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The Art of Tea Tasting

A small group of tea lovers gathered at NEOTTE – a newly opened tea bar in downtown Palo Alto to listen to Mathew Hui, the founder of NEOTTE, to describe the origin of different teas, methods of tea-making, and the art of Chinese tea tasting culture, which virtually non-exists in the United States.

According to Hui, the custom of drinking tea can be traced back to thousands of years ago in China. In (618-907 A.D.), a man named Lu Yu (??) first documented the knowledge on tea into a book – the Tea Classic (??). His work helped to popularize the art of tea drinking all across China, and even to spread to neighboring countries.

Many people in this country have never seen loose-leaf tea. In its effort to spread the Chinese tea culture, NEOTTE serves only highest quality loose-leaf tea made from the young and tender leaves of the tea tree. Depending on the origins and processing methods, Chinese teas are divided into six categories: White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Red Tea, Black Tea, and Herbal Tea, with each of them having distinctive health merits.

Growing up in “tea country” – Hangzhou, my favorite tea is Green Tea. Studies have shown that Green Tea has many health benefits including rich anti-oxidants, cancer-prevention and anti-aging properties. The herbal tea “Eight Babes” is another favorite. It consists of rose petal, Chinese matrimony-vines, dried longans, lotus seeds, chrysanthemums, red jujubes, green raisins and rock sugar. It has a soothing taste and can help to improve the eyesight and prevent colds. For ladies, it has additional beauty effects.

In addition to all the health benefits of tea, another important aspect is the art of tea tasting, which is very similar to wine tasting in this country. It takes into consideration the shape of the tea, the color, the aroma and taste. The full aroma and sweetness of the tea can be brought out with correct water temperature, the amount of tea leaves used, and the type of teapot.

Chinese consider tea drinking a way of life. The tea culture is encompassed in the art, literature, philosophy and customs throughout the history of China. It’s an experience of a cultivated art with a rich history. From now on, drinking tea will never be quite the same to me: a sip of tea reflects a warm relationship between humankind and nature.

Acknowledgement: thanks to CAEA that graciously organized this tea tasting event. CAEA is an organization dedicated to explore the differences in manners and customs between Chinese and American cultures in today’s technological enviroment.

Photo source: http://www.chinesecultureonline.com/

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60 comments to The Art of Tea Tasting

  • heard so much of ill effects of tea too.read an article which said that one cup of tea kills atleast 50 cells in the liver at a time.scared me enough to keep me away from the beloved beverage
    I generally don’t drink either tea or coffee but occasionally I do enjoy a steaming cuppa in the rains

  • many, I haven’t never heard of ill effects of tea. Which article you are refering to? I’d like to take a look. Thanks!

  • WOW…now thats some cool information..that you shared…I liked it all..Thanks
    Cheers

  • dawn, thank you again for visiting my blog. I am glad you like it!

  • interesting info…

  • Thanks, Ashok. I am glad you enjoy reading it!

  • Bonnie L

    Oh this is wonderful Helen! I am a big tea drinker. I rarely drink soft drinks during the day, it’s always iced tea – and besides a glass of wine, my favorite way to relax at the end of a busy day is with a cup of hot tea. I especially love Green Tea. I have not figured out how to make it like they do in the Chinese and Japanese restaurants though, with the tiny bits of leaves at the bottom…as with everything though, it always tastes so much better when I order it out!

  • Dani Nordin

    Great article! I love tea—prefer it to coffee, in fact—the Eight Babes tea sounds great! Where can I pick up some of that?

  • Jayne Jezebel

    I can’t stand wine. Now a tea tasting trip I could handle. Thanks for this.

  • Bonnie, tea is definitely my favorite, although I learned to drink coffee after I came to America. Now I enjoy fine coffee too. I usually drink green tea in the morning, because it has awakening effect. For soothing and relaxing, I believe red tea or black tea are better. Sadly, it’s hard to find good teas in this country.

    Jayne, I don’t drink wine either (in fact, no alchol for me).

    Dani, thank you for stopping by. Yes, the Eigth Babes tea is soooo good and I like it very much. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find it in the US. The website I linked to has some information.

  • maureen sullivan stemberg

    Helen, What a wonderful article! I only drink tea & it was delightful to read this very informative piece. I love when I reading there is an Eight BABES tea.
    Your image was just perfect for your subject. Great Job! -))) M.

  • Katrina Van Overbeke

    I love tea and am ashamed to say I’ve fallen into coffee all to often at work because it’s already there. But I have just put a lot of tea at my desk, so I’m hoping to get back into the tea drinking I enjoy much more.

  • Liz Rice-Sosne

    Helen, this is superb and one of the great pleasures in my life. Tea was the primary item that came home with us from China. High quality Pu-erhs and Ginseng Oolongs with some silver tips and Pouchongs. We did tea everywhere we went!

  • Leah Christensen

    What a great article!

    The best tea I’ve ever tasted was at a Russian restaurant in Toronto. I could really go for a cup of that right about now. The Russians have a wonderful way of making tea….I just wish I knew what it was.

  • Katrina, I am glad you brought tea to your work. Drinking tea helped me be more focused 🙂

    Maureen, yes, Eight Babes tea is really something!! Tyhank you for your comment. I enjoy putting images to match article. It’s fun. It helpled me to visualize the writing. Hope it helps others too!

    Liz, Puerh tea is another favorite. I usually drink it when I have dim sum for brunch. It has cleasing effect and reduce the fat. We call it beauty tea. I am really impressed you know silver niddle tea – that is considered white tea, very rare in this country. Enjoy your teas!

  • sigalit shapira-blaauw

    Thank you for the tea!
    I started now buying herbal teas -flowers rather than tea bags..
    i am experimenting a lot..today i made something called here “children’s tea” it has pepermint, and other colorful leaves..and tastes great..
    i am nto too fond of green tea though a friend of mine from Hong Kong was always drinking it and looks so young! perhaps i will try again!
    i like chai, and am brewing from a mix.i used to drink it in starbucks a lot but it’s cheaper to brew your own!

  • Leah, Russian has long history of making tea too. Isn’t it wonderful to learn more about different cultures and their ways of making teas? I think Don would know something about it.

  • Liz Rice-Sosne

    Nathan if I might be so bold try Ten Ren Tea. Often you can buy sample packs. They have fine teas. Also google China Tea etc. you will come up with a world of tea choices.

  • Nathan Schauer

    Thanks for the great article on tea. But what brand of Green Tea to you think is best? Any online dealers you would recommend?
    Nathan Schauer

  • Pearl U.

    My daughter just sent me a new teapot… it is clear glass and very delicate… It is used to showcase the brewing of lotus flower teas. The lotus come as tight buds and they open up dramatically when hot water is added into the pot… It makes tea time quite a lovely and fragrant show…

  • jessie voigts

    helen – awesome article! i make my own tea now, from my aunt carol’s recipe (she has it here on gather)…it is wonderful!! i love it so. i am teaching lillie, too. she loves the whole ritual. i had lots of tea ceremony lessons in japan. although at the time, my legs hurt so bad and i could not stand to be there one more minute with that whisk, now i am glad for it.

  • Micheale Shelton

    Thank you Helen for this very interesting article. I have been a tea drinker all my life, but it was the southeastern style of sweetened ice tea. In the past few years, I have become a fan of hot tea, particularly herbal teas, and have found certain blends with healing components for my inflammatory diseases. I prefer loose tea to bagged. I have always thought that the flavor is deeper and richer in loose tea. Lucky you to be able to participate in tea tasting! I would really like to try that. Thanks for the great article!

  • Kevin V

    Helen, thank you for this enlightening article about one of my favorite subjects!

    Here is one of my favorite resources on tea, tea history, and the role of tea within various cultures.

  • Joey Cobble

    Very informative! I am personally fond of Tazo’s (brand name) Chai, which I drink warm with vanilla soy milk. I first discovered it at Starbuck’s, but have found it MUCH cheaper to do it myself.

  • Thank you, everyone, for your comments.

    Nathan, I always buy Dragon Well green tea from Hangzhou when I go to China.

    Liz, Ten Ren is a big tea company although their prices are pretty high. But they do have good tea.

    Pearl, thank you for sharing sharing making lotus tea, that’s fascinating!

    Michael, tea bags usually use the lowest quality tea. If you can find loose-leaf tea, it’s always better.

    Jessie, thank you for sharing Japanese tea ceremony. It’s very different with chinese tea ceremony but very interesting!

    Joey, I don’t know about Tazo tea. Hope it’s good!

    Kevin, thank you for sharing the resources on tea. I will check it out!

  • Deborah W

    Excellent article. I love tea. But I must admit this is the first time I’ve ever cosidered it an art to “sip” tea. Great article.

  • Jake S

    Thanks, Helen. Great article. I just got into tea about a year ago. I love it.

  • Kathryn Esplin-Oleski

    Excellent, Helen. You elevate the art and craft of writing about matters factual; your style is so bright and lively, it really brings a factual subject to life. i have a box of green tea and jasmine tea given me by a Korean friend. It is, unfortunatley, not in bags…

  • Diana Raabe

    Thanks for posting this wonderful article! I am always on the lookout for good information about tea and this is extremely well written and contains great links.

    Here’s a tip with regard to green tea: if you need to lose a few pounds fast, try drinking two cups of green tea every day for a week. It may be just a diuretic effect, but I always drop about five pounds by the end of the week if I stick to it.

  • Edward Nudelman

    Great article, lovely the way you put it together with that great photo and all the links. I’m a coffee guy, but when I do drink tea, it’s usually Earl Gray.

  • Joshua Unseth

    If you guys are interested in reading about tea, there is a great book by James Norwood Pratt called New Tea Lover’s Treasury. it’s a history of tea, and it’s pretty thorough.

  • John F Walter

    This was a marvelously enjoyable, informative article as always, Helen, and the links are useful. I am a big red tea drinker myself—puh ehr, or something like that–I like its earthier flavor, though I also drink your favorite, green tea, quite often.

  • Carl Neeld

    To each his own. I drink coffee occasionally, prefer tea but would much rather spend my time in the Napa and Sonoma valleys tasting wine than in Palo Alto tasting tea. Hooray for different tastes.

  • Angela C

    Very enjoyable and informative article. My personal favorite is Jasmine tea. There is something very cathartic about making tea – I especially enjoy the process of brewing and blending different teas. Thanks for this!

  • Donald Houston

    Thanks for the great article about my favorite beverage!

  • Heather Dichter

    Great article, Helen! Even though I’m not a big Green Tea fan…. my tea snobbiness has more of a taste for English breakfast tea and others blended via England (clearly not native to that region of the world).

    One of the great things about Canada is that, as a member of the Commonwealth, they are far more into tea than in the US, so it’s not as hard to buy decent tea, especially in Toronto.

    I’ve found an awesome tea pot/infuser here in Europe by Bodum, and after quite a bit of time online, I’ve found that their products (well, some of them at least) aren’t too expensive and can be bought at some of the major chains (BB&B;, etc) in the US. So for those of you with loose tea….

  • Topher Hunt

    I’ve heard many good things about the health benefits of regularly drinking tea. I’ve also heard of preparing certain teas to apply to bruises and sores on the skin – and even one used in Mexico to wash out one’s eyes and clear up any eye soreness or infection!

    Amon kaj gxojon –

  • Thanks, everyone, for your comments!

    Jake, it’s wonderful you love tea. I love your newest icon!

    Deborah, thanks for stopping by and for your encouragement.

    Kathryn, TY for your very kind words. Enjoy your jasmine and green tea!

    Joshua, it’s great your provide the link for more resources for tea. I will take a look.

    Ed, it’s fine having English tea. I like Earl Gray too!

    John, when are you going to have a poem for tea? 🙂

    Angela, thank you for stoppping by and sharing your interest in Jasmine tea.

    Hooray, Carl, for different taste. Sure, I’d love to go to the Napa valley, even not for tea tasting! Should go back this fall.

    Don, when are you going to sharing tea tasting in Russia with us? Look forward to it!

    Heather, thank you for the comment. Again, I like Englsih tea very much, and you can get it pretty much everywhere.

    Topher, thank you for sharing so many more benefits about teas. They are indeed amazing, aren’t they?

  • Annina Anton

    Tea is so much more than a beverage. Sharing tea with friends is such a warm way to extend a friendship. The flavors of the various teas are so different and sometimes subtle that I enjoy trying different ones. Most Americans don’t know that there are stories which accompany some teas such as Imperial Gunpowder and Lapsang Souchong, two of my favorites.

    Thank you for this fine article and for the links as well.

  • Heather Dichter

    Yes, you can buy English breakfast tea most places…. but there’s where my tea-snobbiness comes in. I won’t drink just any tea. Thankfully my friends in London stopped at the British equivalent of Costco and bought me 5 kilos of PG tips (it says on the bag: approx. 1150 bags. what, they don’t want to count?) That should last me until I finish writing my dissertation….

  • JaneDoe ADeer

    I love tea too. I don’t know where I would be without my 4pm cup of sanity!

  • Breanne B

    Great article! Thanks for all of the links. Green tea is my personal favorite…

  • Heather, glad you have so much tea to acompanying you for your disertation! I bet it helps a lot.

    Annina, you are absolutely right. One aspect of art of tea tasting I didn’t talk about is the company of drinking tea. In addition to tea, water, tea cups, one very important element of the tea drinking is the company. That’s where the friendship is so important.

    Breanne, green tea is my personal favorite too….

    JaneDoe, yes, have your 4pm cup of sanity. Drinking tea helps me to clear up my mind and uplift my spirit.

    Max, we are all customed to different taste of tea. Unfortunately, a lot of teas on the market has chemicals in them. It’s really hard to find good tea in this country. Enjoy your tea milky and strong! Cheers!

    Hogan, thanks for letting me know about the effect the tea has for anti brusing and muscle regeneration. It’s new to me. Are you sure it’s not commercial? LOL.

  • hmmm it came in some british medical journal.I’ll have to source it out

  • Helen,

    That was quite infomative, Need to visit Neotte one of these days

  • Maya,

    I just saw an Indian movie “Water” this past weekend. Have you seen the movie? It’s about the lives of widows in India in 1930s. It’s a very good movie, but a little depressing. I didn’t realize the lives of Indian widows can be so horrible. But the end of movie is very encouraging and inspiring. The movies says even today many widows are living a life of segregation without dignity. Is it true?

    Mathan, thank you for stopping by. Sure please visit NEOTTE when you are in the area.

  • Anonymous

    I enjoyed your blog. It was a great idea for an introduction of various teas and had great insight especially since I also love tea. Ive heard that teas had healing powers and some have special meanings but this definitely proves that there are many distinctive flavors, chacteristics, and cultural meanings to behold.

  • Mary M. Alward

    Helen, This is a very informative article. I would rather use loose tea than tea bags. It gives a much better flavor to the tea. Both my parents and grandparents used loose tea when I was growing up. I do drink coffee first thing in the morning, but enjoy several cups of tea during the rest of the day. Enjoyed the increment on tea tasting. I learned something new today. Thanks.

  • Anonymous, thank you for all your comments on my blog. I really enjoy them. Please come back often

    Mary, thank you! Yes, the loose tea has much better flavor. Now it’s spring, and I am asking my sister in China to send me more green tea…….

  • Stanley, I think it’s fine to ask cream and sugar in English tea. For Chinese tea, we drink without cream and sugar :-).