Frequently-Asked
Questions About TeaFrequently-Asked
Questions About Tea
Dear Friends:
Between The Tea Shop site and The Tea Man's TeaTalk site, we get asked a LOT of questions! Here for your benefit and entertainment are some of them. Please try to check here first before emailing! Chances are we've been asked your question before. This list will be added to as we're able. Thanks!
How does one make a perfect cup of tea?
Check this page: Preparation
Do you have a catalog that you can send me?
Thank you for asking, but the answer is no. Our website has become our catalog, and most of our resources are being put in that area. If there is a certain tea that you are looking for and you don’t see it on The Tea Shop site, please ask. We may have limited quantities of it that are not advertised.
I am looking for (such and such brand of pre-packaged tea). Can you tell me where to find it?
I'm sorry, but we do not maintain vendor information for various tea packers. Our Tea Shop site carries only the highest grades of loose tea, not commercially available or supermarket teas.
What is the best method for storing tea?
Tea should be kept in glass jars with metal lids, out of direct sunlight, such as a closed cupboard.
Where can I get information about obtaining very high quality green tea?
Our Tea Shop site sells only the highest quality teas from all over the world. Please be sure to ask if you do not find what you are looking for, as very special, reserved, teas may not be listed on the site.
Does green tea contain caffeine?
Check this page: Decaffeinated Teas
What age group would you say is a target for the tea market in your opinion?
I would say that tea transcends any attempt at targeting. Old and young, male and female, our customers consistently resist conforming to a set marketing strategy. Which is how we prefer it, actually. ;)
Do you know of any avenues to explore to become a tea taster?
Unfortunately, we are not aware of any apprenticeships, as you suggest. Our only advice would be to "steep" yourself in tea lore, tea literature, perhaps find a tea room or shop you could frequent or even find work in...and read everything you find. And of course, drink all the tea you can to develop your sense of taste and taste memory for tea (the best part).
All teas have basically the same levels of polyphenols. Some more, some less but basically the same. Clinical breakdown of the contents of tea yields no significant information as to which species, sub-species or cultivar from which it came. Polyphenol concentrates are usually extracted for clinical research and the purity of them is very important, therefore expensive.
Do green teas have significantly more polyphenol content than black teas?
ALL teas have basically the same levels of polyphenols.
Help! I am in search of Tea seeds & Tea growing info. Any ideas?
There is a webpage devoted to the cultivation of Camellia sinensis, but probably more as an ornamental than for tea. You can find it at: gopher://bluehen.ags.udel.edu:71/hh/.broadleafeg/.descriptions/c_sinens.html
You may be able to find information there, and more importantly, help from the university about cultivating it. As to a source of tea seed, there is a US tea grower that I am aware of, called American Classic Tea, that sells the plants. They may be able to help you. A contact name there is Sarah Fleming McLester, located at 6617 Maybank Highway, Wadmalaw Island, SC 29487; telephone 803-559-0383.
There are many antique Chinese Yixingware in US, which are mostly locked up in private collections or museums. However, since 1949 it has been illegal to ship anything older than 100 years out of China, under severe penalty. To my knowledge there is no ready source within China, nor are we a source. There are some sources which besides being illegal, are not worth dealing with as the quality is suspect.
Formaldehyde use for bleaching tea bags is primarily a European process. American tea packagers long ago switched to chlorine as a bleaching agent because it is so much cheaper than formaldehyde. However, chlorine is one of the most common substances in the world and does not pose a risk to tea bag users. The exposure to chlorine from other sources, such as laundry products, is much greater, and even so is not considered a risk. However, the Tea Shop sells almost exclusively loose teas. There are a several pot-sized tea "pouches" available, in which the American process is used.
Caffeine affects me. Any suggestions?
You may decaffeinate your own tea by pouring the water over the tea leaves, waiting 30 seconds, then pouring off that first infusion. This removes roughly 35 mg of caffeine, reducing the total amount to about 20 mg. per 6 oz. Don't exceed that 30-second time frame, however, or you will lose much of the vitamins and antioxidant effects, as well as flavor. Depending on the kind of black tea you are drinking, this method will lose about 4-10% of the flavor, which I think is acceptable in order to reduce caffeine. Your other options would be to purchase decaffeinated black tea, which the Tea Shop also sells, or to drink green or semi-black tea. I usually confine my tea-drinking to green tea after noon, unless I need a pick-me-up. :-) This only works for loose tea, however, not for tea bags. Tea bags are designed to brew very quickly -- the leaves are in very small pieces, called "dust", which enables the tea to brew more quickly. You would lose much too much flavor, of what little there is, with a tea bag.
We are interested in opening a tea shop in our area. Do you have any suggestions?
We get very many requests from people like you who are considering opening up a tea shop, and it would be impossible to respond to every one. There are so many variables, you see, and we could not anticipate every one...The best advice we can give is two things: learn, learn, learn, all you can about tea. Your customers will expect you to be an expert, and if they find you are, they will return. The next thing and they go hand-in-hand, is to only offer the very best teas, by finding a high-quality source you can trust. Tea is not regulated the way, for example, meats are. Anyone can take any kind of tea and call it anything they want to. You must be able to trust your source, for your customers will trust YOU to be providing what you say you are. You may be interested in subscribing to our printed newsletter The Tea Man’s TeaTalk. You will find information about subscribing on our site. It will provide you will up-to-date information about new teas, as well as reference information on tea in general.
She could become a tea taster for a large tea company...But my guess would be that she probably needs much more experience at it than she has now. It takes years of study and is, in fact, a lifelong process. Much more is needed than just good taste receptors, because all through life our taste buds are changing and/or being replaced as they die. Therefore, the new taste buds need to be educated constantly because of a slightly altered taste and aroma sensation. She could take up the practice recreationally at home, following the instructions on the tea tasting page of our informational site (http://www.teatalk.com/general/taste.htm).
Your question involves a very broad and involved topic. In order to blend teas successfully, a person really needs to know teas, and the various percentages necessary to achieve a desired effect. The purpose of blending teas is to create something that is better than the sum of its parts; in other words, to blend teas that contribute flavor or other qualities to each other. This can only be achieved successfully when one's palate is educated enough to distinguish among many teas. The purpose of the blend also needs to be very clear as well: is the purpose to blend down to achieve a lower price, or to blend up for better flavor, or for a rich red color, or to achieve certain aromatic qualities? Most blends that are successful become very proprietary to the person who created them, as there is much work and fine-tuning involved, so I don't think there is very much out there in the way of education. I can only suggest that you educate yourself and experiment!
What do you think about the new automatic tea brewers available now?
My thought about the type of tea makers I've seen, is that I prefer to control my own tea-making. If one is using teabags, which are designed and blended basically to the lowest common denominator, they may work just fine. However, if one is using loose tea, of even a slightly higher quality, the brewing is too constrained with regard to time and temperature. Different teas require different temperatures of water and different times for brewing. The other thought I had about automatic tea brewers is that some of the solace and joy in tea time comes from the homey rituals one develops while making tea: putting on the water, preparing the pot, preparing the tray, gathering the timer, the cosy, selecting the cup and saucer, etc. Somehow an automatic brewer takes away from the rituals involved.
I will give you a few quick thoughts about your questions. For specific demographic information, you might try the American Tea Council. For some reason in this country, tea bags became the accepted method of preparing tea. Most bagged tea, in my opinion, yields an insipid beverage that does not lend itself to creating a great many fans. It is the curious clever adventurers who branch out to loose tea, because there is a learning curve to preparing it, drinking it and educating oneself about it. Americans as a rule do not slow down long enough to negotiate any curve, much less a learning curve. But there has been a rise in the opening of tea rooms and tea houses and tea shops, and a general feeling that tea is now where coffee was five years ago with the advent of the Caribous and Starbucks. These establishments do the work of the learning curve for the consumer, and at the very least, consumers learn tea almost in spite of themselves, in a very non-threatening way, while being waited on. We must also take into account the invention of the new automatic tea-brewing machines, which take the work out of preparing it... All in all, I think the future is good for loose tea sales.
We have no knowledge of where you might be able to purchase tea concentrate, however, we can give you some instructions on how to prepare it. Use 1/4# of tea leaf, covering the tea with cold water to about 1/2 inch over the leaf. Let it infuse for 5 hours. Strain the tea liquor off. Store it in the refrigerator. To use, put 1 or 2 (to taste) tablespoons of tea concentrate in the bottom of 6 oz. of boiling water. Stir. You may use the same process for any amount of tea leaf. You can confine the tea leaf to an infuser but only one such our companion site, The Tea Shop, carries because of it being non-reactive and able to withstand long steeping times. You may find it at this page: Filter Sets and Infusers
I heard that tea contains iron. Is this true? If so, how much iron does it contain?
Tea by itself, does not contain iron normally; however, if the soil contains iron then it also will be absorbed systemically into the leaves. This is very individualistic not only to each growing region, but also the location of each estate and, further, the location of each bush within the estate bounds. If one section of one estate is high in iron and those leaves are mixed or blended with another section either before or after factory processing then the iron content is reduced by the total amount of leaves processed. But generally speaking, iron is not a major component of tea and not something to be concerned with.
Sorry, I meant aluminum, not iron! So I will ask again - does tea contain aluminum?
The same information applies as for iron, but aluminum is a refined metal from the ore bauxite, so bauxite deposits must be present. In some rare places there is aluminum oxide in the soil but not frequently. Iron oxide is common outside of iron ore deposits. All in all, the metallic qualities of tea are minimal!
There is a rather historical answer, and that is this: The teas that used to be made in England were very bad teas. They liquored up poorly and had little flavor. "One for the pot" was a way of increasing the color of the tea liquor and increasing the flavor; however, it does not help. It simply creates stronger bad tea. With a good quality tea, one for the pot is not necessary. We normally give 3/4 teaspoon per each six-ounce cup as a starting measurement, and encourage people to experiment to find out how they prefer it.
I have never heard of it but I will not allow it to drive me crazy since it does not even sound remotely interesting.
The flavor variation you describe can be due to growing conditions, as you say. Keemun tea is usually a blend of Keemun leaves from different bushes, much as an apple cider might be made from 50,000 apples, 10,000 from each of five different orchards. In the higher price ranges, Keemuns are from very specific bushes, then hand-sorted for leaf size. This is practical simply because Keemun is one of the three teas which, after processing, have a palatable life expectancy of about 10 years, so that leaves from different picks of the same bush can be blended to create a truly phenomenal tea. Most, though not all, Keemuns are numbered, which initially represented commune numbers and now represents factory numbers. In your case, it is more than likely that inconsistent quality is being sent to your source -- not to denigrate your source, but the teas must be cupped before purchase to determine their quality.
Is there such a thing as "bedouin tea"? What is it? How is it prepared?
As near as we can determine, it is a green processed tea from West Africa. It is strong, bitter, brewed double strength (thick) and drunk through a sugar rock or cube held between the front teeth. There is probably some sort of spice added, e.g., cardamom, anise, all spice, etc.
There is a website that may be found through a search engine that lists Ministries of the Government of India that could be contacted for the purpose of establishing, doing or buying business in India. There are at least 30 agencies that must give approval for a non-Indian citizen to do what you are suggesting, I believe. Other than that, I am afraid that is all the information we have.
Sherpa tea is a blend of oolong and Darjeeling teas, suitable to be brewed at high altitudes, which means a lower water temperature. In other words, at high altitudes, water boils at a lower temperature, so if the tea was not specifically blended to be made at less than boiling, it would brew up unsatisfactorily. The Tea Man can create a Sherpa tea blend for those interested.
Pure essential oils are NOT for use in aromatizing tea, the reason being that they are too, too potent. They must be cut with other ingredients; namely, poly ethylene glycol. This allows the tea leaf to absorb the essential oil being added. Otherwise, the essential oil will begin the infusion process because it contains water as an active ingredient. If you want flavors or scents (like Bergamot as in Earl Grey), you should buy them commercially through a company specializing in them. Here is one source you may contact:
Lorann Oil Inc.
4518 Aurelius Road
Lansing, Michigan 48910, USAThey make small bottles (.125 oz or 1 Fl. dram)of a number of flavor (candy) oils which can be used. I don't know if they sell outside of the continental US, though.
Your safety concerns are valid. Unless there is a registered approval form from the USDA indicating that the tea pot has been okayed for use with a hot beverage, I would not do so. A retailer should be able to provide a copy of this report.
Does consumption of green tea count in one's daily overall water intake?
Yes, green tea can be considered in a water intake count because it basically replaces water one for one. In comparison, coffee, which has a diuretic effect, provides a negative overall water intake.
I am involved in an ongoing discussion, and we cannot confirm if "gunpowder" tea is hand rolled.
According to The Tea Man, it depends on the gunpowder. The higher quality grades are hand rolled. Other, lower end gunpowders are machine rolled. However, a caveat: where labor is cheaper than machinery, it is hand rolled. How to tell the difference? The difference in flavor is remarkable. Since hand rolled generally represents a higher quality, the flavor is much more subtle, not at all harsh; very smooth foretaste and long, long delightful aftertaste. Hand rolled has a more grayish appearance and is of a smaller (pinhead) size, since it is usually composed of only the first three leaves. The higher the quality (and price), the smaller the pinhead size. Imperial Gunpowder is the largest, often 1/4 to 3/8 inch in diameter. Pinhead is actually a grading and is 3/16 to as small as 1/6 inch in diameter. The larger the size, the looser the roll. The looser the roll, the larger the leaf. The larger the leaf, the lower the leaf position on the branchlet. The lower the leaf position, the older the leaf. The older the leaf, the harsher the flavor. The harsher the flavor, the less expensive the tea. The less expensive the tea, the more common the tea is.
Here is a link to the China Green tea page:
http://www.theteashop.com/chinagr.htm
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I'm sure I once read that tea sometimes has a dye put in it, is this correct?Years ago, specifically in the 1880's and 1890's, certain green dyes were added to China green teas (usually long leaf styles such as Lung Ching) to enhance their color as dry leaf, since the belief was that a specific color represented a specific and sought-after quality. For the same reason, certain powdered clays were added to gunpowder styles of green teas. This, however, was added to enhance the grey or grey green color of that style of tea.
In 1897, in the United States of America, certain federal importation laws were enacted to prevent this adulteration of tea. The passage of these laws soon spread to other consuming countries and they, of course, enacted the same measures.
Today, this is a very rare occurrence and trained buyers or tea examiners and tea tasters can detect this additive by taste, visually or chemical tests.
As to the hook on the end of the tea ball, there are two ways to do it. loop the chain around the handle and then secure it with the hook (back onto the chain). Or, if the tea pot opening has a little upward-bending rim, hook it on that. Some people even thread it out the spout from the inside and hook it to the rim of the spout providing that there is no strainer in the spout. I personally don't use tea balls because they are generally made of stainless steel which can react with the volatile oils in some teas to cause a somewhat metallic taste. We use paper tea filters, which you pour the water through. You can order them on our site:
http://www.theteashop.com/filters.htm
That's a very good question! According to the Tea Man, in drippy teapots, the bulb end of the spout where it attaches to the pot is too small and does not allow room for the tea to run back into the pot after pouring. Another reason may be because the very tip of the spout has been made incorrectly and when the tea pot is tipped back after pouring, a single drop hangs on because of surface tension. Try making less tea than the pot is rated for, e.g., make four cups in a six-cup pot, etc. Pour slowly and tip your wrist back very quickly after pouring. Wrist action is very important!
Does the type of cup affect the taste of tea?
You pose an interesting question and one which is seldom considered as important by a tea drinker. Porcelain, ceramic, unglazed clay, terra cotta, glass, leaded crystal, gold, silver, pewter, aluminum, etc., all produce different flavor profiles individually and from the same tea poured into different materials from the same tea pot. There are many chemistry changes at play here. Most of them originate from the interplay between the tannin compounds and the material itself. Some materials are porous, some are not and this creates a bonding action between the tea and the material. Glass, for example, produces no bonding action because glass is not only a liquid in constant motion but also is non-porous and therefore creates no "seasoning" action on the surface. Also, important in its own right is the method by which the cups are cleaned. Soap or detergent must NEVER be used on cups or teapots. They must simply be rinsed with cold water and wiped clean (never scrubbed). Soap produces a smooth surface and bonding actions will not take place.
How much water do you pour over the tea?
It depends on how much tea you are making at the time. Most standard teacups hold 6 ounces and standard tea pots hold 6 - 6 ounce cups (36 ounces). We recommend 3/4 teaspoon of tea per 6 ounce cup, adjusting from there for your own taste. A standard pot works out to about 2 tablespoons. So, in the above discussion about decaffeinating your own tea, you would pour off that first amount and replace it with an equal amount. 6 ounces for a cup, or 36 ounces for a pot.
Can you tell me which black teas have less acidity? I have stomach problems from the acid in tea.
There are plant acids in tea. There are plant acids naturally in all vegetation. These acids, however, are exceptionally mild and have little if any reaction within the human digestive tract. What may be happening is that you are overly-sensitive to caffeine. Caffeine stimulates the glands in the stomach which produce hydrochloric acid, which, of course, is vital to breaking down food within our stomach. If you are sensitive to caffeine, then these glands may be over-producing this acid and it is, indeed, your own "stomach acid" which is creating your discomfort, and especially if you are drinking black tea on an empty stomach. Perhaps you would be willing to do an experiment: on an empty stomach sip some small amount of black tea. If an acidic or burning reaction follows, which would indicate an oversensitivity to caffeine, you should eat a single piece of bread, any bread. This will absorb the excess acid and the burning should stop. If, indeed, you are over sensitive to caffeine then you should stick with a good quality of green tea. Do NOT consume commercial available tea, because this is usually made of poor grades and some of these poor grades do have more caffeine, because of the location of the leaf (older leaf) on the bush. These lower level (physical location on the branch) leaves, because they are older in age, have slightly more caffeine than flush or spring leaf. The green teas offered at The Tea Shop are of very high quality and should not cause a problem for you.
Where can I find information on the level (ppm) of aluminium typically found in tea?
There is, generally speaking, no aluminum present in tea. The reason being that aluminium is a mineral in the ground and not all earth is aluminium bearing. If there is none of the mineral present in the earth it is not brought up systemically and deposited in the leaf. Also, since many people use aluminium tea kettles, this alone would be the only source and, depending on the age of the kettle, each kettle would release a slightly different amount of that mineral into the water. Iron, on the other hand, is quite common around the world and can be found in 1 to 5 ppm. Alum is primarily a mineral found in latitudes north and south of tea growing regions which are basically located between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn.
One other source of Aluminium in tea USED to be the Aluminium Foil lining inside of the wooden tea chests which was put there as a moisture barrier. It was pure Aluminium with no paper backing against the tea. This has now been replaced with Mylar. In the 20's and 30's, they (India) also lined tea chests with Lead Foil which came to an end because of WWII. Also, Aluminium Foil came to an end at that time for the same reason. Many teas from India, China and Japan now come in 10 to 50# paper/plastic-lined vacuum-sealed bags, thus eliminating the need for wooden tea chests lined with Alum Foil.
I could have used either or both formula and it would have been correct for what I intended and that was to simply show a difference. My formula for Tannic Acid is the correct one for Low Molecular weight and the formula you referred to is correct for high molecular weight. Here, by the way, is another formula for subject: C27 H24 O18. It is just as correct as the other two. The synonyms are Chinese Tannin (Nf-carc.), Gallotanic Acid, Gallotanin, Gallotannin (nf-carc) and Gallotannin; chiefly (C14).
Kelp is certainly not present in oolong tea as a general rule. There may be some odd blend out there, such as a "health" tea that may include kelp, and for your friend's sake, I sincerely hope they have not sampled it! It sounds perfectly ghastly. Oolong tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, as is green tea and black tea. Oolong tea is simply midway along the processing continuum from green (least processed) to black (most processed). Oolong tea often is blended with flavoring ingredients, such as lavender petals, rose petals, or jasmine. But NOT kelp, as a general rule, thank God!
Why should tea not be steeped over 5 minutes? A friend of mine from Germany insists that if you steep tea for more than 5 minutes it releases chemicals that have a sedative effect large enough to counter the stimulant effect of the caffeine. As he puts it, if you steep it for 3 to 5 minutes it gives you a lift, and over 5 minutes brings you down. I've done an extensive search on the web, have read some of the more technical information on caffeine in tea and coffee and find nothing that confirms this. So, I keep telling him, its just an old wives tale. However, I do find it interesting that all the tea making directions tell you not to steep the tea for over 5 minutes. But, they don't tell you why.
I have discussed your question with the Tea Man and his opinion is that yes, it is an old wives' tale! Although we never have heard that one before! Perhaps it is an old German wives' tale....The reason that steeping instructions say not to steep tea over 5 minutes is because most commercial quality tea is of low grade and steeping over 5 minutes would bring out unwanted characteristics, like potency and astringency. For black tea, 5 minutes is a suggestion, but many, especially higher quality teas, can be steeped much longer. The Tea Man has an exceptional Darjeeling that he himself steeps for 17 minutes. It really is personal taste. But don't worry about a "sedative" effect.
Thomas Sullivan was having trouble sending samples of his newly arrived tea to his customers simply because it was too expensive. He came up with the idea of sending the samples in a very small bag. He experimented with several fabrics and finally came up with silk. He then proceeded to send samples. He was horror-struck when his customers bombarded him with requests for the little silk bagged teas. Voila, the tea bag was invented. He met their demand and made money at the same time!
Uganda and Kenya: Tea was introduced into the Botanic Gardens at Entebbe, Uganda, in 1900. This was an experimental stage of development and proved to be very successful. A Mr. G.G. Talbot established an industry there. In Kenya, the first white settlers to plant tea were brothers by the name of Orchardson. In the mid 1920's Brooke, Bond & Company purchased the land and began extensive planting. From that point on, company after company bought land in East and West Africa, particularly East Africa, and began huge estates. Most of them have now been consolidated and purchased by conglomerates such as Tata Teas, Universal Teas, Lever, etc. The base tea seeds came from the district of Assam in NE India. East Africa produces mostly black teas and West Africa, green teas. Kenya and Tanzania are the largest tonnage producers. Neither African tea nor African Americans had any significant impact on the US tea market since consumption of tea in the US is low. Further, East African teas had little impact on the European market outside of England where it was used strictly as a blending tea. West African tea, the green production, made a big impact on the market in the Mediterranean countries since it was cheaper and easier to get than green China teas and in those days, India did not product green teas as it does today.
Was there any influence of tea during (U.S.) slavery times?
No, not as far as we can tell. The experimental tea plantations were just starting up in Africa at that time as tea was not indigenous there. There were no plantations in America then, and there's only one now. No tea plantations used African slave labor. Tea was not a very popular drink in America then, either, in spite of the Boston Tea Party, as it was still too expensive.
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Would using bottled water make a discernable difference in taste? I'm wondering if I'm missing some of the flavor of tea because I use bottled water, which is delivered in 5 gallon bottles. The bottles are turned upside down into a ceramic dispenser where the water then sits at room temperature (about 60-68 at my house). Because of both the temperature and sitting, this water wouldn't be as well oxygenated as cold tap water. I am considering using a small aquarium air pump and airstone to aerate the water briefly before I put the kettle on.
Actually, we have used water in 5 gallon bottles at the shop, too. The purpose in boiling water for tea is that, basically, tea tastes better made with hot water than with cold water and because the heat promotes certain changes within the chemical structures of tea which releases (in a simple word) the flavor. The reason one brings water to a boil and then allows it to boil for approximately 10 seconds before making tea is to boil off the excess free-floating oxygen which will hamper the full development of flavor. By aerating the water, one defeats the above. If you feel you must add air to the water, you can remove it from the 5 gallon container (enough for say one tea pot), put the water in a sealed container and shake it vigorously. That will add oxygen. Your water will remain fresh in the 5 gallon container down to the last drop. But for the purposes of flavor enhancement and development, aerating your water is not really necessary.
How can I tell if a tea is of this year's crop?
One cannot tell without an expert's eye, touch and flavor acuity what the pluck year was, until the tea leaf becomes so dried out from dehydration that it actually crumbles into dust when a small amount is put into one hand covered with the other and then rubbed between the hands. Old tea will "dust" under the slightest pressure. Usually the above process is not needed since to a tea taster old tea is easily detected by conspicuous loss of characteristics. Just as a bit of interesting information, the term "Organoleptic" is the term used to describe the abilities of a tea taster or anyone with the ability to flavor or scent small parts per million in a fluid or gas (surrounding air) sample.
