Tea Kettle
Posted in Home Treasures on 03/24/2010 02:40 am by staff
The Perfect Cup Of Chinese Tea
Chinese Tea
The birthplace of tea, China produces 18% of the world’s tea . Two favorite types are:
- Oolong tea - It is said that oolong tea first began to be produced at Mt. Wu Yi Shan in Fujian Province at the end of the Ming Dynasty about 400 years ago.
- Green tea - is a type of tea made solely with the leaves of Camellia sinensis, that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures in Asia from Japan to the Middle East.
- There are many other varieties from both India and China and other country’s which include green teas, white teas and aromatics.
Oolong Tea
Oolongs are traditionally fired into hot woks and cooked very quickly. After that is done, the leaves may be further fermented, and then fired again. Ultimately we have crisp, dry leaves.
Oolong tea is often scented with jasmine flowers. Jasmine flowers are picked, and the tea leaves are steamed in order to hold scent well. (Often, green tea leaves are used for this process, but the process of scenting partially oxidizes the leaves, causing them to be considered oolong.) Jasmine flowers bloom at night; they are picked early in the day and mixed in with the tea at night, when they open and release their scent. The scent is infused into the leaves, and the process is repeated over a couple of nights. So.Now that we\'ve gotten that cleared up, let\'s take a look at the infamous Oolong tea Diet. The pitch, if you\'re going on any of several sketchy sites online, is that here is a rare tea imported directly from a special mountain in China that will make you lose so many pounds in so many days. It\'ll burn fat and trim your waistline. Only this tea will do, so act now!
On a sidenote, my personal theory for why the term \"wu long\" is used instead of the more standardized \"oolong\" is to increase the exotic aura and prolong the sense of rareness. Adagio and most other companies have an \"oolong\" section, but they don\'t have one labeled \"wu long.\" The tea isn\'t rare. I can tell you that for a fact, and I can prove it to you by taking a walk a few hundred feet away and picking up as much of it as I can carry.
Making the Perfect, Proper, Cup of Chinese Tea
Everyone has an opinion on how to make a ‘proper’ cup of tea. The first ingredient must be leaf tea. Not tea bags and certainly not powder. Only black tea is ‘real’ tea in Britain.
- Fill a kettle with fresh water and bring to the boil.
- Warm the teapot with a little of the boiled water, swirl it around the pot and discard.
- Place 1 tsp of fresh, leaf tea per person plus one for the pot.
- Top up the teapot with the boiling water (do not allow the water to go off-the-boil or it will not be hot enough to brew the tea).
- Leave to infuse for 3 – 4 minutes, no longer or it will develop a ‘stewed’ flavor.
- Pour the tea through a tea-strainer directly into clean – preferably – china teacups.
Oolong does not have a blanket method of preparation as black teas do, as there are darker and lighter oolongs. For lighter teas, like the Jasmine #12, you\'ll want to use a teaspoon of tea steeped in 180 degree water for about five minutes. Darker oolongs, like the Wuyi, get steeped in boiling (212 degree) water, for closer to seven. Remember that all of Adagio\'s tins feature temperature and time guidelines on their fronts, so you\'ll be able to tell easily! While all teas can hold multiple infusions, oolong teas are particularly good for this--many people say that oolongs don\'t mature into their full flavor until the second or even third infusion, so experiment!
About the Author
Chinese tea - Oolong tea - The perfect cup of tea!
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For tea to reach its full flavor, it should be steeped at just the right temperature. The Cuisinart PerfecTemp Electrics Kettle has 6 preset temperatures for different varieties of tea. 1500-watts provide fast heat-up, and a Keep Warm option will maintain the set temperature for 30 minutes... |