Tea”, with the best types coming from the Wuyi Mountains. These are long, strip types of Oolong teas that have a distinct “rocky” or mineral-like characteristic that links them all together, otherwise known as Yán Yùn (岩韵), which literally translates to “rock rhyme”. The most expensive tea in the world ever sold was a Rock Tea known as Da Hong Pao, or Big Red Robe. It’s a type of tea that’s taken on a legendary, almost mythical status, with this particular one being processed from a blend of leaves picked from the 6 original mother trees.
The 6 original Da Hong Pao mother trees
20g of this tea was sold at auction in 2002 for ¥180,000RMB – that’s over $28,000USD for just 20g of tea! And since 2006, in order to preserve and protect the 6 original mother trees, picking leaves and producing tea from these trees is prohibited, with the last 20 grams of tea produced from these trees donated to the China National Museum in Beijing. So as a super rare, collectors item, it may just be worth the price.
Da Hong Pao is now a widely available type of Rock tea, but obviously, not in the same league as this one of legends. Rou Gui, Shui Xian and Bai Ji Guan are some other well-known Rock teas. Check out our YouTube channel for more on Wuyi Rock tea and Da Hong Pao.
Guangdong Dancong Oolong
In the neighbouring province of Guangdong, the Chao Zhou region produces Dancong Oolong teas. Another strip type of Oolong, Dancong teas are most well-known for the intense aromas and the wide variety of different aroma types. There are said to be over 100 different sub-varieties of Dancong, broken up into roughly 10 different main aroma categories, each with their own unique taste and flavour profiles. The word "Dancong" literally means "single stem." If you look at an actual Dancong tea plant, you'll see it differs from your standard tea plant in that they're all single trunk trees as opposed to being long interconnected tea bushes.
Dancong tea trees in the Phoenix Mountains of Chao Zhou
All varieties of Dancong Oolong tea stem from a series of "mother trees" that had cuttings taken from them and gradually cultivated over time to arrive at the many different aroma varieties that we have today. Honey Orchid (Mi Lan Xiang), Duck Poop (Ya Shi Xiang), Almond Fragrance (Xin Ren Xiang) are some of the more popular cultivars of Dancong Oolong tea.
Taiwanese Oolong
Finally, we have Taiwanese Oolongs. Tea plants in Taiwan were originally brought over from Fujian in the late 18th Century and have since developed unique characteristics of their own. Not surprisingly, many Taiwanese Oolongs share similar characteristics with Southern Fujian Oolongs such as Tie Guan Yin, but others, like the summertime “Oriental Beauty” is unique to Taiwan. What makes the “Oriental Beauty” Oolong unique is that it requires the leaves be bitten by leafhopper insects, which causes the tea leaves to release certain enzymes to defend themselves against these bugs. As a result, the releasing of these enzymes helps to give the tea its unique flavour and characteristic.
HOW IS OOLONG TEA MADE?
Once the tea leaves have been picked, there are 6 general steps in the production of Oolong tea: Withering, Shaking, Fixing, Rolling/Twisting, Drying and Baking. While there are slight regional variations depending on the type of Oolong tea being produced, here’s a short explanation of each step in general.
Withering
Tea leaves withering indoors
After picking, tea leaves are left out to “wither.” During this stage, the cell walls in the leaves start to break down, the tea leaves soften and become pliable, ready for further processing. This withering can be done outdoors or indoors but the key is for the leaves to be lightly exposed to sunlight. Best conditions for this are generally slightly overcast days where the light is softer and the sun isn’t too harsh. This stage is very much dependent on the weather, with farmers and producers having to determine the best time to begin tea processing. Sometimes it’s morning, other times it’s late afternoon.
Tea leaves withering outdoors
Once the withering begins however, the processing of the tea can’t really be stopped until closer to the end, lest they wish to throw out this entire batch. This means, if withering began late in the afternoon, tea producers need to stay up till the early hours of the morning to ensure the best quality tea.
Shaking
Shaken, not stirred – withered tea leaves getting shaken in large bamboo rollers
A key step that’s unique to the production of Oolong tea is Shaking. After withering, traditionally, tea leaves are then placed onto large bamboo trays, or into big bamboo rolling machines and “shaken up.” The shaking slightly bruises the leaves, which causes the leaves to begin gently releasing their internal tea juices. The juices then come into contact with oxygen in the air, and a chemical reaction known as “oxidation” begins. The level of desired oxidation in the leaves varies depending on the type of Oolong tea and from producer to producer as well, and this will determine how much and how often they will shake the leaves.
Hand shaking withered Oolong tea leaves
Typically though, tea producers would shake once every 1.5 – 2 hours, for between 5 – 10mins, with the process repeating 5 – 6 times. With the tea juices come aromas as well, which are also released into the air during this stage. The smell of the room during this stage of tea processing is incredibly fresh and intoxicating.
Fixing
Fixing aka "sha qing" aka "Killing the green" in an old-school hot air tumbler
After several hours, once the shaking is done and the desired level of oxidation has been reached, the tea leaves then undergo a heating where this level of oxidation in the leaves becomes “fixed.” This can either be done in large hot air tumblers or by hand in big, wok-like vessels. This stage is also known as “Sha-qing”, which literally translates to “killing the green” and more or less determines the eventual colour of the finished tea leaves.
Fixing the green in wok-like vessels (Photo credit Easy Tour China)
Rolling / Twisting
Machine used to twist Oolong tea leaves
Depending on the type of Oolong tea and the region it’s produced in, the next stage is shaping the tea, which either means the leaves get twisted into long strips (e.g. Phoenix Dancong or Wuyi Rock teas) or, as is the case with teas such as Tie Guan Yin or Bai Ya Qi Lan, twisted then rolled and shaped into tiny balls. This is either done manually, by hand (or in the old days, feet – yes, feet) or, in most cases for modern producers, it’s done through machines. Producers need to be careful during this stage to apply the correct amount of pressure to be able to get the desired shape, but also not ripping or tearing up the tea leaves.
Additional step of rolling the tea leaves for Southern Fujian and Taiwanese Oolong teas
Loosening clumped tea leaves
Once shaping is complete, tea producers need to then loosen up the clumped tea leaves and place them on to large bamboo trays, ready for the drying stage.
Drying
Tea leaves drying
Once the leaves have been shaped to its desired form and loosened, the tea leaves undergo its first firing or drying, which is generally done in large, temperature controlled oven-like devices, specifically made for tea production. Once done, the tea is now at the “Mao cha”, or rough tea stage. From here, producers begin sorting the tea leaves, picking out the stems and any undesirable bits from the batch. This can be sorted by machines, but for many small producers, this is still done by hand.
Picking out stems and sorting the dried tea leaves
After this, the tea producer can rest a little as the tea will generally hold its flavour and characteristics whilst in the Mao cha stage. It’s also at this point that buyers would come in and begin tasting varieties of Mao cha and make judgement calls on whether or not they wish to buy this particular batch of tea. Mao cha would display most of the flavours and characteristics of the final tea but the final baking would bring these out even further and add further complexity to the tea. For greener types of Oolong teas however, the tea leaves go through the drying stage twice but not a final bake.
Baking
Tea leaves being charcoal fired in bamboo baskets
The last stage of tea production for darker and heavier types of Oolong teas is a final firing or baking of the Mao Cha. The baking adds extra flavour complexities and depth to the tea, as well as allowing for better long term storage. Flavours can be adjusted based on the Bake levels, with buyers able to request a lighter or heavier bake depending on their taste preferences. Heavier bakes can also serve to mask mistakes made in previous steps during the tea’s production or, in some cases, mask undesirable characteristics of lower quality teas. In most cases, the final bake are done in the same oven-like machines as the Drying stage but with adjusted settings; occasionally, and usually for higher quality tea leaves, the final bake is done through a charcoal firing process.
Charcoal firing is a labour intensive process that's done by hand, takes several hours of care and monitoring to ensure the correct amount of heat is applied consistently throughout the entire time. Small mistakes, for example, if a few tiny tea leaves accidentally drop into the charcoal, smoke is created, it covers the tea leaves and what was once highly prized, expensive tea becomes over smoked and much less valuable now. Charcoal firing tea leaves is a process that's generally reserved for higher grade tea.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF OOLONG TEA
There’s a lot of talk about the perceived health benefits, not just of Oolong tea but tea in general. Some would say drinking Oolong tea regularly will prevent heart disease, diabetes and cancer, lowers blood pressure, treats osteoporosis, promotes weight loss etc. Whilst drinking tea regularly is going to be healthier than drinking soft drinks and alcohol regularly, and as wonderful as all of these miracle benefits sound, please, PLEASE, don’t believe all the hype.
On one of our tea trips, we got a chance to meet a bona fide tea master, Mr. Wang of the Wuyi Mountains, the former caretaker of the legendary Da Hong Pao Mother Trees. He believes that when talking about tea, it’s irresponsible to talk about all these health benefits and that we should leave discussions like this to doctors and medical professionals who actually know what they’re talking about. Tea should simply be enjoyed for what it is – a complex and tasty beverage. This is a sentiment that we wholeheartedly believe in.
WHY DO WE LOVE OOLONG TEA?
From personal experience, I’ve found Oolong tea – particularly a Honey Orchid Dancong or Rising Dawn (aka Bai Ya Qi Lan) – to be my go-to teas to keep me going throughout the day. They are strong enough in flavour to give my palate a bit of kick and, I have found that they also keep me sufficiently alert when needed. Oolong tea, like all other pure teas contains caffeine, but they – and the same goes for teas in general – also contain an amino acid called l-theanine, which has been found to promote relaxation. So the combination of caffeine and l-theanine means that unlike coffee, where you get a spike in alertness, followed by a crash afterwards, with Oolong tea, it’s more like a gentle lift, followed by a gentle decline.
Tea set at work
We also love the flavour variety that Oolong teas provide. With all the different varietals and cultivars out there, combined with varying levels of oxidation and roasting, the regional styles and all the different types within those regions, when you begin diving into the world of Oolong teas, there’s just so much to discover and explore that it never gets old or boring. And we haven’t even mentioned the terroir and how even within the same region, growing the same varietal or cultivar of tea, different mountain ranges and different locations will impart different characteristics into these teas.
From the very beginning, when we started Tea Angle, we’ve focused quite heavily on Oolong teas and trying to understand as much as we can about this amazing style of tea. The deeper we go, the more we learn, discover and try to understand, the more we realise how little we know and how much further we still have to go in order to understand this wonderfully complex category of tea.
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Tea Angle are based in Sydney Australia. We are purveyors of fine Chinese teas and the teas that we source are single origin and have no added flavourings. Click here to see our tea collection
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Chinese tea can seem pretty complicated, what with all the different tea regions producing 6 different categories of tea (White, Green, Yellow, Oolong, Red and Dark) with a countless array of different teas within each category, all of these teas having different grades and coming in at different price points. And this is all before you even think about how to actually brew the tea itself.
Although it all seems pretty complicated at the beginning, once you get started, you’ll find that everything evolves naturally as you curiously explore the vast world of tea. The thing is – how does one get started? Well, you can try out these tips.
Tip 1 – Finding your tea type
What sparked your interest in Chinese tea in the first place? What tea did you try that made you think – you know what, I want to learn more about all this? For me, it was a Dian Hong, a Chinese Red tea that originates from Yunnan province. It started around 10 years ago, during a trip to China to visit Dawn’s family. I was a bit of a coffee addict back then and coffee wasn’t really widely available in China at the time so I had to substitute that habit with tea whilst I was there and grew a bit of a taste for it.
Just before I came back to Australia, Dawn and I decided to stop by a small tea shop in Dawn’s hometown to buy some tea to bring back with us. At the time, it was hard to find good Chinese tea in Sydney. We wanted a red tea as that’s what we’ve been drinking most during our time there, and so we went in and asked “do you have any red teas, like a Dian Hong?” The vendor pointed to a shelf where a whole bunch of red teas laid out. None looked particularly interesting to us and so Dawn asked, “good Red tea like Dian Hong should have a lot of golden tips right?” To which the vendor replied, “You seem to know what you’re looking for.” And he proceeded to open up a hidden drawer and pulled out a large bag of golden tipped black tea – a Dian Hong Red tea.
We didn’t get a chance to try it at the shop as we were in a bit of a rush but we bought a big bag anyway and tried it when we were back in Australia. For me, it was a huge revelation – I had no idea that black teas could taste like this. I had drunk other red teas during this trip to China but there was something different about this one. Maybe the tea itself was of better quality as it did have a lot of golden tips; or maybe it’s the context and the fact that I’m back home in Australia, having a little more time to myself and really being able to concentrate on this tea. Who knows. And before this, the only black tea I knew of was English Breakfast, that I would have with or without milk. But this was something else. The flavours were sweet, malty with some slight floral notes. It was perhaps the most complex type of tea that I’ve had at the time and it spurred me to start exploring the tea world even more. I started the journey by trying to find the same Red tea here in Australia. As I visited different shops, I then soon discovered the wonders of all the other types of teas and well, fast forward 10 years later, and my tea journey continues on.
What a typical Dian Hong Red tea looks like
So the first question you should ask yourself is – what was the tea that sparked your interest in wanting to explore the world of Chinese tea? Maybe it was a particular type of green tea that you had whilst travelling; if so, then maybe you’ll want to start looking into the different types of Chinese Green teas available; or maybe a friend served up a complex Oolong tea to you that really caught you by surprise – maybe it was a Tie Guan Yin or a Phoenix Dancong. Start looking for more of those to try and then branch out to other Oolongs as well. Or maybe you’re just a fan of a simple English Breakfast – in which case, like me, you could start with trying different types Chinese Red teas to see how they differ to an English Breakfast. I mean after all, the old English Breakfast blends did use the Chinese red tea Keemun as it’s base.
The point here is, if you’re not sure where to begin your tea journey, think about what tea it was that sparked your interest in the first place, then look for ways to explore that type of tea first before expanding your horizons to other types.
Now that you have a tea or at least, a category of teas in mind, how do you go about exploring these teas? Well, that leads us to…
Tip 2 – Finding a trusted vendor
I mean, that’s kind of obvious isn’t it? But how do you find a tea vendor you can trust? Well, you can always start by asking an experienced tea drinker that you may know for recommendations on where they get their teas from.
If you don’t know any serious tea-drinkers, then if possible, visit some Chinese tea shops in your city and try out some of the teas they have on offer. Usually, a lot of shops will sell small samples of different teas or better yet, if you have the time, sit down at the main tea table at one of these shops and have the owners brew up something for you to try – it’s an experience in and of itself. Tasting different teas is still the best way to judge because you can pretty much tell almost immediately whether it’s going to be something you enjoy or not.
That being said, many of you out there may not have the luxury of living close to, or even in a city or town that has a Chinese tea house. In those cases, you’re probably now trying to look for something online. Now, it can be tough finding the right online tea vendor for you, but a great place to start is with the many tea-related forums and local MeetUp groups or Facebook pages to check out some recommendations. Once you have a list of potential websites, there are a few things you can look out for when deciding who to go with:
Here at Tea Angle, we travel directly to the different tea regions where we source our teas from to try and get a better understanding of what the essence and character of these different teas are. We want to offer teas that are a true reflection of their origins. Once we have that benchmark set, we then feel confident to be able to source teas that match, or even exceed what we initially tasted. This is by no means an easy task and there are definitely much easier ways out there to source tea – but we feel that this is the only way that we’re able to bring teas that are unique and a true reflection of their origins to share with all you tea lovers out there. It’s a slow process, which is why at this stage, we don’t have a whole lot of teas on our site – but you can rest assured that what we do have are a reflection of the lands that they come from. Our aim is to slowly build the range as we discover more about different tea regions.
Tea Pricing
Another thing to consider when looking for a trusted vendor is in the pricing of their teas. There’s a bit of a saying in the tea world – “not all expensive tea is good, but good tea is expensive (relatively speaking).” Once you start to dive into this complex world of Chinese teas, you’ll soon realise that pricing for different teas – even teas with the same name – can range dramatically – anywhere from 10s of dollars to 100s, even 1000s of dollars. For example, in a recent video, we tasted an authentic Jin Jun Mei Black tea with our friend Adeline, which cost $220AUD for 50g. Check out the video to see what we thought of it. At the same time, doing a quick search for Jin Jun Mei online will show some places selling this tea for as little as $12.95 for 70g. Same name, but definitely not the same tea.
Nothing against spending lots of money on something that you love, but if you’re just starting out, rest assured, you don’t need to spend stupid amounts of money to enjoy good tea. As a rough guide though, expect to spend around $15 – $30 for 50g of good tea. It’s a bit of a jump from the supermarket tea bags for sure, but once you realise how expensive this type of tea can get, and all the hard work that goes into making it, it’s not bad at all. Think of it like buying a bottle of wine – a Pinot Noir can cost $9 a bottle or $100 a bottle or more.
This here Jinjunmei Red (Black) tea costs a whopping $220AUD for 50g
Tip 3 – Just Start
We’ve given you a lot of things to consider and think about but I think the best advice we can probably give is – don’t overthink it and just start. The best way to understand more about tea is to drink more tea. Good tea and yes, even bad tea. Because how will you know something is good if you don’t have the bad to compare it to? Don’t stress too much about how to brew tea the “correct” way to begin with. Most tea that you’d buy would have some brewing instructions with it. Start with that. Then you can slowly adjust the brewing parameters as you go to suit your tastes. There’s no right or wrong. Good tea can be fairly forgiving so if you follow the tips we’ve mentioned and:
The world of Chinese tea is a vast, interesting and complex world to explore. Take your time and enjoy the journey. There is much to discover. Be warned however – once you go down the rabbit hole, there is no turning back.
Happy brewing :)
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Tea Angle are based in Sydney Australia. We are purveyors of fine Chinese teas and the teas that we source are single origin and have no added flavourings. Click here to see our tea collection
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A good cup of tea is the result of three elements: the heavens, the earth and the people – tian (天), di (地) ren (人).
Tian (天) – The Heavens
Good tea is dependant on the weather. If the climate is right during the growing season and also during the time of production, then you have the beginnings of fine quality tea. We say beginnings because there is still a tonne of work to be done from here in order to get those great teas we all love to drink. But depending on the weather conditions at various stages of the tea leaves’ lifecycle, it’ll have a knock-on effect on all subsequent steps.
Clouds rolling through the mountains, bringing mist and dew to the tea trees
e.g – The perfect weather conditions for the withering stage is, in general, an overcast day with a small breeze. The producers would generally wait until the right conditions before beginning to wither the tea, even if it means starting the process late in the afternoon, going on until past midnight and getting up before the crack of dawn to finish off a single batch of tea, and then repeating that process again.
Withering tea leaves outdoors on an overcast afternoon
Di (地) – The Earth
The type and quality of the soil as well as the environment is critical to creating fine quality tea. As the tea grows, it absorbs the nutrients of the earth and soil it is grown in. And this is one of the reasons why tea from different regions show different characteristics that are unique to that region – e.g. different Dancong teas from the Wudong mountains, despite all having unique flavour profiles, all have a sweet, slightly mineral and fruity note running through them. This is a unique flavour that is unique and specific to that region – tea farmers often refer to it as the tea’s “shan yun” (山韻), or it’s mountain character.
The soil in the Phoenix Mountains, Chaozhou
Wuyi Rock Tea Plantation
Ren (人) – The People
Finally, we have the people. This is the tea producer, whose knowledge, skill and expertise is required to tease out all the flavours and complex characteristics inherent within the tea leaves. The expert producer will also know how to adjust their techniques and processes depending on the weather conditions and how they would’ve affected the quality of the tea leaves.
Mr. Lin, one of our tea supply partners, shaking the leaves, a crucial step in the production of Phoenix Dancong teas
This is also the tea brewer, whose understanding of the qualities of different types of tea and whose technique is required to extract the most out of the leaves; to bring out the flavours that the producers have teased out of the tea leaves, waiting for it to be extracted.
Traditional Chao Zhou Gongfu Cha
Finally, this is the tea drinker, the one who appreciates the depth, flavour and aroma of the tea. The one that appreciates all the hard work and dedication that goes into making a fine cup of tea.
Sydney Tea Festival 2017
True Tea
All the flavours and varieties of real tea – true tea – is a result of the these three elements (tian (天), di (地) ren (人)). They are more than just dried leaves and funky flavours. They don’t require the addition of essential oils or any artificial flavours or additives. Exploring what nature alone has provided would require a lifetime of dedication. There is such a wide variety of tea available and such incredible depth – all of this stemming from a single plant, camellia sinensis. One ingredient, infinite possibilities. Pretty cool huh?
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Tea Angle are based in Sydney Australia. We are purveyors of fine Chinese teas and the teas that we source are single origin and have no added flavourings. Click here to see our tea collection.
]]>Fenghuang Dancong tea (or Phoenix Dancong) is a type of oolong tea from Guangdong province in southern China. Each type of tea has its own history and characteristics, but what makes Dancong special? Well let us tell you...
Firstly, what is oolong tea?
Firstly, a quick mention about what exactly is oolong tea. Many are only familiar with green or black tea as that's what's most widely available in cafes, shops and supermarkets around. Oolong tea however is another type of tea and in simplest terms, can be described as a semi-oxidised tea that falls somewhere between green and black tea.
If green tea is characterised by zero oxidation in its leaves and black tea is 100% oxidised, depending on the type of oolong tea and where it is produced, oxidation levels can be anywhere between 20 to 90%. This partial oxidation along with a few extra steps in the production process results in one of the most complex types of teas around in terms of depth and flavour profiles.
What makes Dancong so special?
Within the world of oolong tea, there are four main types – Tie Guanyin from southern Fujian province; Wuyi rock oolongs from northern Fujian; Taiwanese oolongs; and finally, there's Dancong from Guangdong province.
What makes Dancong special is the unique aroma sub-varieties available within Dancong. There are said to be at least 10 different aroma sub-varieties of Dancong, each with their own unique taste and flavour profiles. And in general, all these sub-varieties fall into 1 of 3 main categories – fruity, floral and herbal aromas. We currently stock the Honey Orchid, Gardenia (or Dawuye) and Almond Fragrance sub-varieties but there are others such as Ginger Flower, Iris Flower, Jasmine and the list goes on.
But the key thing is, and what makes this all so amazingly awesome and special is – there are no artificial flavours, additives or essential oils added to create these flavours. All of these different flavours and varieties come straight from the tea leaves only. One ingredient, no other additives.
Huh? So it's all the same but different?
I guess that's one way of putting it. The word "Dancong" literally means "single stem." If you look at an actual Dancong tea plant, you'll see it differs from your standard tea plant in that they're all single trunk trees as opposed to being long interconnected tea bushes. The whole idea of Dancong teas is that all varieties stem from a series of "mother trees". The mother tree cultivar is the Phoenix Shuixian, or water sprite/water fairy oolong. Most Shuixian oolongs in the market are from the Wuyi mountains in Fujian, however, despite having the same name, the flavour profiles of the ones from the Phoenix Mountains in Chaozhou are quite different. We'll delve into this a little further in a future comparison post.
Wild Dancong trees
So the story goes, back in the day, there was/are a series of mother tree Shuixian cultivars, grown wildly all around. As these grew, got picked and produced into some wonderful teas, the farmers started to notice that certain crops or batches seemed to have developed a particular and unique flavour profile. These farmers would then take a graft from the best trees in the crop and cultivate them until eventually, certain flavour profiles became more pronounced. These flavours then got assigned names such as honey orchid, gardenia, almond fragrance etc. There are constantly "new" aroma varieties being discovered and cultivated but exactly how different they are to the existing varieties is still up for debate.
When we tasted our first Dancong a few years ago, we were amazed by the flavour of the tea and pleasant aftertaste. We noted a lovely, fruity flavour that tasted like lychees and a long lingering finish to the tea. What surprised us even more though was that the tea didn't have any flavourings or essential oils added to it. When we decided to go back to the source of Dancong and visited the Phoenix Mountains in Chao Zhou, we soon discovered that there are so many other different varieties of Dancong teas, each with it's own unique flavour profiles. We've dived head first down the rabbit hole. Our eyes and palettes have been opened to the wonders of Dancong and there's no turning back now.
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Tea Angle are based in Sydney Australia. We are purveyors of fine Chinese teas and the teas that we source are single origin and have no added flavourings. Click here to see our tea collection
]]>I've got a confession to make – I love coffee. I'm a coffee drinker. I love the taste of it and I love the rush it gives you in the morning. But I also love tea. And how I came to discover real tea was pretty much entirely by accident.
First trip to China
My very first trip to China was in Dec 2008. I had recently graduated from university the year before and had been working my first job in the design industry for a little over a year now. The deadlines were tight and the nights were long. So naturally, I had developed a love for coffee. I was probably drinking on average two cups a day.
So imagine my shock when on my first trip to China, I couldn't find a decent coffee – anywhere. And why should I? China isn't traditionally a coffee drinking country. So I was kind of forced into substituting my morning routine drink with something else – tea. Tea is everywhere in China. From the lowliest, back alley restaurants to the highest class of fine dining; from working class families to the upper classes, you'll find tea. So I certainly didn't have any trouble at all in accessing tea. So I drank it. A lot of it. But it wasn't until I bought some tea to bring back with us to Australia that I really fell in love with tea.
Real tea
I've told this story before about our first encounter with real Chinese tea. It was a true revelation. This isn't the tasteless teabags you get from supermarkets, nor is it the heavily perfumed, artificially flavoured "teas" that smell nice but taste like water. This was real, proper tea. The Yunnan Gold or Dian Hong that we ended up buying from an old tea merchant was hands down, the best tea I had drunk up until that time. Not that it was hard to beat though since up until then, my only real experience with tea was the stuff they give you at Yum Cha and other Asian restaurants. But the depth, flavour and aroma of this Yunnan Gold was truly remarkable and for once, after drinking this, I didn't crave coffee.
Soon, upon digging a little deeper into the world of Chinese tea, I realised that what we had bought was just average, everyday tea – it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special either. So I thought, if something that's considered "average" could taste this good, imagine what the truly, awesome tea would taste like? And so began our journey to discover more of the world of fine Chinese tea.
So many different flavours and such amazing depth, all stemming from a single plant – camellia sinensis. I know I've mentioned this before but it always amazes me how so many different flavours all come from just one plant. There is no need to add essential oils or any other sort of artificial flavourings or blended herbal elements. There's so much magic that can be found in a simple cup of fine Chinese tea – why destroy the hard work and dedication that's gone into producing such tea by adding extra flavourings to it?
Five main types of tea – white, green, oolong, red (black) and dark tea – each with a countless number of varieties. So many flavours, so little time to try them all
I'm a coffee drinker...
I always find it interesting that with some people, when I offer some tea for them to try, they say: "no thanks, I'm a coffee drinker." As if the two are mutually exclusive. You're allowed to drink tea as well. In most cases, people have come to think of tea as cheap, supermarket tea bags or a beverage with lots of weird flavoured concoctions like orange and mint or chocolate flavoured teas. All this couldn't be further from what real tea actually is and what it actually tastes like. It's like drinking instant coffee then immediately dismissing the beverage as rubbish.
So yes, I am still a coffee drinker. The pick-me-up it gives you when you're rushing towards a deadline is great. That and, good coffee just simply tastes great. But so does good tea. Real tea. And since becoming a tea lover, my average two a day coffee habit has now become an occasional one every two to three days. The rest of the time, I just indulge in brewing up some fine Chinese teas.
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Tea is packed full of antioxidants, reduces the risk of heart attacks and cancers, helps with digestion, helps you lose weight and so on and so forth. How many times have you heard any of these? How many times have people tried selling you tea by stating all the magical health benefits to you? The fact of the matter is, although tea may have health properties (it certainly is healthier for you than drinking Coke), it isn't a miracle elixir that prevents all major human diseases.
People ask us all the time – "What health benefits are in tea?" I usually say something along the lines of – it's not a miracle drink that'll solve all your problems, but it certainly is better for you than drinking soft drinks!" I get a funny look then the person turns around and walks away.
Sure it's healthy but...
Tea is healthy so why not promote it as such? Because I think it is so much more than that.
It's both simple and complex at the same time. All tea (real tea that is) comes from one plant – camellia sinensis – and from there, you get the six main varieties of tea, each with a countless number of sub-varieties and in some cases, sub-sub-varieties. There's the element of terroir and how the soil or unique aspects of a place can affect the flavour of the tea. There's the expert skill involved in producing the tea. All of this goes into creating a unique flavour profile and experience for each tea.
A lot of skill, effort and hard work goes into making the teas you drink
And then there's you, the tea brewer. Do you like your tea subtle or strong? Are you in a hurry or do you have time to sit and slowly appreciate all the complex subtleties of your tea? When all that's said and done, there's the resulting taste and flavour. So many flavours, so much depth. All these different variables go into a simple cup (or pot) of tea. Pretty amazing isn't it? This is what real tea is all about and the possibilities are endless. I think the people selling tea just on perceived health benefits alone are doing a great disservice to the industry – that or it's because the tea that they're selling is of low quality and has no subtle complexities or characteristics worth noting.
Great in its own right
Tea can be as complex a subject as coffee or wine – some would say even more so. Yet nobody who's looking to buy coffee or wine stops and asks the vendor – "what are the health benefits of coffee/wine?" So why ask this about tea? It's not a miracle elixir. Sure, it does have antioxidants, it can help with digestion (which is why Chinese people love having tea with their meals) but the experience of great quality, loose leaf tea is so much more than that.
As we continue to share with the world the teas that we find, we hope also to add to the discourse surrounding tea and help move it from being one about health properties to one more about the appreciation and experience of tea.
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The art of making a cuppa tea can get pretty complex. Different types of tea require different methods of preparation. You need to think about the leaf to water ratio, water temperatures, steeping times, what kind of vessel to use, the quality of the leaves, the quality of the water, filtered or non-filtered, milk or no milk? (FYI – the correct answer is no milk). All this can make tea a pretty intimidating subject for beginners. "I don't know anything about tea" is a phrase we've heard often.
But really, what's there to know? When you think about it, next to water, tea is perhaps the simplest beverage out there. It's leaves steeped in water for a short amount of time. That's it. Leaves + water = tea. How easy is that? No fancy machinery or complex extraction methods needed to get the flavour out of your tea.
The machines are taking over!
However, that's not to say that there aren't any fancy contraptions out there for making a simple cuppa tea. Take the Breville "Tea Maker" for example which retails for $299.95 here in Aus. It's got a motorised basket that lowers your tea leaves and removes them afterwards at precisely the right time. It has 15 pre-programmed settings, full water temperature controls and a programmable start feature so that you can have a fresh pot of tea waiting for you when you wake up. All stuff I didn't realise I needed.
Image courtesy of Breville
Or, if you want to get really serious about tea, check out this doohickey – the Alpha Dominche Steampunk. This contraption looks like a prop ripped straight out of a sci-fi movie and I have to admit, it certainly looks pretty cool. It uses steam to heat water, has something called "steam agitation" to help release flavours quicker and finally, has a vacuum extraction because...reasons. It also comes with a sexy user interface panel that lets you have full control over all the different parameters (temperature, time, volume etc).
The Steampunk, image courtesy of Alpha Dominche
Unnecessary complexity
Does all this hi-tech machinery really make a better cuppa tea? I'll admit, I haven't tried tea made from these machines yet so I can't really pass any final judgement on this yet. However, even if they do result in a really great cuppa, I still think that all these contraptions do is add unnecessary complexity to what is essentially a simple beverage.
We're all so preoccupied with doing things the best way or the "right" way that we forget that part of what makes tea great is the brewing process. The ritual of tea making is a very calming experience and can allow us to get our minds into a state of focus and concentration. Leaving that process to a machine takes away a lot of the beauty that is inherent in tea.
Don't think, just do
So to those that say "I don't know anything about tea", I say "you're over thinking it." Take some tea leaves, chuck it in some hot water and see what happens. If you want to get into it a little more, play around with water temperatures, steep times etc. Don't go out and buy a $300 contraption that claims to give you the perfect cuppa. Use that money to invest in better quality tea leaves. You can get a heck of a lot of great quality tea for $300, and brewing that any which way will taste infinitely better than anything you would've put into a fancy complicated machine.
In the end, tea is as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Don't be intimidated by it. Don't be concerned that you "don't know anything about tea." Discovering how to brew different teas to your liking and tastes is a fun and rewarding journey. All you need to do is just dive in and give it a crack.
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Chinese New Year is all about family. Reunion dinners are held and the younger generation visits the older generation. No wonder the celebrations lasts around two weeks. How else are you going to be able to visit your extended family?
When visiting relatives during this period, it's important that you don't rock up empty handed. It's a bad look and a sign of disrespect. You must come bearing gifts. And with the art of Chinese New Year gift giving being so complex, to make things a little easier, here's a list of three appropriate gifts to give when visiting relatives over the Chinese New Year period.
Fruit basket
These are a very common gift to bring when visiting relatives. Many Asian supermarkets and Asian fruit vendors will have hampers prepared during this season as they are a very popular gift to bring. Then again, it's not compulsory to buy a hamper – simply picking a bunch of nice, fresh fruit will also suffice.
Image courtesy of www.leonsfruitshop.co.uk
Chinese Candy
During the New Year period, you'll see a number of specific types of Chinese candies and snacks become available. These include (but aren't limited to) candied lotus roots, candied lily bulbs, melon seeds, candied coconut and numerous others. There are different meanings of good fortune behind each one of these items, which is why they make a great and popular gift to bring when visiting relatives. In most cases, the relative that you're visiting will have a candy wheel setup and you'll just need to buy these different types of candies in individual packs to keep filling the wheel up.
Chinese Candy wheel. Image courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_candy_box
Tea
You can't go wrong with a nice box(es) of tea. Tea is an integral part of Chinese culture and is considered one of the bare necessities of daily life. If you're not sure of what to bring when visiting a relative, tea is often a safe bet. It's probably best to find out what tea your relative enjoys (if they're Chinese, chances are, they'll have a favourite type of tea). Some love red (black) tea, others prefer oolong or green tea. Some people can't take green tea as it upsets their stomachs. Pu'er usually makes for a great gift because of the way they're usually packaged as nice big cakes. Even if the relative doesn't enjoy drinking pu'er tea, they'll still be able to appreciate it as a gift. Be careful though as prices for pu'er cakes can vary greatly and more expensive doesn't necessarily mean better tea. Be sure to source pu'er tea from trusted vendors.
Example of a Pu'er tea gift box
Sharing is caring
What do all these gifts have in common? They're easily sharable. The idea is, when you go over to your relative's place for a visit and present them with your gift, they would serve some of it back to you and anyone else who's over for a visit. Chinese culture is very much about sharing, reciprocal respect and courtesy. So if you need to visit a relative this year during the Chinese New Year period, be sure to select the freshest fruits you can; pick out packets of the best Chinese candies or buy some great quality tea – because chances are, it'll be served back to you.
Gongxifatchai everyone!
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It's that time of the year again. Chinese New Year is upon us. The year of the ram is coming to an end as we prepare to move into the year of the monkey. To us, Chinese New Year has always been the most important and celebrated time of the year. Families get together, feasts are had and the smell of incense wafts through the air as we pay homage to the gods and our ancestors.
Chinese New Year Preparations
Chinese New Year isn't just one or two days. The actual period of celebration goes on for 15 days. You see all the festivities around like dragon and lion dancing and various festivals put on by councils. But the most telling signs of Chinese New Year happen around the house and preparations begin well before new years day. There are numerous customs and rituals a family must go through.
The house needs to be cleaned by a certain date; hair cuts and new clothes bought; woks seasoned (at least in Cantonese households they do) – this involves deep frying a bucket load of Chinese pastries and saying a few prayers for good fortune this upcoming year (note: this last ritual I only found out about when I visited southern China a few years ago during Chinese New Year).
Seasoning the wok (image courtesy of WeChat)
Then there are fireworks and fire crackers on new years day and throughout the two weeks, the constant smell of incense in the air – that, to me, is the smell of Chinese New Year.
Image courtesy of iStock photos
The best part used to be the red packets – bundles of cash older relatives used to hand out to us kids. But now that we're married, the tables have turned and it's now time for us to dish out the red packets. And when your extended family consists of countless little cousins, nieces and nephews, you know this isn't going to be cheap.
A time for customs and rituals
But I digress – Chinese New Year is still a very special and important time of the year for us. The younger generation visits the older generation, bearing gifts of biscuits, fruit and other such similar things. One day you'll be visiting relatives from your father's side, the next will be relatives from your mother's side. And the first thing you say to them is – "gong hei fat choi!" Or "gong xi fa cai!" You'll stay for a while, catching up over tea before its on to visit the next relative and repeating the process all over again.
But amongst all the festivities, it's also a time for customs, rituals and reflection. Going to temples to pay homage to our ancestors and to the gods; lighting the incense and making offerings of fruit at the family shrine – performing these rituals every year gives us a moment to pause and reflect on what has been and what is to come.
Do I actually believe that praying at a temple will make a difference? Maybe, maybe not. It's not so much the belief though but the process and the actual rituals themselves that bring about a sense of calm and serenity. The same calmness that comes with brewing good quality loose leaf tea, gongfu cha style.
Chaozhou gongfu cha
I guess this is one of the reasons why we love to brew tea gongfu style. Not only does it allow us to focus on the different characteristics of great quality tea, it also forces us to slow down and be mindful of the actual brewing process as well. The process itself is just as important as the resulting tea.
In any case, I hope the year of the ram was a good one for all and here's to hoping that the year of the monkey brings with it even greater fortunes. Happy new year everyone! Gong xi "fat chai"!
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Tea Angle are based in Sydney Australia. We are purveyors of fine Chinese teas and the teas that we source are single origin and have no added flavourings. Click here to see our tea collection
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Stop the presses – our mission is complete before its even really begun. Scientists have unveiled the formula for the perfect cup of tea. Here it is:
TB = TeaBag
BT = BrewTime
C = Milk (obvious isn't it?)
PC = Perfect Cuppa
OT = Optimum Time
So does the above formula actually give you the perfect cup of tea? While it's kinda cute to think there's one formula to rule them all, I'd say this one isn't even close.
Teabags and Milk
In devising this formula, the scientists have made a few assumptions – namely, that teabags and milk be used. That there is already two fails within this formula as any discussion of tea and perfection means: a) Loose leaf tea only and b) no milk.
Tea + Milk ≠ perfection
That's right, no milk. When you add milk to quality loose leaf tea, you mask the subtle complexities of the tea and diminish its inherent flavour. Don't get me wrong – I do drink milk tea at times and there's nothing wrong with adding milk to your tea. It's just that when you do, it ceases to be about the inherent properties of the tea and becomes more about how the milk and tea works together. Sort of like when talking about the perfect cup of coffee, you'd be talking about black coffee and not a latte or cappuccino.
Which tea?
Green, Black, White, Yellow, Oolong or Fermented/Dark teas? Even if we leave out tisanes and herbal infusions, there are still six different types of teas, each with a countless number of varieties and each requiring different water temperatures and steep times in order to get the most out of the leaves. Adding boiling water to most green teas and steeping it for 2mins would make it unpleasantly bitter and astringent. And why would you add milk to a subtle white tea such as Silver Needle? Might as well just drink hot milk because that's all you're really going to taste.
The Perfect Cuppa
Everybody's tastes are different and everyone has a different definition of perfect. This is no where more evident than in the subject of tea. What's the criteria for perfection? Is it simply taste or does the whole "tea experience" come into play as well? Is it something that you make for yourself or is perfection something that you find out on some off the beaten track location?
The question of the perfect cuppa is a loaded concept for sure – one far more complex than a single mathematical formula. And it's a concept that we're more than happy to tackle head on :)
Tea Angle are based in Sydney Australia. We are purveyors of fine Chinese teas and the teas that we source are single origin and have no added flavourings. Click here to see our tea collection
]]>So we asked Dawn's grandpa on where he likes to buy his tea from. He drinks it by the bucket load every day so we figure he appreciates a decent drop. He pointed us in the direction of this little vendor down an old street.
Here's grandpa. The hat suits him don't you think?
Old school tea vendors
Here's the thing about these old-school tea vendors in China – it's not like the tea shops you find over here. There, they sell tea by weight. People buy it by the kg on a regular basis. You go for the one you want and the vendor will literally scoop it up, weigh it then pack them up into large bags or tins. Tea is ingrained in the culture and a huge part of daily life in China. But I digress...back to the tea vendor.
Image courtesy of http://www.wikiwand.com/fi/Yunnan
As we approached the shop, the first thing we see is a group of elderly men, gathered around a Chinese chess board, playing a game and having a good ol' chin wag over lots and lots of tea, brewed in the traditional gongfu style. This is a common sight outside these old tea shops.
Yunnan Gold
We walked in and were faced with massive baskets full of different types of teas. There were numerous varieties of red (black) and pu'er teas – these being the most popular types of teas in that part of China. With too many to choose from, we asked the vendor what his recommendation for a decent red tea was. He pointed to a basket, and we had a look. Seemed ok. But ever the discerning and wary buyer, Dawn said something along the lines of (in Cantonese of course ) – "Isn't it the more golden buds that are in the tea, the better the quality? This one doesn't have many golden buds in it."
Of course our knowledge of tea was fairly limited back then (mine was pretty much zilch) but there was some truth in that statement. It's true when you're talking about Dian Hong Red teas – otherwise known as Yunnan Gold. In general, the more golden the Yunnan Gold, the better the quality.
Dian Hong (or Yunnan Gold) leaves. Obviously not the one we bought in
2009 as that stuff's long been drunk.
The tea vendor looked at us and replied – "you seem to know what you're talking about." He then proceeded to take a bag of tea out from a hidden draw and showed it to us. He told us it was the same "type" of tea but this one, had a lot more golden buds running through it. It looked a lot better than the previous one he had showed us and, after a little haggling, we ended up buying 500g of it.* At the time, we didn't know exactly what tea it was except that it was "red tea". We took it home, brewed it and...it was unlike any tea I had tried before.
Real tea
Up until then, my experience with tea was either Lipton tea bags or the free stuff they serve you at yum cha and other Asian restaurants. This one we bought though, from a little tea shop in a little town in southern China was on a completely different level. It was truly amazing. The flavour and taste sensation was much more complex than any other red/black tea I had ever tried before. But what impressed me the most was the depth. The flavour lingered on your palate, in your throat and throughout your entire body long after you drank the tea. That's something that only good quality, specialty tea can offer and the first time I experienced that sensation was something quite special.
This is what real, proper tea is all about. It's the synergy between aroma and taste and it leaves you feeling a sense of calm and focus after you've drunk it. Most of the flavoured teas on the market have a great aroma but tastes like water once drunk. That's because they've been flavoured with essential oils (like perfume) that give off a great aroma but doesn't translate to taste or flavour.
Real tea is about the synergy between aroma and taste. The problem with most
flavoured teas out there is that they smell nice but taste like water.
The journey begins
So began our journey to discover the most remarkable teas around. Our tastes and experience has matured greatly since then and we're pretty picky about the teas that we choose to offer. However, aside from a range of semi-technical tests that we go through when evaluating teas, our main guiding criteria is that same sensation and emotional experience we had when we first brewed that Yunnan Gold all those years ago. If the tea brings back those same emotions for us, then we know we have found something remarkable. And we hope that all you tea lovers out there find it remarkable too.
Check out our Tea Collection
*We didn't try the tea before we decided to buy a heap. Rookie mistake. Luckily it turned out pretty well but if you ever buy from a tea vendor in China, you should always try out the tea first. They're normally brewing something anyway and they'll be happy to let you try before you buy. Also, ask them what they're drinking. Because a lot of the times, they reserve the best stuff for themselves :)
2016 is the year for tea. Well any year is the year for tea but 2016 is when we, Fat Chai Tea have officially launched! (yay!)
Aside from offering an evolving range of quality, Chinese loose leaf teas, sourced directly from dedicated small-scale producers/farmers in China, we'll also be discussing all things tea – from brewing tips to tea pairings and industry goings ons – and documenting our journey in finding the "perfect" cuppa.
Does such a thing exist? What is perfection? We're not sure ourselves but 2016 is going to be the year we begin our journey to find out.
Happy new year!
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