Hi There

 I mentioned last time that we were going to be changing the format of the blog for a bit. I thought it might be fun to handover the blog to you, our customers and let the world know a little bit about your tea drinking habits.First up is a lad from the US who loves growing terrible moustaches (you can take the boy out of LA……) - all the same he is a fabulous customer and has done a huge amount to support Tea Tree Tea. Tom has been a regular customer for many months now and has literally drunk our menu three times over as well as inventing some of his own creations! Here is more info he has written about one of those creations!Customer - Tom (Tommy Blue Eyes) Britton

•  Tea Name - The Jolly Green Ginger  
• Why this name? - Named after Jamie when he dressed up as the incredible hulk.  
• What’s in the Drink? - Gunpowder Green Tea, Lemon, Hint of Ginger, Ice  
• What does it taste like? - Pure Spring Goodness with a hint of jazz.  The taste is very light and refreshing, with a mild sweetness.  All the flavours blend together perfectly.  The hint of ginger covers up the aftertaste that is normally left by green tea and the lemon blends in nicely.  
• When to drink? - As it is an iced drink this tea is best in the afternoon, especially during spring and summer.  It’s the perfect drink to cool you off and it goes down very easy.  
• Options - If you want to make the drink sweeter you can add a little bit more of the ginger spice.
• Tom Says - I had one and then another one, and before you knew it I had probably drunk a litre of it.

So there you go - classic iced green tea with lemon and ginger - but what a great name!! Nice one Tom!

Remember you can buy Gunpowder green tea by clicking here.

Look forward to next time!

A Bientot!!

Sorry for not getting this on last week - turned out to be a wonderfully busy week!!

I want to have a quick look at Chinese Green Tea for this last instalment. For those of you who are used to drinking green tea often, particularly in bag form, it is most likely green tea from China that you have been drinking. Chinese green tea has played a much larger role in the commercial growth and popularity of green tea than green tea from say Taiwan or Japan. For the last 20 years there has been a huge surge in the popularity of green tea - mainly due to the great publicity and press in relation to the health benefits of green tea. The downside is that the commercial growth in the market has resulted in some really low grade green tea being made available in bag form - and it is not tasty! And tastes nothing like real green tea.

Good green tea will brew to a sparkling green/yellow colour, and will have a  fairly bold flavour. We offer two Chinese green teas - Gunpowder and Chun Mee. Gunpowder is a good example of an entry level green tea - strong and pungent flavour - not sweet - indeed possibly a bit bitter, but very very good for you.  Green tea is famously good for aiding digestion, high vitamin C levels and of course for it’s detox qualities.

For anyone who wants to drink green tea but isn’t keen on the taste - try Chinese White Tea or some Ti Quan Yin as these are much less bitter. Or, add a slice of lemon or a spoonful of honey to your green tea to give it that extra dimension.

As we come to the end of this wee ten week block, I am going to try something totally different for next week’s blog!!

Watch this space……

Till then tea slurpers!!

At the end of last week I said I was going to consider Indian black tea - to be more accurate I should have said Indian and Sri Lankan Black tea.

The basis for any type of classic tea blend - what most of us might refer to as a breakfast tea, is a mixture of Indian Assam and Sri Lankan Ceylon teas. Lighter breakfast style teas - often found in England for example would likely be built by adding a bit less Assam and a bit heavier on the Ceylon. Countries benefiting from softer water - for example Scotland or Ireland would historically contain more Assam and less Ceylon, giving a heavier maltier taste.

Black Indian Assam is known as fairly robust and heavy tea. I have often heard people refer to a “furriness” left on the tongue after sampling some. The depth of taste also means the tea in naturally a bit sweet, malty on the pallet and very dark in colour. We stock two main Assam teas. The fannings and the tippy orthodox. The fannings are literally what is left after the tea has been fanned and separated. The tippy is the tips of leaves so is much larger in appearance. The fannings of course allow for a deeper extraction during the brewing process which means this really one of the strongest and heaviest teas we stock. The tippy still has the depth of character, but the larger surface area means the flavour is much more refreshing and thirst quenching. Many of our Irish customers love the Assam fannings! Good strong tea!! You can buy Assam tea at http://www.teatreetea.com/black-tea-indian-c-5_9.html.

Ceylon tea is really the opposite of the Assam in many ways, and is what gives a good breakfast tea such balance. I always find Ceylon tea to have the most amazing colour. Golden, almost orange in colour, the flavour is milder and slightly more bitter than the Assam, but nearly as heavy and certainly Ceylon tea is massively refreshing and thirst quenching. We also keep Ceylon in both the large and small leaf varieties. Our smaller leaf is called Ceylon Fannings and the large leaf is called Ceylon Orange Pekoe (no orange in it - just the colour of the brew). Many people who are not fond of strong tea, but who still want a ‘breakfast style’ tea should opt for the Ceylon range. You Can buy it at http://www.teatreetea.com/black-tea-srilanka-c-5_10.html.

Ceylon Orange Pekoe is without doubt one of top sellers, and is proving to be a real fav amongst Tea Tree Tea customers.

Myself on the other hand - Assam Tippy all the way!! Big, Tasty and refreshing….just how tea should be!!

OK - last instalment of this ten week block next week, and we are going to finish with Chinese Green Tea.

Live long and prosper!!

Ok - Darjeeling - The Champagne of Teas - this could be really complicated - I could probably have done 10 weeks on Darjeeling alone! So instead I will keep it as simple as possible! Along with Darjeeling comes a huge amount of history, especially related to the old British Empire. Something that really amazes me about Darjeeling is that although it is grown in the Darjeeling region of India, in particular in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, the strain of seed used is actually from China in origin, and was an experiment started during the 1840’s by a Doctor who worked in the region at the time.

Although Darjeeling is changing and being experimented with all the time - I recently mentioned a Darjeeling Oolong- traditional Darjeeling is often considered to be amongst the best in the world, and carried some very distinct and personal characteristics. When brewed, the tea should be a fairly pale liquor. To taste, you should get a slightly floral initial taste followed by a slightly more astringent after taste. Having just finished a pot myself, I was pleasantly reminded how wonderful the experience of drinking Darjeeling actually is. I love the aromatic burst as it first tingles the taste-buds, and then SMACK - a whole different taste sensation follows it - almost a tad bitter - but in a pleasant way. I had my first cup black and my second cup with just a tiny wee splash of milk - it is of course also great with a slice of lemon.

Darjeeling is also famous for it’s various “flushes” or harvests. As the season goes on the colour and taste does vary significantly. The famous “first flush” Darjeeling is very pale in color compared to say the Autumn Flush, which is much darker and heavier in taste.

Part of the appeal of Darjeeling is of course that it can only be grown in Darjeeling - hence “the champagne of Teas”.  Like Champagne also, Darjeeling can vary depending on quality and flush. High grown, high quality Darjeeling can be very expensive.

The bottom line is that Darjeeling really is a great classic tea - best enjoyed in the afternoon with a wee slice of Battenburg Cake and good crossword. Rock n Roll EH?

OK, next week I think we will have a look at Indian Black tea in a more general form.

See you soon

Rooibos - South African Red Bush Tea!

Once again let’s be clear  -Rooibos is not actually tea - it is a bark extract from the South African Red Bush. Only leaves from the Camellia Sinesis plant can be classed as tea. Why include it then? My reason is simple - we sell loads of the stuff in the tea shop, people love it, you can do loads with, good Rooibos tastes great and to top it off - it is really good for you!

Rooibos is crammed with Vitamin C and loaded with anti-oxidants. It is also caffeine free - like I said - this stuff is seriously good for you!

I mentioned that Rooibos is also very versatile. There are so may ways to drink it, and they all taste great! For the purist, Rooibos is very tasty as a tea with nothing added. It has a “root” like taste which is very clean on the tongue, naturally quite sweet and with a hint of vanilla. A tiny bit of honey added really is delightful. Rooibos is also great with a few flowers added such as rose buds - recently someone asked for mint leaves to be added - and it was fantastic!

Apparently Rooibos is popular in South Africa as hot milky drink with honey. We decided to have a go and have found that Rooibos and honey tea lattes are indeed awesome! The secret is in the brewing - pop in and try one!

Generally at Tea Tree Tea we are not huge fans of herbal or fruit infusions - Rooibos is in some ways out there on its own. It really is great tea and I feel that is worthy of a wee mention in it’s own right! One thing is for sure - this tea is popular the world over and it’s notoriety as a “healthy option” is certainly on the rise.

OK - so it’s the champagne of Teas next week - Darjeeling..till then!

Chinese Black Tea

 Just to be clear - i will take a separate look at Indian and Sri-Lankan tea at a later date.

Anyhoo - as i mentioned previously, black tea is still coming from the same camellia sinesis plant, it is just the preparation that differs. Although many of us will have tasted Chinese white or green tea, it is likely that you will have come across more Indian and Sri -Lankan black teas than Chinese black teas. Due to the leaves having undergone a longer oxidisation process, Black tea in general, has a stronger flavour and higher caffeine levels.

Once harvested, the leaves go through a process called withering, whereby air is intentionally blown onto the leaves preparing them for the oxidisation process. I am really simplifying this process - there is actually a huge amount that can happen between here, and the tea being ready to drink. Way too long winded to go into just now - in essence, the oxidisation(fermentation) process can vary depending on temperature, humidity, methods (machine or hand) etc The quality of the final product is normally determined by what happens during the preparation and oxidisation processes.

The final stage of preparation - and for me where it gets interesting, is to dry the leaves and grade them. This is often determined by the size of what is left - whole leaf, broken leaf, fannings or dust!! Guess where the dust ends up??? Would hate to mention any brands!

To name a few Chinese black teas - Keemun, Lapsang Souchong, Russian Caravan and of course even though it is blended and sprayed with bergamot oil - Earl Grey.

For me Keemun is true pure Chinese black tea - and it tastes amazing! I just love it! So much more refreshing than an assam or ceylon - and absolutely bursting with flavour!

You can taste it in the shop or feel free to get some online - you have to try it!

Lapsang is also a tea we sell - but it is smoked which creates a whole new taste experience - big, full, smoky, peaty - a connoisseurs fave! If you are scared of it - try some Russian Caravan - it’s like Lapsangs wee sister!! Much milder - but still well tasty!

Right I think next week we will venture to South Africa - it’s Rooibos time!

Till then tea slurpers!!

Oolong Tea! What is oolong tea? Simply put, oolong tea is halfway between a green tea and a black tea, in terms of it’s oxidisation. The great thing about oolong tea is that you can mix the best bits of green and black tea! What more could you want? In reality, the flavour is probably closer to green tea - just not as bitter and grassy on the tongue - but certainly not sweet like a full black tea either. A lot of the time oolong tea’s actually have a slightly fruity taste - or like the Formosa (Taiwan) oolong we sell, a slightly flowery or aromatic aftertaste.

In terms of the preparation of oolong tea - the leaves should either look long and rolled or compressed into balls - not dissimilar to gunpowder green tea. Most oolong tea that we come across is either from china or Taiwan. I have heard of some oolong teas from Thailand and Vietnam - and recently a customer in the shop told us about Darjeeling Oolong…haven’t had the pleasure of tasting it just yet - but that does sound good!

We often call our Formosa Oolong - the connoisseurs choice..not totally sure why! One thing for sure, is that oolong teas are generally fabulous - which is why I wanted to give it a week in this series to itself! We are huge fans - if you’ve never had the pleasure, then come down to the shop and get slurping! Or buy some online!!

So far we have done Chinese white tea, Japanese green tea, and Formosa Oolong. Next week we will take a look at black tea - specifically from China!

A Bientot!!

Firstly, sorry about the missing article last weekend - having some IT issues recently - should all be fine now though.

The topic for this week is to be Japanese tea. I chose to single out Japanese tea simply because it has such great individuality in both appearance and flavour. If you were to brew some Japanese Sencha for example, and expect a cup of green tea (when you were used to Chinese green tea) then you would surely get a bit of a shock!!

In Japan, the most common type of tea is Sencha (all Japanese Tea is green incidentally), which you can buy in our shop or online. Sencha is harvested like most Japanese Tea by exposing to full sunlight and then plucking the first crop in late April/early May. The second crop will have a slightly darker appearance and stronger flavour. In many parts of Japan, tea is still sometimes harvested by hand, although on the whole plucking machines and harvesting scissors are used. Once gathered, the leaves are steamed, fluffed with hot air and then dried and rolled into fine needles. Hardly any oxidisation means Japanese teas are often thought to be the most beneficial to our health, and some research suggests that the high average death age in Japan has something to do with the amount of Sencha that is consumed on a daily basis.

Sencha tea is literally crammed with anti-oxidants and people often point to it as a way of restoring great health and minimising the impact of horrific illnesses.

Japanese tea tastes……………….very Japanese - not sure how else to put it! Possibly slightly more earthy and raw than Chinese green tea - Sencha almost has a salty, grassy maybe even seaweedy taste. Not everyone’s cup of tea!! Don’t be put off by my description though - these flavours are fairly delicate - just unique to Japan!

Sencha should be brewed at typically 194f for just a couple of minutes to generate a clear, sparkling liquor.

Other teas from Japan include Matcha, Bancha and Houjicha - which you can buy at Tea Tree Tea. Houjicha is basically a roasted version of Sencha.

As with all Green Tea’s Japanese green tea is also great for a Vitamin C boost, and it is also very famous for helping aid digestion.

Next week we are off to Taiwan to explore Oolong Tea!!