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China, the much-acknowledged birthplace of tea drinking in the world, is a large country divided into provinces. Fujian is one such province and is also a source of some fine teas. They are so varied, though, that we will start with the county of Anxi. Time to go exploring!
About Anxi County
The area has the perfect balance of red, sandy soil plus climate and elevation, and most teas grown here are processed as oolongs (semi-oxidized). The first Chinese Tea Industry International Cooperation Summit was held here in late 2002 or early 2003 (funded by money funneled from UN member countries to the UN Development Program Office in Beijing).
Qi Lan Oolong (Wikipedia image)
Some Teas
Oolongs produced in this region are mainly processed as tightly rolled pellet shapes, instead of the longer, twisted shape of many Wuyi oolongs.
- Ti Kuan Yin — Probably the best known tea from Anxi County. Legend has it that the tea was named after the goddess Ti Kuan Yin (“Iron Bodhisattva of Compassion”), a granter of wishes. A farmer prayed to the goddess for money to restore a Buddhist monastery in his village. One version says he went to the temple to pray, while another says he prayed before going to bed and then dreamt of her. Either way, she is supposed to have shown him a special tea bush and told him to cultivate it. The tea grew so popular, that the village was able to get the money to restore the monastery. The tea is extremely fragrant and intoxicatingly complex and fruity.
- Spring Imperial Anxi Huang Jin Gui Oolong — “Huang Jin Gui” means literally “Golden Osmanthus.” From Dapingtown in Anxi County, and produced in accordance with the traditional Anxi Oolong tea making techniques and so has green leaves with red edges. A different tea plant varietal is used from Ti Kuan Yin, so the liquid is rather more yellow than other teas from Anxi. The flavor is very full, mellow, and thick, and the aroma is unique. The leaves are harvested in late April and are comprised of two or three half-matured tea leaves that are processed into a tight bold ball shape (or some call dragonfly head shape). Steeps best in a gaiwan or Yixing teapot using water heated to 209° F (98° C).
- Ben Shan Green Dragon — Made from a young tea plant varietal (a clonal) with strong, heavy branches and brightly colored, distinct, ellipse shaped leaves. It grows in the mountains primarily near Raoyang village in Anxi and shares some similarities in fragrance with the Tie Kuan Yin varietal. This oolong has a low oxidization and has been lightly roasted after rolling, with some re-rolling and re-roasting. The liquid is smooth, full-bodied, and golden with a toasty, grassy-sweet flavor and light floral notes.
- Qi Lan Oolong — Means “profound orchid,” “strange orchid,” or even “wonderful orchid,” depending on how you translate. More heavily oxidized and darker-roasted. The color is darker and often described as being mild and sweet, with a nutty aroma. Some are less oxidized, resembling other greener oolongs, and have a more evident orchid aroma.
- Rou Gui — Means “cinnamon,” also called “Cassia bark oolong.” It tends to be darker and the name refers to its aroma, suggestive of cinnamon. However, it contains no cinnamon flavoring. Cultivated both in the Wuyi mountains and in Anxi county, the Anxi version tends to have a greener character while the Wuyi version tends to be darker.
- Mao Xie Oolong — Means “hairy crab.” A se chung oolong that has fine hairs on the tea leaves. Those leaves are from a particular tea plant varietal that has deeply serrated edges. The edges tend to cause the leaves to form into irregular shapes when rolled, with curled pieces of stem and leaf projecting out in a way that makes them look like a miniature crab.
- Crooked Horse Oolong — This is a medium oxidized Ti Kuan Yin style tea made from a tea plant varietal called wai ma tau (“crooked horse peach”) due to the tip of the tea leaf being hooked like a local peach called Crooked Horse. The leaves are fired in an oven after oxidation, giving a richness and depth to the aroma and flavor. The leaves should be dark green and steep up a golden liquid with a lingering sweet taste of autumn fruit.
Don’t miss our next stop on this virtual world tea tour!
See more of A.C. Cargill’s articles here.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
I’ve written about smoky teas a number of times in these pages, mostly discoursing about how much I didn’t like them. My latest opus on this topic is here. Once upon a time you would not have heard a good word pass from my lips about smoky teas. Not that it was for lack of trying them. I sampled various blends over and over again and always came to exactly the same conclusion – an enthusiastic thumbs down.
Keemun Panda (ETS image)
Then things started to change – just a little bit and very gradually, mind you. For the most part I owe it to Keemun, a Chinese black tea that often has smoky notes, ranging from barely imperceptible to moderately intense. While I don’t care much for the latter and I don’t know if I’ll ever make peace with Lapsang Souchong, a tea I’ve always found to be quite smoky, I find some of the milder varieties of Keemun to be tolerable and some even a little bit likable.
These days I’d stop far short of calling myself a fan of smoky teas. I certainly don’t seek them out but I can put up with certain ones, at least to some small extent. What I’ve found recently, in the course of the past few weeks or so, is that I’ve been using the smoky stuff to “save” other teas. I’ve written about this practice before and to summarize, it consists of taking a tea that’s not quite bad, but mostly just lackluster, and mixing it with a better quality tea to make the latter go further.
I’ve found myself doing this a lot lately with a tea that I received a rather large sample of a while back. After taking one sniff of it I looked around to see if someone had lit a campfire. Then I realized that smell was the tea. I put it aside, assuming I’d probably end up giving it to someone at some point. It’s not a tea that I could ever imagine drinking straight unless my tastes drastically change. But lately I’ve but using it to salvage a few black teas that I wasn’t quite in love with ut that were made quite palatable with the addition of just a bit of smoke.
Who knew?
See more of William I. Lengeman’s articles here.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Teas are grown in an ever-increasing number of countries in the world, with China still being one of the leaders. Your first stop on our world tea tour is the Fujian Province where a good portion of these teas come from.
Dragon Pearls before steeping. (Photo source: A.C. Cargill, all rights reserved)
About the Province
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Fujian Province served as the heartland of China’s tea production. The name is spelled alternately as “Fukien” due to the trickiness of translating from one type of character set to another. (It’s often done based on the sound, and that leads to all sorts of interpretations.) The province is on the southeast coast of China on the Taiwan Straight, and has a subtropical climate and mountainous terrain, both ideal for growing tea. Various historical documents show that tea has been grown and produced here for over 1,600 years. This province is also home to the famous Wuyi mountain region, where a number of wonderful oolongs come from.
Some of the Better-Known Fujian Teas
There are actually around 336 varieties of Camellia Sinensis (the tea plant) grown in this province. That’s more than in any other tea growing area in China. Teas from this province include oolongs, black teas, green teas, and the greatest selection of white teas available.
- Gunpowder (also called Pearl Tea and Zhu Cha) — A green tea whose dry leaves are rolled into the shape of little pellets resembling gunpowder, which some say accounts for its name. The flavor is thick and strong with a slightly smoky aftertaste. It was one of the first teas that China exported in high volume and remains popular today.
- Dragon Pearls — The dry leaves of this green tea are rolled into little balls the size of standard pearls. They steep up a liquid that is nutty yet sweet and feels smooth on the palate. Steep in a glass teapot or teacup to add a visual element to your experience. Watch the pearls unfold in the water.
- Shi Ru Xiang — A green tea with a clean, pure fragrance. The white down leaves are twisted. They steep up a bright yellow-green liquid, can be steeped multiple times, and have a long lasting fragrance.
- Ti Kuan Yin Iron Goddess Oolong — Some say the name “Iron Goddess” comes from Iron Goddess of Mercy who supposedly appeared in a dream to a local farmer, telling him to look in the cave behind her temple where he found a single tea shoot that he then planted and cultivated. This is one of China’s most sought-after teas, with stout, crinkly leaves that unfurl in boiling water, revealing greeny-brown lace-edged leaves and producing a brownish-green liquid.
- Wu-Yi 0olong — Made from the leaves of tea plants grown in the lush and beautiful Wu-Yi Mountain region located between Wuyishan City and Wuyishan Town, in the Jiangxi province. It’s a sought-after tea with a fruity, medium-bodied taste and about half the caffeine that’s in a cup of coffee. It’s also loaded with polyphenols, which some say have strong antioxidant properties that ward off a variety of health-related issues and disease and to improve metabolism to facilitate weight loss.
- Jasmine Pearls — This tea is primarily produced near Fuzhou City in Fujian Province, China. The best young leaf-and-bud sets are harvested in April, rolled into pearls, then stored until late June, when jasmine trees blossom. The tea pearls are spread out on mesh trays and placed in a heated dryer, with trays of jasmine blossoms in-between each of the tea leaf trays. In the morning, the pearls have absorbed the jasmine scent. Freshness is key here. The best jasmines are gotten to market quickly.
- Lapsang Souchong China black tea — Very popular, with demand exceeding supply, and often imitated. The true version originates in the Wu-Yi Mountain region. The leaves are withered in the smoke from pine or cypress wood fires, giving the tea a strong and distinctive smoked flavor often described as an acquired taste.
- Four Chinese white teas: Bai Hao Yinzhen (Silver needle), the best with the highest grades commanding rather high prices. Bai Mu Dan (White Peony), ranked second in quality. Gong Mei (Tribute Eyebrow), ranked third. Shou Mei (Noble, Long Life Eyebrow), last but still a great tea with a stronger flavor than other white teas since it’s harvested later in the growing season.
Our next stop on this world tour will be a jaunt to Japan, where tea is an important part of life!
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Golden Heaven Yunnan China Black Tea (Photo source: The English Tea Store)
I consider myself to be a rather avid fan of Assam tea, a black variety that hails from the Assam region of India. Although I’m always careful to note that Assam teas are definitely not all created equal and some of them are rather yucky, to be quite honest. But I’m such a fan of this tea that on two separate occasions I’ve devoted an entire month at my own tea site to considering its many and varied charms.
Which doesn’t seem a very logical way to open a review of a black tea from the Yunnan region of China. But I wanted to establish that I like Assam so much for the simple reason that I’m starting to wonder if I don’t like Yunnan better. For a while now I’ve been drinking Yunnan tea from a merchant who shall remain nameless. I turn to this one whenever the supply of tea samples from various merchants starts to run dry because it’s of a decent quality and I can run down to the local Whole Foods and buy some, rather than having to go through mail order.
While it’s a rather decent Yunnan, as I say, the English Tea Store’s Golden Heaven Yunnan is a cut above that and is one of those Yunnan teas that might just put me over the top in my homegrown Assam/Yunnan competition.
I have to cringe at the Tea Store’s description of this one, however, specifically the opening part that claims that it’s a “a delicious tea that’s outstanding with milk.” While it may indeed be just that and while I’ve learned not to berate anyone for spoiling an outstanding tea with milk, I’d encourage anyone who thinks that black tea actually needs milk to give this one a try on its own before reaching for the pitcher.
I’ve had the good fortune to try a few decent Yunnan teas over the years and this one holds its own with any of them. It’s got the very full and highly robust black tea flavor that’s common to the breed and some notes of something like spice in the finish. Probably the best indicator of how highly I thought of it is that out of the wealth of tea samples I’ve received in recent weeks it was one of the first to go.
See also:
Review ― Golden Heaven Yunnan from The English Tea Store
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Ceylon Black Tea
As mentioned in a recent article here, India’s tea industry is hopeful that the government there will declare tea the country’s national drink. At least one government official cautiously suggested as much not so long ago. But a more recent news report claims that another government minister is not so confident, citing a similar initiative that failed in 2006.
In China, the world’s largest producer of tea, they turn out all kinds of the stuff, from black and green to white and yellow to oolong and puerh. But according to one article there’s been something of a fad there lately among China’s middle class for what the report called “British-style black tea.” Which is not necessarily a problem in and of itself, but there are concerns that the increased demand will push prices higher for these varieties.
Speaking of black tea, let’s take a moment to speak of Sri Lanka, a country that’s arguably best known for producing a distinctive variety of black tea known as Ceylon (a nod to the country’s former name). The word there these days is that their distinctive Ceylon tea may soon become a little less distinctive as they seek to boost profits by blending it with less expensive imported varieties.
This article has mentioned some of the world’s more notable tea growing regions thus far. One country that doesn’t come up much in these discussions is New Zealand, and it’s a situation that at least one tea company is trying to remedy. The firm, who grow tea there, has blended the names of its home country with its preferred tea type (oolong) to come up with its own name – Zealong. Here’s an article and video from the local press.
Coming up with the best places in the world to drink tea might seem a herculean task. Which didn’t stop a writer from Travel + Leisure magazine from recently devising A Global Guide to the Best Tea. The article is actually a chronicle of a trip to the Wuyi Mountains region of China, which are renowned primarily for their high-quality oolong tea. Also included, a rather ambitious guide to six of the Best Places to Drink Tea in America.
Finally, if it’s job security you crave, you could do a lot worse than to be the Queen of England. At least two companies (Twinings, East India) celebrated the Queen’s sixty years of laboring in the regal salt mines with special tea blends and spiffy caddies to store said tea in. Here’s one of them.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Here is the 2nd of the baker’s dozen (13) of recipes that I selected off of a foodie site since they seem to really fit this bill of going great with tea. This is a more unusual recipe to serve with tea but seems to fit this time of year.
After reading my take on these, you might want to try out the recipe with a pot of the tea named and assess the pairing for yourself.
The recipe: Simple Summer Couscous Salad
Simple Summer Couscous Salad
Tomatoes and cucumbers and scallions — oh my! Two years ago, the cook presented this most yummerlicious looking salad on her site. She had presented it as perfect for your Memorial Day Weekend luncheon. It’s a real “beat the heat” dish. The recipe calls for fat-free chicken stock, but you can sub a nice vegan style broth. I made it with the chicken stock, and hubby said I achieved very satisfactory results (the recipe is simple enough for even me to handle).
Fresh ingredients will assure a fresh-tasting and satisfying treat that deserves a wonderful tea with a flavor and aroma to contrast with it.
The tea: Golden Heaven Yunnan
Golden Heaven Yunnan
My tea choice may not be yours, but having actually made the salad and had it with this tea, I can attest that the combo is worth trying. Golden Yunnan is climbing my personal scale of faves, but still remains some distance behind Keemuns, Assams, Ceylons, and Darjeelings. It is a tea that I can enjoy both straight and in a more British-style serving manner with milk and sweetener. In fact, it is even a tea that can take the chill, delivering a refreshing peppery punch during the heat of the Summer.
Hope this works for you. Feel free to comment here with your experience, and watch for the next pairing to be posted in June.
See also:
Pairing Tea and Food — Pomegranate Vanilla Scones and Sencha Tea
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
[Editor's note: We are welcoming a new author on our blog - Elise Nuding! Let us know what you think of her first posting.]
The 23rd of January 2012 marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year, ushering in the Year of the Dragon. The dragon is highly esteemed in Eastern cultures as it is associated with power, strength, and success, and people born in the Year of the Dragon are said to embody these qualities. These associations are so strong that the Chinese Han character for dragon (“long”) is the same character that symbolises emperor. The dragon is also auspicious, and so the Year of the Dragon is considered to be the luckiest year in the zodiac cycle—this bodes well for 2012!
Two dragons playing with a pearl from the Nine Dragon Wall, Bei-hai Park, Beijing
Very nice, you say, but what does all of this have to do with tea?
Well, ostensibly nothing. However, as dragons play such an important role in Eastern cultures, they inevitably find their way into many names and descriptions, including those of tea. To welcome the dragon, I felt it was worth highlighting a few teas with dragon-inspired names. These could be a starting point for bringing more of the free-spirited, powerful dragon into your tea drinking this year. In fact, in addition to the zodiac, the Chinese calendar also cycles through the five elements and it just so happens that the element for this 2012 dragon is water—what an auspicious element for a year sure to be filled with tea drinking!
Before getting into specific teas that include dragons in their name, let’s start with a whole category of teas. I am talking of course about Oolong teas, as the English word “oolong” comes from the Chinese for “black dragon”. There are several origin stories for the name, one of which puts it down simply to appearances: the dark leaves of oolong teas curl and wind around themselves just like the body of a dragon. The “black” in the name makes oolong tea even more appropriate for the Year of the Water Dragon, since the element of water is associated with the colour black.
Now onto some specific teas.
Dragonwell (Longjing): This is one of the better-known Chinese green teas. There are many versions of the legend behind its name, but here is one that I’ve heard:
During a drought season in ancient China only one well continued to supply water. As dragons are thought to have control over the coming of rain and water, it was believed that a dragon inhabited this particular well and kept it from running dry. The water from this well was used (among other things) for growing tea leaves. Therefore, from that time on the tea grown in that area carried the name of Dragonwell in honour of the water dragon. The association with water makes this tea particularly suitable for the coming year!
Nine Bend Black Dragon: This Chinese black tea also has an interesting story behind its name. Many dragon teas have “nine” in their name because the number nine is also considered auspicious in Chinese culture. This is due to its phonetic similarity with the word for “long lasting”. The number nine is often associated specifically with the dragon who is considered to have nine forms, nine attributes, and nine children.
Dragon Pearls: In this tea the tea leaves are hand-rolled into small balls reminiscent of pearls. There are many varieties of tea pearls, but Chinese green tea pearls often have “dragon” included in their name. Pearls often shows up in connection with dragons, as, like the dragon, pearls indicate good luck and prosperity. A dragon with a pearl is even more auspicious than a pearl-less dragon, and in Chinese art dragons are often depicted holding or chasing pearls.
A cup full of black dragons: Organic Ti Kuan Yin Slimming Oolong
Jasmine Dragon Pearl: Sometimes known as jasmine tears, this green tea is similar to the green tea pearls but is distinguished by the addition of the floral scent of jasmine. As jasmine can have a calming effect, this tea fits nicely with the water dragon; she tends to be quieter and more perceptive than other dragons due to water’s ability to calm her energy and temperament.
Snow Dragon White Tea (Xue Long):Like “oolong”, this tea is named after the dragon because it consists of tiny white tea leaves hand-rolled into spirals reminiscent of a dragon’s shape (some say specifically a dragon’s tail). Dragon tea drinkers will find this delicate white tea a nice complement to the green, black and oolong teas listed above, as it provides a lighter, milder cup full of dragons.
These are just a few of the many dragon teas that exist. So, in keeping with the dragon’s free spirit and creativity, try out some new dragon teas and bring some more of the dragon into your tea-drinking (and life!) this year.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Ever since I tried Keemun tea, I have, as the expression goes, been keen on it! This black tea tickles my tastebuds in a wonderful way that makes a nice change from my usual morning cuppa Assam.
Mmmmmmmmmm... Keemun Panda!
Some tea experts describe the flavor this way:
- “A winey, fruity tea with depth and complexity.”
- “…having a faint orchid or rose scent, there is also a distinctive cocoa flavor.”
- “… a rich liquor with an orchid fragrance.”
However, my tastebuds have a mind of their own, as yours probably do, and so my experience tends to be more like this:
This is a full-bodied, fragrant Chinese black tea that satisfies in every way. …the liquid is dark amber in color and the taste is smooth enough to be drunk with ease. With a bit of milk and just a touch of sweetener, this tea not only smoothes out even more but exudes a smoky character (subtle, not overblown like Lapsang Souchong).
Just goes to show that we all have our own sensory perceptions. And as the French say, “Vive la différence!”
Keemun, a variant of the name ‘Qimen’ (one of the counties in Anhui province where this tea is produced), is considered by many to be one of the finest black teas and one of the 10 classic teas from China (it’s from the Anhui province). This is a fairly general statement, since there are different levels of Keemuns:
- A good all around Keemun, usually called something like “Keemun Morning.”
- A high grade Keemun called “Hao Ya” that has a richer and more distinct flavor that was sweet with light hints of smokiness.
- A higher grade called “Mao Feng” or “hair point.”
Keemun is made from the “tippy” leaves (the young, tender leaves from the branch tips) of a cultivar of the tea plant (Camellia Sinensis) and thus has its own unique flavor and perfume. It also contains an essential oil (myrcenal) that brings a sweetness to the taste and a floral aroma some have described as being “like a dying black rose” or “toast hot from the oven.” I still have a dried rose bloom from one of the bushes in our yard and would swear this tea and that bloom have the same aroma.
Of course, Keemun also lends these flavors and aromas to many blends, my fave being Scottish Breakfast (my review). It keeps Assam from being too bitter and tempers the malty character while still producing a strong cup that takes milk well, if you are so inclined. Give it a try sometime!
See also:
China’s Black Teas: Keemun
A Journey to the Tea Countries of China
The Tea Provinces of China, Part I
The Tea Provinces of China, Part II
Review — Lychee Congou China Black Tea from The English Tea Store
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The Chinese New Year is a celebration of change which equates to the familiar saying, “out with the old and in with the new”. I celebrated Chinese New Year for the first time in Brisbane, with these 10 points in mind.
- Make Time for family – I ventured down to Chinatown with my husband to watch the festivities and shared a cup of a Chinese Herbal containing Chrysanthemum flowers, Goji berries and Red dates.
Chrysanthemum flowers, Goji berries and Red dates herbal
- Accepting Gifts Red envelopes (Lei See) are given as gifts where the red colour of the envelope and the money inside symbolizes good luck and is said to ward off evil spirits.
- Year of the Dragon / Dragon or Lion Dance – A dragon or lion dance is performed on New Year’s Day to bring luck and prosperity for the coming year. People born in the year of the Dragon are said to be strong, self-assured and loyal. What Chinese zodiac animal are you?
Double Dragon, Double Luck
- Kumquats, Peanuts and candies – Kumquats represent prosperity; peanuts, long life and eating fruits and candies are encouraged to symbolize having a sweet and abundant life.
- Imagery / symbolism - Chinese New Year is all about decorating the house with signs and posters on doors and windows with the word for luck (Fú).
- Negative Chi –To ill fortune and negative chi, one must reconcile differences, forget any grudges and sincerely wish peace, love and happiness to all!
- Good Fortune – One must sweep away ill fortune on New Year’s to make way for incoming good luck for the coming year.
- Traditional foods – Many traditional foods served throughout the festivities because the name or look of the food sounds/looks similar to a lucky word. One of my favourites are tea eggs, symbolizing fertility.
- Evil Spirits – As well as wearing red fire crackers are set off to ward off spirits and a way to send out the old year and welcome the New Year.
- Ancestors – Temples are visited to pay respect to ancestors, and food and incense is brought to please the spirits of the decreased.
See also:
Tea and the Chinese New Year
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Golden Heaven Yunnan China Black Tea
As much as I like a great cup of Chinese or Japanese green tea, I have to say that, for me, there’s nothing quite like black tea. I’ve said it many times before and I’m sure I’ll say it many more – for me Assam is the be all and end all when it comes to black tea, though it’s important to note that not all Assam is created equal and much of it is actually quite mediocre, at best. But I digress.
After Assam, it would be tough to pick my next favorite but if pressed I’d probably have to go with Yunnan tea. This is a term that covers a great deal of territory, so it’s probably a good idea to narrow things down a bit. Yunnan is a province in southern China that’s well known for its output of a variety of teas. Yunnan may be best known for its production of Pu’er, a type of tea so tied to this region that the city of Simao, in the heart of the Pu’er growing region, recently changed its name to Pu’er City.
Puerh can be an acquired taste for some (present company included). For my money the Yunnan tea most worthy of sitting up and taking notice of is a black tea that’s often just referred to as Yunnan and more specifically as Dian Hong, or sometimes Dien Hung. The ancient Chinese term for Yunnan, Dien Hung roughly translates to Yunnan Red. Red tea in China is what those of us in most of the rest of the world typically refer to as black tea.
Dian Hong is typically harvested from older bushes and tends to be characterized by a relatively high concentration of golden tips. This quality is recognized in such names as Yunnan Gold, Yunnan Pure Gold, Golden Tip, or Golden Buds, among others. It’s a relative newcomer to the pantheon of Chinese teas, having only begun production in the last century or so.
Dian Hong typically has a rather robust, even malty flavor with faint notes of spice or perhaps a hint of pepper, though this may vary considerably depending on the grade. Most varieties that I’ve had the pleasure to try are almost completely free of the bitterness or astringency that makes any tea-drinking experience less than satisfying. Looking back over the Dian Hong varieties that I’ve reviewed over the years at my own site I see that I have yet to run across a dud and one of my favorite everyday teas, one that’s almost always in my cupboard, is a Dian Hong.
For a recent review of English Tea Store’s Golden Heaven Yunnan, look here.
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
