Chinese Tea Ceremony: celebrating the ordinary serving of tea. Gongfu Cha is the original Chinese tea ceremony, designed principally for the preparation of oolong tea. This developed in Chaozhou in Guangdong province. There is a reverence shown to the tea: its delicate aroma is appreciated and its lingering taste is experienced in small cups where […]
Lapsang Souchong Tea: love or hate like Marmite? We conducted an online poll on the thorny issue of Lapsang Souchong tea, thinking that it was analogous to Marmite in that we considered that people either love it or hate it. In fact we thought the parallel was so close we gave people four choices. Amazingly […]
Yellow teas can be compared with green teas and white teas. Yellow tea is little known because little is now made as its production is expensive. It is worth the trouble and expense however as ‘spring tea’ as it is known, is indeed fresh and aromatic. The name is taken from the appearance of the […]
Famous China Teas: Tribute Teas presented to the Chinese emperors China is justly famous for its magnificent teas, whether these be black, green, oolong, yellow or white. In particular however are the Famous China Teas, which should be experienced by all lovers of China teas. Tribute teas, as they used to be known, were produced […]
Chinese Tea Growing Areas: The best in China In this new Chinese year of the tiger now is a good time to better appreciate those Chinese tea growing areas responsible for producing some of their unique teas. Chinese tea growing areas are the principle means of classifying Chinese teas. Sometimes a legend is quoted such as […]
Introduction to Yunnan Tea: from Yunnan province, south-west China Yunnan is a region having a border with Laos and Burma, extending north towards the Himalayas. This borderland is a craggy, mountainous area of thick jungle. It is considered the birthplace of tea with native tea trees growing wild – some reputed to be as much […]
Oolong or Wu-long means Black Dragon tea in Mandarin It has been said that it refers to the shape of oolong teas which resemble the silhouette of the mystical Chinese Dragon. They are mainly manufactured in China and Taiwan. The latter is known as Formosa in tea terminology. Those teas are generally referred to as […]
Keemun, from Qimen county in Anhui Province, is one of China’s ten famous teas. Previously known as Tribute Teas, keemun was Britain’s favourite tea in the nineteenth century. These black teas are known as the ‘Burgundy of teas’ for their winey character, floral notes and orchid aroma. They were first produced in the 1870s using […]
