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Tea is an ancient drink that can transport you to simpler times with just a sip.
Learn more about tea and take part in an age old ritual.

Is there anything more enjoyable or relaxing than a well-brewed cup of tea? Probably not. Enjoying tea is a necessary part of the day for many and for me it is a ritual and a treat that I take part in almost every night for several reasons. If you read the information on this page you will, hopefully, understand the reasons why tea is so popular and maybe even learn some things about tea you did not know before. Some people are surprised to learn that good quality tea does not usually come in boxes of tea bags that are filled with what is called tea dust. Those who are not surprised and do understand this still have trouble with where they should purchase tea and how they should brew it. We'll try to cover everything pertaining to tea, from the producer end to the consumer end.

Tea is grown mainly in China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Japan. It is grown in some parts of Africa and in other Asian countries as well. All tea comes from the same plant, but just like coffee and grapes and chocolate, the location and climate affects the end product. Green and White tea are the least processed of all the types of tea. They are steamed or pan heated to destroy enzymes that cause fermentation. The natural oils are preserved this way and the fermentation is halted. Then, to make Green tea, the leaves are twisted or rolled to break down cellular structure and release all the good stuff that will flavor the tea when you steep the leaves. The leaves are heated or fired again to dry them. Green tea leaves are then graded - the top grades are rolled into a Green tea called Gunpowder and then Young Hyson and Imperial and it's downhill from there.

What is Tea?

Oolong tea is processed almost the same way that black tea is processed but the steps called 'withering' and 'fermentation' do not last as long. Oolong is graded by quality starting with the best being labeled as Choice and the next being Finest to Choice and then Fine and so on in a long list of adjectives. Oolong first happened in China and Formosa Oolong is considered to be some of the best you can get. Most Oolong teas have a very delicate aroma of flowers and a light hint of honey or even nuts. Oolong is considered by many to be the finest tea and the one with the most culinary potential as far as use in cooking and pairing with meals.

Black tea (in China, black tea is called red tea) leaves are dried and allowed to wither. Then the leaves are bruised by hand or by rolling machines. Fermenting is the next step and it happens in humid climate controlled rooms. The fermenting is a short step that ends with the leaves turning redish brown colors just before they are fired or dried to stop this process. Black tea leaves are sorted and graded by size instead of quality. There is leaf and broken - the top two grades are Orange Pekoe and Pekoe. To the right side of this text you will see a cup of brewed Golden Monkey tea (black tea from the Fujian Provence of China), a cup of brewed Gunpowder tea from China and a cup of Pu-Erh tea from Yunnan.

Teas and Regions

What happens after all these teas are dried and rolled and fermented and whatnot? Well, some get stored for a long time in caves or underground like Pu-Erh, which is the only tea that can be aged and can cost a pretty penny. It's an acquired taste - very earthy and sometimes smokey. Pu-Erh can be found in loose leaf form but mostly compressed into little bowls called tou-cha or into bricks and cakes. Suppliers buy tea from producers and sell it yet again to vendors overseas who try to get us to buy it from them. It is hard to know who sells good tea and who does not, but there are some guidelines you can follow to make sure you don't get horrible tea. Buy from sellers that keep the tea in airtight containers out of sunlight and away from heat. You want to see that the tea is sold and/or shipped in airtight containers of some sort. You want to see pictures of the tea on the website, if that is where you're going to get your tea. Read other customers' reviews if this is a feature on the website you are purchasing from. Generally I find that good tea sellers have lots and lots of information on their websites about tea and quality - this is a good sign. If they're telling you what quality tea is then they most likely sell quality tea. Of course, this is not a definite thing; you can judge for yourself.

The tea on the bottom is Pu-Erh - it brews a very dark cup, as you can see, and has scents of smoke and earth with flavors that range from leather to cocoa. Some other types of tea are Keemun from China, which brews a slightly smokey reddish cup that is somewhat strong. Yunnan is tea from the Yunnan region of China that usually has a good amount of tannins and some spicy notes, sometimes I detect a hint of chocolate. A couple of popular teas are Assam and Ceylon from India and Sri Lanka (was once called Ceylon) - Assam is malty and it brews a nice deep red cup. Ceylon brews a clean bright red cup of tea with low tannins and some floral notes, it is a mild tea that works well with others and is used often in blending. From the Fujian province of China we get Golden Monkey (pictured above the pu-erh) which is usually a strong tea with honey and chocolate notes. Other variations of this Golden Monkey tea are sometimes called Emperor or Buddah or Needle interchanged with the word Golden and usually describing gold tipped leaves with some sort of down on the leaves (fuzz) that actually adds to the brew and gives it some body.

Japan only does green tea. They produce Matcha, which is green tea powder used in ceremonies and even in cooking. This is usually whisked with a small bamboo whisk and made to become frothy. Another green tea from Japan is Hojicha. Hojicha is pan toasted Bancha tea that becomes very nutty and roasty in flavor. This is great tea for someone who is new to green tea and thinks green tea tastes like grass. Sencha is a type of very common and typical green tea that usually is quite unremarkable but can be good. A tea called Kukicha is slightly nutty and can be roasted or toasted like the Bancha to produce a Hojicha-like green tea. Last but not least is Genmai Cha. This is a tea made with a base of either Sencha or Bancha and has added to it toasted, puffed rice and small popped corn. It was a tea created in Japan during hard times but it is enjoyed today by many whether they are on hard times or not.

A fantastic green tea from China is the Gunpowder with a slightly smokey scent and flavor. Lung Ching is a basic green tea but high quality Lung Ching is called Dragon Well and can produce a nice sweet cup of green tea. There are full-bodied Yunnan Green teas with many different names and there are Pi Lo Chun green teas with very light flavor and slight hints of sweetness. China produces a lot of green tea and many producers seem to name them whatever they like so it can be difficult to know what you're looking at if you're shopping for Chinese green tea. You will see a lot of names like snow and silver, which would make you think of white tea but many times it is green tea. You'll just have to poke your nose in and take a look at everything before you choose.

Darjeeling is a tea grown at high altitudes in India. It is sometimes called the Champagne of Teas. I am not really sure why. These are considered black teas but produce a very light colored cup with lots of floral notes and very little tannins or astringency. Darjeeling has dedicated followings and some of these teas fetch amazingly high prices. You will see terms like First Flush and Second Flush - these terms denote harvest time. First Flush means picked in late winter and Second Flush means picked in spring. The first flush pickings are usually more delicate and tender and demand a high price.

Oolong tea is delicate and quite tasty. Formosa Oolong is considered the best. From China you can also find Wuyi and Ti Kuan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy), which is also excellent. Oolongs can usually be steeped several times over, producing a slightly different cup each time. Some even improve after being steeped 2 or 3 times. I hear there is Oolong come from the Himilayan growing region now.

Some of the most popular teas were black tea blends. These are teas like Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Afternoon Tea or 5 O'clock Tea and Irish Breakfast. Most of these are blends of Assam and Ceylon and some have a bit of Keemun in them for strength. Lapsang Souchang is a very smokey tea blend that is smoked over pine wood.

What Do I Do With All This Tea?

Now you'll need to store your tea. You want airtight or nearly airtight containers that block light and be sure to keep your tea somewhere that is dry and cool. There are some sellers that sell their tea already in airtight containers. Some do not do this and some do but the container is not a good permanent container. You can purchase tins like the ones on the left for long term storage. Most teas, stored this way, will last up to a year. Green tea should be used within 3 to 6 months of purchase. Pu-Erh, when stored properly will improve with age, usually this is only true for the kind that comes compressed into bricks or cakes and not so much for the loose leaf kind.

You will want to brew your tea in a way that allows the leaves to unfurl and float around so that all of the available flavor is released into your cup. A good way to do this is to find some tea baskets that sit right in your cup or mug like the one on the right. Sometimes these kind of infusers come with tea pots and you can fit them in your cup as well. I use small glass mugs so I can see the color of the tea and anything else that happens to get going on inside the cup. A cup of tea consists of 5 or 6 ounces though we usually, especially in America, think of a cup as 8 ounces this is not so with beverages. Use a heaping tablespoon of leaves per 6 ounces of water. Volume is not always the best way to measure when it comes to tea because the leaves can be different sizes and shapes. A better way to measure is to use weight - 2 grams for 6 ounces of water or 1 grame for every 3 ounces of water. Rule of thumb is to brew black teas with boiling water for about 4 or 5 minutes, Oolong with water just under a boil for anywhere from 4 to 7 minutes and green and white tea with water at about 180 degrees fahrenheit for 3 minutes or less.

There are increasingly large variety of teapots available of late. There are lots of iron pots on the market right now. These require only that you dry them after rinsing them out (no soap) so they don't rust. There are many Yixing clay pots hitting the market at this time and these are small hand crafted pots that keep the tea warmer a little longer than an iron pot will. Porcelain pots are always popular and there is no shortage of designs, shapes or styles. A classic is the English style Brown Betty and there are many companies coming out with progressively styled pots and cups and infusers for making just one or two cups at a time.

Many people have questions about the red tea that isn't tea. This is roobios (roy-boss) from Africa that is not tea but is sometimes called red tea. It is a non-tea-related plant of the legume family. The African word roobios means red bush and it is sometimes refered to in South Africa as bush tea. This is a good caffeine-free choice if you like the taste.

Buying Tea

Finding a local shop that carries high quality whole leaf tea is not always easy. Of course, this depends on whether you live in a major city and what part of the world you live in. In the United States you'll be able to find good tea in just about any major city, especially San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. I'm not completely sure why this is but these cities currently have the most well-reviewed and respected tea-sellers and tea houses (of course, this can change any time). Even if you live in a great food and beverage town you may find it hard to get your hands on some great tea. Just because you see whole leaf tea hanging in clear bags or shelved in fancy tins does not mean it is good, but it doesn't hurt to try it out. There are some large companies that produce great tea like Republic of Tea and Rishi. You can order from these companies online. There are many online vendors and I have ordered from many of them and made my own list of, with the help of some fellow tea lovers, that takes into consideration the selection, ease of ordering, shipping charges, order processing and of course the tea itself. I'll list some of the vendors here so you can visit them and shop around. They are in order based on best quality and overall purchasing experience, top to bottom, but they are all good since I would not list crappy vendors on our website. I find that most online tea vendors are mostly about creative packaging and playing up buzz-words and trends, so be careful when venturing out on your own to find a tea-seller you like.

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Click Here to Learn About Pu-Erh Tea

Yixing Pots and Brewing

Tea and Health

White tea: cancer fighting anti-oxidants, detoxifying agents, lowest caffeine content of all teas, anti-aging and anti-stress properties and a high L-theanine amino acid content to promote concentration.

Green tea: highest content of cancer fighting anti-oxidants, antiseptic and anti-viral effects, supports immune system, strengthens tooth enamel, contains vitamins and minerals and can be effective in aiding weight-loss.

Oolong tea: high tea polysaccharides, lowers cholesterol, high in anti-oxidants, strengthens tooth enamel, good source of vitamins and minerals, effective in aiding weight loss.

Black tea: helps prevent heart attacks, prevents plaque build up in arteries, increases bone density, kills oral bacteria that can lead to cavities and colds, fights bad breath.

Pu-erh tea: thought to be the most effective for weight loss, helps metabolize faty acids and oily foods, believed to lower cholesterol, cleansing and detoxifying in the bloodstream.