Famous Teas of China Part 1

Hosted by Garrett Johnson (Me) 1. History of Tea in China 2. Orig ins of the “Ten Famous Teas” 3. Overview of processing 4. Tea tasting (the fun part!) 5. Final thoughts

Chinese Tea Producing Reg ions

Tea in China

•The best and earliest written text about tea comes from Lu Yu’s Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea) during the Tang Dynasty in 618 B.C. This text included chapters on tea’s orig in, tools used, processing techniques, utensils, proper boiling, drinking, history, g rowing reg ions, and even quick reference pictures to be hung on the wall. •Also in Lu Yu’s text, he claims that the practice of drinking tea orig inated with the Shennong, a mytholog ical people who ruled china and introduced them to ag ricultural and herbolog ical studies – in 2800 B.C.!

Tea in China

•Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD): A golden age of cosmopolitan culture in China. This era built upon the military conquests of the Han Dynasty with stability and g rowth for the 80 million citizens. Chinese poetry, paintings, and the spread of Buddhism thrived in this time. •From 780-805 A.D., Emperor Dezong of Tang ruled, and reformed government f inances by introducing new tax laws.

Reach of Tang Dynasty

Timeline of Chinese Dynasties

Orig ins of the “Ten Famous Teas”

•Emperor Dezong’s new taxes applied to all goods, including tea. •As time passed from the Tang Dynasty (ending in 907), and transitioned to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1912), tea taxation became standard practice which continues to this day. •Certain notable teas came from isolated tea gardens in remote mountain reg ions. These teas were of such remarkable and ethereal quality that successive emperors claimed these teas as his exclusive property. Each emperor has his favorite tea and delivery of the tea in the spring was recorded as fullf illment of 'tax' owed to the government.

Orig ins of the “Ten Famous Teas”

•These teas became known as Imperial Tribute Teas, and due to the taxation, these teas f rom distant reg ions became established in central cities by the end of the dynasty era in 1911. •Primarily applied to g reen teas, the term Famous Tea means that one is instantly recognizable by its characteristic leaf shape, appearance and taste. They are also among the most well-known of the 'named' teas, teas that are named for their respective mountain source or place of orig in. •Because there is no single “Famous Tea list”, with each Chinese citizen having their own “list,” there is no one standard for what the 10 Famous Teas are.

“Ten Famous Teas”

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Today’s Menu

•Green: Long jing (Dragonwell) •Green: Liu ān Guā Piàn (Melon Seed) •Green: Huáng shān Máo Fēng (Yellow Mountain Fur Peak) •Oolong: Wu Yi Dà Hóng Páo (Big Red Robe) •Black: Qi Men Hong Cha (Qi Men Red/Keemum Red)

Sources: Silk Road Teas www.silkroadteas.com/ Tao Tea Leaf http://www.taotealeaf.com/ Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse http://www.boulderteahouse.com/

How is it made?

Definitions of tea processing stages: •Withering

•The moment a tea leaf is plucked from the tea plant, it beg ins to wither or wilt. This makes the leaf pliable and able to be shaped or broken to beg in the oxidization process.

•Oxidization •The chemical reaction that takes place when oxygen reacts with the chemical structure of the leaf cells, resulting in creating aroma, f lavor, and browning. Example: cutting open an apple, where it beg ins to brown.

Definitions of tea processing stages: •Kill Green

•The process that halts the oxidation of the leaves. This is achieved by the tea master by slowly heating the leaves above 150 deg rees. Continuing the apple example, sliced apples do not brown when put into an oven, like in apple pie. This can be achieved by baking, pan-frying, or steaming. Tea can also be shaped during this stage. By skipping the Kill Green step, black tea continues to oxidize.

•Ag ing/Curing •This can include ag ing, roasting, or bundling into tea “bricks” for storage. This stage also helps tea develop complex f lavors.

How is it made?

Tea tasting!

•Green: Long jing (Dragonwell) •Water temperature: ~175° •Often called the national drink of China, Dragon Well Tea is often g iven to heads of state and there are a few plantations which produce tea exclusively for the heads of the Chinese Government. •There are many legends surrounding the naming of the tea. It is named after a sing le well, the Dragon Well. Located in Dragon Well Village, the well was located behind the Dragon Well Temple which was built over 1,700 years ago.

Tea tasting! •Green: Long jing (Dragonwell) •There are two types of Long jing: Xihu (see-who) and zhejiang (choo-et-tiang). Xihu is tea from the west lake reg ion of Hangzhou. Zhejiang long jing is g rown in Zhejiang province or other parts of China. Xihu long jing has a r ich, chestnut type f lavor, the leaves should fall to the bottom of the cup and be g reen-yellow. The zhejiang will f loat at the top of the cup at f irst, the taste is smoky because it's baked and the color is more yellow.

Dragon Well Lore •Made “famous” in Qing Dynasty by Emperor Qian Long. While visiting Hu Gong Temple in Hangzhou City, Emperor Qian Long thought so highly of the Long Jing he claimed the eighteen bushes for himself ranking them as Tribute Tea Trees. These trees still exist and visitors can view and admire these vibrant trees at the foot of Shi Feng Mountain.

Tea tasting!

•Green: Liu ān Guā Piàn (Melon Seed) •Water temperature: ~175° •g rown in Lu’an City of Anhui Province •The tea got its name from the shape of the processed tea leaves. They are f lat and oval, resembling a melon seed. In early spring the tea g rowers cut off the end of the tea tree branches and use the second tea leaf and not the bud, as in most teas. Each leaf's central vein is cut out and the leaves are pan fr ied over low heat. During the frying stage, the leaves are shaped into the melon seed shape. •The frying stage can be repeated up to 81 times!

Tea tasting! •First recorded in The Classics of Tea by Lu Yu •It was also recorded during the Qing (shing) Dynasty as being the ultimate Green Tea and it was the subject of many poems. This tea has been enjoyed by China’s leaders for centuries. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908), the Empress Dowager Cixi believed that LiuAn Guapian was necessary for her diet and would drink the tea on a daily basis. •In the Ming Dynasty, Lu'an Melon Seed Tea was widely used to prevent sunstroke. •On Henry Kissinger’s historic visit to China in July of 1971, he was presented with a g ift of Liu An Gua Pian Tea leaves.

Melon Seed Lore •In China’s ancient past, a small village was constantly ravaged by a g iant monster that lived in a cave in a mountain near the village. The monster, when hung ry, would race down the mountain and attack the village. It would lay waste to the village and devour the local people and their livestock to feed its voracious appetite. The villagers would rebuild and about a month later the monster would return. The Bodhisattva Guanyin (Iron Goddess of Mercy!) took pity on the poor people and planted LiuAn GuaPian trees in front of the village. The next time the monster came to devour the locals, he was stopped by the wonderful smell emanating from the trees and was pacif ied. From that day on, the monster no longer bothered the village.

Tea tasting!

•Green: Huáng shān Máo Fēng (Yellow Mountain Fur Peak) •Water temperature: ~175° •The tea is produced in Anhui Province near Huangshan (Yellow) Mountain. The mountain is truly one of the most spectacular places on earth. It is said that after visiting Huangshan Mountain, there is no point in visiting any other mountain. •Maofeng (毛峰) is a term in tea manufacture denoting the picking of a bud and two leaves of equal length. Mao feng teas have a broad, curved, f lat shape. It is considered one of the choicest shapes of tea leaf.

Tea tasting! •The literal English translation for Mao Feng is Fur, or Hair Peak. The name derives from the small white hairs which cover the leaves, and the shape of the leaves, which resemble a mountain's peak. It is also said to resemble a bird’s tongue or orchid. •Huang Shan orig inated in the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and f lourished in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). •Fresh Yellow Mountain Maofeng Tea is usually fabricated during the Qingming Festival by selectively picking tea shoots and then getting them steamed, rolled and baked in the same day. •The high amino acid coupled with the lower polyphenol content g ives it a more brisk taste.

Yellow Mountain Fur Peak Lore

•According to legend, it was said that during the Ming Dynasty a young scholar fell and a beautiful women fell in. A local wealthy landowner saw the woman working in the f ields and wanted her for himself. The land owner had much money and power and forced the g irl's parents to make their daughter marry him. On the night before the wedding, the young woman escaped and snuck back to the house of the young scholar only to f ind that he had been killed by the landowner's cronies. She went to his g rave and cried uncontrollably until she became the rain. The scholar's body became a tea tree. It is said that this is why the area where Huangshan Mao Feng Tea is g rown is always moist and humid and that the tea trees are lush all year round.

Tea tasting!

•Oolong: Wu Yi Dà Hóng Páo (Big Red Robe) •Water temperature: ~185° •Rinse the tea to open up the tea leaves & infuse longer in a lower water temperature. •“Wu Yi” teas orig inate in the rocky Wu Yi Mountains in Fujian province, g iving them the nickname “Rock Teas”. Wu Yi teas are any of the “four famous bushes”: Da Hong Pao, Shui Jin Gui (Golden Turtle), Tieluohan (Iron Arhat), and Bai Jiguan (White Cockscomb). Lapsang Souchong also orig inates from this area. •What makes Da Hong Pao special is its darker, heavier and more oxidized f lavor. This very full bodied tea has a very particular sweetness to it and is reminiscent of baked goods or molasses.

Tea tasting! •During the Yuan Dynasty Wuyi was famed for its production of Dragon and Phoenix Tea Cakes (still produced), which were sent as tr ibute to the emperor every year. During that time people did not drink loose leaf tea. Instead they would take the cakes and g rind them into powder to brew tea. The f irst emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Emperor (1368-1644) proclaimed that only loose leaf tea was to be sent as tr ibute. This caused the entire Wuyi market to collapse instantly. The Tea Farmers on Wuyi Mountain got together and created a new type of loose leaf tea, which became Oolong Teas. •Three of the orig inal Da Hong Pao Tea trees are still living on Wuyi Mountain and are believed to date back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). These trees still produce leaves and every year those leaves are made into what is probably the most expensive tea on earth. •20g of Da Hong Pao tea from one of the mother plants was sold for ¥156,800 ($25,745) in 1998!

Big Red Robe Lore •According to legend, the tea was named after a g ift g iven to the trees f rom an emperor. During the Ming Dynasty, an emperor's mother was g ravely ill. She drank the Tea and immediately felt better and was soon cured. The emperor in g ratitude for the tea sent large amounts of rare red cloth to cover the trees during winter to insure that they did not die from the cold. The locals then started to call the tree Big Red Robe Tea because of the red cloth. •In another myth, a peasant farmer from whom the tea was named after, was g ifted this tea by the gods as a tool for reaching full enlightenment. Pao, upon receiving their g ift, traveled into the mountains to meditate over the course of 10 days. He sustained himself only on one daily re-steep of the orig inal tea leaves, and reached enlightenment on the tenth day. He immediately began intensely glowing blue beams of light and ascended into the heavens. This event was believed to be the orig in of the North Star. To this day, drinking ten steeps of this tea using the same leaves is thought to g rant heightened wisdom and a g lowing blue aura to those partaking in it.

Tea tasting!

•Black: Qi Men Hong Cha (Qi Men Red/Keemum Red) •Water temperature: ~200° •The tea has many dif ferent names in English, the most well known being "Keemun". It is also known as Qi Men Hong Cha, and Qi Men Black Tea. The literal translation in English for Qi Men Hong Cha is "Great Gate Red Tea". •Qi Men County is located near Huang (Yellow) Mountain in China's Anhui Province (orig in of Fur Peak).

Qi Men County

Tea tasting! •A relatively young Chinese Tea, Keemum was f irst produced in 1875. A scholar by the name of Yu Qianchen traveled to Fujian Province, known for its Red Tea (Lapsang Souchon, Tanyang), and studied the production methods there. When he returned to Anhui, he put what he had learned to practice. He used the local trees that had formally only been used to make Bi Luo Chun Tea, a Green Tea, to make this new type of tea. During processing he rolled the tea into thin needle shapes, like many Green Teas and a new tea was born. The new tea quickly became very popular in the west and became the key ing redient in English Breakfast Tea. •There is some confusion as to whether this tea is a Red Tea or a Black Tea. The reason for this is that in the west the category of this tea, which in China is called "Red Tea", is called "Black Tea". So sometimes this tea is called Qi Men Red Tea and sometimes it is called Qi Men Black Tea. In reality, they are the same tea.

Next Week’s Tea Menu •Green: Bi Luo Chun (Green Sea Snail) •Yellow: Jun shan Yin Zhen (Mount Jun Silver Needle) •Oolong: TiGuanYin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) •Green: Tai Ping Hou Kui (Honkui) •Green: Xin Yang Mao Jian (Maojian)

Next: Tea Series #5: The Famous Teas of China (Part 2)

Thank you for coming! shreveportteaseries@gmail.com