Meng Ding Gan Lu

Meng Ding Gan Lu hails from Sichuan Province, where giant pandas roar. Sichuan is reputed to be the birth place of cultivated teas and Meng Ding Gan Lu one of the oldest Chinese green teas.

Meng Ding Gan Lu is a green tea from Meng Ding Mountain in Sichuan, China.   Gan Lu means sweet dew and may trace its name back to a Taoist master Wu Lizhen, with the posthumous title of Master of Ganlu, who first planted seven tea bushes on Meng Ding Mountain around 53 BC.

The making of Gan Lu is more labour-intensive: rolling and wok drying are repeated three times to achieve a delicate tea bouquet.  Although Gan Lu is refreshing and delightful, it is a lot like other premium Chinese green teas.  However, it is special for its historical significance.

Meng Ding Gan Lu

Type:  Green   Producing Country: China     Preparation:  80°C 3 Min

Dry Leaf:  The tippy leaves are tiny, olive green, curly and wiry.  Their appearance is delicate, and their fragrance is a mix of straws and dried mushrooms.
Wet Leaf:  Most of the leaf sets include a bud and one to two tiny leaves. The aroma is on the vegetal side - umami cooked green beans.
Liquor:   The tea is pale yellow in color.  It is airy and mellow, and tastes vegetal and chestnut sweet.

Tee Score: 4 of 5

Japanese White Tea

A few Japanese tea farmers have begun venturing into limited white tea production.  This Kanayamidori white tea is from Gokase, Nishiusuki district of Miyazaki Perfecture in Kyushu.   Kanayamidori is a Japanese tea cultivar resulted from the hybridization of Yabukita, the most popular tea cultivar in Japan, and Zairai.

The leaves of Kanayamidori are smaller than those of Yabukita but they can produce a sencha with body and aroma.  As for this white tea from the said cultivar, it is quite impressive.   The tea contains no buds but healthy young-looking whole leaves plucked by hand.   Mellow and sweet are the words to describe this Japanese white tea.

Kanayamidori white tea

Type:  White    Producing Country: Japan     Preparation:  85°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The leaves are dark green or brown with some oxidation.  Their scent is fresh and mildly spicy like cinnamon and anise.
Wet Leaf:  The tender wet leaves smell similar to wet hay and green beans.   Spiciness is also present.
Liquor:   The tea is orange yellow.  It is mild, light and sweet.  In addition, it is herbaceous or spicy (cinnamon, clove and chrysanthemum flower).

Tee Score: 4 of 5

Bubble Tea

"Shaken, not stirred" is how 007 James Bond likes his martini made. 'Shaken, and stirred' is how Chun Shui Tang (Spring Water place) prepares its pearl milk tea.

Chun Shui Tang is credited with the creation of bubble tea (a.k.a. pearl milk tea or boba tea) in Taiwan.   Mr. Liu Han-Jah established Chun Shui Tang in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1983, and later came up with the idea of offering his customers 'foamy iced black tea' using a cocktail shaker.  In 1987 Ms. Lin Hsiu-Fui, one of Mr. Liu's employees, made a whimsical choice to put her favorite Taiwanese tapioca balls (fen-yuan) in her iced tea, and subsequently started to share her concoction with her colleagues and customers.  Before long, the tapioca ball milk tea became an instant success and the rest is history.  

Bubble teas are made to order at Chun Shui Tang.  Customers may choose the amount of ice and sugar in their drinks.   The proximate steps for making its famous pearl milk tea are as follows :

- put ice in a cocktail shaker
- add 80 cc brewed Assam black tea
- stir in creamer and cane sugar syrup
- **add cooked tapioca balls (7 mm size)
- shake 33 times
- pour and serve in a coffee glass mug or a tall paper cup.
** alternatively, put cooked tapioca balls in a glass or a cup then pour shaken milk tea over them.  Stir the tea lightly with a straw.

The characteristics of good bubble teas are foamy on top, fresh tea aromas, not too sweet and 'al dente' tapioca pearls.

Pearl Milk tea in the patio of Chun Shui Tang

foamy pearl milk tea

7mm tapioca balls

The original Chun Shui Tang is located in Siwei Street, Taichung, and was renovated in 2014.  Below are photos of  menu and Yongfu Road store in Taichung, which is five miles west of the flagship tea house.  As of 2015, there are about 42 Chun Shui Tang tea houses in Taiwan and five in Japan.   The tea houses serve a variety of cold and hot beverages as well as food.

Yongfu Road Chun Shui Tang

London Fog

The word on the street is that London Fog was created in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, around mid 2000.   However, if you ask people on the streets of Vancouver about the origin of this drink, you would get a blank look.  So far, no one has claimed credit for this hot beverage.

London Fog, in essence, is an Earl Grey tea latte.   Commonly, to make a London Fog drink, use two thirds Earl Grey brewed tea and add one third steamed milk plus a shot of vanilla syrup.   There are many variations of London Fog depending on whom, where, what and how.   Below are four Vancouver samples of London Fog:

Blenz Coffee on Commercial & Broadway
lemony, citrusy, no tea taste, not too sweet and no foam.

Murchie's at Oakridge Shopping

More tea taste, barely sweet and two tea bags floating in the foam.  

Starbucks on Commercial and Broadway

one tea bag, foamy, lemony and a bit too sweet

Sweet Revenge on Main

Tea leaves used, more refined vanilla and citrus flavors.

Sparrow's Mouth

This 'thingy' is sold as white tea or Pu'er tea from Yunnan, China.  It has several names, including Yabao and Nan Mei.  

The buds are picked and then sun-dried or steamed & sun-dried.   Some are further compressed into round cakes.  The buds do not resemble any regular white tea leaves (e.g., silver needles) and have a piney aroma.

Sparrow's Mouth

Use boiling water to brew and re-brew the buds for making 'tea'.   The infusion is mild, sweet, floral and lightly spicy.   A pleasant piney and sweet aftertaste lingers in the mouth.

Sparrow's Mouth infusion

Is it or is it not?  This wild 'thingy' is not a true tea but is likely from the buds of wild-grown vaccinium dunalianum var dunalianum in Yunnan. Local Chinese people call it Sparrow's Mouth.  Limited analysis of it has shown that Sparrow's Mouth contains no caffeine.  There are two types of Sparrow's Mouth : purple and white.   Both are touted as remedies for detoxification, indigestion, sore throat, lethargy, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.   The 'thingy' is also known as Moonlight Goddess because the steeped buds could appear like ladies in a hot tub!     

Moonlight Goddess

Snow Chrysanthemum

Snow chrysanthemum belongs to the sanvitalia procumbens plant species and grows in high elevations around the Kunlun Mountain in China's Xianjian province.   Infusions made from the dried blossoms of snow chrysanthemum have been enjoyed by the ethnic Uighur people in China.

Snow chrysanthemum is touted as containing large amounts of health-promoting amino acids and trace elements.   Wild harvested flowers are scarce and would command a higher price.  Consequently, many farmers began to cultivate the plant for lucrative profits.  This eventually led snow chrysanthemum to become a commodity of speculation and manipulation in recent years.   The price of snow chrysanthemum per kg climbed up to $3000 USD in 2011.   Then, thump, it crashed down to $5 USD per kg in 2012.    It was a story of rags to riches and back again.

     

Snow chrysanthemum brew is orange crimson color.  It has herbal, creamy and mild berry flavors.   It can be brewed alone or added to regular teas.

Savory Teas

A savory tea is a melange of vegetables, herbs, spices and tea.   Numi produces 6 blends of interesting savory teas:  Carrot Curry, Fennel Spice, Spinach Chive, Tomato Mint, Beet Cabbage, and Broccoli Cilantro.   Following are four of the six blends.  They all contain decaffeinated green or black teas.

Savory teas

To make a cup or a bowl of savory tea, brew one tea bag in hot water for over 10 minutes.  What are the infusions like?  They come close to salt-free vegetable broths.   Take Fennel Spice for example, it has a strong flavor of fennel and no hints of green tea.  As for Tomato Mint, it is zesty, minty and spicy.  

The ingredients in Fennel Spice are organic fennel, organic celery root, organic orange peel, organic onion, organic dill, organic decaf green tea, organic honeybush and organic black pepper.   The ingredients in Tomato Mint are organic tomato, organic onion, organic mint, organic lemon peel, organic parsley, organic cinnamon, organic black pepper, organic decaf black tea, and organic allspice.    

Fennel Spice and Tomato Mint

Great British Tea - Tregothnan

"No," he said, "look, it's very, very simple ... all I want ... is a cup of tea.  You are going to make one for me.  Keep quiet and listen."  And he sat.  He told the Nutri-Matic about India, he told it about China, he told it about Ceylon.  He told it  about broad leaves drying in the sun. 

- Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

There is nothing more quintessential British than drinking tea.  Britain has always relied on imports to meet the demand for tea as she is not a tea growing country.  That has changed slightly after the Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall planted many acres of tea plants starting in 1999, and began to produce true British tea in 2005 or 2006.  Today Tregothnan offers about five blended black teas, one blended green tea and its single estate tea.  

3 Tregothnan black teas

Tregothnan created this Great British tea for 10 Downing Street.  It is a blend of Tregothnan's tea leaves and Assam tea (percentage unknown).   It is strong but not as bold as English Breakfast tea is.   It is more refined but lacks maltiness, and is best enjoyed without adding milk.

Great British Tea

Type:  Black    Country: England    Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The black and brown wiry leaves give off pleasant spices and dried fruit aromas.
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves smell like sweet dried fruits mixed in with wet straw.
Liquor:      The tea color is copper brown   It is chocolaty and woody with hints of cigars and spices.  It is not very malty and has light to medium astringency.  

Tee Score: 4 of 5

Tea Blossoms

Tea blossoms are simply the flowers of Camellia sinensis whose leaves are harvested and transformed into many types of teas.   Tea blossoms are hermaphrodite; i.e., each flower has both male and female reproduction parts.   Tea flowers are generally white with golden yellow stamens.

Tea Flower on an indoor tea plant

The flowers of Camellia sinensis are rarely collected by tea farmers. When they are, they are dried and used for making 'tea'.   Here are two samples of dried blossoms:

Left - X    Right - Y

X:  The flowers were wild harvested from ancient tea trees in Lan Xang region in East Asia.  They were withered ( & oxidation occurred) and sun dried.  They are commercially available.
Y:  The flowers were gathered from an indoor pampered tea plant when they faded.

Left:  X    Right: Y

Each cup of the tea blossom beverages was steeped using one teaspoon of flowers in four ounce of boiling water for six minutes.   Both beverages taste woody and very herbaceous.  X has a cinnamon note and Y is earthy & slightly bitter.  Like tea, tea blossom beverages contain antioxidants as well as caffeine.  According to a biochemistry study conducted in Taiwan, tea flowers contain much less caffeine (maybe 1/10 that of tea) but comparable amounts of polyphenols.   In other words, a tea blossom beverage is healthy and 'virturally' caffeine-free.    

Java Golden Black

Indonesia is one of the top coffee producing and exporting countries in the world.   Indonesia also produces and exports tea, mostly black tea for blending.   The cultivation of coffee and tea dates back to the Dutch colonization during 17th and 18th centuries.   The island of Java, with its tropical climate and rich volcanic soil, is the heartland of tea and coffee farming.

'Java' may be synonymous with coffee but this Java Golden is a premium-grade black tea.  It contains young gold leaves that make a cup of rich and strong tea, strong enough to sustain a person all night writing Java code.

Java Gold

Type:  Black   Country: Indonesia   Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The small, short and wiry leaves are gold and brown.   Their aroma is dark fruity (raisins and prunes).
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves have a wet straw smell to them.
Liquor:      The tea is bright coppery in color.   It is brisk, spicy, lightly floral, with a coffee undertone.  It is excellent with milk and sugar.

Tee Score: 4 of 5

Tanzania Livingstonia

Tanzania, home to Mount Kilimanjiro, is the fourth largest tea producer in Africa after Kenya, Malawi and Uganda.  Over 75% of Tanzanian tea is exported.

German settlers first introduced and planted tea in Tanzania in 1902 and after World War II the British took over tea plantations.  Since her independence from Great Britain in 1961, Tanzania continues to cultivate tea in three major areas: south, northeast and northwest zones.

This Livingstonia tea is named after David Livingstone, a well-known 19th century Scottish medical missionary and explorer in Africa.  The tea is not as strong as regular African tea found in some tea bags.  It is a lighter black tea, somehow reminiscent of Lover's Leap from Sri Lanka.  

Livingstonia

Type:  Black    Country: Tanzania    Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The chopped pieces of dried leaves are raisiny.
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves are brown and faintly floral.
Liquor:      The tea is reddish brown.   It is light to medium-bodied but with noticeable astringency.  It is slightly citrusy, spicy and floral.

Tee Score: 3 of 5

Tea Seed Oil

Tea seed oil, not to be confused with tea tree oil from Australia, has been used in Chinese kitchens for several hundred years.  The oil can come from the seeds of Camellia Sinensis as a byproduct of a tea garden, but is commonly derived from those of Camellia oleifera and Camellia tenuifolia.  C oleifera is the primary species cultivated in China while C tenuifolia is indigenous to Taiwan.

Camellia Sinensis seeds

The traditional method of  making the oil is as follows:

1. Pick and gather tea seeds.  Dry them in the sun.
2. Remove shells then pulverize the seeds.  
3. Briefly steam the pulverized seeds before cooling and compressing them into round cakes.
4. Load the cakes into an expeller to extract oil. 

Tea seed oil contains almost 85% of monounsaturated fatty acids and is praised as an optimal culinary oil.   Furthermore, tea seed oil has a higher smoking point of about 240°C.   It also has a longer shelf life.

Left to right: 1-Bitter tea oil, 2-Tea seed oil and 3-Tea oil Camellia

The three bottles of oil were imported from Taiwan or China.  Each has its unique flavor profile depending on the seed source and its processing method.

1. Bitter tea oil (Taiwan) was produced by the traditional method.  The color of the oil is golden yellow and its mouth feel is a slight bitter tea taste.   It is regarded as a tonic for new mothers.

2. Tea seed oil (Taiwan) was extracted from seeds that were roasted. The oil is orange amber in color and has a rich, molasses and roasted flavor.   It is lovely like sesame oil.

3. Tea oil Camellia (China) is almost translucent in color.  It is light and faintly buttery.   Although its neutral flavor is ideal for baking, deep frying and salad making, the oil might have been refined.

Coffee Milk Tea

Coffee, tea or both?  Yuan Yang tea or coffee milk tea was first created and gained its popularity in Hong Kong many years ago.  The original idea was to add coffee to Hong Kong style milk tea.  The name Yuan Yang, Chinese for Mandarin duck (a symbol of conjugal love), is befitting for a beverage that 'pairs' tea and coffee.

A balanced Yuan Yang cup of tea, optimally, would have 30% freshly brewed coffee and 70% just made Ceylon black tea with copious amounts of evaporated milk and sugar.   However, it is not sacrilegious to adjust the proportion of tea, coffee, milk and sweetener according to individual tastes.

A convenient way to enjoy a semi-authentic cup of Yuan Yang is to use a tea bag.  This brand of tea packets states that premium coffee and Ceylon black tea are in each bag, but does not indicate their ratio.  The bags have a strong coffee aroma.  

Yuan Yang

After brewing the bag in a mug of hot water for five minutes, the concoction looks very dark and its dominate aroma is roasted coffee.

Yuan Yang

The Yuan Yang tea takes cream and sugar well.  It is strong but smooth. The experience of drinking Yuan Yang is supposed to be about inhaling coffee aroma in the nose, tasting tea flavors in the mouth and detecting coffee essence in the throat.  For sure, it perks up your day.

Yuan Yang

Whisky Flavored Tea

"O Whisky! soul o' plays and pranks! 
Accept a bardie's gratfu' thanks!"  Robbie Burns, "Scotch Drink" 1785

This tea can be described as Chinese black tea marinated in a Scottish malt whisky flavor.  According to Scotch connoisseurs, estery flavors in moderation are desirable in Scotch whisky.  Estery is possessing chemical esters, such as fruity, floral and solvent odors/scents.   The dominant scent of the tea is estery: pear, banana and nail polish.   One sniff of the dried leaves could make Robbie Burns turn in his grave.  

The brewed tea is still estery but surprisingly smooth with a hint of malt.   It is reminiscent of a fruit-flavored tea, not Scotch.  

Whisky Flavored Tea

Type:  Black       Country: Scotland       Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  Chopped pieces make up the dried leaves.  Their pear-like or varnishy scent is overwhelming.
Wet Leaf:  Behind the nail polish scent, there is a faint smell of wet straw.
Liquor:   The tea is golden brown.   It is smooth with pear-like and malty flavors.  There is barely any astringency but a slightly sour aftertaste.

Tee Score: 3 of 5

Coffee Leaf Infusion

Coffee beans are made from the seeds of Coffea plants.  These plants' fruits or cherries, and dried leaves can also be used to brew beverages that taste nothing like coffee.

Except in places like Ethiopia and Sudan, coffee leaf infusion has never become popular or mainstream.  Some health food stores in North America do carry dried coffee leaves for those who use them.

Recently, a startup (Wize Monkey) in Vancouver, BC, has begun to market its Coffee Leaf tea (technically it is not a tea) in bag form. The arabica leaves are sourced from and processed in a Nicaragua coffee plantation.  

Each bag is brewed like tea, about 3-4 minutes at 95°C.

Coffee Leaf Tea bag

The infusion is rich red brown in color.  It is smooth, sweet and ever so slightly herbaceous.   It is pleasant but a bit generic.

Coffee Leaf infusion

A flavored version of Coffee Leaf seems to bring out more sweetness; however, it has a slightly bitter artificial aftertaste.

Mango Coffee Leaf

Why coffee leaves?  Some researchers claim that a cup of coffee leaves has higher antioxidants but lower caffeine than a cup of tea does.