Season's Greetings - AHKs

Tea by the Season
A Swedish customer once asked if we should vary our
tea intake by season. He said the Swedes tend to drink
more of red wine in the winter and more of white wine
in the summer. Does the same apply to Chinese tea?
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, tea - in its unprocessed
form - is cool in nature. However, different types of tea acquire different
properties according to how it is made. Generally speaking, you
want to drink “cooling” tea in the summer and “warming” tea in the
winter. Here are some popular Chinese approaches to the problem.
Spring
After the hibernation of the long winter, let’s celebrate the onset of
spring with the harvesting of the green tea! This is the high point
of the tea season, and you can't miss the anticipation of the Nation
for the first spring harvest - known in China as the Chun Cha (春
茶). Green tea is cooling. The female principle means it detoxifies
and cleanses. It contains high concentration of antioxidants such as
EGCG, a miracle cure for many illnesses. It is great for clearing your
body of excess phlegm caused by allergies.
Summer
Moving on to summer, the need for a cooling tea begins to dominate
the mind. While your green tea will continue to taste great, why not
also try to have a cup of fruity white tea? The most ying of Chinese
tea, white tea is a bit like a raw salad (as supposed to a Chinese stir
fry). Little heating is applied during production. This process is very
dormant: instead of roasting, leaves are left to mature at room temperature
to allow chemical changes to take place.
Autumn
As the air chills and leaves start falling in the autumn, oolong tea
begins to make its way to the market. In the southern province of
Fujian, especially, this is the time when the most fragrant Tieguanyin
tea (铁观音) is harvested. Unlike green tea, which is unoxidised, oolong
teas come in various levels of oxidation. They come in a range of
frequencies. The lightly oxidised oolong is like a violin, high in aroma
and light in body. The heavily oxidised oolong is like a cello, light
in aroma and rich in body. The more heavily oxidised oolong tea is
usually roasted. This process imparts “fire” to the tea, making it more
warming. During autumn, you may want something more warming
than green tea, and there are many types of oolongs to choose from.
Winter
If you are looking for a warming tea to shelter you from the bitter
cold, then you may want to turn to a dark, roasted tea. A dark
roasted tea can take the form of a semi-oxidised oolong tea or a fully
oxidised black tea. In China, there are various names assigned to
such treatment of tea. The proper name for a roasted tea is hongbei
(烘焙), which means oven-roasted. It is also more commonly known
as zhongguo, which means “strongly fired” or shu, which means
“cooked”. A high grade is neither astringent nor bitter. It has a body
that is thick and rich. Flavours include chocolate and charcoal, with
many layers of floral aroma. Durability is very high. You can usually
infuse the tea leaves for more than five to nine times.
Which Winter Tea?
HEALTH
www.china.ahk.de
The southern provinces of Fujian and Guangdong are the undisputed
masters of dark, roasted tea. They love to drink tea gongfu style using
a Yixing tea set. The most famous of roasted oolong tea is probably
the Yancha, popularly known in the West as Rock Tea. The King
of Wuyi teas is known as the Dahongpao. The first medallist of the
Beijing Olympic 2008 was awarded the Dahongpao harvested from
the original 600-year-old tea bushes. Another roasted black tea worth
seeking out is the Keemun, which is fruity with hints of pine, dried
plum and floweriness.
Julian Tai is co-founder of the China-based tea site Amazing-greentea.com.
To celebrate the arrival of the 2009 autumn harvest, he is
providing free samples of two Tieguanyin King teas to the first 20
requests by readers of GC Ticker. He can be contacted at julian@
amazing-green-tea.com.
2009/2010 December - January 73