How to Brew Dragon Well Tea The Right Way

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Dragon Well tea is unquestionably the most famous green tea in China and commonly known worldwide. Some high quality Dragon Well teas are even more expensive than gold. If we use a wrong way to brew it, don’t you think that would be such a big waste? Today I will share my experience of brewing Dragon Well tea the right way.

Water for Brewing

Soft water is better for Dragon Well tea. It is suitable to effectively extract most of the substances from leaves. Hard water contains a higher level of mineral ions which suppress extraction of substances from leaf and the taste become very flat and thin.

Water Temperature

80° C or 180° F is the best temperature. Since Dragon Well is not fermented, the leaves are very easy to be damaged by boiling water. And boiling water may make the taste bitter and astringent.

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Three brewing methods

The method of brewing Dragon Well green tea is named as ‘Down-Tossing Infiltration Brewing’. The leaf is in flat shape and therefore difficult to sink when brewed, just like dragons swimming in the water.

1. Dragon in the air

Fill the tea ware with hot water, and then add the tea leaves little by little, almost leaf by leaf. In this way, the tea is like dragons flying in the air and at last landing in the bottom.

2. Dragon in the water

Fill the tea ware with 1/3 hot water, slowly add the tea leaves, then add the rest of the water. In this way the teas rolling in the middle of the cup is like dragons swimming in the water.

3. Dragon diving underwater

First put the dry leaves in the tea ware, and then slowly add the hot water indirectly by first touching the walls of the tea ware. In this way, teas are in the bottom and then come-up to the top, like dragons diving in the deep sea.

Some Tips for Brew Dragon Well Tea

1. Hold the tea pot higher when adding water. Because through this process, the water can be cooled to the best temperature for Dragon Well green tea

2. The tea can be brewed for many times and you need steep longer for further steeps to allow the leaves to release more flavor.

3. Glass or porcelain tea wares will contribute to the flavour and taste. Because they are neutral and don’t affect taste.

Green Tea and Black Tea Caffeine

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When it comes to comparing tea with coffee or comparing different tea categories, the most discussed topic is caffeine content. While it’s safe to assume that any tea should have significantly less caffeine than coffee, this is more difficult for caffeine levels between tea types.

Based on general consensus we can assume the amount of caffeine to in tea to be the highest for pu erh tea and black tea and lower for green tea and white tea. However, according to one of our visitors, there has been some recent research that provides proof that green tea contains actually more caffeine than black tea. Here’s his question:

Apparently there is some minor controversy about the difference between the caffeine levels in green and red teas (referred to as ‘black’ here in the U.S.), and that some think that green tea has more caffeine than red tea, which is contrary to common assumptions. Recent technological developments helped discover this, some claim. Do you have any thoughts on this? Are you aware?

First of all, I would like to point out that it’s really hard to determine which tea has more caffeine than others. First of all, are we talking about the real content of caffeine per gram of leaf? Or per cup of x mg of tea? Determining the caffeine content per gram of leaf should be really easy as this is a chemical analysis. However, the result might not be relevant as what matters is how much we finally consume by drinking tea.

The are simply to many factors that can affect the amount of caffeine in a cup of tea, which makes it really hard to draw any general conclusions:

  1. Steeping temperature: the higher the steeping temperature the more caffeine the leaves will release. What also matters for researchers is that whether they should steep green tea and black tea both at the same temperature or at the usual recommended temperatures (e.g. black tea at 100 degrees Celsius and green tea at 80 degrees Celsius). Scientifically steeping both teas at the same temperature would make sense, but this would not represent how real tea lovers steep their tea and therefore it would also not reflect true caffeine content.
  2. Steeping time: the longer you steep, the more caffeine will be released in a cup. The same comment regarding steeping temperature is valid here: would you steep both green tea and black tea for the same amount of time, or follow how tea drinkers behave in practice?
  3. Crushed versus loose leaves: Crushed leaves will release more caffeine than full loose leaves.
  4. Tea tips versus larger leaves: Tea tips usually contains slightly more caffeine than larger leaves. However, it still hard to say what amount ends up in your cup since tea tips are usually less oxidized, which brings us to the next topic.
  5. Oxidation level: less oxidized teas usually release less caffeine. Though it’s true that tea tips contain more caffeine, they usually in the end release less caffeine because they are usually less oxidized (e.g. silver needle tea and dragon well tea)
  6. Processing: the more dense the tea becomes after processing the slower it will release caffeine. Take for instance jasmine dragon pearls. Because they are curled into pearls, it will release it’s caffeine more slowly.
  7. Steeping step: the first steep will release more caffeine than the steeps after. In China, most people will rinse the leaves for a few seconds before steeping. The question is whether researchers should take practice this into account when setting up their research.

Given all the factors above, we could say that ‘tea type’ is just one of the factors that could be added to the list above. Still, I do believe that we can still generally assume that green tea does contain less caffeine than black tea.

Tea Festivals in Canada

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As a traditional Asian drink, tea has been spread to the western world for many centuries.  However, its special flavour and culture attract more and more western people only in recent years. Different from the fast food and coffee culture, tea culture brings something special that people can turn to when they want to relax or when they want to slow things down. This month, two tea festivals were organized in two big Canadian cities – Vancouver and Ottawa.

Ottowa Tea Festival

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Epoch Times reports: “The festival in Ottawa will feature a huge selection of fine teas to taste, cultural music and dance, award-winning tea experts, and several different tea ceremonies. And the interest has seen the festival double its attendance since its first year.”

It’s pretty amazing that more than 2000 tea lovers attended the celebration on Saturday Nov. 23rd. They shared different cultures of the world there and enjoyed their wonderful tea time with each other. The Ottawa Tea Festival is a true gathering place for people from not only Ottawa but from all over Canada who want to try new teas or enjoy tea related performances.

Vancouver Tea Festival

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Huff Post reported: “Whether you’re a full-blown tea connoisseur or an apprehensive but curious leaf newbie, you won’t want to miss the Vancouver Tea Festival. The first-ever Festival features over 30 exhibitors that represent a variety of areas along the tea spectrum and there will also be a bunch of demonstrations and presentations on tea culture.”

This festival was held earlier, on Nov. 2nd. The festival showcased some rare teas and introduced the people of Vancouver the real breadth and depth of tea culture that already exists in the city. At the same time it provided a springboard for future developments of tea culture for not only Vancouver, but the whole country.

There is a big community of Canadian tea lovers out there and it’s still growing. These festivals are great opportunity to promote a healthy tea culture to fight our daily stress. Tea is all about learning, experiencing and sharing and that’s exactly what these festivals are for; People can share experiences and stories about tea.

The First Tea Auction in Hong Kong

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To most people tea is just a very common drink in our daily life. However, if I tell you that tea can be sold at more than $100000 a box as a kind of luxury product, will you believe? Actually, rare teas were sold in auction since long ago, but the first tea auction in Hong Kong still attracts many tea lovers.

Professional tea maker is preparing the aged Wuyi Oolong tea, filling the press conference with the ancient fragrance of tea

According to Financial Times, “Teas more than half a century old will go on the block at the “Sensation of Tea” auction on Saturday at Hong Kong’s Park Lane Hotel. One box of rare Narcissus oolong tea could fetch as much as HK$1m ($129,000), according to the organisers.”

$129,000! What a high price! Why is this tea so expensive? There are 2 main reasons. Firstly, the tea was picked in the 1950s after 20 years of war, when tea was rarely harvested. The “long rest” gave the leaves a stronger flavour. In the past 60 years, it had acquired very special aftertaste and fragrance that can still be sensed half an hour after drinking. Secondly, like most products sold in auction, this tea has its unique stories that make the tea taste even better. While is often compared to coffee, it seems it has now followed the footsteps of wine; it offers are diversity of taste experiences as well as prices.

These teas are probably too expensive for the most of us. However, how rocket-high the prices may be, it does reflect the glamour and value of drinking tea. The auction is not only for selling rare teas, but also a place for tea lovers and tea collectors to share their stories with tea. Maybe someday some of us can join, but in the meanwhile I really appreciate the teas that I have in my kitchen cabinet.

US Tea Rooms Go For Trendy

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Following the footsteps of fine wine, more and more tea rooms in the US are now satisfying the demand for high quality loose leaf tea. The numbers of tea connoisseurs are growing in the US. The tea rooms who have noticed this, are in the best position to steadily growth and seize the opportunities in this growing market sector.

According to Time: “While tea consumption has been on the rise in the U.S. for a decade, in the past few years it has rocketed to new heights of hipness. There are now more than 4,000 boutique tea rooms across the country.”

Similar to what many coffee shops are doing, tea rooms are not only offering tea anymore, but the whole tea experience. More and more tea rooms are now attempting to introduce Asian tea ceremonies in their Salons. Moreover, they are willing to spend time educating the customers about there teas. 

The tea bag will always be available in the supermarkets, but they are more and more a past station of tea rooms, who are matching up the high-end customer with fine loose leaf teas. Different from full leaf teas, tea bags consistent of lower quality broken leaves. They are mass-produced by machines, while loose teas are hand-picked and manually processed. Manual processing is necessary for high end teas as it consists of smaller leaves and more buds. Keeping them intact will result in a much more finer brew.

 

 

Kombucha Tea

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Whether you’ve heard about it in your tea searches, have that friend who won’t stop talking about it or have seen it in your local grocery store – you’ve probably heard of Kombucha Tea.

Kombucha Tea

Kombucha tea is a drink made from fermented tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, sometimes called a “SCOBY”. Though not necessarily notable for the taste, described as somewhere between carbonated apple cider and vinegar soda, it is heavily lauded for it’s health benefits, though not by the scientific community.  Some claim that it boosts immune systems, increases energy and can even extend life.

This may because of all of the bacteria present inside Kombucha Tea.Evidence is mounting that friendly bacteria or probiotics aide digestion and possibly even strengthen the immune system. The human body has bacteria inside it  that actually live inside of us and help digest our food, digesting things we can’t digest on our own.  Bacteria actually produces certain nutrients for us, so maybe the bacteria in Kombucha could do the same.

That being said, Kombucha is not endorsed in any way by the scientific community. It is still awaiting trials. Kombucha made wrong can result in severe sickness and even death from contamination. At least for now, it would probably be better for those who want to try Kombucha to buy it in store where the way it is made is heavily regulated.  To make Kombucha, one makes sweetened tea, puts “SCOBY” in it, seals the container and keeps in a sanitary location for a week. At the end, the “SCOBY” will be in a disc that can be taken out.  In a normal household, there could be margin for error, so those who want to try it are advised to be very careful.

With that caveat, for adventurous tea drinkers out there – this might be a fun tea to try, if not only to see if it really is that fountain of youth, that magical tea.

 

Starbucks Aims for 1000 Stores in China in 2013

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You might think that Chinese people are only used to drinking tea, but the middle class is growing. It’s exactly this segment that is who is curious about western goods, including Coffee. You don’t have to like it, but if you hold a cup of coffee with the Starbucks logo, you feel more sophisticated. Starbucks has become a kind of status symbol in China, where a smallest Frappucino sells for about 5 USD.

According to Investorsplace.com, it’s therefore not a surprise that the successful coffee chain has announced the news that they are aiming for over a 1000 stores in 2013 in the Middle kingdom.

China Starbucks

One of the main reasons for Starbucks’ success, is the fact that Chinese tea companies haven’t been able to come up with a successful tea chain that gives the busy middle class the convenience of consistent quality. It’s very similar to how the American Pizza Hut has successfully entered the Chinese market, while the average Italian restaurants stay a small scale family business. Traditional tea houses risk the danger of being regarded as places for the elderly to spend time chatting and playing cards.

Starbucks is not only the foreign player in China. Costa an UK coffee firm is quite aggressive, opening many new stores close to Starbucks. It entered the Chinese market in 2006 aiming to open 2500 stores in total in 2015. More challengers will definitely follow.

Green Tea Could Prevent Diabetes

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Green Tea Could Prevent Diabetes 

Sometimes, seeing all of the articles coming out, it seems like Green Tea is a miracle drink. From helping with thought clarity, helping high blood pressure, and preventing cancer – what can Green Tea not help with? And now there’s yet one more thing you can add to the list- green tea could prevent Diabetes.

Helena Ng, a PhD student at Hobart’s Menzies Research Institute , has found that the consumption of green tea prevents rats from getting diabetes.   She said that the rats had been fed an unhealthy diet that normally led to the early stages of diabetes, but not when the diet was accompanied by green tea.

She said before she could find out if the popular Asian beverage also provided a shield against the disease in humans, she needed to find a way to get people to consume it in large quantities. Ng said it would be harder still to persuade Tasmanians to drink the required 200 cups a day.

“To put it in capsules or tablets — that is likely to be the next step,” she said.

Ms Ng said, instead of stuffing tea leaves into tablets, she was hoping she could include just the green tea components that were not found in the more familiar black teas. She said green tea, if proven, could become a welcome alternative to existing anti-diabetes medications, which had side-effects.

This discovery isn’t a cure though – Green Tea can prevent having diabetes but cannot cure it. This is a great step in learning how to prevent diseases like this occurring. And it only makes you wonder what it is about the components in Green Tea that can take it to this level. Though it’s not a cure, it’s one more reason to go green in your tea drinking.