Know Your Tea

The Top 5 Things to Never Ever Ever do to your Tea

ADDENDUM morning of 8/20: After sharing with our lead tea curator/ buyer that we had come up with this list she said, “Well none of that matters unless you start with good tea”! We implore you to take her advice and then heed the list below. Most of us have been drinking tea for a good portion of our lives. The ubiquitous teabag, often used once and discarded or post-dip hanging out on a small plate waiting for that second cup of hot water that typically results in a pallid version of the first. Now, there’s nothing wrong per se with tea bags, as they do hold a certain cultural (and emotional) story for us within the Western world. Our aunts, uncles, grandmothers, and grandfathers typically drank tea and sitting down for a large hot pot of dark and creamy black tea with plenty of sugar does hit a certain spot. Still, just as…

Know Your Tea: Taiwan Beauty Oolong

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…

Know your Tea: Green tea and its characteristics

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.…

Royal Courtesan Oolong: One of the most unusual teas

One of the most unusual teas on the planet- those bitten by a tiny bug- is the Royal Courtesan oolong. A perfect storm of conditions must occur for this tea to be made. Green Leaf Hoppers are tiny cicada native to Taiwan, and they feast on the small undeveloped tea leaf buds, drawing the astringent juices as their meal. In return, the tea leaf defends itself by sending polyphenols to the bite wounds, and a large amount of fragrance compounds also rush to the surface. We do not know exactly why that happens, but we hare happy to be the beneficiaries- the Leaf Hopper bitten teas have a surreal perfume that incites names such as Taiwan Beauty, and Royal Courtesan. However, unlike Taiwan Beauty, which grows on low elevations in order for the Leaf Hoppers to reach them- Royal Courtesan is made from Tung Ting Oolong, growing at 800 meters…

Know Your Tea: An Interview with Ashok Kumar, Owner of Goomtee Estate

In China, the most exciting new green teas  of the season are invariably Pre-Ming or Pre-Rain, with Dragonwell leading the way to being the most sought after in that category. In Japan, it’s called Shincha,or ‘New Tea’. Elsewhere in the world, First Flush Darjeeling is the biggest deal for tea aficionados! We love this early, almost green, version of Darjeeling for its very unique spicy fragrance, and honeywater taste and texture. Here, we interviewed Mr. Ashok Kumar, owner of Goomtee Estate in Darjeeling, to hear from him directly what he thinks about this year’s crop, and other issues: 1. Where is Goomtee situated relative to other Darjeeling farms, and position advantages, if any? Any particular terroir differences? Darjeeling farms are generally located between 1500′-6500′ above msl. Goomtee ranges from 2500′-6500′, avoiding low grown teas. Further, we are located in between Jungpana to the south and Castleton in the north which are among the best marks in Darjeeling. We mostly have the varieties planted…

Biodynamic Farming and Organic Certifications

One of our favorite producers, Mr. Lin, has recently acquired a new farming area in Anxi, and plans to devote 30 years to creating the best biodynamic farm in his region. His new property, a large mountain by his existing farm, boasts the perfect confluence of factors for growing great tea. It is an enormous mountain after all- at 948 meters elevation, perfect conditions include the best water in the province and constant winds. Mr. Lin has long been our go-to producer for USDA, EU, and JAS certified Organic High Mountain Oolongs, and is no stranger to organic farming methods. We’re often asked why more of our teas do not carry organic designations, as the prevailing opinion in the Western world is that “organic” is the end all, be all indicator of quality. Unfortunately, the cost of acquiring USDA certification is quite high, and would make many of the teas we carry prohibitively expensive, considering many…

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