Journal of Chinese Medicine Tea Brochure

Fine Tea

JCM teas are grown on small, traditional farms and are processed by hand just as they have been for thousands of years.

We buy them seasonally, in small quantities so they are fresh and full of flavour.

If you’re new to this tea, a great place to start is with a JCM Fine Tea Selection tin and a glass Piao i tea infuser. The incredible differences between these teas will introduce you to a world of loose leaf teas that takes in 4000 years of Chinese history and culture and just 400 years of tea-drinking in the UK.

Share and enjoy.

Best wishes,

Peter DeadmanFounder and Editor JCM

DISCOVER FINE TEA

www.jcm.co.uk/tea-shop t: 0800 072 02022

‘Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.’ Ancient Chinese saying.DISCOVER FINE TEA

The Beginning: Young Pouchong tea leaves growing high up on Mr Xu's small mountain farm in Wen Shan, Taiwan. 3

‘This tea is more like a culture, even an art.’ Michael Zavialov. Artist and customer.

4

VARIETAL: there are many hundreds of different tea subspecies.

TERROIR: including soil, aspect, altitude and climate.

SEASON: generally spring or autumn

PROCESSING: the skill of the tea producer, whether the leaves are crushed and the level of oxidation.

BREWING: the quality and tempera-ture of the water, steeping time and brewing method.

UNDERSTANDING TEA

Tea is like wine: you can drink supermarket plonk or Grand cru. We have some of the finest teas in the world.

All teas are derived from one plant species, the Camellia sinensis, and these factors determine the taste of your tea.

www.jcm.co.uk/tea-shop t: 0800 072 0202 5

All tea is derived from one plant, the Camellia sinensis. It is categorised into White, Green, Oolong, Black and Puerh tea.

FIVE TEA CATEGORIES

Tea Processing

White tea leaves are withered and dried.•

Green tea is heated quickly to prevent any oxidation. •

Oolong teas are bruised or crushed to encourage oxidation • and then fired or baked to arrest oxidation at a specific level.

Black teas are tumbled, roasted and fully oxidised. •

Puerh is a green tea• which undergoes a complex process involving post fermentation - almost like composting


Each category is determined by how the leaves are processed and the level of oxidation.

oxidaTion in a nuTshellCut an apple in half and it goes brown due to oxidation. When you crush a tea leaf it breaks down the cell walls, releasing enzymes and speeding up oxidation.

Unoxidised green tea Semi-oxidised oolong tea Fully oxidised black tea

7

Different teas can produce an astonishing range of flavours.

JASMINE PEARLS: Hand-rolled green tea buds infused with fresh jasmine blossoms for a soft, sweet, fragrant tea.

WHITE Silver Needle (Yin Zhen): Plump young tea buds, creamy and smooth with notes of honeydew melon.

GREEN Dragon Well (Long Jing): Fresh, sappy and lively, with hints of green bean and sweet chestnut.

8

‘Your teas are mellow and divine.’ Chris Yates, tea correspondent for The Idler

OOLONG Iron Buddha (Tie Guan Yin): Robust and satisfying with a fruity aroma and a toasty, smooth flavour.

BLACK Bai Lin Gong Fu: Young tender buds with a soft, malty sweet flavour, and a velvety mouthfeel.

PUERH: A complex flavour profile with dis-tinctive characteristics including sweet, woody and flowery notes.

TASTING TEA

“Your teas are fabulous, rare and very special.” - Jane Pettigrew. Tea historian and writer


mUlTIplE INFUSIONS

Puerh is prized for its flavour, its medicinal properties and as a digestif.

A single serving can be infused over 60 times and produces an extraordinary range of complex flavours: bitter, sweet, earthy, nutty and floral.

Puerh is compressed into a variety of shapes including a disc (beeng cha), nest (tuo cha), brick (fang cha) and mushroom (jin cha). Beeng cha Tuo cha Fang cha Jin cha


AGED pUERH TEA

Fine PuerhThe best puerh is compressed, aged, post-fermented green tea mostly made from a broad-leafed tea varietal grown in Yunnan.These leaves are processed into two main types: the original, raw or green (sheng) puerh and the more contempo-rary, cooked or black (shou) puerh.

Making Puerh Leaves are rolled, heated, compressed and stored to allow air and moisture to act on compounds in the tea. This creates the characteristic flavours which change through multiple infu-sions. High quality raw puerh is laid down for years, to improve with age and appreci-ate in value.

Vintage puerh is highly sought-after. A tong of puerh sold at auction forUS$160,000 in 2009.

11

OUR ExpERT BUyER

Our buying partner in China has long-standing relationships with the tea producers.

Even after 10 years, he is still mentored by a 5th generation Tea Master whose family have been trading in tea since the 1800’s. This gives complete reassurance that the tea we bring direct to you is authentic and high grade.

Right: Mr Xu snr. A lifetime in tea.


TEA FROm THE SOURCE

Mr Xu, award-winning Pouchong tea farmer on his tea farm high up in beautiful Wen Shan.

13

Precious BlossomA sweet, light golden infusion with soft, melon notes of Silver Needle white tea underlying the floral, hon-eyed taste of the aromatic Globe Amaranth and Marigold.

Brew in a glass teapot and watch the leaves unfurl. These Flowering Teas make a perfect present for tea lovers, they are delicious to share on a sum-mer afternoon or to enjoy with friends after supper.

Precious Blossom in bloomPrecious Blossom in bud

“A delicious, exuberant focus for afternoon tea.” Kirsty Clarke. Designer and customer.


A Spectacular DisplayEach tea bud is crafted from young tea leaves, hand-tied around fragrant flowers. It blossoms in hot water to reveal the brightly-coloured petals and release a fragrant, honeyed infusion.

FlOwERING TEAS

Precious Blossom in bloom

“A delicious, exuberant focus for afternoon tea.” Kirsty Clarke. Designer and customer.

15

wATER TEmpERATURE FOR TEA

Use this traditional Chinese method and watch the bubbles:

Shrimp eyes (the first tiny bubbles) 70°C - 80°C

Crab eyes (slightly larger) 80°C - 85°C

Fish eyes 85°C - 90°C

Rope of Pearls (first rolling bubbles) 90°C - 95°C

Raging torrent 95° - 100°C

Old man water 100°C (over-boiled, ‘flat’ water)

16

1 Water: Spring water from where the tea is grown is best, but impractical. Fresh, filtered water is good.

2 Temperature: As a general rule white and green tea should be brewed cool. White (75°C) Green teas (80°C)Oolong (85°)Black (95°) Puerh teas (100°)

3 Ratio of tea to water: 2-3g or a teaspoon of leaves per 200ml of water.

4 Steeping time: Using plenty of tea in a small teapot means just a few minutes is enough for each infusion.

5 Reinfuse the same leaves: Whole leaf teas don’t give up all their flavour on the first infu-sion. The second and third are often the best.

FIVE STEpS TO pERFECT TEA


The best-selling tea infuser in Taiwan. And here’s why:

Add leaves and water to the top chamber. After steeping, press the button and the tea liquor drains down into the jug below, with the leaves left above, ready for the next infusion. Simple to use and easy to clean.

pIAO I TEA INFUSER


GlASS TEA INFUSERS

These strong glass infusers allow you to appreciate the beauty of the unfurling tea leaves and the bright, changing colour of the tea liquor.

The glass infuser separates the tea liquor from the tea leaves so you can control the steeping time - and it makes them easy to clean.

All these infusers are made from strong borosilicate glass by a leading Hungarian glass maker so they can withstand extreme temperatures.

Straight Glass Teapot Round Glass Teapot Glass Infuser Mug

19

Use a small teapot with a high proportion of tea to water - up to a third of the Yixing’s capacity. Discard the first infusion after about 10 seconds. This is called a wash and is used to awaken the leaves. Then enjoy a series of short infu-sions until the flavour of the leaves is exhausted. High grade, whole leaf teas brewed in this way can be infused at least six times. Fine puerh can be infused as many as sixty times.

BREwING TEA GONG FU STylE

The Meaning of Gong Fu. Gong fu means great skill acquired through dedication - like kung fu, the same term used in martial arts.


Bamboo TrayA robust, handcrafted, slatted bamboo tray which catch-es the excess tea liquor and is ideal for brewing tea in the gong fu style.

Yixing Teapot Authentic, tradi-tional unglazed clay teapots are handmade by master potters. Antique pots develop a beauti-ful patina and are highly valued.

Yixing CupsThese are every-day Yixing clay tasting cups. Each one shows the individual marks and irregularities of an original handmade piece.

Handcrafted from one of the fastest growing grasses in the world, these simple utensils are use-ful, beautiful and from a sustain-able resource.

TRADITIONAl TEAwARE

Bamboo Utensils

21

In tea the polyphenols are classified as catechins and the potent, active one in green tea is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

Recent scientific research is focused on proving that the antioxidant, EGCG protects healthy cells in the body by mopping up the damaging free radicals.

THE SCIENCE OF GREEN TEA

The healthy properties of green tea are attributed to the antioxidant compounds, the polyphenols.


TEA IS GOOD FOR yOU

Now research supports the belief that drinking tea can reduce the risk of developing serious illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and Alt-zheimer’s.

A research team at Newcastle University has found that green tea once digested by enzymes in the gut, results in chemicals that are effective against the triggers of Alzheimer’s

development and in slowing down the growth of cancer cells.

“Green tea has been used in Tradi-tional Chinese medicine for centuries and what we have here provides the scientific evidence of why it may be effective against some of the key diseases we face today.”

Dr Ed Okello, Newcastle University

(Jan 2011)

The Chinese have been drinking tea for health and pleasure for many thousands of years.

23

The Boston Tea PartyIn 1773 this rebellion against the heavy tax levied by the British Government on tea led to the American War of Inde-pendence.

The Opium WarsBritain of the 1800s demanded a lot of tea and the Chinese wanted nothing in return. To help redress the balance of trade and stem the flow of silver into China, the British cultivated opium in

India and made a large profit selling it illegally in China - culminating in the conflicts known as the Opium Wars.

TEA IN HISTORy

Tea has had a profound influence on the history, culture and politics of many nations.

Radical design meant the Taeping teaclipper won the Great Tea Race of 1866.

24

Tea cultivation in ChinaCultivated in China from 650 AD but Chinese legend dates its discovery back to Emperor Sheng Nun, herbalist and scholar in 2750 BC Early tea-drinking in BritainTea hit London in the 1650s but few could afford it. In the 1670s, Cath-erine de Braganza, wife of Charles II, brewed tea at Ham House nr Rich-mond with the Duchess of Lauder-dale, whose China teapot is still there. By the mid 1700s, tea had replaced table ale as the drink of the masses

and in the 1820s the Duchess of Bed-ford started a trend for afternoon tea - still an integral part of British life.

The rise of the whole leafFor 200 years, Britain imported all tea from China. Then in the 1800s the British East India Company developed huge tea estates in India and black tea replaced the Chinese varieties. After WW2, quality went downhill with mass produced teabags filled with the dust which was once dug back into the soil as a fertiliser. Today fine, whole leaf teas are back in demand.

TEA CUlTURE


JCm BESTSEllERS

JCM Mixed Tea Taster TinA brilliant way to ex-plore the different teas in each category - and find your favourite.

Flowering TeasDelightful teas to share and stimulate the senses - fragrant, sweet and pretty.

Jasmine PearlsAward-winning, perfectly balanced, fresh, clean and wonderful with savoury food.

26

Pouchong Green TeaInfuse the big Pou-chong leaves several times for a smooth, refreshing green tea.

Silver Needle White TeaCreamy and soft on the palate and packed with healthy antioxidants.

Piao i Tea InfuserPractical and very easy to clean, it enables numerous perfect infusions.

“Once you enjoy these teas, there is no going back.” Dr D Edwards. GP and customer.


award-winning Teas direcT From The Farm

Available online www.jcm.com/tea-shop or call 0800 072 0202

Journal of Chinese Medicine Tea Brochure

Documents

Transcript of Journal of Chinese Medicine Tea Brochure