Tea the New Wine

Tea is the new wine – website tells how to select the right one “Sturdy enough, yet elegant with a good colour and above all tasty” It’s the kind of description you would expect to see on the back of a wine bottle. But this is not a robust red or even a wine at all. It’s a breakfast tea, No. 1 Breakfast Blend to be precise - and the best cuppa you can get of a morning, according to the connoisseurs at www.highteas.co.uk. High Teas’ passion for and knowledge of their products is helping to elevate the good old British cuppa into a rather more gourmet affair. Its founder, Tony Marks, was previously a director of a successful wine company and in retirement is now pursuing his love of tea, bringing unique and unusual gourmet teas direct to the door of tea lovers. To help shoppers decide which of the fine teas to purchase Tony’s helpful ‘tea blog’ offers personal recommendations and insights into the fascinating world of tea. Try Moroccan Mint Tea, Earl Grey Fume, or Imperial White Peony with Rose Petals. Some of the teas available even boast health and weight loss benefits. There is a very wide range of teas available on the site including teas from Fine & Noble that come in special pyramid shaped free-flow nylon bags for improved infusion and flavour. As with all of the teas on the site, Fine & Noble teas are made in the traditional ‘orthodox’ method and therefore take longer to brew, creating a flavour that simply cannot be matched by an everyday teabag. High Teas is passionate to the point of being obsessed when it comes to finding the best quality, most interesting teas from around the world from breakfast teas to Chinese green teas, Oolong teas and White teas. The selection includes loose teas, speciality teas and many useful and stylish tea products such as infusers, tea glasses and brewing baskets. With so many unusual and delicious teas available from the site there is something for every tea drinker. Visit High Teas to start exploring the fascinating world of tea or to find the perfect unique gift for the tea lover in your life. Tony Marks – 14 July 09 – www.highteas.co.uk For further information email me at leflaneur@talktalk.net

Chinese Yunnan Black Teas, and Japanese Green Sencha Teas

Black teas of Yunnan Province

This week I'm extolling the virtues of the black teas of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. We stock three delicious varieties – they're all complex, rich and malty. Our newest listing is the Black Needle tea. It has a wonderful gold liquor and an intriguing buttery character. Don't miss out on these three teas.

Sencha Fukuya and a legendary Gyokuru Asahi

I've also been persuaded by two Japanese sisters, who buy Darjeeling teas from us, to list two of their favourite teas from back home. Guided and converted by them, we now stock a Sencha Fukuya and a legendary Gyokuru Asahi. A new experience for me, but that pronounced vegetal taste is now becoming essential, at least once a day in my life. I think you'll like them.

Fine and Noble – Pyramid tea bags

Fine and Noble – Pyramid tea bags

Dear Friends, I'm really surprised at myself speaking so enthusiastically about teabags, but Fine and Noble Pyramid bags are something special. Not only do they contain whole leaf teas of the highest quality and the construction of the bags allows the best infusion of the leaves.Fine & Noble pyramid bags really satisfy the gourmet palate. They deliver elegance, flavour, tradition and enjoyment whilst containing all the goodness for which tea is becoming well known – flavournoids, polyphenols, tannis, vitamins and minerals. The range is specially selected by tea experts using only the finest teas from the “old” tea growing world – China, India and Sri-Lanka. They are manufactured using the more traditional “orthodox⁽¹⁾” method rather than on the CTC⁽²⁾ machines more commonly used on today’s tea bags. The quality of these teas, combined with the free-flow nylon pyramid bag, result in a slow release of flavour and character that is impossible to match with an every day tea bag. To appreciate the full flavour and quality of these teas, it is advisable to allow at least three/four minutes for brewing.

High Teas now stock the entire range of Fine and Noble teas, which includes some caffeine-free infusions.

Give them a go – you won't be disappointed. Best wishes Tony Marks

Notes

(1) Orthodox Manufacture

After selectively picking (often by hand) tea leaves. The leaves are allowed to wither, reducing their water content and making them soft and pliable. Once withered, the leaves are gently rolled to break down the cellular structure, beginning the oxidation process. This method is used for fine whole leaf teas.

(2) CTC Manufacture

In the Crush-Tear-Curl process, tea leaves are plucked and withered. After they are withered the tea leaves are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers that crush, tear and roll the tea leaves into tiny, irregular balls. CTC tea is used primarily in mass-market teabags. Given the small particle size, CTC tea has a greater surface area ratio than whole leaf tea, causing it to brew quickly and generally have a thicker body with more astringency.

Pu-erh Teas: How to brew pu-erh tea

What is Pu-erh Tea?

Pu-erh tea has become really popular in the West, in all its forms. It is a tea lovers favourite and is often described with terms such as rich and earthy or ripe and mellow, some would even say old tasting in, a complimentary sense.

The fast growing interest in this wonderful product has persuaded us to put together a few really good examples for you to try. In time we will expand the representation of Pu-erh teas on the list.

Pu-erh is a tea that is purposely left to age, and like a fine wine the older it gets the more prized it becomes. It's not uncommon for Pu-erhs to be many years old, usually between 1 and 5 but much older is possible, and each year that passes will only fortify its character and further mellow its flavour.

The journey from unfermented leaf to Pu-erh Tea is a remarkable one as it bears no resemblance to the methods used for making Green Tea. The leaves are withered in a similar way to Green Tea, but before all the moisture has gone they are piled into heaps to allow bacterium to react. A thin layer of mould will often develop and this is wholeheartedly encouraged as it benefits the overall character and flavour of the tea.
Pu-erh is then formed into bricks or cakes, gently wrapped in paper, and stored outside on racks to age. The final stage ensures the Pu-erh bricks mature to the full as they are then stored underground, and this is where they can lay for many years to mellow and evolve.

The medicinal benefits of Pu-erh are not without substance either, as according to scientific research it helps reduce cholesterol, increase metabolism and aids in digestion, especially that of fatty foods. Pu-erh has been highly regarded in Traditional Chinese Medicine for many years, maybe the health benefits are in the abundant microbial activity, in which case it's similar to other living foods we hold in high regard, such as live yoghurt for example.

Pu-erh gets its name from its birthplace, therefore the small county of Pu-erh in China's Yunnan Province can be thought of as its true home, and to this day Yunnan Province is still a major producer of these exceptional teas.

Today Pu-erh teas can be purchased as loose tea, and as small and larger cakes and larger cakes of compressed teas.

Brewing pu-erh tea:

1. When the bricks are extremely tightly pressed it is best to use a strong knife to carefully pry out some leaves. The technique that works best is to insert the knife into the edge of the brick and then gently work it up and down until the tea loosens and falls off.
2. Add about 3-4 grams per serving of tea (the amount depends upon type of pu-erh) to your teapot.
3. Add hot boiling water at a full rolling boil.
4. Steep for 2-3 minutes. Once the tea seems ready, give it a stir and then pour and taste. If necessary, adjust the steeping time for a stronger taste.

New Pu-erh teas page You can find the best quality Pu-erh teas, selected for you by High Teas with the same passion for high quality teas, on our new Pu-erh teas page.

Tisanes and herbal teas on Highteas.co.uk

Our Tisanes

Following its enormous surge in popularity thanks to positive publicity surrounding the numerous health benefits of herbal and fruit tisanes, we just had to investigate.

The first indisputable fact that we soon established is that there is a vast array of delectable flavours available to consumers. Apart from the suggested health benefits, they are just plain delicious.

what are tisanes?

Tisanes look like tea and are brewed in boiling water like tea – yet they do not come from the Camellia Sinensis bush, the plant from which all teas are made.

Instead, tisanes are made from mixtures of dried leaves, seeds, grasses, nuts, barks, fruits, flowers or other botanicals that give them their taste and contribute to an array of folk and researched-based herbal tea benefits.

Here are some of the suggested herbal tea benefits when consumed on a daily basis.

• Achieve a more calm, relaxed state of mind
• Support heart health
• Aid with stomach and digestive problems
• Provide cleansing properties for the body
• Promote energy and wellness

We were principally looking for delightful, sometimes complex beverages, that give real pleasure. They certainly do not contain the dreaded caffeine.

We have sourced our tisanes from two celebrated sources of the finest tisanes available. The herbal teas tend to come from one supplier and the fruit infusions from another specialist.

From conservative "only the real thing will do" tea drinkers, we're now convinced that there is an important place for tisanes in our range, and hope you will share our pleasure.

Please let us have your feedback.

New Yixing Teapot and Chinese Porcelain Carp Design Teapot

Yixing Teapots

Good well-priced Yixing teapots are hard to find, but when I come across interesting items I'll advertise them on the site. Here's a little background on Yixing.

Yixing teapots are very special teapots made from zisha clay, a rare type of purplish clay made of iron, quartz and mica. It is found only in Yixing, China; a town located roughly 120 miles north west of Shanghai amidst rolling hills. Zisha clay is so unique in fact, that Yixing is the only place in the world where it can be found. This very rare material gives the Yixing teapot special properties that make it one of the most sought after teapots in the world, for both collectors and tea enthusiasts alike.

Besides the Yixing teapot's beauty, it is also considered to be one of the finest tea brewing pots in the world. It is said that if you pour hot water into an empty Yixing teapot that has been in use for many years, you can brew tea without any tea leaves. Zisha clay is extremely porous and will absorb the flavor of tea, making each brew better and more flavorful every time it is used. Another special quality of zisha clay is its ability to retain heat. It has a low shrinkage rate when the clay is fired in a kiln, and potters can create a tightly fitting lid that will decrease oxidization and further increase tea flavor. What's more, zisha clay comes free of any toxic materials like lead, arsenic and cadmium, which can found in some other types of clay.

Yixing teapots are arguably among the finest teapots in the world. When evaluating a teapot's brewing quality, four factors are taken into consideration: The color of the tea produced, and the levels of phenol, caffeine and aminophylline. The Yixing teapot's performance has been found to be superior to that of standard teapots in all four areas of testing.

Not only are Yixing teapots an important part of Asian culture and sought after by tea enthusiasts and collectors across the world, but they are unique and valuable works of art. Each one is a simplistically beautiful tribute to the Asian arts, and each one brews a healthier, superior, more flavorful cup of tea as well.

Chinese Porcelain Carp Design Teapot

Not only is the price exceptional but the quality is excellent too. It's obviously a highly subsidized product.

Get Loose Christmas Promo!

Our Christmas tea is a rich and spicy leaf blend of fine teas with added orange peel, marigold petals and cinnamon bark to give a rich festive flavour. Great for a cold winter's evening. Makes a great gift or part of a gift for the festive season. With our compliments we'll enclose 50g on us for every order in excess of £10.00, or you can buy on the Traditional Blend page. It's fabulous!.

You can also get our best seller Funky Infuser a an extraordinary price, Just 1£!

Offers end 30 December 2008