Category Archives: Tea Culture

Yunnan Province, China – Birthplace of Tea

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Yunnan Province China is considered the birthplace of tea.

Yunnan Province China and the broader Asian neighborhood.

Yunnan Province is the most southwestern province of China and is considered to be the birthplace of tea. It is a large province, at approximately 152,000 square miles, making it slightly bigger than the state of Montana. There are approximately 46.7 million people living there as of the 2011 census. That is 9 million more people than the most populated US state of California.

Terroir of Yunnan Province

Yunnan is situated on the eastern side of the Himalayan Mountains, far enough south that the Tropic of Cancer crosses through the provenience. The average elevation in the province is 9,200 feet with the tallest peak being just over 22,000 feet. This provides just the right amount of elevation and warmth to produce a truly flavorful tea. Yunnan Province is also home to six major rivers that feed water from the Himalayan Mountains into the South China Sea and into eastern China.

The oldest tea trees in China, some of them older than 1,000 years, grow along a trail outside of Mangjing Village, in the southwestern part of the provenience. It is outside of the city of Lincang, which is home to the Tea Culture Garden. It is also along the Tea Horse Road which leads south to the city of Puerh.

People of Yunnan Province

Men working on the Tea Horse Road carrying large bundles of tea.

Tea Porters Along the Tea Horse Road, by Ernest H Wilson, CC BY 2.0

The population of Yunnan Province is very diverse with a wide range of traditions and ethnic minorities. This is a reflection of the location of Yunnan as the cross road to other countries of Vietnam, Tibet, Burma, and Nepal. One minority, the Blang, have a holy shrine near the ancient tea trees. Every four years, the Blang sacrifice an ox to the Spirit of Tea. Interestingly, the Chinese government, which tried in the early part of the Communist rule to eliminate minority religions, and still only sanctions five religions which does not include the Blang, actually highlight the Blang and their beliefs in their tourist materials. Most of the tea farmers near Mangjing are Blang and work to maintain the ancient tea tree forests even though they do not produce anywhere near the same amount of tea as a modern plantation. However, the annual harvest from these forest usually fetch top dollar in the local markets and never make it overseas to America.

Tea of Yunnan Province

The birthplace of tea is best known for Puerh. Being home to the Tea Horse Road, Puerh was created in Yunnan and continues to be one of its best quality products. Yunnan also produces fabulous black teas that are both fruity and brisk at the same time, like Yunnan Sunrise. So the next time you are looking for a black tea or Puerh, look for a product from Yunnan Province and enjoy centuries of tradition with every sip.

Tea with Milk and Sugar

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Tea has been consumed with milk and sugar for centuries, so why did we get in the habit of doing this? In trying to find and answer to this question, I turned to the British as they are well known for adding milk and sugar to tea.

Economics of Tea with Milk

Rail car for hauling milk with "Express Dairy - Milk for London" written on it.

Milk Wagon, By David Merrett from Daventry, England (6 Wheeled Milk Wagon) [CC BY 2.0]

Tea was extremely expensive in Britain when it was first introduced to the public in the mid-1600’s and remained that way for more than a century. In 1785 the duty on tea was slashed by the government because local tea merchants saw profits drop as people purchased tea on the black market. From its first days of import, the British government had a very high tax on tea that made it too expensive for most of the country. At first the tax was levied on the beverage itself, the coffee house would make it in the morning, pay the tax collector and then sell it throughout the day. So the customer buying the tea in the afternoon was getting a beverage that was brewed that morning and then reheated. Tea oxidizes once brewed, so that afternoon cup was dark and bitter. Thus began the use of sugar in the tea.

Loose leaf tea was also available to purchase at the time, but again, was taxed heavily so the buyers were only the wealthy. Wealthy women enjoyed tea at home, as it was not considered appropriate for a woman to spend time in the local coffee house. This paved the way for the afternoon tea party and high demand for fine porcelain cups. Porcelain originally came from China, hence why Europeans and Americans refer to porcelain plates and cups as fine china. The first porcelain cups produced in England where made in 1742 after the British got hold of the instructions on how to make porcelain that were written by a French Jesuit Father Francois Zavier d’Entrecolles about the techniques he saw porcelain producers using in China use to craft their wares. Those letters made their way all over Europe and allowed for the creation of porcelain locally, dropping the price of tea cups and fine dishes down to a range that was affordable by more than just the aristocracy. Interestingly, there was a time when it was believed that milk was added to the tea cup to protect it from the boiling tea water because the cups had a nasty habit of cracking if boiling water was poured directly on the cup. (A true porcelain cup would never crack when boiling water was put it in). It is quite possible that a cracking tea cup was a problem at the time. Porcelain made locally was a soft paste porcelain, meaning it was fired at a lower temperature than the Chinese porcelain. If it was made to look as thin as the Chinese porcelain, which would have been what was demanded at the time, boiling water would have cracked the tea cup. It took the British some time before they perfected true porcelain in the late 1700’s, and even then those who perfected it kept it a secret as they had the advantage of matching the Chinese in quality allowing them higher prices in the market. So milk protected the low quality porcelain tea cup.

Fine China (Porcelain) of the Qing Dynasty

Qing export porcelain with European Christian scene 1725 1735 by World Imaging CC BY-SA 3.0

There is a second story to the introduction of milk to tea. A Dutch merchant by the name of  Jean Nieuhoff wrote of his dinner with the Chinese Emperor, as part of a Dutch delegation in 1655, where he was served tea with milk. Given that this would have been the time of the Qing Dynasty, which came from northern China, this is not a surprise. Northern Chinese, at the time, herded goats and where frequent consumers of yogurt, cheese and milk from these animals. Unlike most of the Chinese,who did not consume dairy products, the Emperor would have been raised on goat’s milk. So this presentation, while not commonly seen in China at the time, would have been common place for the Emperor. The writings of Mr. Nieuhoff made their way through the Netherlands, France and England exposing more people to the idea of drinking tea with milk. This would have presented a fabulous idea on how to stretch your tea longer and hide counterfeit tea (a very big problem at the time) – just add milk.

Tea with Milk

So if you are in the habit of drinking milk with your tea, you should probably know that the British have actually studied this and recommend that you will minimize the possibility of curdling the milk and altering the taste of the tea if you add it after pouring the tea into the cup. Now with that said, some of the best tea with milk that I have had is a traditional Masala Chai tea from India, which is made by boiling the tea leaves in a combination of milk and water. So at the end of the day, it is all in personal preference.

Tea Eggs and the Chinese Spring Festival

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The lunar new year is fast approaching and with it a chance to look into the Chinese culture and find new ways to use tea. The Spring Festival, which used to be the Chinese New Year, was renamed in 1913 when the Communist Party took over China and put the country on the Gregorian calendar (this is our modern calendar which was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII). The Spring Festival corresponds with the lunar new year, which starts this year on February 19th. In Chinese culture, It is considered a time for cleaning, gathering of families and celebrating a fresh start.

Like every family gathering, no matter which country you live in, there is plenty of food. A typical dish, which uses tea in a unique way, are Chinese tea eggs. These are basically spiced hard boiled eggs. The combination and concentration of spices are unique to every family. So while I use one combination below, feel free to modify for your taste.

Chinese Tea Eggs Spicing

Spicing for Chinese Tea Eggs

Chinese Tea Eggs

  • 6 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of Black or Puerh Tea (traditionally this is made with Puerh)
  • 1 small cinnamon stick
  • ½ tablespoon anise seeds (3 to 4 Star Anise if you happen to have a good spice shop nearby)
  • 1 tablespoon dried orange peel
  • ½ tablespoon peppercorns

You will need tongs, a bowl with ice and water to cool the eggs and a spoon to crack their shells.

Place the eggs in sauce pan or large pot. You will want the pot big enough to hold the eggs in a single layer and allow you to pour in enough water to cover the eggs entirely. Place the eggs in the pot and fill it with water. Bring the water to a boil and then lower to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and put into the bowl with ice water. This will cool the eggs enough for you to handle them without burning yourself.

Chinese Tea Eggs

Completed Tea Eggs

Assuming none of the eggs broke during the initial cooking, just leave the water in the pot as you will be putting the eggs back in it. If one did, drain out the water, it will be foamy, wipe out the pot and fill with fresh water. Pull an egg out of the ice water and use a spoon to crack the egg shell. You are trying to make a lot of small cracks without removing the shell. Don’t worry if you lose part of the shell, just crack the entire shell then place the egg back in the pot. Do this to the remaining eggs.

Once all the eggs are back in the pot, add in the soy sauce, tea and spices. Add more water if necessary to get the liquids above the eggs. Turn the heat back on and bring the water up to a small simmer and allow to cook for at least 2 hours, if you want a darker web on your eggs you can simmer up to 3 hours.

This makes a salted and slightly spicy hard-boiled egg that is also colored by the tea and soy sauce.

Enjoy the lunar new year with a new way to use tea.

Genmaicha ‘Brown Rice’ Tea

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Genmaicha Brown Rice Tea

Genmaicha Japanese Green Tea

We’ve blogged about Japanese teas before, including culture, cultivars, sencha, and gyokuro. We’ve even blogged about the use of a Kyusu for preparing Japanese green teas. This week we wanted to focus on another great Japanese tea, genmaicha. Also known as genmai cha, brown rice tea, or even popcorn tea, genmaicha is very popular in Japan and around the world even if its history isn’t that clear.

Genmaicha History

Unique flavor aside, the stories surrounding genmaicha are lots of fun though there seems to be plenty of fiction surrounding it. Paraphrasing the most colorful story, it is claimed that the tea was created during the 15th century by a Samurai and his servant. The story suggests that the servant was preparing tea for his master, and at the time tea was very expensive. As he poured the tea a few grains of rice fell from his sleeve as he poured the tea. So enraged was the Samurai that his tea would be ruined, that he drew his sword and cut the head off his servant then an there. Yet, instead of pouring out the tea, he sat back down to drink it and discovered that he actually very much enjoyed it.  In honor of his servant, named Genmai, he named this tea Genmai Cha.

Another story suggests that long ago, housewives, eager to serve green tea in their households, yet finding it to be extremely expensive, began mixing cheap brown rice to a smaller amount of green tea, thus enabling common folk to enjoy tea the same as the noble classes.

Infused Genmaicha or Brown Rice Tea Leaf

Infused Genmaicha Leaf

The most likely story of genmaicha seems to be that sometime in the early 1900’s, an inspired tea merchant in Japan sought to stretch expensive green tea a bit further and added brown rice to it. The wonderful nutty flavor of genmaicha has been with us ever since, remaining popular and growing in popularity outside of Japan as well.

Colorful as these stories are, and variations on all three stories abound, there seems to be little historical support for them. They may or may not have grains of truth surrounding the origin of Genmai Cha.  Regardless, Genmai means ‘brown rice’ and so Genmai Cha is literally translated to ‘brown rice tea’.

Genmaicha Ingredients

Genmaicha has historically been made of bancha and brown rice. Being a green tea made from later harvests, bancha was and still is much less expensive than higher grade sencha and gyokuro varieties. The use of bancha contributed to a reputation as a cheap tea in the past. Today, however, genmaicha is made with a variety of Japanese green teas including sencha and gyokuro as well. Additionally, genmaicha can be found infused with matcha to provide both a slightly different flavor and mouth feel.

Matcha Infused Genmaicha Brown Rice Tea

Genmaicha Infused with Matcha Powder

Finally, although genmaicha is sometimes called popcorn tea, it typically does not actually have popcorn. Brown rice, as its heated and toasted, will sometimes pop resulting in something that looks like popcorn yet is really popped rice.

The next time you are looking to have guests and want to serve them something interesting, you might consider telling a colorful story or two about the supposed history of genmaicha while serving them this delightful nutty tea.

Indian Tea Culture

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Buddhist Monk in India by Flickr user nevil zaveri, CC BY-2.0

Buddhist Monk

Tea is a way of life across most of India, cutting across income, education, and social classes. This country with a land area 1/3 the size of the United States and a population 4 times greater consumes triple the amount of tea per person as America. In fact, widespread tea consumption in India is a relatively recent trend that is forecast to increase significantly in coming years.

Indian tea consumption likely has a very long history dating back thousands of years.  Although commercial production of Indian tea only dates back a few hundred years, its consumption has been documented as far back as 750 BCE. Stories in the region suggest that a number of tribes in the region consumed tea well before the documented evidence, perhaps even referring to it as “soma”. More recent research suggests that the Camellia sinensis plant actually developed in the Mongolia region of China and then migrated along along river and trade routes to Assam and elsewhere.  Given the stories and the emerging evidence from genetic profiling of tea, it is very likely that tea has been cultivated and consumed in the region for thousands of years.

Buddhist Monks

The history of tea, from India to China and Japan, is inseparable from Buddhism, which got its start in India before migrating to China, Japan, and elsewhere. It is Buddhist monks who are credited with bringing tea to Japan from China. It is said that Buddhist monks have used tea for centuries as a means to maintain alertness and focus while meditating for long periods of time. The flow of monks, and with them technology and ideas, throughout Asia likely helped tea get its start in India, just as it had done in Japan.

Arrival of the British and the East India Company

Although tea may well have been consumed in India for thousands of years, it is the arrival of the British and other westerners which began written record and significant increases in tea production and consumption in India. While India is the second largest tea producer in the world today it was the western addiction to tea and a desire for cheaper sources which brought tea production to India. Initially tea plants were brought from China, but the discovery of tea growing in Assam, triggered the explosion of the Indian tea industry. The assamica variety of tea, it turned out, was much better suited to the region than the Chinese sinensis variety growing at higher elevations and colder climates.

Indian tea production grew significantly under the British who employed native people to work in the fields, as servants and as cooks. It was only natural that, over time, customs and cultural ideas would be exchanged, leading to a growing thirst for tea among all classes, not simply the wealthy British. It is also worth noting that tea wasn’t an overnight success in India. The various religions and casts in India each had their own timeline for adopting tea with some quickly adopting tea and others showing aversion to western ideas that took a long time to dwindle. (Roshan)

Classic Indian Tea Experience: Chai Tea

Small tea vendor in India

Chai Wallah serving the famous Indian tea.

If the Indian tea vendor or chai wallah was unknown in Western cultures, the election of Narendra Modi, supposedly a  former chai wallah, to Prime Minister of India has certainly elevated awareness of both chai wallahs and chai. The chai wallah are tea vendors operating small businesses throughout India, keeping their chai boiling to be served in small clay or plastic cups.  In particular, they serve a mixture of boiled tea with milk and spices. Origins of chai are somewhat debated, though it has become deeply ingrained in Indian culture since the British began large scale commercial production of tea.  Chai wallah are found all over India and serve not only as a place to buy tea but a gathering place for socialization, discussion, and debate.

Indian Tea Culture Today

Indian Tea bushes on a hillside in India

Indian Tea Plantation in Nilgiri

Today tea is consumed in all corners of India and is often considered a way of life. It is served by small road-side vendors, on trains, and in mills and factories. It has been popularized in literary works, movies, and even politics. Indian tea consumption has been rapidly growing over recent years and India may actually have to start importing tea to meet the demand from its people. India consumed about 718 grams per person as of 2011. This is the equivalent of about 240 cups of tea per person annually at 3 grams per cup. Compare this to America where the consumption for the same period was about 228 grams or 76 cups per person (World Tea News). The amount of tea consumed in India is even more impressive when you consider that there are over 300 million people living below poverty. The number of people living in poverty in India is, incidentally, roughly equivalent to the entire population of the United States. As the population continues to expand and reductions in poverty continue, the consumption of tea is likely to substantially increase over the coming years.

 

Sources

World Tea News, India’s Domestic Consumption, February 3, 2014, http://www.worldteanews.com/news/indias-domestic-consumption

World Tea News, Per Capita Tea, January 24, 2014, http://www.worldteanews.com/news/per-capita-tea

Formation and Expansion of Tea Culture in India, by Gurung Roshan, Kansai University, http://kuir.jm.kansai-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10112/6140/1/3-10-31-Gurung%20Roshan.pdf