Global Tea Time

Pu-erh tea is another variant of tea from China. While most teas are considered best when they are fresh, this is an exception. Older teas are considered better, and are more expensive. How is this, you ask? Pu-erh is a tea that is aged with bacteria. The longer the bacteria work, the better the flavor (so connoisseurs say). I was a little nervous about trying this kind of tea. It is the tea world's equivalent to stinky cheese. I didn't want to spend $12 on a bag of this stuff, and as luck had it, I found some in the bulk spice section of the local health food co-op. Gee, it seems like I have written this before... It wasn't until I had already scooped it out and had my bag prepared for checkout that I realized that I was in the jar of 4 year old tea. At least that's what the label said. It could be several years older depending on how long it had sat on the shelf. The reason this made me nervous is that I've been told that beginners really want to start with tea ...

Chrysanthemum tea comes from traditional Chinese medicine. It is an herbal tea that is said to have cooling properties. How convenient since it is still summer. It is also said to be good for people with a quick temper, and people who are spending a lot of time studying. My interest in this tea comes from an article I read that said it is a good source of calcium. I figure my bones can use all the help they can get. Chrysanthemums for tea come in 2 different colors. White, and yellow. From what I have read, white is the preferred color (but yellow has a less medicinal flavor). My local tea shop sells white. If you read about chrysanthemum tea online, it also cautions people who are allergic to daises not to drink it. If you have allergies to flowers, be sure to check out whether or not this would be a problem for you. I have been experimenting with this tea for a couple of months now. When I drink it plain, I can definitely tell that it is related to daisies. I also know why nobody...

China is known for its jasmine tea. Women would go out an collect jasmine flowers at dusk, and sprinkle them around the tea leaves. They would be left together for the night, and then the jasmine was removed in the morning. This was done over several days to impart the perfume of the jasmine on the green tea. Another method was to roll the green tea leaves with jasmine leaves into a pearl. These days, you can also find tea that has been heavily perfumed with jasmine (and it is truly awful). This was my first experience with jasmine tea. It was like trying to drink perfume. I have been leery of jasmine tea ever since. That said, I have experimented with other jasmine teas, and found that more expensive teas (made with the proper method) have a much better flavor. According to several resources, jasmine tea is especially popular in the Beijing region. I have long admired jasmine pearls (also know as dragon pearls) for their beauty. I didn't really want to invest in a 2 oz (36...

China , the place where tea began. It is also the largest country in Asia, and the most populous country in the world. I have known people from China, and Americans who have lived and worked there. The linked resource has 57 pages of information about the country, and I'm not going to attempt to summarize them here. I do know that it is a culture that values beauty and uniformity. People I have met from there are always amazed by my diverse collection of jobs that I have worked. In their culture, people learn one thing very well, and that is what they do for the rest of their life. I'm glad that I don't have to try to fit myself into the conformity mold. It wouldn't work well. Trying to find a tea to represent China has been a difficult task. At first, I just thought of green tea. After all, China green tea is common in the world of tea. It also seemed rather plain, and boring. When I started researching tea in China, I found that the people who live there enjoy all f...

India is comprised of 29 states, 6 union territories, and the Dehli national capital territory. Each state has a lot of control over their own affairs, so from reading the introduction, it sounds like there is a lot of variance between regions. According to this source, 1/6 of the planet’s population lives in India, making it the second most populous country (China is first). They have a long history of civilization, and have had many outside influences over their history from the middle east, portugese eplorers, and Europe. When British rule of this region ended, they made the region into two countries, India and Pakistan. Bangladesh later split off from Pakistan. India has an extensive history, and extensive diversity (and I don't have time to read the 43 pages compiled in the link above). Tea seems to be a commonality among the groups. As we discussed last week, British settlers brought the idea of tea cultivation to India. The first tea plantings were in the Assam and Darjee...