Margaret Ledoux - The Spirit of Tea Making: A Simple Guide to Enjoying Taiwanese Tea

People are brought together for a purpose.

When in harmony they will discover the path

they will walk together.

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A Simple Guide to Enjoying

Taiwanese Tea

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I ntroduction C

In both Britain and France, where I grew up, tea is a classic drink taken black or with milk and sugar or infused with different herbal flavours. An unforgettable four years in Taiwan introduced me to a different approach to tea and tea drinking that I would like to share with you.

The tea ceremony of Japan is well known and appreciated for its precision and beauty of setting and movementsa far cry one might think from the more down-to-earth approach of the British cup of tea or the French herbal infusion. Yet the English, too, developed tea drinking as an important practice either to start the day well, or to calm the nerves after an upsetting experience, or to enjoy socialising in a relaxed and happy environment. In France, in my experience, tea is also considered more relaxing than coffee, to be preferred whenever a soothing beverage is more appropriate.

Truly, there are many ways of appreciating the brew both through the way in which it is served as well as the way in which the tea leaf itself has been prepared to release its own particular flavours.

Today, tea drinking is becoming increasingly popular throughout Europe. At the same time the health benefits of tea are also becoming recognised and authenticated.

In Taiwan I discovered the delicate oolong teas, which contrast strongly with the better-known, astringent black teas from the Indian subcontinent, or the powdered, bitter green teas of Japan.

The East India Company developed the tea trade principally with the black teas of India, Sri Lanka, and China. The tea traders in Taiwan, realising that competition with these black teas would be extremely difficult, decided to develop the quality of the lesser-known but equally delicious oolong tea. Where black tea is completely and rapidly oxidised, oolong is partially oxidised to release polyphenols that provide the delicate sweetness, the vast palette of aromas, and the health benefits of antioxidants that characterise the tea.

In Taiwan, oolong tea is appreciated in a similar way to great winesaccording to colour, body, aroma, and taste. The region and height above sea level of the tea plantation can affect these qualities. Teahousesfrom the simplest to the most sophisticatedare found in every corner of the country, each offering their preferred range of teas.

It is in Taiwan that the ancient traditions of cultivation and processing have been respected, maintained, and developed. Taiwan produces extraordinary teas which, as I discovered and came to appreciate during my years there, can be greatly enhanced by entering into the ancient spirit of tea making.

And so dear reader, I would like to share my journey into the world of tea mastery, made with my dear friend Christi Lin and our tea master Nancy Chao, by introducing you to the art of tea making. Like all good journeys, we will start at the beginning with a brief history of tea drinking and the basic differences in tea, before exploring the delightful practice of Taiwanese tea tastingthat precious moment stolen from lifes hectic day to nourish individual well-being, and when shared with friends, cement relationships.

The journey would not be complete without a closer look at Taiwanese oolongs, the search for quality, the importance of processing, our personal selection, and an overview of the benefits tea drinking may bring to our health.

A Teapot-sized History of Tea C

It is almost impossible to know with any accuracy when the practice of tea drinking began. One thing is for sure: it was a long time ago, probably as far back as any civilization in China can be traced. It is known that about 5,000 years ago, in the mountains of southwest China in what is now Yunnan Province, the first tea gatherers simply toppled the trees to harvest the leaves, which were then dried and preserved in tightly compressed cakes. However, according to popular legend, tea was discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shennong in 2737 BCE, when a leaf from a nearby shrub fell into the water he was boiling, giving a colouring and taste the emperor appreciated.

The medicinal qualities of the tea leaf were prized by Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism as both calming and stimulating; the drink enabled practitioners to maintain a clear but relaxed state of mind ideal for both lessons and meditation. At this time tea was not processed but ground into a powder and prepared as a rather bitter beverage. It was not until much later, between the third to fifth centuries AD, that steaming the leaves was found to reduce the bitterness of the beverage rendering tea more palatable and popular.

As devotees of Buddhism began to spread across Asia the practice of tea drinking spread with them, finally reaching Japan by the ninth century. Monks cultivated the tea, creating the first methods of propagation, and sold the beverage to support their monasteries.

During the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907), tea leaves were compressed into bricks for storage, travel, and trade. The tea was then roasted to remove any possible traces of humidity before being ground and added to hot water. Today in China, Puerh, a post-fermented tea, is similarly compressed into bricks before being left to ferment and age. Often round in shape, it is wrapped in paper indicating when and where it was processed.

The practice of tribute tea or gong cha [] was also introduced during the Tang Dynasty; this was tea sent to the emperor as homage. By the time of the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279) the emperors commanded that only the best teas be sent as tribute. This was a great incentive for the development of new teas. White tea first emerged in the Song Dynasty. Loose tea was the preferred tribute of the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644). Black tea and then the oolong teas appeared in the early part of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911).