Well, I was looking at their accounts as I am always nosey and like to see how well people are doing and low and behold, Teapigs Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tetley Tea and so Tata Tea (India’s biggest tea company) and not the little wholesome start-up that I thought they were.  So that’s how they can rack up losses of £200,000 a year.  So that’s what they mean when they say they met at a “a really big tea company“, which apparently was in their marketing department, so I have discovered later.  Very clever marketing gimmick then and hats off to Tetleys, you had me fooled!  But Steenbergs won’t ever be able to compete with their marketing budget even if our gunpowder tea taste way nicer.

It reminds me of Seeds of Change that cleverly hardly tells you that they are part of Mars, Inc, but imply in their marketing that they grew out of being a small hippy seeds business in Santa Fe, whereas they are really part of one of the world’s largest food groups.  They do currently have on their web site that the trademarks are owned by Mars, but they used to hide better.

China Green Tea - Yin Yuan

Yin Yuan is made from green tea that has been tied together and pressed into the shape of a coin; the word yuan is a type of round coin in China while yin is dark as in yin and yang.  Hidden inside are a few chrysanthemum blossoms tied to a piece of string.  Ideally you should brew this tea in a big glass bowl as the green tea opens out into a huge spectacle of tentacles or fronds like a chrysthemum flower or a sea anemone.  I think it looks really quite amazing and I liked watching the tea fold out and the blossoms suddenly float upwards; it’s mesmerizing and slightly mindless – a bit like watching a fish tank for hours on end – but strangely peaceful.

China Yin Yuan Green Tea Opened Out

The tea itself has a lovely light green colour and tastes green and fresh, with hints of flowery blossom coming through.  There is no hint of bitterness and the flowers give a delicate peachy sweetness.  Yin Yuan Green Tea is one to indulge with yourself selfishly when there’s no-one else around to disturb your thoughts or noise to intrude your few moments of peace.

Brewed Bowl Of China Green Tea - Yin Yuan

Oolong tea is called a semi-fermented tea, where green tea is basically unfermented (or lightly processed) while black tea is fermented (i.e. fully processed).  Oolong tea sits somewhere between a green tea and a black tea with exactly where they are in that green-to-black tea range having a lot of effect on the end tea.

Oolong tea has the smooth, light and refreshing characteristics of green tea with some of the additional depth of character provided by the firing process to give it hints of black tea – so you will hear people talk of oolong tea being “sweet” or “refreshing” or “flowery” or that it has hints of “spiciness”, “warmth” and a “light flavour of heat coming through”.

The tea leaves are picked from a special type of tea plant with large leaves, which are then withered and allowed to oxidize in carefully controlled air conditioned rooms.  When ready (and this is part of the art of the tea maker), the leaves are steamed at a high heat to stop the oxidation process.

I just love them.  For me, they have more character than green tea and white tea and are like a premier cru wine from a really small, specialist wine estate that’s been given extra love, care and attention.  Or perhaps they are like the mystery of a Rembrandt or Titian painting over the perfectly clean lines of a Raphael.  They are darker than green teas in colour but still often have silvery white tips coming through.

Some Oolong Teas

I have gone for the following types – an everyday Chinese Oolong Tea and a Taiwan Baihao Oolong (or Bai Hao Oolong) and two flavoured Oolong Teas . So I have chosen a classic style China Osmanthus Oolong Tea that’s been flavoured with delicate Osmanthus blossoms, and a China Milky Oolong Tea that has a silky, milky, sweet taste that’s weird – but beguiling – and has a round mouthfeel.

The Baihao Oolong tea comes from Xinhui in Northern Taiwan, which is humid and wet compared to the rest of the country.  This creates an oolong that’s really smooth and sweet, with almost no astringency, with a lovely flowery aroma of ripe peaches and sweet magnolia-flavoured honey.  Bai Hao Oolong is sometimes known as
Dong Fang Mei Ren or Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea because Queen Elizabeth II loves the special aroma and taste of Bai Hao and so she named it “Oriental Beauty”.

As you can see from the picture below it has a redder, darker and fuller colour than the green teas that I tasted a couple of days ago.  However, this does not translate into a bitter drink and it should be drunk fresh and without milk, sugar or lemon.  And while it costs a bit more than normal teas, it is really a treat for when you’re in a quiet, contemplative mood plus it brews well a second time on the same leaves – in fact I often prefer the second brew to the first as more character comes through.

Delicious Cup of Bai Hao Oolong Tea

Allied to this, we are going over the specialist teas that we sell to give the Steenbergs range of teas more breadth and more interest.  So I am tasting, for my sins, green teas and oolongs over the next few weeks.

Today, it is the turn of Japan and their green teas.  I like the clean pallet of Japanese green teas without any hint of bitterness that quite often mars commercially purchased green teas from the high street – that’s not healthy and good for you, just plain disgusting tea.

I have chosen some lovely Sencha Fukujyu and Bancha teas, plus a Genmaicha, which is a weird, but traditional Japanese green tea, made by mixing Sencha with Rice Kernels (genmai) giving it a nutty flavour like drinking green tea with unflavoured popcorn mixed in – wacky but quite cool.  The popcorn-looking stuff in the Genmaicha are actually rice kernels that pop during the roasting process.  At this stage, I have not gone for a Matcha as I am not sure with the samples that I have tasted so far.

But I really love the Gyokuro green teas.  I have particularly enjoyed two of these  – an organic Gyokuro and a truly exquisite Gyokuro from the Tanabe District near Kyoto.  The Tanabe Gyokuro is grown under special bamboo shades for a tea with a unique flavour and is processed only from a small first flush; this should give a delicate, round flavour with a delicate, pale yellow-green colour.

Enjoying Cups Of Japanese Green Tea

These teas have a delicate, sweet flavour with hints of sweet damp hay coming through that’s typical of good green teas.  The tea cups a light yellow green colour.

What are your favourite Japanese green teas?

The following extracts are adapted from the Châ’a Shu, a manual prepared by Hsü Jan-Ming in the Ming Dynasty, when loose leaf teas were prepared in a teapot and drunk from cups. In previous dynasties, tea was in a cake form.

Infusion:

Have the utensils ready to hand and make sure they are perfectly clean. Set them out on the table, putting down the teapot lid inner face upwards or laying it on a saucer. The inner face must not come into contact with the table, as the smell of the table or food could spoil the taste of the tea. After boiling the water it should be placed in the pot, then you should take some tea leaves and throw them in. Now replace the lid on the teapot. Wait for as long as it takes to breathe in and out 3 times before pouring the tea into the cups and then pour it straight back into the teapot so as to release the fragrance. After waiting for the space of another 3 breaths to let the leaves settle, pour out the tea for your guests. If this method is used, the tea will taste very fresh and its fragrance will be delicious. Its effect will be to produce well-being, banish weariness and raise your spirits.

Drinking:

A pot of green tea should not be replenished more than once. The first infusion will taste deliciously fresh; the second will have a sweet and pure taste, whereas the third would be insipid. Therefore, the quantity of water in the kettle should never be too much. However, rather than have too little, there should be enough for some to be poured on the tea leaves after the second infusion, as it will continue to emit a pleasant aroma and can be used for cleansing the mouth after meals.

Guests:

If one’s guests are in a boisterous mood, it is better to give them wine to drink and, if they get somewhat tipsy, follow this up with a pot of strong (ordinary) black tea. It is only in the company of one’s own kind, just those with whom one can talk quietly about anything under the sun without formality, that one should brew up some good tea. The extent to which the serving of the tea is or is not completely informal will depend on the number of guests.

Tea room:

This should be close to one’s study – it is good to have a small tea room that is spacious, clean, well lit and comfortable. Against the wall place two portable stoves. Outside the tea room, there should be a wooden stand for utensils in which water is stored and a small table for the various accessories, as well as a rack for hanging teacloths. These objects should be brought into the tea room only when required. All should have covers to keep them free from dirt that might affect the tea.

Times for drinking tea:

• In idle moments
• Thoughts confused
• Beating time to songs
• When the music stops!
• Living in seclusion
• Enjoying scholarly pastimes
• Conversing late at night
• Studying on a sunny day
• In the bridal chamber
• Detaining favoured guests
• Playing host to scholars or pretty people
• Visiting friends returned from far away
• In perfect weather
• When skies are overcast
• Watching boats gliding past
• Amidst trees or in the garden
• When flowers are in bud and the birds are singing
• On hot days
• After drunken friends have left
• When youngsters have gone out
• When viewing temples or scenic rocks

We seem to have forgotten how to make tea – whether it’s the result of a lack of time or trying unsuccessfully to extract some flavour from tea bags. Why is this? Is brewing tea an art form that requires an indulgent muse or a sacrifice to some un-named tea god? Or is proper tea brewing the product of military discipline or a Zen-like calm?

Actually, all it needs is a little patience, some good quality tea, clean water and to follow some basic rules. The key in making tea is (as in everything) to practice, practice and practice again.

Granny used to make tea following the Mrs Beeton method:

The old-fashioned plan of allowing a teaspoonful to each person, and one over, is still practised.  Warm the teapot with boiling water; let it remain for two or three minutes for the vessel to become thoroughly hot, then pour it away.  Put in the tea, pour in ½ to ¾ pint of boiling water, close the lid and let it stand for to tea to draw from 5 to 10 minutes; then fill up the pot with water.  The tea will be quite spoiled unless made with water that is actually boiling, as the leaves will not open, and the flavour not be extracted from them; the beverage will consequently be colourless and tasteless, – in fact nothing but tepid water.  Where there is a very large tea party to make tea for, it is a good plan to have two teapots instead of putting a large quantity of tea into one pot; the tea, besides, will go father.  When the infusion has been once completed, the addition of fresh tea adds very little to the strength; so if more is required, have the pot emptied of the old leaves, scalded, and fresh tea made in the usual manner. (Beetons Book of Household Management, 1861)

But it is much simpler than that.  The key is to follow some golden rules.

A ROUGH GUIDE TO TEA MAKING

These are my golden tea-making rules:

• Fill the kettle with freshly-drawn cold water which is well mixed with oxygen (boiled water has lost its oxygen). Oxygen is vital to bring out the taste and aroma
• Fill the tea-pot with boiling water, to warm the tea-pot and so prevent the brew from cooling too quickly then pour out as more water comes to the boil
• Measure the organic tea carefully: for strong organic Fairtrade tea, use 1 teaspoon per person and 1 for the pot; for large leaf organic Fairtrade teas, ½ teaspoon per pot is ideal (or see our more detailed charts below)
• Fill the kettle with more freshly-drawn cold water, pour away warm water in tea-pot and pour the new water into the pot as it boils, because off-the-boil water makes very dull tea. Infuse for 5 minutes (see below). A quick brew never gets the full flavour from the organic tea leaves, whereas a long brew is astringent
• Add milk first, because milk dissolves better in hotter liquid
• Ceramic and china teapots keep warmer for longer and don’t taint the tea. Even better are cast iron tea pots, although they are a bit expensive. Never ever bleach the teapot
• Sit back, relax and enjoy!

AXEL’S TEA BREWING CHARTS

Here’s Axel’s overview table of everything about making organic Fairtrade tea:

Key: Y = Yes O = optional N = No

Here’s a handy table that gives a little more detail on tea brewing times:

For these tables, we have assumed a classic family-sized tea pot – enough for 6 cups.