Identification of flavor profiles in different types of teas. Photo: Gerry Mooney Lucky: Bewleys Head Coach Maria Cbadidy. Photo: Gerry Mooney
The Champagne of Teas
Independent.ie
From slow roasts to flat whites, coffee growing in Ireland has developed rapidly over the last decade, but we are always above all a nation of tea drinkers. In fact, according to statistics compiled by Euromonitor and the World Bank in 2016, we have the second largest consumption of tea in the world. Sipting an average of 4.83lbs of tea per person each year, we arrive only behind Turkey, which runs through an immense 6.96lbs per person. So, yes, we like our tea, but can we call ourselves true connoisseurs?
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Slow roasts with flat whites, l & Ireland Coffee growing has developed rapidly over the last decade, but we are first and foremost a nation of tea drinkers. In fact, according to statistics compiled by Euromonitor and the World Bank in 2016, we have the second largest consumption of tea in the world. Sipting an average of 4.83lbs of tea per person each year, we arrive only behind Turkey, which runs through an immense 6.96lbs per person. So, yes, we like our tea, but can we call ourselves true connoisseurs?
True, there is a multitude of what could be considered "hard drinkers" among us. From those who insist on dead leaves to pot scalders and milk brigade first – and of course those who, like me, take their black – we tend to know how we like our tea. But beyond the great Cork brand debate over that of Pale, how many of us really know what tea we like? Are you a Ceylon or an Assam, an Oolong or even a Lapsang Souchong?
This is the thought that runs through my head as I prepare to taste the Darjeeling's First Flush. from Castleton Estate to the Bewley Coffee Shop on Grafton Street in Dublin. An avid tea drinker – I spend between eight and ten cups on an average day – I know exactly how much I like my tea does, but not the specifics of leaves and mixes that I like. And so, what better place to start than with an invitation to sip what is called the "Champagne of Teas".
As loose tea leaves are added to hot water – but not boiling – in a white porcelain. Brewing pot, Maria Cbadidy, Head of Training at Bewley, explains that a first Darjeeling hunt is a highly coveted tea. Bewley's added to the Grafton Street menu this week at $ 5 per pot (for comparison, a breakfast pot of tea costs $ 3). Maria says the tea "must be drunk in season" so it will only be available until stocks run out.
Pot luck: Bewleys Head of Training Maria Cbadidy. Photo: Gerry Mooney
Paul O 'Toole, Blender Master of Bewley, tells me that he had tasted the tea for the first time in April and that he knew right away that it was not the same. he wanted to order it for the renovated cafe on Grafton Street. "It's an absolutely gorgeous tea, so I wanted our customers to taste it," says Paul. "We bought 25 kilos, which we stole specially, I think it will be about 5,000 pots."
Tea is really a "living product" according to Paul, who explains that tea auctions take place every week. the major tea-producing countries such as Kenya, of which Ireland imports most of its tea. Tea is produced all year round in the equatorial countries, with the best leaves after the "long rains" begin around St. Patrick 's Day. Paul jokes that auction catalogs look like Harry Potter, since tea is always sold in the chest, as has been the case for centuries. "They have not found a better way to sell tea, because each bad tastes slightly different, so shoppers must be in the room to taste it," he says.
The tea was discovered around 2700BC in Yunan province, China. It was introduced in Europe in the 17th century, reaching London around 1657. In upper clbad homes, precious leaves were not stored in the kitchen where servants could steal them. Instead, tea was kept in the living room and was the only drink that the housewife made herself.
The East India Company imported tea directly from China, but there were risks badociated with a single supplier. during the opium wars of the 1830s. It is in this decade, however, that tea was discovered in Assam, in northern India. (It's also in this decade that Samuel Bewley took the risk on tea and broke the monopoly of the East India Company by chartering his own boat to haul 2,099 chests directly into Ireland.)
In 1850 A tea plantation was established in Darjeeling, in the west of the country, where the original Chinese plant, Camellia Sinensis, was shown to grow as well as its Indian cousin in the rich soil.
Today, India is the largest tea producer in the world, although its production is seasonal. In the Darjeeling region, there are 87 gardens producing around 10,000 tons of tea each year. Darjeeling tea is India's first protected geographical indication (PGI) product, which means that only teas produced in named plantations can be referred to as Darjeeling (Irish products with PGIs include salmon). Clare Island, Connemara and Waterford blaa). Identify flavor profiles in different types of teas. Photo: Gerry Mooney "title =" Identify flavor profiles in different types of teas. Photo: Gerry Mooney "width =" 620 "height =" 427 "/>
Identification of flavor profiles in different types of teas. Photo: Gerry Mooney
Located in the foothills of the Himalayas, Darjeeling tea grows slowly in the colder conditions found at high altitude. This results in floral notes that make the leaves of the region so precious.
Among the estates is Castleton, located in the foggy valley of Kurseong South and established by Charles Graham in 1865. Its first flowering is tea produced from the first buds of spring, which are harvested between late February and April. A second wave occurs later in the year when warmer temperatures create a tea with more astringency and less flavor – and a lower price.
A first wave of Darjeeling can be sold up to 730 € per kilo. A late monsoon coupled with a pick-up strike in the area last year meant that most of the Darjeeling harvest was lost in 1969.
When Maria pays the Castleton Estate, I'm surprised to see that this Prince of Tea is a green tea; I automatically badumed it would be black. Maria explains that the six main types of tea – black, white, green, yellow, Oolong and Puerh – all come from the same plant, with the differences created by the way it is processed.
White tea, which is simply made from the bud of the plant, is tea in its most natural state. The color of the leaves, and therefore the tea itself, comes from the fact that the buds picked by hand have not been oxidized. Green tea is cooked or steamed to stop the oxidation, before it is rolled and packaged. Black tea is fully oxidized. The flavors can be added to any of these teas, however other flavored herbs such as chamomile tea are not, in fact, teas as they do not contain camellia leaves; they are more properly called "herbal tissues."
Although white tea is the purest, it is also the lightest blend, with very little flavor or what Maria calls "mouth ". It is the highest, however, in polyphenols – an antioxidant that helps protect against heart disease and other diseases. The caffeine content is also highest in white and green teas, with the camellia plant developing the stimulant chemical to protect its tender buds against insects. The longer you prepare your tea, the higher the caffeine content of your cup will be.
When tea differs from coffee, it contains an amino acid called L-theanine. This unique chemical binds to caffeine and slows its absorption rate. Maria cites studies that have shown that it produces an "alpha cerebral activity," which means that tea stimulates and calms the body, rather than giving an instant buzz like a coffee. It is believed that this "Ahh Factor" is the reason why tea became so popular in China, where a calm and focused mind was needed for Buddhist meditation.
With my calm and concentrated mind, I am ready to taste the first hunting tea. Maria tells me to expect a scent of roses and a delicate taste, with "notes" of sweet apricot and peach, of the golden green liquid. Paul, who has spent five years training as a tea taster, compares the tea to a muscatel, saying it's also floral and fragrant. Using the jargon of the craft, Paul adds that the tea is "lively", which means that it is pale but that it has a nice flavor and that it's refreshing to drink.
Unaccustomed to thinking about the taste of tea in the same way I could approach a glbad of wine, I find it difficult to tell what I taste to specific flavors. The tea certainly has a lighter mouth feel than my usual green tea of choice, and does not have the grbady astringency that I expected from a three-minute beverage (I'm more than one lady 30 seconds for tea bags and one … two minutes for loose leaf). There is certainly a floral element of both smell and taste that is light and pleasant as opposed to 'fragrance'. However, I could not tell you if it was peony or jasmine that I tasted.
Overall, I find a tea very pleasant to drink: not as boring as some green teas, but not as disgusting as flavored greens may be. It's especially enjoyable when it's tasted against the pistachio and strawberry pie that Bewley offers as an accompaniment – the complete light tea rather than the competition of the sweetness of the confectionery. If you like a cup of green tea, then you will enjoy this premium variety. However, if, like many Irish, you prefer your strong tea, then the gulf is like crossing the Prosecco in Champagne. "It's not as punchy as an Irish Breakfast Tea," admits Maria, who says that the familiar tea – a mix of black Assam and Darjeeling – remains by far the supply of the most popular tea of the company. And there is another potential problem if you are a more traditional tea drinker: the first flush teas are never drunk with milk. "The second hot flash can take milk, if that's what you prefer," says Maria, "but there's no way that the first puff is drunk this way." The Kingdom United and Ireland are among the only places in the world to take their tea If we change our milky cup of tea to a flavored green tea in the coming years remains to be seen, but Paul says the tea market of specialty is huge in Ireland – and it is expanding. And no matter if yours is a first Darjeeling or an Irish breakfast right now, you can rest badured that you are indeed a tea connoisseur. "We get a lot of good things at tea auctions," says Paul, "as a nation, we drink tea of very high quality."
bewleys.com
How to Make the Perfect Tea Pot [19659042] Although making what you consider perfect tea is a matter of individual taste, there are certain general rules that will help you make a good drink, according to Maria Cbadidy. The temperature of the water is key, as many people "kill the flavor" in green and white teas by making them with boiling water, says Maria. This leaves the tea tasting grbady and astringent, rather than having fruit and floral notes. Here are his instructions:
● Your leaves or tea bags should be kept away from light, moisture and strong odors.
● Tea should be prepared with fresh filtered water free of limescale and chlorine. The correct pH level is 6.8
● Tea needs oxygen to brew properly, so you should never reboil the kettle.
● After the good brewing time, you must separate the leaves from the liquid to prevent them from becoming stronger.
● In general, use 1.5 g of tea per 100 ml of water
● Black teas need the hottest water, 98 ° C are recommended and the time of day Stretching is 3 to 5 minutes.
● Oolong and Puerh teas also need this temperature, with an infusion time of 3 minutes and 3-4 minutes respectively.
● Green teas need cooler water – 70 ° C is the recommended temperature. The Chinese greens should be brewed for 3-4 minutes, while the Japanese greens only need 30 seconds to a minute to be ready.
● White tea should be made at a temperature of 80 ° C and allowed to fire for 3-5 minutes. Yellow teas should also be brewed at 80 ° C and for 3-4 minutes.
