The
China Tea Co.
The Xiping News: Gourmet Tea
It struck me, inhaling the honeysuckle fragrance of a Tieguanyin oolong from a tiny porcelain cup, that like me most Westerners would have difficulty believing it was pure, unadulterated tea. I was in Xiping, in the Fujian province of China, the town where Tieguanyin oolong was first made from a subspecies of tea tree. Talking to the farmers and manufacturers about this extraordinary tea, I wondered how it was that most of us blithely dunked our tea bags when this divine concoction has been available for centuries. True, Xiping is on the other side of the earth and China had been closed off from the West for much of the past fifty years.
Tea was first drunk by a mythical Emperor Shen Nung as long ago as 2737 B.C., after leaves fell into his cup of hot water. While some camellia sinensis trees can grow to five metres, these days bushes tend to be trimmed into waist-high hedges, and the leaves are less likely to fall into a waiting cup. Echoing across the centuries, sayings such as 'for all the tea in China' attest to tea's origins in China, but most of the tea drunk in Britain is not Chinese at all. It comes as a surprise to many that the British introduced tea cultivation to India during the embargoes of the Opium Wars, growing a wild local variety called Assam to satisfy the demands of tea aficionados back in the mother country.
While green tea could be purchased in England in the 17th century, black tea became popular in the 18th century. Merchants found that black tea preserved better during the long voyages of the tea clippers, and consumers discovered that black tea was less susceptible to adulteration. Soon afterwards, merchants began promoting the addition of milk and sugar, presumably at first for the lesser grades of tea. Except for ethnic minority areas, and in Tibet, the Chinese drink very little black tea. They prefer the consome-like vegetable and cereal flavours of green tea, or the honeysuckle bouquet of a fine oolong. This is not to suggest that there are not very fine black teas, such as Keemum and the first and second flush of Indian Darjeeling tea, but it would be very unusual to find any of these high quality teas in a supermarket, despite what might be printed on the packet.
In fact, it is difficult to find top quality tea anywhere in the UK. There are also very ordinary grades of green tea, which can be acquired in a local Chinese grocery for a few pounds. Like black tea, most of the production of green tea is low grade and destined for bulk consumption. In contrast, consider that the first flush of Long Jing green tea can retail in Shanghai for as much as £200 a kilo, and if frost damages the pre-‘Ching-Ming’ crop, prices can go astronomical. If you can find such teas in West, they will retail for much more.
The best teas are grown at high altitudes in a moist, but warm, climate, and so quality production is quite limited. Green teas are dried quickly and are low in caffeine and high in cancer-preventing antioxidants. Oolongs are gently macerated and allowed to oxidise for a few hours before drying. In contrast, black teas are fully oxidised before drying and have the most caffeine. A good Long Jing, prepared properly, will have a taste of asparagus with hints of cereal and roasted chestnuts. A first class Pilochen, which translates as ‘green snail’ tea and is so-called because of its small curled shape, has a pleasant ‘rising acrid’ taste. An unusual description perhaps, but the taste is difficult describe. ‘Tieguanyin’ means ‘iron goddess of mercy’ after a bodhisattva appeared in a farmer’s dream and directed him to the location of a new subspecies of tea plant, and has an intense smell of honeysuckle and often a buttery taste. A good Dong Ding from Taiwan, on the other hand, will have a bouquet of gardenias.
Sipping my cup of Tieguanyin in a street restaurant in Xiping, accompanied by a stew of black-skinned chicken, a dish once the preserve of Emperors, and a bamboo basket of savoury dumplings, it seemed impossible that anyone I knew would think that this golden liquor was tea. Unless, of course, they could taste it for themselves.
