I do agree that the tea comment is silly. Saying you like to drink Lipton tea is like saying your favorite place to eat is Panda Express. To each his own, I suppose, but it sounds awfully silly to praise the imitation when you live in China.
You did catch my curiosity with this, though:
Great Chinese teas are difficult to steep. My favorite kind of Oolong (category) tea for example, will taste disgusting if the steeping temperature of the water is off by even 10 degrees, or the steeping time is extended for even 3 seconds.
Really!
I've had that experience with Japanese greens. My favorite (Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori from o-cha.com) goes from sweet to bitter with about those tolerences -- three seconds and ten degrees.
The Chinese teas in general, and even oolongs in particular, though, I've found to be awfully forgiving. They seem pretty happy with approximately boiling water and 30 - 60 seconds on a first steep. I've actually found that to be sort of the charm of them; you can fly by the seat of your pants on the brewing, and wind up with a fair bit of variety in the product.
My favorites (with these characteristics) are Bai Hao ("Oriental Beauty") and teaspring.com's Wu Yi Yan Cha Bing. What are you drinking that's so touchy?
I've found Chinese Oolongs to be insanely easy to brew if you use a temperature controlled kettle and set a timer. English black teas are even easier. I had an Earl Grey last night that survived being forgotten for 10 minutes while I was chatting.
Side note: I've managed to duplicate the flavor of regular lipton by brewing Bai Hao for about an hour and then reheating it in a microwave. (I didn't brew it that long on purpose.)
Side note: I've managed to duplicate the flavor of regular lipton by brewing Bai Hao for about an hour and then reheating it in a microwave.
Hahaha! That sounds about right.
I've had your standard western tea product only a handful of times in the last few years. Each time I've come away surprised by how impotent and un-tea-like it was. It took me a couple of years to develop a taste for the flavors in good tea; I go back to the regular stuff, and find it surprising that all the subtlety is missing.
When you look at how it's made, the tea you get in the grocery store is analogous to hot dogs: broken pieces, leftover dust, dried out old bits with all of the potent oils and interest gone. If you're just lookin' for a meal, hot dogs will do ya, but don't let me hear you go comparing them to steak.
Though they do make some high quality tea bags these days. I've never seen them in a grocery store, though. Good tea bags have whole tea leaves in them, not dust. And a serious giveaway is that they're HUGE -- tea doesn't give you the right flavor if it doesn't have at least a coffee mug worth of space to unfurl in.
Side note: I've managed to duplicate the flavor of regular lipton by brewing Bai Hao for about an hour and then reheating it in a microwave. (I didn't brew it that long on purpose.)
The white tea? Wow.
Anyway, yes. A more fragile tea is probably a 5+ year aged raw puh-er, as a good example! I still can't brew mine properly. =(
I believe, though I don't speak chinese, that Bai Hao refers to the varietal, while the tea class has to do with when it's harvested and how it's processed.
Those teas are both really strong examples of the respective classes, but are otherwise totally different.
You're right: green teas are pretty easy to destroy as well - but I'm not a fan of green teas, so I don't have a very developed palette for those.
Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the tea I'm drinking. It's at my desk at work, but I bought it from a tea shop, so it's not pre-packaged. I have the name written somewhere at home, though. When you steep some Oolongs incorrectly, the taste you get isn't as much bitter, as a (chinese word) sow taste. I don't know if that's a very good explanation, but I'm more accustom to drinking than explaining! This particular Oolong steeps for 24 seconds on a first steep (after wen ren shuan), and 22-23 on the second at calmed boiling.
My mother is originally from the Indian Subcontinent. She preferred Lipton as well.
I wouldn't say it compared well to some of the more interesting teas I've had in Tokyo (I love Oolong tea as well), but she was probably correct from the price - taste ratio.
You did catch my curiosity with this, though:
Great Chinese teas are difficult to steep. My favorite kind of Oolong (category) tea for example, will taste disgusting if the steeping temperature of the water is off by even 10 degrees, or the steeping time is extended for even 3 seconds.
Really!
I've had that experience with Japanese greens. My favorite (Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori from o-cha.com) goes from sweet to bitter with about those tolerences -- three seconds and ten degrees.
The Chinese teas in general, and even oolongs in particular, though, I've found to be awfully forgiving. They seem pretty happy with approximately boiling water and 30 - 60 seconds on a first steep. I've actually found that to be sort of the charm of them; you can fly by the seat of your pants on the brewing, and wind up with a fair bit of variety in the product.
My favorites (with these characteristics) are Bai Hao ("Oriental Beauty") and teaspring.com's Wu Yi Yan Cha Bing. What are you drinking that's so touchy?