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Jasmine Dragon Tears green tea
So quickly we reach September and the end of Summer. If your year is flying by as fast as mine, then predicting the future may feel a little redundant — just blink and it’s here. Still, having been given such awesome psychic gifts, it would be irresponsible of me not to use them. It’s always helpful to know what might be coming our way, so here are the insights I gained from this month’s cup of jasmine green tea.
The first symbols I found were a rocking horse, a lion, a table, and a butterfly. Horses are symbols of love and romance so a rocking horse could be childhood sweethearts, lions are influential friends, a table is a social gathering and butterflies are fickleness and loss of money. Now, we could take this to mean a cheating spouse and an expensive divorce, but this was an optimistic tasting tea so let’s look for a happier interpretation. If you find yourself invited to the same party as someone you’ve been admiring from afar for a while, then the host could be playing matchmaker. Expect success, but be warned that your crush may turn out to be a bit of a financial liability.
Next, I could make out a campfire, a saxophone, and a magnifying glass. Fire is achievement, the saxophone tells of a passionate affair with a musician, and the magnifying glass is a warning against exaggeration. Now, I’m not saying that all musicians like to brag, but the magnifying glass might be a warning that your new sweetheart isn’t quite the musical genius they believe they are. Think twice before helping to finance the tour.
Finally, in the bottom of the cup for September, I found a tree, a key, a balloon, a question mark, and a submarine with a periscope. The tree is change for the better, the key is new opportunities, and the balloon is short term difficulties. Combined with the question mark and the periscope, this means some very careful research from a safe vantage point is needed before you take advantage of new developments. Things with the musician will be fun while they last, but you’ll quickly get tired of driving the band around and will be ready to move on to someone slightly more solvent. Be careful not to just jump on the next potential suitor that comes along. The tea seems to recommend some careful observation before pursuing anything new.
Try to keep it below stalking level.
© 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.
Reading tea leaves is part of the rich history of tea, the second most popular beverage on the planet. This has meant looking at the shapes the leaves have made in the bottom of a teacup once the liquid has been consumed and trying to relate those to what some events might be in the future. There was a hilarious scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Professor Sybil Trelawney (Emma Thompson) is trying to instruct the class in this ancient method of attempting to foretell the future. Her success rate was rather meager.
I tend to approach reading tea leaves from a far more practical perspective. Before steeping, the leaves tell of the process they endured once plucked from the tea bush (Camellia Sinensis). After steeping, they reveal their true nature more fully.
Here are tales from a few green teas I’ve tried:
White Monkey Green Tea — The dry leaves tell of gentle hands with a quick snap plucking those leaves from their mother bush, ending their days of growth under golden sun and starry skies and shimmering bright green in the morning mists and chilly twilights. Their curling shapes tell of a drying that was done with utmost care yet with their true leafness still evident. The wet leaves, clearly revealing their origins as tender tips now that they have imparted their essence into the water, foretell of taste delights awaiting.
Gunpowder Green Tea — Dark green pellets of dried leaves tell of skilled fingers rolling rolling rolling until that shape is achieved. These fingers have a memory, knowing the feel of the leaf, knowing which way to turn and twist as they seek that shape. The wet leaves, unfurled by water’s insistence and gentle pulling, reveal their mostly unbroken shapes when the steeping is done and the gentle journey the leaves took from bush to cup. They also foretell of their planty flavor awaiting your first sip.
Japanese Sencha — Tiny bright green pieces speak of ancient traditions and the grand part in life these leaves play. Their thirst is quickly quenched and swells them to their former size when first from bush they were plucked. One sip, and you will feel the silk of the kimono and the close comfort of the obi sash, hear the gentle rustle of the breeze through the cherry tree branches, and inhale the clean fragrance of that air cleansed by passage over snow-covered peaks.
The tales that tea leaves tell! Next time, we’ll see the stirrings of oolongs.
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Jasmine Dragon Tears green tea
The English Tea Store’s Jasmine Dragon Tears tea is a steamed, hand-rolled, jasmine-infused experience that is not to be rushed. Heated in water just shy of boiling, the pearls unfurl to reveal themselves and the top bud of the plant, still bearing soft hairs, so indicative of a gentle handling and masterful touch. The tea is designed to be sipped, savored, and enjoyed with a deep appreciation for its artful result.
Which is exactly my experience in reading Michael Williams’ magical realism novel, Trajan’s Arch. The reading of the book is not to be rushed. Just shy of literary, the language unfurls to reveal the memories of the main character, Gabriel, and the strange and magical influence throughout his lifetime of his mysterious neighbor, Trajan. Through Williams’ imagery, so indicative of gentle handling and a masterful touch, the novel is designed to be sipped, savored, and enjoyed with a deep appreciation for its artful result.
Trajan's Arch
But the unique quality of Jasmine Dragon Tears tea really comes through with its flavor. The highest quality jasmine blooms are picked alongside the tea plants, in the Wuyi District of Fujian Province, China. The harvest is then layered—jasmine blooms, then tea leaves, jasmine blooms, then tea leaves—until jasmine essence infuses the overall character and outcome. The intensity of the high floral notes make this truly the best of what high quality jasmine tea can be.
As well, in Williams’ Trajan’s Arch, the novel is literally layered with stories, written by Trajan, to reveal how the character infuses Gabriel’s life and love (Gabriel’s estranged wife happens to be named Jasmine). Trajan affects those who know him with an intensity that lingers for generations.
With English Tea Store’s Jasmine Dragon Tears tea, you won’t be disappointed. There’s no need for sweetener, the rich blend of green tea and floral makes for a satisfying sip. And pairing it with Trajan’s Arch is a novel and tea companion that brings to the senses an experience of magic-come-true.
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English Tea Store Genmaicha
Tea is very popular in Japan, practically the national beverage. Haiku is a form of poetry that originated in Japan. So a tea haiku or two seems totally expected. A poetry form that embraces nature combined with the tea that comes from nature plus how that tea affects our lives.
In an art class I took years ago, we were supposed to do drawings that were mere essences of the object, stripping away the details, yet leaving enough so the viewer could tell what the object was. Haiku (pronounced “HI-coo”) is sort of like that on a verbal — rather than visual — level.
The poetry form of haiku has a long history but is ironically one of the shortest forms of poetry, with some examples containing only a single word. It has also undergone quite a bit of rule setting, changing, discarding, resetting, changing some more, etc. The subject matter for haiku is usually nature, so quite a few about tea abound. One of the better known Japanese haiku poets went by the pen name “Issa,” a shortened combination of the Japanese words ichi (“one”) and “cha” (“tea”). Another well-known haiku poet was Bashō, who wrote the following:
drinking morning tea
the monk is peaceful
the chrysanthemum blooms
Also, one of the first Westerners to try writing haiku was a Dutchman (which figures since the Dutch were among the first to bring tea to Europe). Hendrik Doeff (1764–1837) was commissioner in the Dejima trading post in Nagasaki, during the early 19th century, and enjoyed tea and writing haiku, among other things.
Through the intervening centuries this form of poetry has challenged many a poetically minded tea sipper, prompting a multitude of compositions about that wonderful leaf from the tea bush (Camellia Sinensis). Even I have dabbled while enjoying a nice sencha or houjicha or some genmaicha. Whether the results are worth mentioning is another matter.
I’m good at following a set form. Maybe it comes from learning to color within the lines in my coloring books as a child. So, I’ve been sticking to the formula taught to me years ago of 17 syllables in three lines divided into 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables, like in this one:
Silent silent are
bubbles in the water pot
Steeped tea loudly shouts
Hm, well, I try.
There are haiku societies around the world. They help you learn to write haiku, keep you informed on haiku news, and sponsor competitions. For you techies, there is also an open-source operating system named “Haiku” for personal computing and inspired by the BeOS. But I digress.
The next time you are enjoying the steam rising from your sipping cup and waiting for the tea to come down to a suitable temperature so you can fully enjoy the taste of the tea, try your hand at a line or two or three (usually no more than that). Keep it simple, unpunctuated, and with strong images. Enjoy!
See also:
Going Genmaicha
Japanese vs. Chinese Green Teas
Japanese Teas Revisited
© 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.
Summer is here (unless you hang your hat in the southern hemisphere), and temperatures are soaring to the point where a liberal dose of ice cream may be called for. Whether it’s 110 degrees, like it has been in my corner of the world recently, or a little bit milder, it’s still a great time to cool off with some manner of frozen treat.
Green tea ice-cream from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop. Photograph: Lara Hata/Jacqui Small
As if the title of this article wasn’t enough to tip you off, tea, that ever-versatile ingredient, has been making its way into ice cream for a while now. Green tea seems to be one of the most popular varieties used in ice cream. According to this Wikipedia article, green tea ice cream made with Japanese green tea, has long been popular in Japan and certain other parts of Asia. It is said to have been available in specialty outlets in the United States since the 70s, but has become more widely available lately. It’s interesting to note that, as far back as 1998, the New York Times’ reporting on green tea ice cream was still treating it as something of a curiosity.
Matcha is a powdered variety of Japanese green tea that was once best known as the type used in the Japanese tea ceremony. Because it is powdered, it has become an increasingly popular ingredient in recent years in a wide variety of recipes and often turns up in tea ice cream. Matcha is an ingredient in green tea ice cream from such well-known manufacturers as Häagen-Dazs, as well as in these recipes for the homemade stuff from high-profile sites like Epicurious and the Food Network.
But if you guessed that the possibilities for tea ice cream go far beyond matcha and green tea, you just might be on to something. Check out several other varieties of tea-based ice cream at Bigelow’s dessert recipe page. For even more examples of this sort of thing you can go in search of various food bloggers’ efforts. Among these, recipes for such offbeat treats as Earl Grey ice cream or chai ice cream.
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Sencha Japanese Green Tea
In the article Some Australian Grown Black Teas, I looked at a few growers in the northeastern part of Australia in the state of Queensland. Now, let’s look at a growing sector of their tea production and one that is becoming increasingly important for them: green teas, which has grown to about 1/5th of all their tea exports.
Japanese growers started looking about 10 years ago at the Manjimup/Pemberton area of Western Australia for the cultivation of a varietal of the tea bush better suited to producing green (unoxidized) tea: the Camellia Sinensis sinensis (versus the Camellia Sinensis assamica from which Assam black tea is produced). The Manjimup Green Tea Company is now well-established.
Green tea drinking is on the rise as the health claims mount, especially in Australia and Germany, but also in the U.S. In addition, Japanese demand for green tea remains steady at 100,000 tons per year with a decline in domestic production, especially in light of the concern, legitimate or not, of tea bushes being exposed to radiation from the tsunami-induced Fukushima nuclear plant failure. They currently import 11,000 tons per year, but that is expected to keep rising.
Thus the importance of this area of tea production for Australian growers.
Australia has the land, the interested farmers, and is close enough to Japan to get the tea there in a fairly fresh state. Plus, the Japanese prefer the quality of green tea from Australia to the tea imported from other countries.
But there are challenges. The Camellia Sinensis sinensis varietal has several key differences from the Assam varietal that make growing them a different matter:
- their leaf edges are more apparently serrated
- the bushes are smaller and grow more slowly
- they have 3 or 4 flushes (periods of active growth) per year
- they are more cold tolerant
- a dormant period is needed to produce a distinctive first flush in mid to late Spring
- the leaves can be steamed to prevent oxidation/fermentation and then dried
So, why the Manjimup/Pemberton area of Western Australia? Several factors:
- it is similar to the prime Shizuoka area of Japan in latitude, soil acidity, and annual average temperature (15˚ C)
- Summer temperatures usually do not exceed 35˚ C
- frosts are fairly uncommon and come mainly in Winter during plant dormancy
- the soils are well-drained gravelly loams
- quality water is usually available for irrigation in the warmer months
- the level of smog and pests is much lower than in Japan
- Australia has fewer cyclones and earthquakes
The Madura (meaning “paradise”) plantation, another fairly well-known grower “down under” in the Tweed Valley (in northern New South Wales) started producing green teas in 1988 in addition to their black teas. They are one of the top producers in Australia now, with a reputation for quality.
Green tea plantations were established near Gosford (north of Sydney) in 1998 by the Japanese company Kunitaro Company Ltd. and the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. Their tea quality is said to be excellent and is targeted to the high value gift market in the New Year period in Japan and other Asian countries. The company aims to increase the hectares planted on the Central coast and lower Hunter Valley and establish a large scale processing plant at Somersby on the Central Coast.
There is also a shincha from a grower outside the town of Wangaratta. It is said to rival those grown in Japan. Who knows what will be next!
© 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.
Izu Matcha Japanese Green Tea
Oh, the many and varied wonders of tea. Not only does it taste good, but there are a boatload of studies that indicate that it probably is quite good for us. Which is great news, even for those of us who primarily drink it for the taste. The studies on tea and health keep on coming and, not surprisingly, many of them deal specifically with green tea, one of the least processed types.
One of the most recent studies was conducted by researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the University of Connecticut, and Changwon National University in South Korea. One of their key findings was that a beneficial compound found primarily in green tea has a tendency to increase the number of regulatory T cells that assist in strengthening immune function and suppressing autoimmune disease. “When fully understood,” according to Emily Ho, one of the principal investigators, “This could provide an easy and safe way to help control autoimmune problems and address various diseases.”
Researchers pointed out that while there are already pharmaceutical drugs that perform many of these same functions, a product derived from the likes of green tea or some other natural product is likely to be more desirable because of lessened concerns about toxicity.
The study zeroed in on epigallocatechin gallate, also known as EGCG, as the ingredient in green tea that that has the ability to increase the production of regulatory T cells. While this effect is not nearly as pronounced as it is with pharmaceutical drugs, the trade-off, as already noted, is the relative lack of toxic side effects with EGCG and green tea. EGCG is a polyphenol that is found primarily in less processed varieties such as green tea, as well as certain other plants. It is one of the compounds that’s frequently cited as contributing to tea’s various health benefits.
For more details on this study, look here.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. Please consult your physician to see if drinking tea may be beneficial to you.
© 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.
Fakery abounds in the tea world, as with many other products. Why not? Expensive teas, commanding prices in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars, are as tempting to counterfeiters as are the works of Gucci and other designers. They say that knowledge is power, though, so with a bit of knowledge, you can tell which tea is fake and which is real, just as the experts on Antiques Roadshow can tell the real Paul Revere pewter mug from the fake.
One point to clarify first here is that by “fake tea” I am not meaning plastic, silk, or other such materials that fake flowers are made of. Tea fakery is about real tea, but with a fake “pedigree.” Now that we have that straight, on to the details.
Darjeeling Tea logo
The tea source and what the tea is labeled to be are key factors in its authenticity. For example, a special oolong from Darjeeling, to be authentic, should meet certain criteria, such as being grown at a high altitude where there’s not too much heat and average temperatures remain in the 5–20°C range throughout the season and coming from old Camellia Sinensis bushes from China. The Darjeeling Tea Association certifies this, so look for their logo on the package.
A special green tea from China called Dragonwell (or Longjing) is another example. It has such a high reputation that it’s no surprise when teas of lesser quality come on the market bearing that name. (One story is floating around out there about someone paying $14,000 for a mere handful of this tea.) The original Dragonwell came from the Lion Peak Mountain in West Lake (Xihu), China, but is now cultivated in other parts of the country. The processing of the tea leaves nowadays is what makes it authentic Dragonwell, with at least 100 different known types (plus a lot of fakes). The best kind is made from the two-leaves-and-a-bud combo harvested during the first 2 weeks in the Spring growing season. The second best is that harvested during the next 4 weeks. The tea bushes rest the remainder of the year, one reason this tea is so expensive and thus spurring imitation.
Wu Yi tea, also known as the slimming tea, is another target for fakers. It’s supposed to be a very special type of oolong from the Wu Yi Mountain in China and helps you lose weight, so of course every oolong out there is being labeled as “wu yi” or “slimming tea.” That brings up another type of tea fakery: fake health claims. Everything from bad breath to smelly feet have a tea that someone claims will cure it. Reminds me of snakeoil salesmen (as portrayed in the movies) claiming their potion would cure whatever ails you.
Golden Moon Tea Pu-erh
Pu-erh fakery is a big issue. For many generations, they have been prized in China and even considered investments. Lately, pu-erhs have gotten into high demand in the U.S. and elsewhere, increasing the attraction to counterfeiters. Labeling, wrapping technique, and the appearance of the tea cake are all signs of whether the tea is a true pu-erh or an imitation. However, your best bet is to deal with tea vendors you know as reputable, especially if you are buying the tea with the idea of storing it for later. That brings me to still another form of fakery: fake tea vendors. Sites spring up online overnight. Then, they get caught, close that site, and open another under a different name. (One such company sent me samples to review. When I discovered they were the “fade into the night” types, I declined to promote their teas.)
One final form of tea fakery is the fake review. Not every tea is going to please every tea drinker. If you see nothing but glowing reviews for a tea, especially on sites that feature a sort of group approach to tea reviews, some of those reviews could be “planted” by the tea vendor or bad reviews could have been “scrubbed.” Health claim reviews have been known to be a bit “doctored” (I know, bad pun!), too, so beware.
The bottom line: be a knowledgeable tea consumer.
© 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.
Chai Green Tea
There have been so many amazing health claims about tea by this point that you can’t help but be sceptical. Between the cancer curing, the disease fighting and all the other general health promoting, you’d think we’d all been happily brewing the elixir of life for centuries. If we ever stop drinking tea, we’ll realise that humans are only supposed to have a five-year lifespan and that’s why children’s toys never stop being fun.
The latest claim to wander through my browser is the effects of green tea on bone mineral density (BMD), specifically it’s applications in the treatment of osteoporosis. Happily, this is one claim that seems to be extremely well supported.
A five-year Australian study of 1,500 women, aged between 75 and 80, looked at the effects of tea drinking and calcium supplements on osteoporosis and found that the tea drinkers had a 2.8% greater BMD at the end of the study. Another study, which looked at 632 Japanese women of 60 years or over, found a significant link between green tea drinking and a higher BMD.
A recent review of laboratory work carried out on rats found that green tea helped increase bone mineral density both by promoting bone formation and inhibiting the bodies re-absorption of bone tissues. This study reinforces the work already done with people and helps scientists to start understanding the reason that green tea seems to work so well. Studies being done of the health effects of tea are increasing year on year, and it’s medical applications are starting to be taken very seriously.
As always, you need to treat tea as a complementary medicine and not an alternative to conventional treatment, but it certainly won’t do you any harm. In fact, the Japanese government recommends that its people drink ten cups of green tea a day, and the popularity of tea-based bottled drinks has rocketed as a result.
So there is a very good reason, as if more were needed, for your daily cup of tea. It’s not quite the elixir of life but who knows what magical properties will be discovered next? Best to play it safe and put the kettle on.
References:
Devine, A., Hodgeson, J.M., Dick, I.M. and Prince, R.L. – Tea drinking is associated with benefits on bone density in older women. Am J Clin Nutr 86(4) 1243-1247
Muraki, S., Yamamoto, S., Ishibashi, H., Oka, H., Yoshimura, N., Kawaguchi, H., Nakamura, K. – Diet and lifestyle associated with increased bone mineral density: cross-sectional study of Japanese elderly women at an osteoporosis outpatient clinic. J Orthop Sci 12(4) 317-320
Shen C-L, et al. Green tea and bone health: Evidence from laboratory studies. Pharmacol Res (2011) doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2011.03.012
Hara Y. Tea catechins and their applications as supplements and pharmaceutics Pharmacol Res (2011) doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2011.03.018
More articles by “our woman in Scotland” Jessica Hodges are posted on this blog.
© 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.
Have you ever heard someone declare “I hate green tea”? To some of us diehard tea drinkers, this is like saying “I hate air” or “I hate sunshine”. That’s because we know how intricate and rewarding the flavors of a properly steeped green tea can be. We also know that the person making this declaration very likely had some poorly prepared green tea as an early experience and has never gotten over it. Sort of like that perm I got years ago and came out looking like a poodle. (The ammonia smell still makes me cringe whenever I walk past a hair salon.)
There are right ways and wrong ways to steep green teas. It can vary by the type of green tea you’re having and your personal taste. In fact, a bit of experimentation could be needed on your part to get just the right taste from your green teas.
The first error the novice makes is the water temperature. Using boiling water seems to be hard-wired into our brains. Sadly, such high temperatures assault the green tea leaves, taking a sledgehammer of heat to the leaf cells and totally bursting them into what can best be described as a vegetal mess.
The second error is steeping the leaves too long. Some green teas can endure 3 minutes while others need only 30 seconds to a minute. Senchas are usually in the latter category, needing only a short steep time. Hubby and I totally oversteeped one awhile ago and ended up with a vegetal, spinachy, bitter mess. (Not wanting to waste it, we heated more water and simply thinned the tea out. It wasn’t perfect tasting, but it was drinkable.)
Another reason that someone might declare “I hate green tea” could be the green tea he/she had. There are some low-grade green teas out there, and some even get presented as a more high-grade green tea. Gunpowder (160˚ F and 2 minutes steeping) and Chun Mee (175° F and 1 to 2 minutes steeping) are more low-grade, while Dragonwell (180° F and 1 to 3 minutes steeping) and Gyokuro (120-140° F and 90 seconds steeping is recommended) are more high-grade. Proper steeping will bring out the best in each, but there is still a big difference between the low-grade and the high-grade green teas when it comes to aroma and flavor. They will be less bitter, less vegetal, more subtle and more soothing in flavor and aroma.
So, next time you hear someone say “I hate green tea,” let the tea geek in you take over and educate them, perhaps inviting them to a private tasting. But then again, it might be better if she/he remains ignorant so there’s more green tea for the rest of us. Hm… decisions, decisions!
See Lainie Petersen’s recommendations on green and white teas for Spring! And read/watch her latest entry on her blog Lainie Sips.
See Jessica Hodges’ article on the difference water quality can make!
© 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.
