Category Archives: Tea History

Preparing Tea with a Gaiwan

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The Chinese Gaiwan adds new depth to your tea experience.

Bao Zhong Oolong Steeped in a Gaiwan

A few weeks back we highlighted the Japanese Kyusu, its history, and how to use it for brewing Japanese green teas. Among other things, the process of making Japanese green tea, which is steamed, instead of fired to stop oxidation, results in a wide variety of leaf sizes. The Kyusu, therefore, which typically has a screen inside the pot, serves to strain away all but the smallest of leaf particulate.

This week we are focusing on another specialized tea accessory, the Chinese gaiwan. If you love tea exploration then this is certainly a must-have item. Just like the Kyusu, the gaiwan provides another way to experience your tea, and really can make a substantial difference in both the taste and the experience. If you primarily steep your tea in an infuser or single use tea bag, the use of a gaiwan will undoubtedly bring out different flavors to your favorite teas (and perhaps even some of your less favorite too). Subtle teas, in particular, like many white teas, or in my case Bao Zhong seem to magically transform from being quite bland to flavorful and complex experiences.

History of the Gaiwan

Gaiwan with rolled oolong, ready for steeping.

Antique Gaiwan with Balled Oolong – Preheated and Ready to Steep

The gaiwan was created during the Ming Dynasty of China which lasted from 1368 to 1644 CE. During this period of Chinese history, noted for government stability and order, the Forbidden City was constructed and much of the brick and stone work of the Great Wall was laid. While scientific advancement lagged during this period of Chinese history, ceramics and porcelain had a boom, both in overall production and in the designs and colors used. This period marked the construction of a factory in Jingdezhen (southwest of Shanghai) that would ultimately produce almost all of the worlds porcelain for nearly 400 years (Facts and Details).

The gaiwan, literally meaning lidded (gai) bowl (wan) originally consisted of the bowl and lid, evolving over time to include the saucer as well. It was developed at a time when the use of tea leaves, instead of powder, started to become popular after the Yuan Dynasty (History of Tea). Steeping from leaves created the problem of separating leaves from the liquid and as it turns out, the lid of the Gaiwan works quite well to hold back leaves while drinking. It also works quite well to pour off the liquid entirely to another bowl or cup. The size of the cup itself is relatively small, though a perfect size for one person and it allows individual choice of water temperature and strength.

Holding a gaiwan.

One way to hold a gaiwan for pouring off the liquor includes the saucer and thumb on top.

Using a Gaiwan

There are many different ways one might use a gaiwan for steeping tea.  It can change depending on  the type of tea  (green, black, etc) used.  Then on whether one is leaving the leaves in, pouring the liquor off, using boiling water, a combination of cold and boiling water, using cooler water, and more.  All start with a rinse with boiling water that is discarded. This will clean it but more importantly it prevents a rapid drop in temperature of hot water when you begin steeping. After rinsing we prefer one of the following methods:

Steeping Green, White, or Yellow Tea in a Gaiwan

  1. Add 5 grams of loose tea to the gaiwan.
  2. Carefully, and gently, pour in water that has cooled to about 175° Fahrenheit.
  3. Wait 20 to 30 seconds.
  4. Drink directly from the gaiwan using the lid as a filter.
  5. Leave a small amount of liquid in the bottom and refill 2-3 times with slightly hotter water each time.
Alterantive method for holding a gaiwan.

Alternate method for holding a gaiwan without the saucer and your knuckle to hold the lid in place (can be quite hot).

Steeping Black, Dark and Puerh, or Oolong

  1. Add 5 grams of loose tea to the gaiwan.
  2. Smell the aroma of the leaf in the hot bowl.
  3. Add enough boiling water to just cover the tea and discard.
  4. Add boiling water, cover, and wait 20-30 seconds.
  5. Pour off the liquor into a cup or mug.
  6. Refill with boiling water to steep multiple extra times. For black tea this may be 2-3 times, oolong may be 4-6, and puerh may be as many as 15 times depending on the tea.

Finding a gaiwan is relatively easy on-line though driving to a shop to pick one up is going to be tough unless you live near the Chinatown neighborhoods of New York, San Francisco or other major city. Preparing your tea in a gaiwan provides a great way to learn about Chinese history. From a pure enjoyment perspective you will find that the use of a gaiwan will allow greater exploration of your tea from one infusion to the next. For some of your more delicate teas, you may find that it transforms a seemingly bland tea into a complex sensory experience and will become your go-to steeping vessel.

Sources Cited

Facts and Details, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644):  Porcelain, Pirates, and the Yongle Emperor, http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub2/item35.html

The History of Tea, Chinese Tea, http://www.china.org.cn/learning_chinese/Chinese_tea/2011-07/15/content_22999489.htm

Gunpowder Tea

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Gunpowder Tea looks much like real gunpowder.

Actual Gunpowder (not tea) by Wikimedia Commons User Hustvedt, CC BY SA 3.0

Gunpowder tea (also called Zhu Cha) is believed to have been first produced during the Tang dynasty (618-907 C.E.) in Zhejiang provenience of China. The withered and steamed green tea leaves were balled by hand into small pellets before being dried. Its English name came from its appearance as the tea pellets after drying look like shiny greenish-black pellets, much like gunpowder. This is truly an art form given that they are balling a whole tea leaf into a very small pellet. It makes me wonder why they would go to the trouble to do such a thing. This is a case where necessity really does prove to be the mother of invention.

Gunpowder Tea and the Tang Dynasty

Gunpowder Green Tea

Rolled gunpowder tea.

The capital of the Tang Dynasty was in what is now present day Xian, in the Shaanxi provenience almost 1,400 kilometers (869 miles) inland from Zhejiang province. Trying to get your tea to the emperor was not going to be easy. It is thought that the tea was balled to allow it to make the trip to the capital, as something unique for the emperor, while maintaining its flavor. One of the most famous Gunpowder teas, Hui Bai, or tribute tea, was made exclusively for the emperor. It is made with small young leaves that are rolled into loose pellets that, when brewed, release a pale yellow liquor with a sweet herbal flavor.

Balled Teas (Gunpowder and Oolong)

The art of rolling tea leaves into balls came into being almost a thousand years before the partial oxidation that makes Oolong tea possible. Most modern drinkers of tea think of Oolongs when presented with balled tea leaves, but those were far from the first teas prepared in this fashion. Taiwan, which has the most famous balled Oolongs, did not apply this technique to commercial tea until well into the 1800s. Today Gunpowder Tea is not simply the domain of China as other countries, like Sri Lanka, also produce their own variations.

Modern Gunpowder is rolled with machines with only the finest quality teas still being rolled by hand. These hand rolled Gunpowder teas rarely leave Zhejiang provenience due to the high demand for the tea locally.

Tuareg Tea
Don’t turn your nose up at a machine rolled tea. Here is a fun recipe for Tuareg tea, which is a Middle Eastern mint tea drink that has been around for centuries whose base is Gunpowder tea. (Four 8 oz Cups)

  • 4 teaspoons of Gunpowder Tea
  • 4 cups of water
  • 40-50 fresh mint leaves*
  • 4 Tablespoons of sugar

In a pitcher, mix the tea leaves and sugar. In a pan crush the mint leaves and pour in the water. Heat the mint leaves and water until the water boils. Pour the water over the tea and sugar and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Pour the mixture through a strainer and serve.

Note: This is a based on a green Gunpowder tea, so you can feel free to allow the water to cool down to 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit before pouring it over the tea. It is not necessary to do this as the mint and sugar would hide any bitterness caused by the boiling water, but worth considering.

*There is a special type of mint that grows in the Middle East (cultivar Mentha Spicata) that does not taste like the mint that we typically have in the grocery stores in the US. That is not to say you shouldn’t use regular mint, but if you find it overwhelming you may have better luck with spearmint or apple mint or any other varieties of the mint family that you might come across.

Green Tea and the Japanese Kyusu

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Green tea is often made with a kyusu in Japan.

Japanese Yokode Kyusu

Just as we love to explore the history, culture, and various types of tea, we also are fascinated by the variety available in tea accessories. There are of course many different shapes and sizes of teapots available in western cultures but these are so, well… familiar. We love exploring tea and stories of tea from all sides. If you enjoy green tea then an experience not to be missed is that of the Japanese Kyusu. This small, by Western standards, teapot is excellent for steeping your favorite green tea. It provides an experience of multiple rapid steepings and is ideal for sharing green tea with several friends or guests at once. Correctly steeping green tea in a kyusu will yield a fresh umami (subtle savory taste) flavor without the overwhelming grassy flavor or bitterness often associated with green tea.

About the Japanese Kyusu

Teapots themselves are believed to have originated in China out of necessity for brewing the camellia sinensis (tea) leaf and evolved from there. As tea was brought to Japan by monks, teapots naturally followed. Over time the Japanese experimented and developed their own teapots, producing them from kilns that have been in operation since approximately 1100 CE. In Japan, the sencha style of tea has developed over hundreds of years. Unlike Chinese green tea which is pan fired to stop oxidation, sencha is a steamed product, with some varieties being light steamed (asamushi sencha) and some deep steamed (fukamushi sencha). Sencha is normally steeped at cooler temperatures and has less uniformity in leaf size with many smaller particles coming from the slight leaf breakdown that comes with steaming.In any case, Japanese teapots have evolved over time to support brewing this style of green tea.

Green Tea in a Yokode Kyusu

Geen Tea in a Yokode Kyusu

The term kyusu literally means teapot in Japanese and generally refers to a small clay teapot used for brewing green tea. While the kyusu is generally considered to be a teapot with a large conical handle attached to the side it turns out this is actually a yokode kuysu. There are also ushirode kyusu that looks like a traditional western teapot with the handle attached to the back, uwade kyusu which has a handle on the top, and houhin kyusu which doesn’t feature a handle at all. The yokode kyusu is the most distinctive to westerners though all can be considered works of art. Indeed, if you appreciate the artistry of the kyusu you will find any number of colors and styles available from skilled craftsmen.

 

Green Tea Steeped with a Yokode Kyusu

Holding the Japanese yokode kyusu.

Hold the yokode kyusu with your thumb on top of the lid.

Preparing Japanese green tea with a kyusu is simple though it is a bit different than brewing with single use teabags or hard infusers.  To get started it is best to have some kind of cooling pitcher since we want the water to be around 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit. Pouring hot water from a teapot or kettle into a cooling vessel will quickly allow the water to cool to the desired range after only a couple minutes or so.

Add 6-8 grams or about a tablespoon and a half of Japanese green tea.  Although this style teapot is normally associated with Japanese sencha green tea it can be used with most other varieties including bancha and gyokuro. For what should be obvious reasons this teapot isn’t a good choice for matcha.

Steeping with a kyusu is intended for multiple rapid steepings, so add the water to your kyusu and steep for 25 to 30 seconds.  When pouring a little gentle rocking of the pot will ensure the contents are well mixed and balanced throughout. Pour a little into each cup and then return to add a bit more so that each cup ultimately gets an even balance of flavor and umami.

Green tea poured from a Japanese yokode kyusu.

Pouring green tea from a yokode kyusu.

Be sure to pour out all the liquid so the leaves don’t sit in hot water.  When ready, infuse a second and even third time.

Finally, be sure to remove all the tea leaves and rinse out your kyusu with cold water.  Do not use soap to wash your kyusu or use it to make other kinds of tea as the clay absorbs and retains a little bit of the green tea with each steeping, flavoring the teapot as its used.

History of Nepal Tea

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Nepal Tea comes from a country with many different people and traditions.

Faces of Nepal (collage from photos by Flickr Users Sukanto Debnath, ilkerender, and Wonderlane)

To appreciate Nepali tea, one must first understand how its history, geographic location, and terroir have played a major role in the production of tea. Nepal is a small land-locked country, just slightly bigger than North Carolina, situated between China and India. Its location, as a crossroads between China into other western countries, created a place with a rich and diverse culture (there are over 120 dialects spoken in the country). It is home to Katmandu valley, a place with hundreds of ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples, most of which are currently protected as an UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Himalayan Mountains and Mt. Everest, and some of the highest quality but unknown teas on the planet.

Short History of Nepal and its Tea

Nepali Tea comes from the edge of the Himalayas in Nepal.

Kathmandu Nepal by Flickr User ilkerender cc-by-2.0

The Katmandu valley was believed to be settled by various tribes as far back 3000 B.C.E. These tribes battled and formed little kingdoms with various kings up until 1200 C.E. when the first of Mallas came to rule. The Mallas ruled Nepal for 550 years. At first as a unified kingdom, but in the late 1400s the three sons to King Yaksha Malla spilt the kingdom upon the death of their father and proceeded to compete with each other through the building of temples and the development of art and culture. Their rivalry is what built Katmandu valley into the cultural icon that we still see today. Nepal was again unified in 1768 by Prithvi Narayan Shah from Gorkha village in the western part of Nepal. The Shah dynasty still rules today even though Nepal has a general assembly and has attempted implementing democracy. This monarch and their isolationist policies managed to keep both the Chinese and British out of Nepal. In doing so, the Nepal tea industry in the country was very small and totally controlled by the government until the 1950s when the monarch started to open up the country to outside trade. So, while the first tea plantations in Nepal came into being during the late 1700s, they were not commercially viable until well into the 1970s. Today, the Nepali tea industry is expanding as Nepal entered into the World Trade Organization and put a concerted effort into allowing for privatization of the industry in the 1990s. The government of Nepal sees the tea industry as a means to providing higher paying jobs to the rural populations and as the drivers of bringing in electricity and roads to the rural communities as tea manufacturing facilities are built on or near the farms.

Nepal Tea Today

The eastern region of Nepal is currently where most of the tea is grown, even though the topography and soil of the entire country could support tea cultivation. This region is directly north of the Darjeeling region of India. It is a high altitude, mountainous area that gets the right mix of sun, mountain fog, cold and warmth to allow tea to flourish in this area. Most of the current Nepal tea farms are at or above 4,000 feet in altitude. Nepal makes all six types of teas. The aromas and flavors of the tea are frequently compared to Darjeeling tea because of the growing conditions. However, they are truly distinct teas with their own unique aromas and complex flavors.

Nepal Tea - Golden Buddha Oolong

Loose Leaf Golden Buddha Tea and Liquor

There are four growing and harvesting seasons in Nepal, which they refer to as flushes:  1st Flush, 2nd Flush, Monsoon Flush, and Autumn Flush. The 1st flush and 2nd flush are in the spring and early summer and, much like the 1st and 2nd flushes of Darjeeling tea, they produce first a delicate tea and then a more robust and fruity tea. What is unique about Nepal tea is its Monsoon and Autumn flushes. The monsoon season brings large amounts of rain to the tea farms allowing the leaves to grow rapidly and develop a much stronger flavor moving from floral and fruity flavors of the first two flushes to more malty flavors. It is typically these monsoon and autumn teas that are used to make oolong and black teas, while the early flushes are white and green teas.

Nepali tea is worth exploring further and this country is worth watching as it allows for more private investment into their tea industry and develops the full infrastructure to allow increased tea production and export from this fascinating country.

Masala Chai: Delicious Tea and Steeped in History

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Masala Chai
Traditional Indian Spiced Tea (1 serving)

  • 3 tsp Masala Chai Blend (or make your own*)
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 cup Milk (whole)
  • Optional: 1 tsp Fresh Ginger
  • 1 or 2 Tblsp Agave Nectar or your sweetener of choice

Bring all ingredients except sweetener to a boil in a small saucepan then quickly reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. The longer you simmer the greater the intensity. Add sweetener, stir, and strain into your mug of choice. (Enjoy).

* Making your own Masala Chai blend is easy if you prefer to experiment more. Start with 2 tsp of a solid Assam black tea base and add  3 green cardamom pods, 1 whole clove, 1/8 tsp nutmeg seed, and a small bit of freshly grated ginger. Then experiment with adding pepper, star anise, cinnamon or other spices to taste.

Over the past several weeks we have been participating in shows at Wintergreen Resort, south of Charlottesville, VA as well as the Purcellville Community Market in Purcellville, VA and without fail the Masala Chai has been one of the most consistent sellers even when we haven’t had samples for tasting. Yet so many buyers don’t really know much about the drink they love. So it was really just a matter of time before we blogged about Masala Chai specifically and chai generally.

Masala Chai Spices

Indian Spices (Masala), By Holger Casselmann, CC-BY-SA-3.0

The word chai itself is but one of many variations on the the word tea which includes tê, chá, and chai depending on culture and history. Masala, on the other hand, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a varying blend of spices used in Indian cooking” (Merriam-Webster). Thus Masala Chai is nothing more than spiced tea. Of course, for those who have experienced Masala Chai know that there are a myriad different flavors. While it commonly includes ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon, there are many variations from there which can include star anise, fennel seeds, nutmeg, cloves, and more. For many, true Masala Chai also includes milk and a sweetner.

History of Masala Chai

As most are aware, Masala Chai has its roots in Indian Culture, though exactly when seems a bit of a mystery. One account has it attributed to an Indian king some 5,000 years ago (Kasam, 2004), while the commonly accepted source is the Hindu Aurveda tradition. Regardless, spiced tea was consumed in India long before the arrival of the British and well before it was brought to the United States and commercialized.

Masala Chai in India: Chai Wallah’s

Spiced tea is served throughout most of India. Tea sellers, or chai walla’s are found all over India and keep their chai simmering throughout the day. In fact, the chai wallahs’s serve as local gathering spots, akin to our water coolers, where people come together to meet, discuss, and debate a wide range of topics. Traditionally, the tea itself is served in clay cups. These cups are typically produced locally, unglazed, used only once, and smashed by the customer after use to degrade back into the dirt and mud from which they were made. Across India the clay pots come in a variety of shapes and sizes and even names. They are called bhaar in the West Bengal region, puruas in Banaras, and kullarhs in much of the rest of the country. Enjoyment of masala chai from these roadside vendors is typical and a much written about experience by many travelers to India.

Kashmiri Chai
Traditional Pakistani Tea of the Kashmir Region (2 servings)

  • 2 tsp Gunpowder Green Tea
  • 4-6 Green Cardamom Seeds
  • 1/3 tsp Ground Cardamom
  • 1/3 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 cups Milk (whole)
  • 2 tsp Combination Ground Pistacio’s and/or Almonds
  • 2 cups Water
  • Salt to Taste

Add water, tea, green cardamom, and baking soda to a saucepan, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Separately, boil the milk and ground cardamom and reduce to low heat before adding the previously prepared tea. Return to a boil, add salt and simmer another 3-5 minutes. Strain and garnish with ground pistachio’s and/or almonds.

Spiced Tea Variations

While Masala Chai is the best known spiced tea in the west it is hardly the only one. Kashmiri Chai, also known as Pink Tea, Salt Tea, Noon (meaning salt) Tea, and many other names, comes from the Kashmir region in northern Pakistan between India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and China. Traditionally made with salt, though sugar can be substituted, this tea takes on a pink hue due to the addition of baking soda.

There are many different way one can make spiced tea. Starting with a basic Masala Chai or Kashmiri Tea you can experiment to find a taste profile that works for you. There are also a wide range of loose lease options available including things like our Pumpkin Spice Chai and even caffeine free options like our South African Chai so there is a spiced chai for many occasions.

Sources

High Chai, Nirali looks at the steeping of tea in the South Asian tradition, by, Roxanna Kasam, Nirali Magazine, November 1, 2004, http://niralimagazine.com/2004/11/high-chai/

Masala Definition, Mirriam-Webster Dictionary On-Line, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/masala