Thursday August 9, 2007 | 19 comments
My daughter called me last week asking my opinion about the recent publicity of unhealthy food coming out of China. She mentioned that about 15% of their food supply is tainted. However, that didn’t apply to their exported food products because they only exported their very best products. So in the case of food, China is more interested in showing the world their very best.
I find it interesting that when it comes to tea, this philosophy doesn’t apply. As I’ve mentioned before, early tea that was exported from China was the very lowest grade of tea. I’m told it was tea that wouldn’t even have been drunk by the Chinese, as the quality was so low. I’m curious to understand this. Obviously, today very high grades of tea are in fact exported routinely around the world from China. I’m still told however, that the very, very best teas are not exported. They are reserved for the Chinese.
I’d welcome some explanation / discussion about this phenomenon. Perhaps as we become a truly global economy, each country must export their best in order to gain acceptance and demand around the world. I suspect tea would have become more mainstream a lot sooner if good quality teas had been provided to the general public earlier. Today it’s requiring people to try tea again, as most of us have early recollections of poor quality and improperly prepared tea. Today’s teas are a far cry from what Grandma offered you decades ago.
Photos
Main page: Longjing master fryers, Xinhua News
This page: An auction winner who won 200 grams of top-quality Longjing for USD $14,000, Xinhua News
I believe that Western acceptance of poor quality teas has deep historical roots (which undoubtedly James Norwood Pratt can clarify). Some has to do with the facts that the long journey and improper conditions of transporting tea to the West degraded the quality and frequently crushed the whole leaves. Later, in the 20th Century, once the disposable tea bag was introduced to an already convenience-driven culture in the USA, the poor-quality fannings suited that product and our uneducated palates. Not only could these bits of tea be completely contained in their paper sachet, but the tea bag could steep for a very long time and still yield what was (is) considered a potable cup of tea. It’s no wonder the Chinese wouldn’t push their best teas on a market that was happy to pay for the by-product in their production system.
Personally, I don’t think it was the quality of teas that keep this beverage from having lost it’s potency in our culture. I’d guess it has more to do with the fast-paced 20th and now 21st Century lifestyle. Remember, ritual of all sort seems to have been tossed aside, not just the rituals of tea.
Point taken Eric but I still feel that Lipton (?) did a disservice to their customers by purchasing such low grade tea…….to save a few dollars…..rather short sighted I think. I’d like to see a company committed to excellence, which clearly they weren’t. I believe the Chinese were equally short sighted. They should have refused to sell such inferior tea……but again they were profit driven. I guess I’m philosophically appalled.
I believe the long journey and improper transporting conditions resulted in the development of black tea. My comments about the grade still apply. I would also disagree with what could be called a “potable cup of tea”.
Seeing China from their viewpoint gives us the insight into the tea trade and its importance in chinese life. No food or no meal or no activity of life is complete without tea, so no question arises about contamination in tea.
Most of the times tea is as sacred as God itself when it comes to pu’er or other extreme examples like baoxiao fu cha of hunan.
The 2 gentleman I wrote about in India who have been subsisting solely on tea for the past 12 and 22 years, would probably agree.
There seems to be some discrepancies between the opinions above and my observation of recent news and studies. Firstly, the perception that food products exported out of China are generally of higher quality is perhaps true. But the terms “higher” and “very best” can be nebulous and dependent on the default level of “normal”. Secondly, now and then the tea blogosphere is rife with concerns about pesticide and fertilizer taint in tea.
Left and right nowadays I read news articles on tainted food products coming out from China into the U.S. and other countries…be they frozen seafood, pet foods, toothpaste, honey, etc.. As we all know, Chinese products got the scrutiny recently due to the deaths of our loved ones: dogs and cats. Now, many other products including dangerous tires to lead-tainted toys have been linked to China as well. Whether the scrutiny is fair or not I can’t say. The scary thought is we only hear about those that got detected, which could be only a small %-age!
What this has got to do with the price of tea in China? A lot.
The surge of interest in tea (within and outside of China) brought about increased demand for a relatively constant supply. This, as a natural reaction, creates the need to fulfill that additional demand. The concern has not gone unquestioned and it’s out there among general consumers regarding tea farmers who want to increase and/or guarantee output by employing pesticides, herbicides and other types of chemicals without the proper knowledge, training, discretion, and most importantly, effective policing.
Not long ago, Darjeeling was reeling from concerns of high level of pesticides and harmful chemicals in their teas, which prompted many countries to impose strict guidelines or even halt importation altogether. The more recent concern is about the tea farmers in Yunnan, who before could not afford fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, but are now the beneficiaries of increased interest in Pu’er tea worldwide. Now they can afford to buy the chemicals from local and foreign companies. Problem is, I read reliable studies that many tea plantations tend to overuse pesticides and fertilizers in order to secure a large output and increase their bottom line without understanding fully the health and environmental consequences.
All in all, I refuse to be naive and think everything is plain vanilla when it comes to tea from China (or from anywhere else for that matter). To suggest that everything tea-related is pure and natural is to grossly mislead the public. At the same time, this shouldn’t be a cause for overconcern as we are exposed to a gamut of unhealthy things in our daily lives: overuse of fire retardant chemical in our sofas and beds that got absorbed by our bodies; second hand cigarette smoke, E. coli in our spinach, etc. (that is a sad way to reason, I know). TEA IS STILL HEALTHY (in moderation, of course). The point is, it is hard to know which tea is truly taint-free. Even those that are labelled as organic, such certification can at times be an exercise in bribing the certifiers, as Ankit recently conveyed. I certainly do not give much hoot at Chinese teas that are labelled as “organic” because the first thing that comes to mind usually is “Who and how much did they pay to get that label?”
Going back to what Michelle was saying about the quality of tea exported from China, considering some of the things the West did to get that tea, I am not surprised that China was not forthcoming with the good stuff as it were.
I think the main problem facing modern tea drinkers in America is the lack of education opportunities, thus consumers remain ignorant. Working in specialty foods, most new tea companies I see come into our stores capitalize on this instead of rectifying it, relying on the same flavored teas, peach, mango, and now pomegranate, or the current buzz words to sell their product.
It is nearly impossible to buy high quality tea in stores, forcing us to turn to the internet, where the same problems exist. Without knowing what to look for, the average consumer has no way of deciphering quality tea from crap, and for every legitimate tea forum out there with solid information, there are many more beset with idle chatter about wonderful weight loss teas.
With the current China related food scares, it have become even harder to get even good tea, never mind high quality, into customer’s hands. I have had more than one customer this last month refuse to buy something because of the words “Made in China,” or “Product of China.”
Other problems my customers have with quality loose leaf tea is that it isn’t de-caffeinated and, well, its loose leaf tea. The two most common questions I get after showing a customer a tea are, “Does it have caffeine,” and “Does it come in tea bags.” Working with tea used to be fun, but now it is just…frustrating and unsatisfying.
I completely agree with you Alex but, come on, you can’t give up the fight just because it has gotten more challenging. It is precisely at these times that it becomes essential that people like yourself get creative, not deflative. Think of the great service that you do every time you inform and alter the palate of even one person. That person then becomes one of the converted and a new diplomat sharing the message of tea.
Michelle, perhaps I went off-tangent with my comment above.
Regarding those very best teas, to my knowledge they are not for the foreign market because it’s a function of rarity and advanced allocation to some influential individuals. There are enough rich people in China who are able to absorb the supply of the very best teas through auctions and such and pay a fat sum of money for them.
Also, the very best teas are often allocated to the well-connected or deep pocketed people. They are not produced in high quantity and they usually go to top members of the government or someone with a lot of political influence. In Japan, I heard that the most treasured Gyokuro goes first to those within the closest circles of the teamakers. There is simply not enough to be exported out. The value of these very best teas can be exceedingly high, too.
So I think it’s more of a function of whether you have access to them or not…and not because the West doesn’t know good tea yet.
Alex – I feel so sad by your conclusions. I am determined to help new tea drinkers get comfortable with whole leaf tea. My new tea vessel will make the preparation a no brainer and issues of caffeine can and need to be addressed. And of course show them how to make their own dam tea bags with fresh, high quality teas! Please don’t loose heart. Hold on to the newbie that delights in their new tea ritual. Imagine the child who discovers tea and actually avoids the trap of coffee and high sugar beverages while she/he flourishes in the abundance of polyphenols and cavity free teeth. We can help to make this happen. The universe is teaching us patience. Namaste
hi everyone!
my way of thinking could be different from all the views submitted here – anyways i would like to share them with you so that i can be corrected if i am wrong.
i believe china is a country that perhaps has the best marketing skills and can create a hype for anything – up to the extent that they can sell air. when we talk of tea – white teas, green teas, black teas, …….. and all others teas have a lot of medicinal value and are all health teas but the Chinese made it a point to promote green teas mainly as their production consists of mainly green tea (nothing wrong in that – just the way they operate). the same is the case about the best quality teas being drunk in china or only being sold in china – they create a price band which is unimaginable and people really get knocked off hearing the price and they confirm having sold that tea in china to a Chinese company – there is no proper system of auction in china so that sale is publicised but there is no guarantees that the amount at which it is bought is a fair price or a manipulated price. hence my conclusion is that these tactics are all marketing gimmicks.
this hyped price is marketed so well that when a person in the outside world is paying a couple of hundred dollars for his Chinese green tea – he doesn’t feel bad because he thinks he still made a good deal.
thank you.
ankit lochan
http://www.indusfoundation.com
Ankit,
You brought up a very good point! I agree. There is a lot of gimmick going on in those auctions and the pricing of teas that won a certain quality competition. Those are designed to attract the media and to “wow” the general consumers. These things must always be viewed with the utmost skepticism.
I also referred to Michelle about the “very best” teas that don’t even get a whisper in the media. These are teas that change hands quietly from one businessman to a government official in hope to gain favor, or from the farms to the hands of influential persons because a certain plot of the land where the tea grows has been designated to this or that family. I am not sure whether the following story is true or not, but Chairman Mao Ze-dong used to receive tea every year from a designated plot of land, which has some significant tea history behind the land or the tea trees. I think it was punishable by death to export the tea from this plot of land. I don’t remember the details and I can’t vouch its truth.
Part of the problem is the sensational media. They often turn a few reported cases into an “epidemic.” Unfortunately fear is at the heart of ratings. All countries produce some unhealthy products, and so we must be educated consumers. Buying good Chinese tea from a reputable tea vendor is just as healthy as buying organic greens from a regional farm.
Here is my opinion on why high-grade Oolong tea doesn’t get exported to U.S. How much people are willing to pay depends on how much people appreciate it. For example, Chinese love fish heads and fish heads are sold in higher price than fish body. In U.S, however, nobody eat fish heads and they are worthless. Same apply for high-quality tea. If you don’t appreciate high-quality tea, you are not willing to pay a good price for it.
High quality tea usually requires right serving utensils. For example, if you use an office cup instead of Yixing pot or Gaiwan to steep high quality Tie Guan Yin, it is almost certain that the one worth $400 per pound will taste like the one worth 30$ per pound, unless you are a really good tea drinker. In China, there are thousands of tea houses where good tea are sold per serving and are prepared correctly. People pay for teas by serving, not by ounce or by pounds.
So I wouldn’t say “the very best tea is reserved for Chinese”. Instead, there is a huge demand for the very best tea in China while in U.S the demand is relatively small. If the demand is small, who would export the very best tea here?
A very healthy and animated discussion but fact remains that Chinese teas are good, sometimes very good and deserve prices which prevail in its country, barring some extraordinary ones which are bound to happen in any society, wheather right or wrong.
Tea, no doubt forms a special place in chinese mind, which is higher than normal food and has done wonders to the human body in the final shape up to what it is today.
So let us agree to the fact that the price it deserves must be higher than the normal food.
thank you phyll for agreeing with me – i actually thought that people would think i am crazy and i do not accept that chinese green teas are worth what the news says they sell for – but i am happy that you and others agree with what i say.
i am not against chinese teas – i personally love wuyi oolongs very much – my point is they should be sold in a fair trade manner and not in a way that the overseas buyer is cheated or is charged a very high price due to his lack of knowledge.
we should not encourage these marketing gimmicks and i would say try and stay far from teas that carry such a price tag which is in my language – stupid price.
thank you.
regards
ankit
Thank You All profusely for this wonderful insight. Everyone of you increase my knowledge each day about this amazing Leaf.
You all exemplify what TChing is all about. Knowledge and intellectual discourse on what that knowledge means to each of us regarding our common interest. In this case TEA, and how it grows, how it’s processed, sold/distributed, and it’s healthful/spiritual implications in our lives….PJF
One of my friends was actually involved in a tea auction. He told me why he was willing to bid over $20,000 for 2 ounce of tea. Tea auction is a way of marketing specific kind of tea and is usually organized by local government, who will spend thousands of dollars in organizing tea auction and inviting a lot of newspaper and TV reporters. Whoever the winner is will get all the publicity. So you spend $20,000 not just for 2 ounce of tea, but for all the publicity you get which worth much more than $20,000.
Only in China :roll:
When people pay $20,000 for a bottle of rare wine, it is a matter of pride.
When someone pays $20,000 for an extraordinary longjing, it is hype.
What an argument.
Why don’t we try to understand the importance of some one’s sentiments and culture?