Tell us a little about yourself?I was born and raised in Hong Kong and then moved to the United States with my family in my teens. I gained a BA in Ceramics at the California College of Art in 2017 and after graduating I worked as an instructor at the American Museum of Ceramics Art and a studio technician at Pasadena City College. I wanted to expand my learning so moved to London to study at the Royal College of Art. I now live in California again and am currently studio-based where I continue to research and develop glazes as well as seeking new thrown forms. |
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How did you become a ceramist?In high school, I took several art classes which I loved. When I started to learn about ceramics, I fell in love with it and never looked back. When I was living in Hong Kong as a child, drinking good tea was a huge part of our lives. Every morning we would drink tea and I would learn how to make it properly. These early experiences of tea have inspired my craft and have helped me create different styles of cups for different tea or different moments of the day. |
Since living in California, my work has become more colorful. I love the vibrancy of the colors in LA. When I was studying in London, the colors there were reflected in my work and I created darker toned work. In terms of the shapes I love how everyone drinks tea in a slightly different way. Tea can be a very emotive drink as people use their hands to cup their drink. Tea can be a great comfort for people so I want to use shapes to reflect that. Tea, and the joy which people get from tea, should be celebrated every day and my hope is to create pieces of work which allow people to enjoy the tea process. I want people to feel joy everyday when they drink their tea.
Living through the pandemic has been tough and I think that tea has offered comfort to people when they’ve had to navigate a constantly changing situation. Tea and the ceremony of making tea can be very relaxing and therapeutic and I think that people will continue to use these little routines that have been created once the pandemic subsides. After the pandemic I think that we’ll continue to prioritize our quality of life.
I actually drink coffee in the morning to get me going and then I drink oolong or white tea throughout the day. I make a pot of tea in the morning and top it up with hot water throughout the day. I find that tea helps me with the creative process. Tea brings me joy and I’m happy sharing that joy with other people.
It’s a funny looking citrus fruit, also known as yuja. It originated in China over 1000 years ago but is now cultivated in Japan, Korea along with China. It’s the same size as a tangerine and has a relatively thick yellow skin which is more aromatic and much more sour than other citrus fruits. It’s popular in East Asian cuisine and its juice and peel are used as flavour in many different dishes.
It is incredibly fragrant but also sour and tart. It’s not a fruit which can be eaten raw and is instead used to flavour different dishes.
Yes! It is highly nutritious and contains powerful antioxidants like Vitamin C.
At Galerie du Thé we sell an ingenious Japanese tea made from the stalks and stems of the tea leaves, then it is enriched with dried yuzu and a little matcha powder. The tea is a wonderful combination of toasted nori-like aromas with subtle hints of tangy citrus. This tea is made in Kyūshū which is the most southwesterly of Japan's main islands. With its southern volcanic peaks, lush plains and pristine Pacific coastline, it's a stunning region – one that produces some of Japan's most sought-after food and drink. In the south of Kyūshū lies Kagoshima prefecture, centred around a deep bay and the active volcano Sakurajima. This area is renowned for the quality of its organically-grown green teas, which thrive in the warmth, humidity and mineral-rich soils. Kagoshima is also famed for its high quality produce, particularly its seedless citrus fruits (the town of Satsuma is found here).
If you would like to enjoy the delights of our Yuzu tea, you can shop here.
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With over 3000 types of green tea produced in China alone, a better question might be 'what is the best green tea for me?'. For when it comes to finding ‘the best’ tea, it all comes down to personal taste and mood. One way to find your favourite green tea is to try them all, but that may take a while. So we'd like to offer an easier solution. Over three posts we'll look at the main green tea types – where and how they're produced, and what influences their character – to try and help you make an informed choice.
In the previous post we looked at China's 'Golden Triangle', an historic area of green tea production intersecting the eastern provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.This collection of rural, mountainous sub-regions is home to China's most quintessential green teas, from the sweetly delicate spring-harvested Bi Luo Chun of Jiangsu to the nutty and assertive summer-harvested Zu Cha gunpowder teas of Zhejiang. The Golden Triangle is the place to discover the beauty, variety and sophistication of China's classic green tea styles.
But Chinese green tea doesn't begin and end with the Golden Triangle. In fact, with many of its teas now so famous, its most sought-after names are widely applied to teas of varying quality produced in the same style but from different regions (where the terroir might be significantly different). All of which is good reason to only buy from quality-conscious tea merchants, where you can be sure that what you're getting is either the authentic item, or a high quality example from further afield.
So when seeking out for the best green tea for you, it's also worth looking at China's other tea regions too. In this post, we'll look at the southeast provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi. While the mountainous topography and cooler, mistshrouded climate of the Golden Triangle ensures that green tea is the dominant style there, in the warmer coastal southeast provinces, green tea is produced alongside the more dominant classes of oolong, white and black tea.
Fujian is one of China's oldest and most highly prized tea-producing provinces. Not only is it the birthplace of white tea, oolong tea and black tea, it is also home to the revered and labour intensive Jasmine Pearl (aka 'Dragon Pearl') green teas. True jasmine pearl is one of the most delightful green teas, a delicately fruity and exotically fragrant beverage that is perfect served with food. It should be noted that while 'jasmine tea' covers a multitude of quality levels – from the traditionally artisan-produced to the artificially flavoured and mass produced – in this post we're only talking about the former.
Of all the handcrafted Chinese teas, perhaps none rivals the precision and timeconsuming skill involved in making true Fujian Jasmine Dragon Pearl green tea. To make it, the leaves are plucked in the early spring, usually a single leaf-and-bud set, and gently processed to capture all their soft, fruity delicacy. Next, the leaf-and-bud sets are handrolled into pea-size tea 'pearls' as they're dried. While many pearl teas are processed similar to Zu Cha (gunpowder) teas, the finest artisan examples treat the pea-sized orbs as a miniature work of art. The tea maker individually hand-crafts each set into a beautiful jade-green pearl with its silvery bud skilfully wrapped around the leaf orb.
But this is only the first half of the story. To become Jasmine Dragon Pearls, the tea now needs to be scented. And as with many teas, the most traditional method is still the best. Take, for example, this exceptional Jasmine Dragon Pearl . The tea itself is a single-estate Da Bai spring green from Fuding, near Fujian's border with Zhejiang. After the tea leaves are processed, rolled and dried, they are carefully stored until late summer. They're then taken south to Guangxi province to where China's finest Arabian jasmine grows. Here, an award-winning jasmine master infuses the tea in a lengthy process that involves mixing the pearls with freshly harvested jasmine buds and leaving them overnight. As the humidity rises inside the piles, the jasmine flowers open and release their sweet fragrance. In the morning, the tea pearls are spread out to dry, before the process is repeated over the next four-to-six nights with fresh jasmine buds – until the jasmine master feels the perfect level of scenting has been achieved. So if you're looking for a green tea with a clean, delicately fruity flavour, that exudes the sweetly harmonious scent of exotic jasmine, look no further than this regional delicacy. Another wonderful feature of Jasmine Dragon Peal tea is watching the hand-rolled pearls unfurl into mesmerising dragon-like shapes as the tea steeps, adding another sensory highlight to this highly rewarding tea. |
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GuangdongWhile Guangdong isn't as famous as its neighbouring provinces for producing classic teas, as China's most populated and economically prosperous province, it should be on every green tea-lover's radar. Once known as Canton – a name synonymous with the historic tea trade – Guangdong is home to the largest tea market in China (and probably the world) and has an almost infinite number of tea merchants. This means that a lot of very good quality tea from small rural producers is bought, traded and packaged here, invariably with Guangdong being added to its name. Guangdong's climate is very humid and ranges from subtropical at higher elevations to almost tropical near the ocean, where it is moderated by the proximity of the ocean. Its most celebrated green tea, Li Zi Xiang (which translates as ‘fragrance of chestnut’), is produced in the south of the province. Its silvery-blue greenish leaves have a wavy curl, steeping to give a soft and herbaceous infusion with a nutty character (as its name suggests). Outside of green tea, Guangdong is on the tea map due to its distinctive oolong teas. Most famous are its Dan Cong (aka 'single-trunk) oolongs, especially Fenghuang or 'Phoenix' Oolong from the beautiful Fenghuang mountains. |
GuangxiThe home of China's sweetest smelling Arabian jasmine, Guangxi will always have a special place in the heart of top quality jasmine tea lovers. But that most popular scented tea is not all this mystical southern province has to offer. Guangxi's most famous green tea, Guiping Xi Shan, is produced in its namesake mountains and benefits from the area's warm and humid climate. Dating back to the Tang Dynasty, Guiping Xi Shan is said to have originated with the Xishan Temple monks, who brought tea seeds from their native Jiangsu region and tried to recreate the tea style of their homeland. Famed for it body and fragrance, Guiping Xi Shan is a rustic pan-fired tea with soft blue-green leaves, its best examples known for their clean, lingeringly sweet flavour. Guangxi's other sought-after green tea is Guilin Mao Jian. Produced at the foot of Yaoshan Mountain in Guilin City (said to be the most beautiful city in the world!), the area is blessed by its warm subtropical climate. For the best examples of Guilin Mao Jian, harvesting is carried out in March and the pickers ensure the leaves are kept shielded from the sun. The leaves are flattened during their processing and drying. The silvery-green leaves could easily be mistaken for a white tea, with their almost cotton-like softness. The tea has a delightful floral character with a smooth texture and a long lasting sweetness. The flavour is surprisingly rich and full-bodied, albeit wonderfully soft. |
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As an area characterised by its warmth, high rainfall and mixed clay soils (except in the very north of Fujian), clearly there's a difference between the southeast provinces' tea and those from the Golden Triangle. As mentioned, the tea classes produced here are more mixed, with the indigenous southeast tea bush cultivars producing riper, larger leaves that suit more full-bodied oxidised teas such as oolong and black. And yet, the green teas of southeast China are unique and should be on every tea-lover's radar.
If we had to sum-up the style of green teas from southwest China's provinces, we'd say they are softer and more full-bodied than those from Golden Triangle. They aren't the crisp green teas that refresh and stimulate, but more rounded and luxurious. Sweet, fruit-tinged flavours and delicately floral touches (ripe and exotic rather than the wild, mountain-orchid fragrances of northern provinces) make these green teas a real treat, with soothing, restorative qualities that we love. To be it very simply, if Golden Triangle teas are perfect for getting you going in the mornings, southeast green teas are the choice for soothing you after food and enriching your afternoon. The best introduction to southwest China's green teas would probably be a fine, artisanal Jasmine Dragon Pearl. This not only introduces you to the naturally sweet 'fruit candy' flavours of Fujian green tea, but also the blissfully evocative jasmine of Guangxi. Happy hunting…
]]>With over 3000 types of green tea produced in China alone, a better question might be 'what is the best green tea for me?'. For when it comes to finding ‘the best’ tea, it all comes down to personal taste and mood. One way to find your favourite green tea is to try them all, but that may take a while. So we'd like to offer an easier solution. Over the next three posts we'll look at the main green types – where and how they're produced, and what influences their character – to help you make an informed choice.
AnhuiIn southern Anhui province lies the beautiful Haungshan (aka 'Yellow') Mountains, from where the famous Maofeng tea originates. This spring-harvested green is produced in the mountains' unique microclimate. The best Maofengs have a soothing, natural sweetness and a floral, somewhat tangy note. Maofeng should taste clean and refreshing, its flavours lingering on the palate long after you've finished drinking. The finest artisan examples have a hint of charcoal from the traditional firing technique used to fix the leaves. Other famous greens from southern Anhui include the late spring-harvested teas of the Song Luo mountains. Famed for their delicate appearance and refreshing fragrances, these teas are often said to have a green olive-like flavour. Song Luos are also one of China's first pan-fried teas, their history dating back to the Ming dynasty. Another large-leaf Anhui tea comes from further north in Luan. Known as Luan Guapian (aka 'Luan Melon Seed' due to the rounded appearance of the leaves once brewed), this tea is produced from the local Da Guazi tea bush cultivar. The leaves are harvested in the early summer, which lets them develop the unique bittersweet flavour and rich velvety texture that Luan Guapian green teas are famed for. |
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JiangsuCooler Jiangsu lies east of Anhui and its wonderful spring greens are generally regarded as the 'queen' of Chinese teas. Most famous is its Bi Luo Chun (aka 'Green Snail' or 'Spring Snail'), a sweet, fruity and floral tea with intriguing vegetable notes. This tea is produced in the foothills of Dong Ting Mountain near Lake Taihu. The finest examples are harvested in early April, the tiny delicate leaves and tips covered in a youthful down-like fuzz, which after carefully pan-firing and rolling resemble tiny snails. |
ZhejiangZhejiang province, south of Beijing, offers many fine spring green teas, including China's most famous – Longjing, aka Dragon's Well. The best examples are produced in the Xihu region of Hangzhou, their leaves harvested in mid-March. Longjing is the quintessential wok-roasted green tea, the leaves skilfully moved around in large iron pan over open fires by tea artisans. This gently flattens the leaves while bringing out a distinctive 'roast vegetable' bouquet and sweet chestnut-like flavours. A full-bodied tea with a warm, slightly savoury aftertaste, Longjing is one of China's most satisfying styles of green tea. Other Zhejiang green teas Queshe Longjing (aka Sparrow's Tongue), made as above but from a bud-and-two-new-leaves pluch, which open during brewing to resemble a bird's beak and tongue. Zhejiang is also famous for its Yun Wu (aka 'Cloud and Mist') teas, produced in the mist-shrouded mountain slopes. Tianmu Shan is one famous example, from the Tian Mu Mountains. Its long and wiry emerald-green leaves retain much of their chlorophyll as they grow mostly shaded from the sun, which gives the tea a deliciously herbaceous flavour with distinct honey and peach notes. Zhejiang is also the place to find China's best Zu Cha or 'Gunpowder' teas. While this style of tightly-rolled leaf tea is much copied and can result in some very poor examples, the best Zhejiang gunpowders are exceptional and distinctive teas. Unlike most green teas from the Golden Triangle, which are Qing Ming (aka spring-harvested), gunpowder teas are made from the less tender summer leaves. The leaves are tumble-fried in special perforated pans, which helps form their tightly rolled shape (said to resemble rifle pellet, hence the 'gunpowder' name). The size of the finished 'shot' – from pinhead to pearl – will indicate the size of leaf used. Due to the riper summer leaf and the tumble-firing, gunpowder teas have a rounded, assertive flavour a lovely nutty quality. |
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JiangxiThe last of the Golden Triangle provinces is Jiangxi. While not as famous as the other three provinces, Jiangxi's lush, hilly terroir and humid, subtropical climate make it home to many exceptional teas, especially those grown at higher elevations. Known as 'the region of the five mountains' due to its many mountainous borders, Jiangxi has a hidden, undiscovered feel that offers tea lovers many treasure to explore. Jiangxi's teas are characterised by their dark, emerald-green leaves, which are usually rolled straight and elegant, showing the proud artisan approach here. Examples are De Yu Huo from Wuyuan County in the northeast of the province. This needle-straight green tea with with its clean, unbroken leaves offers bold fragrances and a sweetly mellow flavours. Another rural gem can be found just to the west in Fuliang county. Secret Garden also has dark emerald green leaves that are skilfully shaped into uniform wiry curls that show silvery glints from the tips. Sourced from hillside gardens in the selenium-rich forested hills around Whangu village, this green tea offers exotic blossom aromas and rounded flavours of plum compote and roast chestnuts. Jiangxi is also home to the revered speciality tea Ming Mei (aka 'Slender Eyebrow'), whose leaves are gathered from remote villages located on Da Zhang Mountain. These types of wild gathered teas are key to unlocking the secret of Jiangxi. Another example, Folded Mountain, is produced with leaves picked by local tea foragers in the remote valleys near Jiangxi's border with Anhui. The tea bushes grow wild and are naturally shaded by the forests tey grow in. The leaves are picked in late March, then taken down to Fuliang where they are gently processed and lightly roasted. Folded Mountain tea has a floral bouquet suggesting orchid flowers, blanched nuts and fresh brioche bread, with complex, naturally sweet flavours and a soft, nutty richness. |
As the name suggests, English Breakfast is a blend that found its fame in England and remains the number one choice of Great British tea drinkers. English Breakfast teas can range from simple, teabag blends to elite loose-leaf varieties created by the world's most accomplished tea masters. In addition to the teas mentioned above, some expressions may also feature teas from Keemum or Yunnan in China, Rwanda and Malawi in Africa, as well as other interesting lesser-known regions.
The origins of the name English Breakfast tea are a little fuzzy (similar to one's morning self before drinking that first cup of the day!). Although strong black teas have been sipped in the morning for centuries, some accounts place the birth of this beloved blend in colonial America, while popular opinion regards Queen Victoria as responsible for making English Breakfast tea the household name it is today. It's said the long-reigning monarch tasted a wondrous 'breakfast tea' while visiting Balmoral in the late 19th century and was so taken by the tea that she returned to London with it proudly in her possession. Subsequently – and somewhat controversially – the name lengthened to 'English Breakfast' as demand for the fine new drink flourished.
A less regal explanation lies with an Englishman named Richard Davies. A commerce article from 1843 states that Davies – a tea merchant based in New York City – created a successful blend of Congou, Pouchong and Pekoe teas, named 'English Breakfast'. While these are now far from the ingredients we associate with the tea's modern namesakes, it's possible that Davies' success inspired other tea merchants to create their own versions and the English Breakfast evolution commenced. While we cannot pinpoint exactly when, where and how this famous blend came about, we know it's firmly placed in the hearts of tea-drinkers around the world today.
The character of an English Breakfast tea is decided by the choice of teas: where they're from, how they're processed and the ratios used. While there are myriad techniques and variations used in tea gardens and tea factories around the world, the black teas in an English Breakfast blend will typically have been picked, dried, rolled, oxidised and 'fixed' with heat to lock in flavour. This process is lengthy and takes skill and precision. In the more traditional 'orthodox' process, extra care and attention is required to keep the tea leaves intact. These are the teas you'll find in loose leaf blends.
Beyond the processing, the key to a great English Breakfast lies with the tea master who assembles the blend. These expert tea makers will assess each of the teas at their disposal and try different combinations to find a brew that is distinguished, satisfying and offers the quintessential English Breakfast character. Once the blend is decided upon, the real skill comes in keeping this character consistent over the years, adjusting and reacting to the fluctuations in tea harvests and seasons. This is the real craft of the tea blender, one that is often misunderstood by consumers and connoisseurs alike.
How to enjoy English Breakfast teaEnglish Breakfast tea is best brewed strong with boiling water, then softened with a splash of milk to serve. If steeping the tea in a cup or mug, add the milk after the tea has brewed. If making it in a pot, milk can be added to the cup before or after the tea is poured. In a pot, allow one teaspoon of tea per person, plus one for the pot, and let the tea steep for 3-5 minutes, before stirring and pouring. On cold days, it's a good idea to warm your teapot first, so the temperature of the water doesn't fall too quickly. For those who like the sweeter things in life, a teaspoon of sugar or honey can be added to English Breakfast tea to make it even more satisfying. The invigorating effects of the black teas are ideal for helping to wake you up first thing, and the bold hearty flavours make it a perfect accompaniment to breakfast, especially a 'full English'. While black tea has quite a high caffeine content and you probably wouldn't want to drink it before bed, English Breakfast tea can be enjoyed throughout the day, and is particularly good in the afternoon as a reviving pick-me-up. |
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Here at Galerie du Thé we travel to the world's finest unsung tea gardens to source the very best loose leaf teas. We always aim to put the skill and dedication of the growers centre stage and to bring their handcrafted produce to the world. So while most of the teas we sell are single-estate and therefore unblended, we'll always be experimenters at heart. In the spirit of learning and understanding all there is to know about tea, we thought it might be fun to suggest a little experiment…
Why not craft your own English Breakfast tea blend by combining three of our special single estate black teas? You can adjust the quantities of each to suit your own taste, and in so doing you'll really get to the bottom of what makes a fine English Breakfast blend. The three teas we'd recommend starting with are:
Golden River – a superior second-flush Assam from the Bukhial estate,
Kandy Heights – an exemplary mid-grown Ceylon from the Craighead estate,
Kirimara Sunrise – a limited edition tea with an exotically smoky complexity from the lush slopes of Mount Kenya.
Try each of these blends on their own to recognise and appreciate their different flavour profiles, then bring them together to find your perfect English Breakfast tea. For instance, you could combine one teaspoon of Golden River with half a teaspoon each of Kandy Heights and Kirimara Sunrise to create a blend with a classic rich Assam backdrop accented by the brighter Ceylon and more exotic Kenyan teas.
At Galerie du Thé it is always our passion to explore, enjoy and share fine tea. Join us on this journey and let's unlock the mysteries of the tea leaves together. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below…
]]>Assam is a bold black tea, named after the area in India where it is grown. Arguably one of the most famous teas in the world, Assam is relished for its rich biscuity tones and malty character. You'll find Assam in most good quality English Breakfast and Chai tea blends, but it is equally popular as a single-origin tea. Assam is thought of as a strong and highly-caffeinated cuppa and therefore commonly enjoyed in the mornings, but it's worth noting that caffeine levels can vary between expressions.
Lying in the far northeast of India, the state of Assam is virtually cut off from the rest of the country by northwestern Bangladesh. This special region is where the large leaf Camellia Sinensis var. assamica tea plant originated. To this day Assam remains one of the most successful tea-growing locations in the world. The landscape benefits from a lush tropical valley, formed by the Brahmaputra river which flows from its source in the Tibetan plateau of the Himalaya mountains through China, India and Bangladesh. This fertile, protective landscape marries with regular rainfall and humidity to create the perfect greenhouse-like conditions for tea bushes to thrive year-on-year. As such, Assam is home to thousands of tea gardens, each producing Assam teas that vary slightly in flavour. There are four Assam picking seasons – referred to as 'flushes' – between March and December. Each harvest offers teas with distinctly different characters, although it is the second flush that is considered the most desirable in terms of quality and prestige. These leaves are picked in the late spring and boast a perfect balance of fresh flavour, balance and malty richness.
The Assam valley is perfect for producing quality teas. Its river-fed plains provide rich and fertile soils, while the mighty Himalayas protects it from north winds and helps retain the hot, humid monsoon air that the tea bushes thrive in. Assam tea itself is produced from the 'large leaf' variety of the Camellia sinensis tea bush (as opposed to the 'small leaf' variety more common in China). The tea leaves are handpicked, with just the precious top-two-leaves-and-a-bud being carefully plucked with each pass. Processing varies between tea gardens, but generally all Assam teas are withered, rolled and fully oxidised after picking. More details of the process can be found in our blog post The Different Classes Of Tea. During their lengthy processing the leaves turn from lush green to dark brown in colour, bringing out their bold, full-bodied flavour. The leaves are then rolled, before the all-important drying and fixing stage, where the flavours and aromas are locked in until the tea is steeped with hot water in a cup, mug or pot. Good quality Assam teas brew into bright, glistening copper-coloured liquors with gorgeous aromas of freshly baked biscuits and dark malt.
If you would like to try an extra special Assam, our Golden River blend is a prime example, grown and processed by the quality-focused Bukhail estate. This tea is graded a Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe – a desirable classification of loose leaf black teas, which highlights the presence of larger leaf pieces, whole golden tips, and smaller broken leaf pieces to help release flavours faster. If you'd like to learn more about tea grading, see our Ultimate Guide to Loose Leaf Tea blog post here.
Unlike some lighter teas, the robust nature of Assam means it should always be steeped with boiling water - whether it's loose leaf or in a teabag. While green teas, oolongs and even black teas from Darjeeling and Sri Lanka are suited to drinking as-they-come, Assam is best served strong with a splash of milk. This makes for a soothing, comforting brew that enlivens the senses. For tea-drinkers with a sweeter tooth, a teaspoon of sugar transforms Assam into an extra-satisfying sip, bringing out its inherent biscuit and prune notes. Our Tea Masters recommend brewing two teaspoons of loose leaf Assam tea for 3-5 minutes, depending on how strong you like your tea. As with all types of tea, the quality of the water you brew with affects the flavour of your final infusion. While we always recommend using freshly drawn water, we'd also urge you to use a water filter (reverse osmosis or two-stage carbon/ceramic are best) to partially purify and soften your water before boiling. This will give the purest brew and express the tea at its finest.
]]>As discussed in our last post, all true tea is made from the Camellia sinensis plant. But 'true tea' can be a misleading term, because the number of different classes (aka types) and styles of tea is almost endless. From bold and astringent to sweetly floral, from light and grassy to rich and buttery, the sheer variety of tea styles that can be made from the humble leaves of Camellia sinensis is quite extraordinary.
The two main varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant – small leaf 'China bush' and large leaf 'Assam bush' – give us the six classes of tea: black, green, white, yellow, oolong and pu-erh. While there are myriad variations of style within these, each class is defined by its production method, i.e. how the tea leaves are processed. Where and how they're harvested is also important, as is the cultivar of tea bush.
Let's examine the six classes of tea and look at what separates their production techniques and how this influences each ones' character.
White TeaWhite tea is the rarest class, yet essentially one of the most simple. At its best and most traditional, white tea is made only from the tender unopened buds of the tea bush, which are usually shaded before harvest. These silvery needle-like buds are carefully plucked from specific cultivars of Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (aka China bush) and gently dried in the shade. While there is a modern style of white tea made from young leaves, the best white tea should only be made with buds. They undergo just the smallest amount of natural oxidation (less than 10%) as they dry, bringing out their natural sweetness, orchid-flower fragrance and delicate fruity flavours. |
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Green TeaGreen tea comes in a wide variety of styles (over 3000 in China alone). From the largest factories to the smallest rural processing rooms, high quality green tea production generally follows the same process… Small leaf 'China bush' tea leaves are carefully plucked in the spring, usually in the early morning, then brought quickly to the factory. After gently sorting, the leaves are left to partially air dry (known as primary drying), which helps prevent oxidation and retain their green colour. The leaves are then delicately worked – spread out and turned or rubbed by hand – to regulate their drying and to shape them, while reducing moisture and preserving the precious inner sap. Lastly, the tea leaves are dried, either by toasting over fire, dry-frying in a wok, tumbling in hot air or baking in an oven. Sometimes they're even dried in the sun, though this is rare nowadays. Green teas range in style from light and fresh, to grassy and astringent, sweet and nutty, or even smoky. The final drying, or firing, stage has some influence on style. Japanese green tea uses a slightly different manufacturing process to the Chinese one detailed above. In their more mechanised system, Japanese tea producers tend to steam their green tea leaves early in the process to fix the colour before final drying. Steaming brings out distinct characteristics, from vegetable to seaweed flavours. |
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Black TeaWhile black tea originates from China, this style of fully-oxidised tea is mostly associated with India, Sri Lanka and Africa today, especially outside of Asia. The principle defining factors of black teas is that they are typically made with large leaf 'Assam bush' leaves and are completely oxidised. Black tea is not fermented, which is a common misnomer. The process of making black tea is complex and labour intensive. It starts with the harvesting, which is very specific according to how the leaves are picked. In the factory the tea leaves are withered (similar to green tea's primary drying, but more intensive) to reduce moisture content and make them pliable. This can take around 12 hours and often happens through the night. Next the leaves are rolled: twisted and compressed to release the inner sap and make it available on the outside of the leaf. The leaves are now oxidised on large tables in well ventilated rooms. The chemical reactions that take place inside and outside of the leaf during theses processes are what determines the quality and style of black teas. Flavours can range from brisk and citrussy to bold and pruney, with biscuit, malt and wood notes. |
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Oolong tea is a fascinating class of tea due to its complex production process and extraordinary range of styles. Oolong teas can be incredibly varied and range from delicate, pale and fruity to rich, dark and exotic. Oolong is made from large tea leaves, albeit from the small leaf 'China bush'. Its production tends to come after green tea, which is made in the spring from the small tender new-growth leaves. As the leaves on the plant get larger, so they're perfect for the more intensive oolong tea process.
While oolong tea originates from China (as indeed do all the tea classes), one interesting twist in its development has been in Taiwan. Tea bushes were imported to Taiwan in the mid 19th century from China's Fujian province. The island then fell under Japanese rule for the first half of 20th century, which influenced its tea production. Since then, Taiwanese oolong teas have taken on their own distinct character and style, which has expanded the possibilities of this class even further.
Leaves for oolong tea are generally harvested in the day, then taken to the factory and spread out in the afternoon sun to wither. The leaves are turned to ensure even drying, and when the right amount of withering has occurred, they are taken inside to cool. There follows a labour intensive stage of manipulating the leaf, a bit like the rolling stage of black tea, but far more controlled and delicate. The purpose here is to disrupt the leaves' inner sap and bring about oxidation. This rolling or 'rattling' is one of the key stages in oolong tea, where the character of the finished tea is crafted.
After the rolling/oxidising process, the next stage of oolong tea is drying and shaping. There are numerous techniques used here, but typically the leaves are initially fired to stop oxidation, then shaped. This can be done by hand, with the leaves being bent, crimped or folded in various ways, or they can be wrapped in canvas and rolled around over and over into balls, which twists the leaves into individual clusters (often said to resemble dragonfly heads). Sometimes the leaves are deliberately broken at this stage to release their inner oil. After this shaping and rolling, the leaves are carefully fired again, sometimes quite heavily roasted, to dry them ready for brewing. While there are many variations of the above steps (not only can there can be between ten and 20 stages in traditional oolong production, but the oxidation of the leaves can range from 15% to 80%), what is consistent with oolong teas is the need to infuse the leaves several times. Due to their larger size and the way they are rolled, oolong teas need time to unfurl and release their complex flavours and aromas. These range from sweet and floral to fruity (apricot) to deep and rich with mineral and peaty notes. |
Yellow is a rarely seen class of tea, but one worth seeking out. It is probably the mot misunderstood and little-known of all the tea classes. Essentially, yellow tea shares many similarities to early harvested spring green teas. The notable exception, however, is that after their initial drying stage, the leaves are carefully and gently steamed to stop oxidation and reduce any astringency. It's a delicate process, one that requires knowledge and skill to keep the steaming light and not to 'cook' the leaves. The result is an exquisitely soft and fragrant tea with a natural stone-fruit sweetness.
Chinese Pu-erh tea is the only fermented class of tea, although it is not always oxidised. It is a very old class of tea that is little-known outside Asia. Unlike the majority of Chinese teas, pu-erh comes from the southwest of the country. Here, in Yunan province, it is the large-leaf 'Assam bush' that is found, although the bushes – some over 200 years old – are more like trees, growing in remote mountainous areas.
In ancient China, tea was classed by its colour. Pu-erh tea is actually the original 'black' tea, and what we know today as black tea was classed as 'red tea' in the old Chinese system. There are two main types of pu-erh tea: Sheng and Shou. Sheng (aka 'raw pu-erh') is the most traditional, where the large tea leaves are quickly fired to dry them, then piled on top of each other. This causes the heat in the piles to rise, and the sap inside the leaves to ferment. The leaves will then be tightly pressed into large disc-like cakes and left to age, sometimes for decades, to develop and mature like fine wine.
Shou or 'cooked' pu-erh is a more modern variation on the traditional process. The leaves are allowed to oxidise, then piled up in larger, wetter piles than for Sheng. They are kept in hot and humid rooms, where the fermentation is rapidly sped up. After final firing the tea is usually ready to drink. Pu-erh teas have a wide variety of characteristics. While some Sheng pu-erh teas share of some the sweet and floral stone-fruit characteristics of medium-oxidised oolong teas, there are also a myriad of other flavours to explore, from forest floor to woody, herbaceous and mushroomy.
The hard work and dedication of the growers, pickers and tea masters that craft our artisan teas is second-to-none. But their skill and knowledge can be quickly unravelled if the tea is poorly prepared. While most people are familiar with teabags, artisan loose leaf tea can be a little more complex and should be brewed in a pot or infuser. Always refer to the specific brewing guidelines supplied with each of our teas.
Here are our 'best practice' tea brewing tips to avoid poor preparation:
The quality of the water you brew with affects your finished tea. While we always recommend using freshly drawn water, we'd also urge you to use a water filter (jug filters are good, two-stage carbon/ceramic filters are better, reverse osmosis – which gives a neutral pH level – are best) to partially purify and soften your water before boiling. This will give the purest brew and the best possible finished tea flavour.
While black teas can be brewed with just-boiled water, other tea classes require different temperatures to get the best flavours and avoid extracting too much astringency. Here is a guide, but please refer to each tea's details for specific brew time and temperature:
TEA CLASS |
WATER TEMPERATURE |
STEEP TIME |
NUMBER OF STEEPS |
WHITE |
85ºC |
3-5 mins |
3 |
GREEN |
80-90ºC |
2-3 mins |
2-3 |
BLACK |
100ºC |
3-5 mins |
1 |
OOLONG |
90-95ºC |
3 mins |
3 |
YELLOW |
80-85ºC |
2-3 mins |
2 |
PU-ERH |
90-100ºC |
3-5 mins |
4-5 |
It's important to follow the suggested brewing guidelines closely to ensure you give yourself the best expression of each tea. You can experiment with different temperatures and times, but we've done this too and collectively agree on the most suitable method.
All our teas come in nitro-flushed packs so they reach you as fresh as possible. Whichever class of tea you choose, keeping you're loose leaf tea sealed helps to preserve its flavour and aroma. Some teas, like our Jasmine Dragon Pearl, are painstakingly hand-rolled into tiny pea-sized pearls. This ancient technique is an ingenious a way to lock in flavour and preserve the tea until you brew it. But whole leaf teas dry out quickly, so it's best to keep them sealed for freshness. Store them away from air, light, heat and moisture.
If you have any questions or comments about how to choose, brew or look after you're teas, please leave them below.
]]>All true tea – whether black, white, green, yellow, oolong or pu-erh – is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, an evergreen shrub native to southwest China and the far northeast of India. The tender young leaves of Camellia sinensis are transformed into tea through various steps of manipulation and drying so they release their unique properties when steeped in hot water. Loose leaf teas are the closest in form to tea in its natural state. Some are simply whole dried tea leaves or buds, while others feature leaves broken during the manufacturing process or rolled into special shapes. In this post we'll look at all the forms of loose leaf tea and how they're made.
When brewed, loose leaf teas give the purest expression of the tea maker's craft. The larger surface area allows the tea leaves to interact with the water and release their nuances of flavour. Tea bags, on the other hand, are used to capture smaller tea leaf sizes, and to hold blends of teas. By using smaller parts of the tea leaf, tea bags tend to brew faster.
Much of the beauty of loose leaf tea lies in the ceremony of brewing – taking the time to let the leaves steep and unfurl. It is worth noting, however, that loose leaf tea doesn't automatically mean the highest quality. Poor quality tea will not be improved by brewing as loose leaf, while very good tea from a quality region will still taste good from a tea bag. This is why it is important to find a quality-focused tea merchant. At Galerie du Thé, all our teas are both loose leaf and of exceptional quality.
There are two principle varieties of tea bush: the small leaf Camellia Sinensis var. sinensis (aka 'China bush') and the large leaf Camellia Sinensis var. assamica (aka 'Assam bush'). While nothing is ever too clear cut in the world of tea, put simply: China bush is responsible for the main classes of tea across China, Taiwan and Japan, giving us the green, white, yellow and oolong teas associated with these countries.
Assam bush, on the other hand, is the principle 'black tea' variety, grown throughout India, Sri Lanka and Africa. One notable exception here is Darjeeling in northern India, where the small leaf China bush is responsible for its uniquely floral teas. Similarly, in the remote southwest of China, it is the Assam bush that is used to make pu-erh tea: a highly-prized fermented Chinese tea.
Wherever tea is made, its manufacture follows a roughly similar process: tea leaves (typically the top two-leaves-and-bud of the bush) are picked, withered (partially dried), worked (manipulated to shape the leaf or release its inner sap), oxidised (with the exception of green and yellow teas), and dried. Within this age-old process, there are endless techniques and variations used to create different teas. For example, classic Fujian white tea from China is made from a special local tea bush cultivar. Only the tender unopened leaf buds are used, which are gently sun-dried. It is the simplest, and one of the most exquisite, teas available – and one that is certainly best steeped as loose leaf.
Conversely, in Japanese tea gardens, things are done very differently. To make the famous sencha green tea, finely manicured tea bushes are sheltered from the sun in the weeks before harvest. This increase the leaves' sweet vegetal flavours, which are then brought out through steaming and rolling, turning them into uniform dark green 'needles'. It is these endlessly varied techniques – combined with the terroir of each region – that makes loose leaf teas so interesting and exciting.
Traditionally, all tea was loose leaf – tea bags only came about once tea became a globally traded commodity. In China, the appearance of the leaf has long been a key part of the appreciation of tea. Indeed, during traditional Chinese tea ceremonies, guests will be invited to admire the tea leaves before they go into the pot, during brewing and afterwards. Our Secret Garden Fuliang green tea is a fine example of quality whole leaf China bush tea that retains its shape once brewed.
With black teas, due to the larger-leaved Assam bush and the lengthy withering, rolling and oxidation stages required, it is harder to keep the tea leaves whole and intact throughout the process. As the leaves are rigorously rolled to release their precious inner sap, then tumbled and heated to oxidise and dry them, so some leaves are broken. As a result, leaf grading was introduced to sort and classify orthodox black tea.
In India and Sri Lanka especially, traditional black teas are graded according to the quality and size of the harvested leaf (with the tips being the most premium and the lower leaves being less refined). Orthodox black teas go through a series of sifting tables, using varying sized screens to sort them into 'whole' and 'broken' leaf grades (as well as 'fannings' typically used in tea bags). A complicated coding system of abbreviations has developed to further classify these grades and indicate their quality and brewing consistency. See the table below.
The principle orthodox black tea classification is 'orange pekoe', a confusing term that likely has its origins in the 15th century Dutch East India Company. These early European tea exporters would have reserved the finest tea for the Dutch royal family. Peh-ho (Westernised to 'pekoe') is a type of premium Chinese white tea, and 'orange' was no doubt added in honour of the House of Orange. Whatever the exact origins of the name, it persists to this day.
WHOLE LEAF |
||
P |
Pekoe |
The most common whole leaf grade |
OP |
Orange Pekoe |
Shows long wiry leaves without tips |
FOP |
Flowery Orange Pekoe |
Shows long leaves with some tips |
GFOP |
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
Higher proportion of tips than FOP |
TGFOP |
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
Contains the highest proportion of tips |
FTGFOP |
Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
The highest quality grade, with an abundance of fine golden tips |
SFTGFOP |
'Superior' or 'Special' Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe |
The highest quality grade of above, usually only available in very limited amounts |
BROKEN LEAF |
||
BP |
Broken Pekoe (aka Broken Pekoe Souchong) |
The most common broken pekoe grade |
FP |
Flowery Pekoe |
Good quality pekoe. Usually coarser with a fleshier broken leaf. |
BOP |
Broken Orange Pekoe
|
The main broken pekoe grade |
FBOP |
Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe |
Coarse and broken with some tips |
GBOP |
Golden Broken Orange Pekoe |
Second grade tea with uneven leaves and few tips |
GFBOP |
Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe |
As above, but with the highest quality leaves |
TGFBOP |
Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe |
Top quality leaves with a high proportion of tips |
*notes
While it is easy to get caught up in leaf grades as a mark of quality (or 'tea bling'), it's important to note that grading exists to determine the consistency of the final brew. Understanding black tea grades helps you find the right tea for your taste. At Galerie du Thé we always look for balance when tasting new teas, so grades are secondary to finding the right garden or tea estate. Once we find the right tea estate or garden, we select the grade that we feel best expresses it.
How to brew loose leaf teaTo get the best out of your loose leaf tea, choose the right sized tea pot for the number of servings. Loose leaf teas need the space to circulate in the water to brew properly. If your pot is too small they can't steep fully, and if it's too large you risk the water cooling down too fast. All our loose leaf teas come with specific brewing guidelines. For the brewing itself, a glass tea pot is useful as it lets you see, for instance, the unique way white tea 'needles' float vertically in the water, or how jasmine dragon pearls slowly unfurl into their unique twisted forms. One of the best ways to understand more about different teas is to pay attention to the form of the loose leaves. We recommend taking a moment to note the appearance of the tea leaves before you pour water on to them. Why does Japanese tamaryokucha look so different to Taiwanese red oolong? What are those golden curls you see in fine Assam, or the down-like hairs on white tea buds? Where do these unique characteristics come from and how do they affect the tea in your cup? |
If you are interested in the answers to these questions, you're in the right place! At Galerie du Thé it is our passion to explore, enjoy and share fine tea. Join us on this journey and we can unlock the mysteries of the tea leaves together.
If you have any questions or comment, please leave them below.
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