Types of Tea

Pure Chinese Black Teas

There is somewhat confusion about pure Chinese black teas. First of all, the Chinese themselves almost do not drink them at all (giving preference to green tea), so, they produce black tea almost exclusively for export. Partly due to this ‘internal lack of attention’ many kinds of Chinese black teas exist under two names at one and the same time — one being Chinese and the other — English. In this article I shall use European names mostly — let the Chinese and accuracy-lovers forgive me.

Second, the tea that we call black the Chinese call red. The tea that we call red the Chinese call oolong. And the tea that the Chinese call black we know as pu-erh. Did I make it clear? No? Well, that does not matter — just when you buy Chinese black tea make sure it does not say ‘pu-erh’ on the label — otherwise the outcome may surprise you a little. This article will concern those black teas which are called red in China. You can find descriptions of pu-erh and oolong in separate articles — they are worthy of special attention.

Most often a European consumer will meet two kinds of pure Chinese black tea: Yunnan and Keemun.

	Twinings Yunnan Tea.

Everything is more or less clear with the former — this is tea cultivated and plucked in Yunnan estate, which is often referred to as the homeland of Chinese tea and the main tea region of China. Yunnan is located to the north from most other tea regions of the world, there, naturally, grows the Chinese variety of the tea shrub, tea-growing runs to several centuries there — all of these factors cannot but add to the quality of Yunnan tea.

Yunnan Tea is an amazingly light and flavored drink. It is evening tea, better not mixed with milk, sugar or lemon. You may serve it with light snacks — cheese puffs or crackers, for example — or without snacks at all — they can suppress the tea’s aftertaste. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Yunnan’s taste and flavor depend very much on the quality of the tea. If it is not too good (and you will meet a lot of it in our supermarkets), then in your cup you will have a light-brown brew of indistinct taste and averaged tea flavor.

But if you are lucky enough to get good Yunnan tea (for example, Ahmad Yunnan Limited Edition) — follow this instruction. Take a small teapot (250-300 ml), rinse it with next-to-boiling water (such that started to boil already, but does not bubble over yet). Put one tea-spoonful of tea into the teapot — heaping spoonful if the tea leaf is large. Close the teapot with the lid and shake it nine times — like a rattle, holding it tight in both hands. Then open the lid and breathe in the flavor — this will be the first way to get pleasure of Yunnan tea. The tea-leaf will have stuck to teapot walls by this time. Do not inhale too long though — tea needs brewing. Fill up the teapot with hot water (next to boiling again), stir the tea substance with a teaspoon, close the teapot and cover it with a linen tea-cloth. Let it stand for a while (3-4 minutes), then pour the full cup at once without adding water any more. Let the tea in the cup cool a little, watching in a while different patterns on the surface of the tea. Drink it, seeking to rinse your mouth a little with every mouthful of the drink, and after you swallowed, let out a part of the breath filled with tea flavor through your nose. Thus you get the second pleasure of Yunnan tea.

When you finish the first cup, pour the rest of the teapot into the cup (if your cups are not too big, there still will be some tea left). Drink some more of Yunnan — it will be stronger now. When the tea is over, just stay sitting at the table for some time, supporting the chin by your hand, smiling, feeling tea aftertaste, and trying to make up the name for it: fresh, flowery, herbal…

	Twinings Keemun Tea.

Comparable to Yunnan tea, Keemun tea is much simpler. However, unlike most other kinds of tea, almost everything is known about Keemun for sure — the place of cultivation (Qi Men district, Anhui province), the Chinese name (Qi Hung Mao Feng), and even the ‘birth year’ — 1876. The Chinese produce this tea exclusively for Europeans, in accordance with their tastes and habits. And since the main Europeans for the Chinese for a long time were the English, they made Keemun very English.

Keemun is an enigmatic drink. If you drink it plain, with nothing, you will only get puzzled — both taste and flavor of the tea are so simple and plain, that taste buds have nothing to catch on, no subtle nuances, nothing special. But everything changes when you try it with milk, for example, as the English often do, or with any snacks and hors d'oeuvres — from choice sandwiches to some banal rich creamy cake. Keemun is perfect for tea meal. You can drink it with anything — having neutral taste, it perfectly emphasizes the taste of any other food. It may be served at any time of the day, in any place, and in any company.

Keemun does not depend all that much on its quality — sometimes I can hardly notice the difference between Keemuns whose price differs a lot. Sometimes Keemun tea may have light smoky notes, which point out its relationship with Lapsang Souchong (the tea I will speak about in another article). Because of its wonderful compatibility with anything, Keemun is often used in different tea blends.

In supermarkets you can get decent Keemun under trademarks ‘Twinings’ and ‘Taylors of Harrogate’.

Denis Shumakov