#4 The Various Flavours of Tea
A very few things that you thought you knew about tea… for beginners
It’s been 3 years since we planted our tea and the learning curve has been steep. I think some of the most valuable learning comes from drinking tea actually, but before I contradict myself further I will explain. This wee piece is just for starters , we can go into amazing things about the plant later.
There seems to be a eureka moment with tea for a lot of people, when they try a premium loose tea that is unfamiliar to them, perhaps a white tea for the first time, or an oolong, when the palate knows only in black english breakfast tea with milk it is a completely new experience for them, a different beverage altogether, so which one is the tea? Well, to try the various flavours of tea, you can sit in your living room and delve into some of the UKs most bountiful specialty tea larders online, I have recommended a few of these in the footnote. You can often order samples so that if you don’t love it, you haven’t spent a fortune.
Black, Green, Oolong, White, Puer and yellow teas are all made from the same plant, camelia sinensis. There are two main tea manufacturing methods for black tea; CTC and Orthodox. There are two main processing methods for green tea, steaming in Japan or pan firing in China. Usually more refined teas are produced using the orthodox method and the other for teabag teas. There are also probably a million other teas out there that don’t fit these guidelines, but this is a broad and simple start. You cannot compare these 6 tea groupings with any sense of accuracy as there is so much variety within the groupings you would get nowhere. You might love some black teas and hate others, the flavours are so different, you might find a green tea that goes perfectly with your grans seafood dish but another green tea might ruin it.
Taste is a delicate thing, sometimes it is the flavour, or the aroma on the nose, sometimes its the texture on the tongue or around the mouth, that mineral coating, or that sweetness on the sides of the tongue. Sometimes it’s simply the taste of brioche and cashews and the lingering taste of caramel as in a good Keemun.
I urge you to try a tea you have not tried before. Here are a few that blew mine or Duncans minds…
Wuyi Rock - Oolong - Fujian Province - mineral, umami, no astringency
Ali Shan - Light Roasted Oolong, nutty, dried fruits,
Rohini Black Darjeeling - Jethi Kupi
Jun Chiabari -