Welcome to the culture of TEA!!

Posted by: cnlee | November 13, 2008 | No Comment |

Getting excited to know more about our trip to Asia? Wanna know more about Asia Culture? From now on, we will start to share some Asian knowledge with you. The first topic we are going to share is the TEA culture in Asia.

Feeling exhausted from school work? Take a deep breath and let us enjoy the TEA culture together!

TEA (茶: Cha) has played a significant role in Asian culture for centuries as a staple beverage, a curative, and a status symbol. It’s the most widely-consumed beverage after water

Variety of TEA

Types of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. Below is the list of tea that’s popular in Asian culture.

* White tea: Unwilted and unoxidized
* Green tea: Wilted and unoxidized
* Oolong: Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized
* Black tea: Wilted, crushed, and fully oxidized
* Pu-erh tea

Tea drinking culture

In Chinese society, the younger generation always shows its respect to the older generation by offering a cup of tea. Inviting and paying for their elders to go to restaurants for tea is a traditional activity in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, after a person’s cup is filled, that person may knock their bent index and middle fingers (or some similar variety of finger tapping) on the table to express gratitude to the person who served the tea.
(more)

Brewing Chinese tea

There are many different ways of brewing Chinese tea depending on variables like the formality of the occasion, the means of the people preparing it and the kind of tea being brewed.

The traditional method of making a cup of tea is to place loose tea leaves, either directly, or in a tea infuser, into a tea pot or teacup and pour hot water over the leaves. After a couple of minutes the leaves are usually removed again, either by removing the infuser, or by straining the tea while serving.

Here’s the steps:

1. Boil water, or heat to specified temperature for tea
2. Heat the teaware with boiling water
3. Add leaves to line bottom of the cup
4. Rinse tea leaves and drain
5. Slip water along the side while pouring into cup to ~2/3 full
6. Wait for 30 seconds, Serve

video 1 video 2

Many people are enthusiastic about the art of tea; they enjoy not only the taste of Chinese tea, but also the process of brewing it. The tea culture involved is attractive besides for the relaxation it generates, allowing them to purportedly forget all the trouble in their life during the process of brewing, serving and drinking tea.

Gonfu TEA ceremony (功夫茶)

A Gongfu tea ceremony or kung fu tea ceremony is a type of Chinese tea ceremony. In essence, what is desired in gongfu tea is a brew that tastes great and is satisfying to the soul. Method alone will not determine whether a great cup of tea will be produced. It has been suggested that the chemistry and physics behind Gong fu cha is what makes this method far more superior than any other when brewing Chinese teas.

Video 1 Video 2

Tea Tasting

One way to taste a tea, throughout its entire process, is to add hot water to a cup containing the leaves and after about 30 seconds to taste the tea. As the tea leaves unfold (known as “The Agony of the Leaves”) they give up various parts of themselves to the water and thus the taste evolves. Continuing this from the very first flavors to the time beyond which the tea is quite stewed will allow an appreciation of the tea throughout its entire length

Bubble tea (珍珠奶茶)

Bubble tea, also called “Boba” tea, is a tea beverage that originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and becomes a fashion trend for modern people when looking for some non-alcohol. The literal translation from Chinese is “pearl milk tea”. Each of the ingredients of bubble tea can have many variations depending on the tea house. Typically, different types of black tea, green tea, or even coffee can form the basis of this beverage. Bubble tea cafes are often popular hangouts for younger Asians. (more)

Potential effects of tea on health

Tea leaves contain more than 700 chemicals, among which the compounds closely related to human health are flavanoides, amino acids, vitamins (C, E and K), caffeine and polysaccharides. Tea drinking has recently proven to be associated with cell-mediated immune function of the human body. (more)

Tea Houses