All the Tea in China...

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...it seemed was in this little shop. My new friend, Tova from last Sunday at Kevin's, took me to the wholesale market to buy tea. As you already know, tea is big in China. Bigger than coffee is in the US. If you go to a restaurant, you most likely will be served tea instead of water. Over half the drinks on a menu are tea based. If you are sick, they tell you to drink tea. They can tell you which teas are good for your complexion, which are good for when you eat greasy food, and which tea will be good for your eyes. They even have tea school, where you learn about the art of making and preparing tea, storing tea, serving tea. I'm not even going to get into the different kinds of tea. Let's just say there's more than Earl Grey, camomile, apple spice, and "sleepy time."

The first shop we went into they didn't even say 你好。 Moving on...

The second shop is where we spent the next 2 hours. The closest I have ever come to such an experience is a combination of two things:
1. Teavana, a tea store where you can smell any of the 100 kinds of tea while sipping on the sample of the hour.
2. a beer tour, where they let you sample any kind you want, cheerfully refilling your vessel, in hopes you will buy more.

We sampled green teas, black teas, and more green teas, and black teas that looked green in color. Some were flat, some leaves were rolled up into tiny balls and uncurled when heated and soaked. Many tasted better than they smelled. We were allowed to touch and smell the tea as much as we wanted. This was truly a hands on experience. All were kept in the freezer to preserve freshness.

After a bit, I think mostly because our guy wanted a smoke break, they brought in a tea expert from down the hall. She has been to tea school. I watched as she smelled the tea as it was brewing, making sure the balance was just right. Weak tea is just as bad as tea that is too strong. Carefully, she would wash the serving vessel (sometimes a traditional tiny clay pot, sometimes a tiny glass pitcher) with tea. Yes, here they wash with tea first. Then, using tea tweezers, she would wash our cups and dump out the tea. Our cups were three times the size of thimbles and so delicate and thin, with goldfish painted on them. She would then let us smell the steeped tea and then pour it into our tiny cups. Heavenly.
She would repeat this process with every new type of tea we tried.

After a bit, I started to really look around. Watching tea steep isnt' always interesting. There were few customers in the market. There were bored looking men with dyed hair, smoking cigarettes and walking around. Soda bottles and cigarette cartons were stacked high. Someone down the hall was selling what looked like nuts. Many of the second-floor windows had newspapers on them. At one point, a man drove through on an electric bike. I realized that many of the stores also had stairs in them, leading up. These workers dont' just work here, they live here. I figured this out when I used their WC and found toothbrushes and laundry.

And then, just when I thought I had tried all the tea that could exist, they brought out the crown jewel of teas: flower teas. This is not tea with a few flowers floating in it. The tea is just flowers. One was a rose tea. Mini, closed, dry rose buds were added to the hot (not boiling) water. The other was jasmine tea. Once in the hot water, I could watch them unfold, almost like they were blooming. I was like dancing water lilies in a pond.
The rose tea was light and sweet, and really smells like roses. The jasmine tea is fantastic as well (we sampled 2 kinds), and for some reason the taste of the second one reminds me of the way my parents' home smells. It's like home in a cup. You can mix them with the lighter black tea for a different taste. Which is also amazing.
I told the tea people and Tova that we don't have these flower teas in the US and they looked shocked. To them, it is common. To me, it is magical.

I purchased the green tea that I liked the best, partially in part because Tova said I really should have green tea since it is so good for you. And I knew we had tried at least 3 kinds. I also got the black tea that mixes well with the flower teas. And, obviously, I got the flower teas. I got an average of one quarter to one half a kilo of each. All for Y150, or about $22.

And after all of that, I needed something to brew my tea in and drink it out of. The material used for such devices does matter. Plastic, glass, porcelain, clay, etc, all affect the tea differently. Different kinds of tea need to be prepared in different vessels to provide the best effects on the taste. One also needs to consider the size and needs of the tea service. Who knew a cup of tea was such a complex process?!

I'll leave it there and simply enjoy my tea.

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Photos

My new mug
I purchasd this at one of the 5 tea shops within the 6 blocks southwest of my school.
The mug is earthenware and is unglazed inside and out.

The strainer
The kind tea shop owner didn't charge me for this!

an unassuming packet of tea
Seriously, how can something that small hold anything?

ok, so it's in a plastic bag for freshness
and the leaves are all curled up into tiny balls.

Is this enough?
I want my tea to taste like... tea!

Kaboom!
The tea leaves explode and come to life.

Comments

[Tiffany Journeys East]

Flowers bloom in the U.S. too
Just FYI, I have purchased and enjoyed Rose, Jasmine, Chamomile, and Chrysanthemum teas all in the U.S. They are just as you described, dried flowers to soak in hot water. It's really not that uncommon on the east coast.

[Andrew]

Very nice post on tea
As a big fan of tea, this is a nice post to read. We do not cover any tea or food at our site, www.chinaprimer.com, so it's nice to read about a fond tea experience. Since I live in the US now, I do buy my tea from Teavana. However, I will say that I only buy their plain teas and not their mixed teas. The reason is you are not getting as much tea for your money since they mix in fruits or other ingredients. If that is what you like though, then Teavana is a great place.

[sunketing]

flower teas
Perhaps I just wasn't looking in the right places then! Good to know for future reference.