Wednesday December 19, 2007 | 4 comments
Long ago and far away, but in this same galaxy, when I was just getting into wine and wine culture, I had a million questions about why certain aspects of wine were supposed to be so important, especially since at the time it didn’t seem so important to me. After all, if it was such a big deal, surely it would be obvious even to a newcomer what the difference was between a barrel-aged wine and one aged in stainless steel tanks; surely I should be able to easily tell a difference when drinking out of a glass made especially for a certain type of wine, rather than my Cost Plus $2.00 on sale special (not to mention my cute little Mason jars and hand-made mugs).
I’ve since learned what those differences are, and how and why they make a difference. Please understand; by that I mean that sometimes the cheaper glass or younger, cheaper wine is preferable—it can depend on the context—but it does make difference, and it’s good to know the difference.
Knowing this, as a tea neophyte, I have questions. I can think of all the reasons why a bag tea in a restaurant can be ok (context, remember?), but I really want to know in what way water temperature, steeping time, gong fu preparation, water content and filtering, loose leaf vs. bag, pot type, and so on are important. Why, and when, should I invest in a pot that heats my water just so? I get that these things change the flavor profile of tea (a subjective area at best), and perhaps the amount of health benefits coming out of that cup of tea. But in what ways?
With wine, so much has to do with the wine’s relationship to what is being served food-wise, or the occasion, or the season. Do these things factor in to tea drinking as well?
There are probably multiple posts in the responses to my questions, but give me some hints. And then, submit those posts!
Hey Anne,
You know that a good question is one that generates a bunch of other questions. And that’s what you have done with this post! I am so new to the tea world myself that I cannot answer any of your questions accurately. (I am lucky these days to have the record of a stopped clock – it is correct at least twice a day!)
I can tell you that water temperature makes a difference, at least with green tea. Boiling water cooks the poor little leaves . . . and they look just like overcooked broccolli! The vibrant green is gone, and the taste is something like the canned peas we were served in school cafeterias throughout the 60′s. Yecccch! That same green tea, steeped in water at 175 – 180 degrees is sweet, fresh, sometimes spicy., nice!
With dessert, say a rum cake, I like a black tea that is spiced with bergamot. In just the past few days, I have been fighting a virus, and I find that matcha genmaicha is as soothing as Bubby’s Chicken Soup!
As far as water . . . when I am at home, I use tap water for brewing. It tastes great! When at school – where the water tastes as though it has been used to rinse a bird cage before being cycled to the drinking fountains – I use bottled spring water.
Keep experimenting, observing, and “follow your palate.” Thanks for the post!
Anne
You ask some important questions. Regarding water quality – the issue really relates to orthodox teas – teas that aren’t blended with strong flavors. The delicate taste profile of white tea and even green teas are significantly impacted by the actual flavor of the water. If one lives in a region with high levels of certain minerals, that can affect the subtle flavor of delicate teas. In Hood River, the chlorine used in the public water supply can adversely affect the taste of some of our teas. When I drink a flavored tea however, the chemical taste is not noticeable. In truth, the flavored teas don’t allow for the actual taste of the tea leaf. The more expensive the tea, the more subtle the flavor – speaking of whites and greens. So when a big tea company packages their green tea with mango surprise, they don’t use high end green tea. The mango flavor, which might even be organic, will totally disguise the flavor of the green team, making higher qualities of tea unnecessary. One could even argue that it would be criminal to flavor some of these sweet, delicious teas. Imagine adding mango flavoring to a fine wine. Flavoring is a real asset when people use boiling water to steep their tea bags in. Again, the mango flavor will disguise the burnt flavor of the damaged tea leaves. So water quality and temperature are only critical when you’re dealing with the whole leaf in it’s virginal, natural state.
I think the jury is still out about the impact of burned teas and their polyphenols. Will excessively hot water destroy the reported health benefits? My instincts yes that’s a possibility. We’re hoping to be able to do the kind of research that is needed in the tea industry to answer this very question. Examining issues of caffeine are another that we’re wanting science to confirm.
Regena is correct about the effect of temperature on leaves, however, it’s more than just over cooking them. The best I can offer as an explanation for you is to recommend that you experiment with different teas at different temperatures and times. You will find that the same tea will have a different sensory profile depending on what temperature you use and how long you steep it for. Keep one variable constant and then just change the other and then switch. I think you will be fascinated with how different it can taste. The actual reason why this occurs is most likely because of how the polyphenols and other phytoconstituents in the tea react to and are extracted based on the above variables.
Gong Fu preparation is a specific ritualized way of preparing tea, usually for the sensory pleasure of an honored guest. You use a small pot and a lot of leaves (usually Oolong), in order to concentrate the fragrance and taste of the tea. It is done ritualistically with all the pots (usually a zisha steeping pot and a sharing pot), cups and tea prepared in a traditional way, that shows your guests the care and patience you put into serving them the perfect cup of tea. The tea is put into small cups for tasting and sometimes first poured into sniffing cups to concentrate the fragrance before being poured into the small tasting cups. This, obviously, is a simplified explanation, but it should serve to make the point.
Water is an essential ingredient in tea as it is the most abundant part of it. If the water is off, so will the tea. Tea, especially the more delicate greens and whites, can be very easily over shadowed by other tastes that may show up in tap water. Very often people are not aware of it, because they have nothing to compare it to. We get our water from Crystal Springs which comes from Mt. Hood. When we first moved here we had a filter company evaluate our water because they wanted to sell us a filtration system. When the guy called with the report, he said that our water was fantastic and he really couldn’t sell us a filter because we didn’t need it. The only issue was low levels of chlorine. We always loved our water and thought it was the best. After we tried out a Lotus Water Filtration System to consider for sale at our online store, the difference was only evident after we went back to drinking our tap water. After that we don’t drink any tea without water from the Lotus.
Bag tea has traditionally been made from the dust and fannings of processed lower quality black tea. These days, however, companies are putting somewhat higher quality teas of all types into new, roomier bags. The problem still remains that bags, even the newer pyramid ones, tend to keep the leaves bunched together. As an example, let’s think about how a medicinal herb is extracted to gain the most of all of the plants chemical constituents. The container with the leaves and extracting medium (often alcohol) needs to be shaken on a regular basis in order to fully extract everything. The reason for this is because the alcohol will only extract from the surface of the plant material it comes in contact with. If it just sits there, the alcohol will essentially extract predominantly from the leaves which surfaces are most exposed to it. All the plant material on the inside are bunched together pressing their surfaces to each other. Shaking the entire contents moves the plant material around and exposing new surfaces to the alcohol. The same is true with a simple cup of tea made with a tea bag. The tea bag keeps the surfaces of the leaves bunched together in the middle touching each other so that the water extracts a smaller percentage of the polyphenols and other constituents from the tea that all contribute to the taste profile and health benefits. Whole leaf tea steeped in pots allows the leaves to spread out and move around more freely so that more of the leaf surface is in contact with the water. More good stuff can then be extracted.
The other issue with whole vs. bag is that whole is more often than not of a higher quality and fresher. Tea bag tea also often has flavoring
Pot type, at least for me, is something that more than anything else it might do, adds another sensory dimension to the tea experience. My zisha (Yixing) pots add an element of tradition and elegant simplicity to my tea practice. I love the look and feel of my zisha pots. There is also something special about the way they are made and how the tea becomes infused in the clay over time. On the other hand, I like a glass tea pot because it allows me to view the tea and see the “agony of the leaves” as they unfold in front of me over multiple steepings. These are just 2 examples of different pot types. I’m sure other will have more and different reasons.
OK, I think I have gone on long enough. I hope at least some of my comments will prove helpful to you Anne. Thank you for your curiosity and eagerness to learn and for reminding all of us of all the complexities of this wonderful world of tea.
Thanks for all the info! After the dust settles post-holidays, I will do some experimenting. I’m not much for flavored teas or tea beverages (they usually come off as too sweet for my tastebuds, somehow), but I can see the appeal in today’s marketplace. When I was younger, I was drawn to them because of their aromas, but the taste was lacking. I wonder if there is a natural progression away from them by those who begin drinking flavored teas, like there is a natural progression for new wine drinkers (from sweet wines to dry)? I have been told also that as we age, our taste buds become less acute, and that older folks tend to prefer bolder, sweeter wines; I wonder if that’s an American thing?