Single Malt and Cigars.Like Oolong, Chinas well-known semi-fermented or "brown" tea, Lapsang Souchong tea comes from the mist-enshrouded Wuyi Mountains in the northwestern corner of China's Fujian Province (north of Guangdong [Canton] Province), whose greatest tourist draw besides its mountains is its coast line on the Taiwan Straits, and where tea has been grown at least since the Sung Dynasty (AD 960 – 1279).
This tea has an unmistakeably smokey note, which for years made it a particular favorite with the "single malt and cigars" crowd of English clubs and drawing rooms. That aroma is created during the tea's smoking process, which involves the withering of the tea leaves in bamboo baskets hung on racks over cypress or pine wood fires, after they have been rolled and placed into wooden barrels until they emit their own aroma. The finished tea leaves are characteristically thick and black. Legend has it that this smoking process was discovered by accident during the Quing Dynasty (1644 – 1911), when an army unit camping out in a tea factory interrupted the processing of the recently-arrived leaves and the workers then resulted to drying the leaves over pine fires to make up for the disruption and get to the market in time, creating an instant sensation there.
Because of its potent aroma, Lapsang Souchong should not steep very long. The rule of thumb is that the paler its orange color, the more likely you'll truly enjoy it.
A superb breakfast tea from the home of the Ming emperors.Keemun tea comes from the slopes of Mount Huangshan in southern Anhui province, located on the mighty Yangtze River in eastern China, also home to Mount Jiuhua (one of China's famous four Buddhist mountains) as well as other impressive and scenic mountains, and historic villages dating back to the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 – 1644). The province was the birthplace of the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (1328 – 1398), a member of the White Lotus rebels, who took the seat of power away from the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. First settled by Han Chinese in the third century BC, Anhui takes its name – "Peaceful Emblem" – from two ancient provinces, Anching and Huizhou. Today it is one of China's leading agricultural regions, producing inter alia rice, wheat, beans, maize, sweet potatoes, cotton, tobacco, peanuts, sesame, rapeseed, tea, hemp, silk, fruits, tung oil, and even raw lacquer.
A relative young tea compared to China's other varieties, which can trace their origins back several hundreds or even more than 1000 years, Keemun tea plantation only began in 1875, responding to the growing demand for black tea on the English market, but quickly gained a reputation for a particularly fine, aromatic tea.
Keemun tea is of a reddish brown color and a distinctly invigorating, rich, often smoky aroma that includes notes of rose petals or orchids as well as fruity notes. Keemun makes for an excellent breakfast tea and in fact, is a key ingredient in Britain's quintessential morning blend, English Breakfast.
Tea from Shangri-La.Yunnan Province on the mighty Mekong river in southwestern China (north of Vietnam and Laos) gained its name, which means "South of the Clouds," during the Tang dynasty (AD 618 – 907), when a local prince, having made the tedious journey to the Emperor's court, told his sovereign that he had come from the lands south of the rainy weather in Sichuan. The mountain-encased and until recently not easily accessible province is probably the location of the mythical Shangri-La, referred to in James Milton's "Lost Horizons," as well as home to the ancient city of Lijang (a UNESCO world heritage site) in the shadow of the mighty Yulong (Jade Dragon) Snow Mountain, Bai horses, Dali marble and numerous medicinal products, including one of China's famous "wonder drugs," the white powder known as "Baibao Dan" (One Hundred Treasures Drug), which is said to cure everything from injuries to certain gynecological diseases, and frequently applied to clean open wounds and stop bleeding, stimulate blood circulation, and against inflammations.
Tea plantation in Yunnan began about 1700 years ago, during the Sung Dynasty (AD 960 – 1279), when the city of Pu'erh in the South of the province became a major tea trading center; although at least in Yunnan's northwestern corner the tradition is probably even older and was imported across the border from Tibet during the Tang dynasty. Elsewhere, bricks of Pu-erh tea also constituted the first medium of monetary exchange used by nomads beyond the Great Wall of China, and their use has been recorded as early as A.D. 476.
Yunnan tea is a broadleaf with a distinctly bright color and intense, lasting, slightly peppery or spicy taste. Unusually forgiving, Yunnan tea usually does not grow bitter, even when it is oversteeped.
The "Green Pearl" of Tea.Gunpowder tea is green tea, most of which comes from a city named Pingshui in the Eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, south of the Yangtse River Delta, where it has been cultivated for centuries and is known as the "green pearl" of tea. Pingshui tea market records date as far back as the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 – 907). The area's gunpowder tea was an important tribute traditionally given to the Chinese emperors; and with the growing trade volume between China and the West it also acquired an increasing number of lovers in Europe. Particularly during the second half of the 19th century, when gunpowder tea export reached its peak, its price on the London market was second only to then-popular Wu Yi Oolong (also from China). Even today, Zhejiang Province still proudly calls itself "home of silk and tea" for its two primary natural products.
The name "gunpowder" derives from the tea's elaborate method of processing, which traditionally lasts several hours and during which the tea leaves are withered, steamed or stir-fried and individually rolled into small pellets. Early foreign traders mistook these pellets for gunpowder or gunshot.
Gunpowder tea has a delicate aroma with a slightly smokey note (Peets' is probably a bit stronger than most). It should always be enjoyed without milk or cream.
China's Superb Semi-fermented Tea.Like the famously smokey Lapsang Souchong, Oolong tea comes from the Wuyi Mountains in the northwestern corner of China's Fujian Province (north of Guangdong [Canton] Province), where tea growing – like in Zhejiang, the home of Gunpowder Green tea – is an over 1000-year old tradition.
In terms of production, Oolong tea takes a middle position between the fully fermented black teas (Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, Kenya, Lapsang Souchong) and the unfermented green teas (Sencha, Maccha, Gyokuro, Hougicha/Hojicha, Gunpowder Green), in that it is semi-fermented or "brown" tea. The fermentation process is stopped when the tea leaves are about 30% red and 70% green, after which they are rubbed to promote their aroma and texture and then dried over charcoal.
Oolong comes in different aromas, with hints of apricot, peach, honey, orchids, chestnut or roasted grains. For a zesty, roasted flavor try Peet's Phoenix Mountain Oolong; for a spicy variety, Leaves Pure Teas' Cloud Above the Stars Oolong or their slightly floral Ti Quan Yin;
for a refreshing tea with a subtler fruity note, Peet's Golden Dragon Oolong; and for a chestnutty aroma Peet's Amber Oolong. All of these come highly recommended.
Themis-Athena's tea guides: Part 1 (The Basics), Part 2 (Individual Teas) and Part 3 (Scented & Herbal Teas)
Themis-Athena's introduction to tea history and grades, and presentation of select teas from India and Sri Lanka, Japan, Africa and South America, and blended and scented teas.
Themis-Athena's select annotated tea list and bibliography of tea books and accessories
Themis-Athena's guide to European cooking
Copyright 2001-2007: Themis-Athena, all rights reserved.
