My Tea Break

Rediscovering Tea around the world

Author Archives: myteabreak


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The 10 Famous Chinese Teas

In China there is the legendary list of the 10 Famous Chinese Teas but this list seems to vary from source to source. The lists varies considerable depending on the area where it was compiled and the current trends of Tea consumption.

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However, there are some Teas that appear in every list and that should be a good sign. We’ve created a list of those:

  1. Dragon Well (Long Jing), Green Tea –  Hanghzou, Zhejiang Province
  2. Green Snail Spring (Bi Luo Chun), Green Tea - Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
  3. Iron Goddess (Tieguanyin), Oolong Tea – Anxi,  Fujian Province
  4. Yellow Mountain Fur Peak (Huangshan Mao Feng), Green Tea –  Huangshan, Anhui Province
  5. Jun Mountain Silver Needle (Junshan Yinzhen), A type of rare Yellow Tea - Yueyang,Hunan Province
  6. Qi Men Red (Qimen Hong), Black Tea - Qimen County, Anhui Province
  7. Big Red Robe (Da Hong Pao), Oolong Tea - Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province
  8.  Liu An Melon Seed (Liu An Gua Pian), Green Tea - Jinzhai, Anhui Province
  9. Xin Yang Hairy Tip (Xin Yang Mao Jian), Green Tea - Xinyang, Henan Province
  10. Monkey King Tea (Tai Ping Hou Kui), Green Tea - Taipin,  Anhui Province

For more information about Chinese Provinces check our previous post – Chinese Tea Provinces.

Happy Tea Break.

Tania


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Victoria Wood’s Nice Cup of Tea

Comedy legend Victoria Wood travels the globe to explore Britain’s love affair with Tea in a two-part special on the little plant that changed the world.

From the back streets of Kolkata to the mega city of Shanghai, Victoria reveals how the cozy cuppa united east and west, triggered wars and helped us win them. Along the way she peeks into a fascinating world of chai wallahs, opium smokers, Assam Tea pickers and grumpy elephants. She asks: how did this strange exotic leaf become such an important part of British life?

What is it about Tea we love so much, and how did we all end up hooked?

Put on the kettle for a nice cup of Tea and check out Episode 1 here:

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Happy Tea Break.

Tania


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Teapod: A small Tea shop in London Bridge

Teapod is a modern but cozy Teashop in Shad Thames near London Bridge. It has a very warm atmosphere with a wide range of Teas and Teapots in display. It sells and serves loose leaf Tea along with breakfast, lunch, and delicious cakes throughout the day.

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The Tea is served with a timer and a card explaining your chosen Tea and the ideal time for infusion so that you can control it yourself. I really liked this as it educates people about the different types of Tea and infusion times. Prices are also quite reasonable starting at £2.20 for a pot for one person.

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They have a range of 20 loose leaf Teas but you can also go for their hot speciality drinks: Matcha latte, Rooibos latte or the Spicy Chai Masala.

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I’ve tried the Jasmine Dragon Pearls with the 70% dark chocolate brownie and it was a great combination. :)

For more information about Teapod please visit: http://teapodtea.co.uk/

Happy Tea Break.

Tania


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Tea KLip – a new way to brew your Tea

I am big fan of Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. There are thousands of interesting projects that you can invest. I’ve invested in a few projects from music, games, videos and even the latest Seth Godin’s book – the Icarus deception  - but today I found a special Tea project,  The KLiP.

The KLip provides an easy way to brew your Tea in a cup and ditch the saucer. The project still has the patent pending, but the integrated saucer design, allows you to simply brew the Tea and go. They had a goal of $8,000 but the project already pledged $13,469 from 313 backers.

From just $25 you can pre-order your own KLiP. :)

Check Joel’s video explaining the project:

For more information about this project visit their Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/670524671/klip-ditch-that-saucer-and-sip-as-you-brew

Happy Tea break.

Tania


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Dinner at Roka

I recently had dinner at Roka, one of my favourite restaurants in London. Roka focus on contemporary Japanese robatayaki (open-charcoal grill) cuisine. At the centre of the restaurant there is a robata grill where you can see the chefs preparing your food.

I’ve been a few times and I always leave happy with the quality and consistency of the food and service. The service is great, the ambience nice and relaxed and the food among the best I have tasted.

Since I visited the Green T. House restaurant in Beijing , I am always looking for dishes and drinks that bring the culinary use of Tea into life and Roka is a great place for that. We started the meal with some sushi and Tea inspired cocktails. I had a Green Tea & Pear Bellini which is composed by dried green Tea, mashed pears and prosecco. The sparkling from prosecco together with the sweet pear flavour is a delicious combination. Luis went for a non-alcoholic version and had a Jasmine Tea with almond, mint and peach which was also delicious…

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As a main we chose some of their Robata signature dishes such as the Black Cod marinated in Yusu Miso which is unbelievable.

I didn’t want to go for a desert but one could not resist the Chocolate to Matcha Pudding Yo-nashi Ausi - a dark chocolate and matcha green Tea pudding with crunchy jivara and pear ice-cream. Sooooooo good!

If you’re looking for a special dining experience in London I highly recommend Roka.

Happy Tea Break.

Tania


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Happy International Women’s Day

Today is the International Women’s Day so time to celebrate it with a nice cup of Tea!

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

Source: sublimeeuphoriarapture.tumblr.com via My Tea on Pinterest

Happy Tea Break.

 


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Tea Wishlist @ My Sea Story Blog

My friend Joana has an amazing blog about her life at Turks and Caicos – My Sea Story – and she also loves Tea. She kindly invited me to guest blog on her blog with a wishlist of Teas. It’s very difficult for me to choose 5 favourite Teas as I get into Tea phases where I drink more green Tea or more Oolong Tea.

Here are my Tea choices for this month (as you can see I am currently going through a Green Tea phase):

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1. Rare Tea Company Whole Leaf Tea – An exquisite Chinese Green Tea that is meticulously hand-crafted. It has a refreshing and light smoky flavour which is the antithesis of bitter, mass produced Green Tea.

2. My Tea Break White Peony – A delicious introduction to Chinese White Tea. This Tea has a creamy and soft taste with a refreshing and sweet aftertaste. You can drink it at any time of the day.

3. Tea Pigs Jasmine Pearls – Little pearls of hand rolled green Tea tips which have been delicately infused with pure jasmine flowers. An amazing refreshing and floral taste.

4. Argo Tea Moroccon Mist – This moroccon mist Tea, a natural gunpowder green Tea from China blended with a refreshing burst of mint, always brings me great memories of travelling with Joana in Morocco.

5. Lahloo Tea Puerh Shou Vintage – Produced by the Mannong Project, a fair trade cooperative, in the heart of a 1500-year-old ancient forest in Yunnan, China. Not everyone’s cup of Tea, but such a special deep, dark, sweet and smooth Tea.

6. Harney & Sons Caribe Blend - This exotic blend of green and black teas enhanced by tropical flavours, such as hibiscus, guava, coconuts and strawberry, marigolds and cornflowers. Perfect if you live in an island like Joana.

Thanks Joana for the invitation!

Happy Tea Break.

Tania

 


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Aged Tie Guan Yin (Iron Buddha)

This week I tried an aged Tie Guan Yin as part of the Canton Tea Club. Tie Guan Yin is an Oolong Tea also known as Iron Buddha.

This aged Tea was harvested in Spring 2007 and is handmade on a traditional Anxi Farm in the Fujian Province in China.It is heavily roasted and then stored for 4 years away from heat, light and humidity to let the deep, toasty flavours develop.

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The initial rich sweet cocoa flavour develops into a long, lingering, dark fruit taste, with hints of toasted oats and cinnamon along the way.

For more information about Oolong Tea please check our previous post that explains all about this Tea: blog.myteabreak.com/2011/03/11/oolong/

Happy Tea Break.

 

 

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