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Artisan green tea producer: Mr. Dai of Anhui, China

Producer Profiles

Mr. Dai is a master producer of green teas, particularly for the most prestigious hand fired Dragonwell green teas in Hangzhou, China. He also manages some of the top gardens at Lion’s Peak, the most sought after hilside for Dragonwell. Originally, we sought him out for his superior Dragonwell, but upon learning that he is also the last remaining keeper of the Yellow Tea tradition, we have decided to support his efforts to keep Yellow Tea alive by importing almost his entire crop each year. Q: Mr. Dai, how long have you been making tea? A: I was originally from Jin Zhai, Anhui, and making Yellow tea was my family tradition. I have done that since I was a kid. When I was in my early 20s, I went to Hangzhou in the hopes of making a better living. I got hired because of my tea skills to make Dragonwell…

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Know Your Tea: Taiwan Beauty Oolong

Know Your Tea

At the turn of the last century, a tea farmer from the center of Taiwan decided to take his bug bitten tea to the market anyway, since his livelihood depended on it. Other villagers laughed at this farmer, as his tea was rather runted and undergrown and ugly, for once the bugs have bitten the leaves, they stop growing. Undaunted, the farmer went to market, and to his surprise, his tea received raved reviews, and completely sold itself out. Beside himself with joy, he runs back with this victorious announcement, only to find that the other villagers did not believe a word he said. Tall tale, they said, ‘Pong Feng’ cha was what they called it, meaning a puffed up, B.S. tea. To this day, the locals call what is now Taiwan Beauty, one of the most absolutely unique teas in the world, ‘Pong Feng Cha’.  It is now the…

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For the Love of Tea: Seven Cups

Tea Life

From one of our regular customers: Recently I have been facing some challenging times at work, a long strenuous series of struggles that just have not been resolved. Noticing that it is finally taking a toll on me, physically, mentally and emotionally – it was becoming unbearable and my communication with my closest coworkers was becoming more unproductive and less humane. This morning I found myself sitting down in the corner of the small sunroom at my home enjoying a pot of silver needle white tea. As the rays of sunshine went back and forth, covered and uncovered by the clouds in the bright blue sky, nonstop random thoughts crossed my mind over and over. By the third or fourth cup of tea my body started to relax and my mind gently, slowing became more quiet. Leaning back against the wall settling in and putting it all down finally I am not trying to do…

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Know your Tea: Green tea and its characteristics

Know Your Tea

Green tea is like a salad, a fresh fruit, a meadow of spring flowers, or a blade of grass. It is a representation of health, energy, optimism, youth, and sunshine. Green tea is so much about seasonality; remember, no one likes wilted lettuce, droopy flowers, or week-old bread. Every month past a green tea’s production date it loses more and more flavor. Vibrant green teas in the peak spring months of April and May taste like a revelation, while past due green teas are flavorless at best. Most of the asparagus-like sweetness and spring clover fragrances will have been a memory by December. A green tea’s nutrients and vitamins are also the most potent at its peak freshness. Most green teas on the market are not fresh. In fact, there is no harvest or production information, nor expiration dates for many of the name-brand green teas commonly found in supermarkets.…

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How to make tea the right way: A step by step process

Tea Life

Tea making is an art, and the more one masters the basic fundamentals of technique, the more one can free flow and adapt. Of course, we are referring to the art of steeping whole leaf, preferably artisan made teas. Incidentally, water, equipment, and serving vessels are all important supporting characters to the actual tea ingredient itself. Choose the tea you want to steep by its quality first, then seasonality second. High quality leaves will stand up to storage and time much better than tea dust and fannings, which are usually, not fresh. Once you have chosen the tea you wish to steep, prepare the following: Water: Choose spring waters, or carbon-filtered water. Higher mineral waters are usually preferred. Temperature: Heat up the water to the right temperature for the appropriate tea. The temperature range for most green teas are between 150-170 F, for White teas between 170-180 F, Oolongs from…

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Pu-erh Mushroom Broth with Udon Noodles and Vegetables

Cooking With Tea

Recipe courtesy Melanie Franks: INGREDIENTS: 1500g water 5g Kombu 50g dried mushrooms, rehydrated in water overnight 30g ginger, charred 100g carrot, charred 100g cabbage, charred 4 cloves roasted garlic 50g Puerh tea 20g soy sauce 20g red wine vinegar Salt to taste 1. Put water and kombu into a pot and bring the mixture up to 175˙F. 2. Remove kombu from the water. 3. Add charred vegetables, roasted garlic, and rehydrated mushrooms to water and simmer for 30 minutes and remove from heat. 4. While the broth is still hot add the Pu-erh tea and steep for 10 minutes. 5. Strain broth and add soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and salt. 6. Serve broth with noodle, sautéed mushrooms, poached egg, and seasonal vegetables.

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