So many teas

[Dan R]

I just put on some Puu Er tea to steep. It is one of my favorites. It varies so much I have never had two batches that tasted the same. Today I am having the one that comes in little pressed bowls. Each one makes a pot. It is aged just right to be mellow, rich and smooth.

 

Osmanthus is nice too. Those are the trees in Shanghai that bloom and fill the whole area with their scent. Kind of like the Orange and lemon trees of L.A.

 

so has anyone had any interesting tea experiences?

[david_dawei]

I just put on some Puu Er tea to steep. It is one of my favorites.

Would this be tea for tasting or drinking?

 

i was surprised when I first read that in China, there is a difference.

 

On my first trip to China, Zixuan and I went to Yunnan, and I tasted more tea than I thought possible in twelve days. They are very proud of their teas there and so the tours were never in short supply of trips somewhere showing off their teas.

 

At one place, we received successive rounds of differnent teas and then were able to buy the ones we wanted. I brought some back to the US, although it was a 'kit of teas' and therefore had some that I did not like.

 

Upon my return, I gave my neighbor the one I did not like.. they were a chinese couple and so I was certain they would like this traditional tea. I told Zixuan that I gave that one away, and she said this was her favorite in the batch !!

 

I could quite tell how many brownie points I lost in that... but luckily she seemed to quickly forget the issue. As you can see, I have not !!

[ptcrusier333rph]

women never forget never

 

robert

 

[david_dawei]

women never forget never

 

robert

 

 

I laughed at this.. because I agree. but I have found , as other threads have mentioned, that chinese ladies seem able to not hold it against you or to drop it as if it didn't happen.

 

It is nice that the past is the past. I'll let you know if I sing the same tune after being with Zixuan a few years !

[Dan R]

Ah David years from now you will thoughtfully buy that tea she likes for her and face a barage as she tells you you wasted money on a tea only she would drink and you should get one both of you can enjoy. Poor poor David.

 

I found your tea tour story interesting. I really enjoyed wondering into tea shops. The salesgirls would try showing me teas and when I told them the correct Chinese name for an unusual tea I like they would giggle and direct me towards the canisters to smell the different grades. This is one of the few things I get to do on my own.

 

I can't wait to pick out a really nice tea tray for the home.

 

Yunnan is famous for the Pu'er Tea I like so much. Especially I like the Tuocha.

[david_dawei]

There was one item I did not buy that I really wanted to... Everywhere in China I saw men walking with a tea glass with closing lid. Usually dry leaves at the bottom and they'd just stop anywhere and get hot water.

 

Funny thing is, before going to China everyone says "don't drink the water".. so I had in my mind that I would not be drinking water. OH BOY was I wrong. I drank so much hot water (often with no tea leaves, which is the poor man's tea) that I actually came to like it.

 

Although tea was usually served in a cup, often we got hot water in a bowl... of course I got lots of giggles for how I handled the bowl the first time... but I really liked the fact that I could slurp up my soup straight out of the bowl.

[BuffaloPaul]

Although tea was usually served in a cup, often we got hot water in a bowl... of course I got lots of giggles for how I handled the bowl the first time...  but I really liked the fact that I could slurp up my soup straight out of the bowl.

Yes, the old hot water. I remember being in China last August, temp in the 90-100 range and constantly getting hot water. Would have died for a few ice cubes

[Dan R]

The thing that surprised me and disappointed me when I first went to China was going to a cheap restaurant. While I waited for the food they asked if I wanted "Cha". I was sure when they brought plain hot water that they were cheating the foreigner. Live and learn. Having been there I learned much and did research later about the internal damage done by drinking iced drinks. I hardly ever have anything cold now.

[Dan R]

There was one item I did not buy that I really wanted to... Everywhere in China I saw men walking with a tea glass with closing lid. Usually dry leaves at the bottom and they'd just stop anywhere and get hot water. 

 

Funny thing is, before going to China everyone says "don't drink the water".. so I had in my mind that I would not be drinking water. OH BOY was I wrong.  I drank so much hot water (often with no tea leaves, which is the poor man's tea) that I actually came to like it. 

 

Although tea was usually served in a cup, often we got hot water in a bowl... of course I got lots of giggles for how I handled the bowl the first time...  but I really liked the fact that I could slurp up my soup straight out of the bowl.

How about the taxis with a holder for the bottle or thermos of tea next to the driver.

[Luo_Bin_&_Jialu]

I am a huge tea fan. I have at least twenty different kinds of tea. There are different kinds such as: Ren shen cha, tie guan yin, guan yin wong, and there are differing grades of each. I have enjoyed going to many different tea shops and getting a "tour". There is often an owner who is proud of his tea and will educate you--ie, let you stay for a few hours and sample his goods (this is a requirement if you are to buy any--sample before you buy).

 

If you are in the Northern California area after I get our furniture over here, you are welcome to come by and sample some of mine. I will give you the same stories that I got when I sampled some of these.

 

I will warn you that some of the better teas can be a bit pricey.

[awch]

Having been there I learned much and did research later about the internal damage done by drinking iced drinks. I hardly ever have anything cold now.

Can you tell me more about this?

Is drinking cold water really bad for you? I always thought that was just a Chinese superstition.

[david_dawei]

While in China with Ziuxan, for breakfast, I was not allowed to even eat anything cold. One morning I was eating a banana for breakfast.. Let's just say that was the first and last time !

[oregonknl]

This was many of the areas of discussion with my Father in law last summer in Hunan..

 

He is diabetic, and drinks green tea almost constantly... Naturally, so did I when I was there (and he handles his condition very well, with very little insulin --- mostly just diet)

 

So he talks up green tea... Personally, years before my interest in China, I began drinking "workin' man's" Oolong...

 

The stuff that is stringy and black ... very aromatic, and smokey .... and dirt cheap...

 

On a trip to Beijing, I discovered REAL Oolong, which is held in high esteem in Northern China, wonderfully complex, but still more potent than the lighter greens...

 

In the tea houses of Beijing, (at least the ones I attended) ---- the tea house service was entirely different from the south of China.... NO porcelain tea post of any kind... Clear glasses for the green teas, and small earthen pots for the darker teas, which were always more expensive... and the attendant always was heating water, and close at hand to pour the boiling water into the earthen tea pot to re-use the Oolong tea leaves, which were remarkably resilient .... coming back with nearly full body every time..

[rogerluli]

Before going to China for the first time my idea of tea was Irish Breakfast or Red Zinger. Then once there ,"You mean there's a whole menu for tea?" in restaurants. We bought a number of varieteies of tea which I brought back on my last trip but since I cannot read Chinese I don't know what they are... I tried puerh tea in China and liked that while the 3 Chinese people with me did not. I bought white tea but I made it wrong and it was terribly bitter. So I'm trying to learn. Recently I bought some teas from Holy Mountain Trading Co. in CA. They have a big selection of Chinese tea and a lot of info on water temp and steeping times. I am now making Lung Ching green tea at work and experimenting with quantity, steeping times and number of infusions.

The first time I went to visit my SO we traveled to Beijing and went to visit her aunt and husband. This family is evidently very glorious because they are filthy rich. Auntie is up very high in government and husband builds apartment buildings. They own 4 houses for themselves and flit about between them. They hosted us at their office complex and served a tea from Taiwan. Husband absolutley stuffed the Yixing pot with leaves and then used a very short steeping time before pouring out the 6 tiny cupfuls for us. Then more boiling water and we drank many potfuls with the same tea and I guess slightly longer steeping times. So it seems there are as many ways to make tea as there are varieties.

[Guest blsqueaky]

Having been there I learned much and did research later about the internal damage done by drinking iced drinks. I hardly ever have anything cold now.

Can you tell me more about this?

Is drinking cold water really bad for you? I always thought that was just a Chinese superstition.

I know that when I was there, we go to a bar, the beer was cold, when Ling and I had dinner at her parents house, whenever they made me a drink, there was always ice in it. When I was in the mood for water, out of the fridge it would come. Even in the hotel, open the fridge, there was the water.

 

Now that Ling is here, the water never makes it to the fridge, but the beer does, and that is a must. What I can not understand, when there in China, she would boil the tap water, here, she will not even use it. She will boil the bottled water. I sometimes why the bottled water bill was so high till one day I saw her do this.

 

Now as far as tea, I think that I have now about 6 different varities that she had me bring back, and yet I have not seen her once drink any. She is always just drinking hot water. I have leave, flower buds, green, black, and who knows what else, but they just sit in the cupboard.