Bamboo teaware has both ornamental and collection value
Bamboo
teaware refers to the teaware which processing by nature bamboo and
wood, with handcrafted or machine to cut, carve and whittle. Bamboo
teaware is mostly basic teaware, such as teacup, tea tray, and tea props, etc.
The Advantages of Bamboo Teaware
Bamboo teaware has been for a long time. As
tea drinking culture is popular gradually, teaware demand increases day by day,
but the price of metal teaware such as gold and silver is expensive,
accordingly. So, the bamboo teaware, which is made of relatively cheap material
and easy to produce, become popular in the group.
Tea props usually made by bamboo
The materials of bamboo teaware are readily
available and handcrafted. Nature bamboo will not affect the taste of tea when
steeping, and unlike some porcelain teawares, it doesn’t contain chemicals like
industrial lead. Some times, steeping tea with the newly made bamboo teaware
may have a fragrance of bamboo, but it won’t be bad for health.
Some bamboo teawares have not only practical value, but also high appreciation value. For example, the bamboo can made by boxwood,
and a tea can made by old bamboo, and especially the bamboo teaware
which has an excellent carver on it, are the best gift for friends and
collection. Now, most people buy bamboo teaware, not just for use, more
they want is their collection value.
A very valuable bamboo tea props can
Buying Guide of Bamboo Teaware
To buy bamboo teaware, must taking care at
these two points:
When buying bamboo teaware, touch the
surface and back of the article with your hands carefully, it will be an
inferior-quality product if there are spikes or sharp places. Because
it is easy to Pierce the hand in the process of use.
2.
Observe teaware inside and outside carefully, see the quality of the
material whether exquisite and smooth, even improper and mildewy.
Whether bamboo or wood, if the long-term exposure to moisture, is easy
to be moldy, this must be carefully identified. If it is tea storage
equipment, also check the tightness is good.
A proper tea tray should have a perfectly smooth surface
Different techniques applied to bamboo
teaware will make them more valuable. When you choose and buy, whether the
sculpture craft that should watch teaware carefully is elaborate, whether to
exist material to owe the case with little makings, style whether to show
originality.
Bamboo Teaware Maintenance
Bamboo teaware is different from those made
of other materials, and they also have unique maintenance principles.
Bamboo teaware should be clean and maintained well
1.Store in good condition.
When the bamboo teaware is stored, the surrounding environment should
be kept good. A too wet environment will make the teaware moldy and
growing insects, while the too dry environment will make the bamboo
teaware deformed, especially the bamboo tea tray. Also, pay attention to
the storage place whether there is a corrosive smell, such an
environment is not conducive to the preservation of bamboo teaware. 2.Avoid thermal expansion and contraction of teaware.
When steeping tea with bamboo teaware, notice that not to cool it down
with water after using immediately. According to the principle of
thermal expansion and contraction, bamboo tea sets are easily broken and
hurt people. 3.Take it out once in a while to get some sun. The
bamboo teaware that hasn’t use for a long time, can take out bask in
the sun when the weather is good, prevent mildewy, growing insects, but
avoid long time sunshine to bask in, be out of shape very easily
otherwise. 4.Clean up in time.
After using the bamboo teaware, to timely scrub clean with water, avoid
leaving tea stain on the top. After the cleaning, to dry treatment,
storage for the next use.
Tea blended with different kinds of ingredients can bring a strong taste shock
Open
the online tea store catalog, and you can find that it generally falls
into two parts – Origin tea and Blended tea. Compared with the single
and strong regional flavor sought by origin tea, blended tea emphasizes
the unique flavor created by tea brands and tea master according to
different taste needs.
Advantages of blended tea
Because of the tea master will blend tea
based on consumer taste requirements, so blended tea also tends to be more
acceptable than origin teas, and more convenient according to own preferences,
different ways to drink tea and time to make a choice.
Besides,
the tea brand style can also be clearly observed from the signature
blend tea of various well-known tea brands. For example, Mariage Frères (France) blended tea is mostly rich in aroma and flavor; Fortnum & Mason
(Britain) blended tea is full of aristocratic temperament; Japanese
brand tends to be cute and stylish; It’s very interesting. Whether it is
a pot of milk aroma English breakfast tea or Earl Grey, Mariage Frères Wedding Imperial Tea or Fortnum & Mason Queen Anne at breakfast time, blended tea remains a distinct taste of life.
Blended Tea
The famous Mariage Frères blended tea
Tea masters blend tea from different
regions(India, Sri Lanka, and Chian, three main sources of blended tea), to
produce the unique flavor blended tea. Generally, it should be paid attention
to the balance and coordination of taste and aroma during tea blending, and the
shape and size of tea should be consistent as far as possible for steeping
purposes.
The most famous blended tea is English breakfast tea.
The formula of each tea brands is different. Usually, it will be
formulated with a strong and full aroma and taste, and it is suitable
for milk. Other well-known blended tea, such as Mariage Frères (France) Wedding Imperial Tea, which blended by Ceylon tea from the different region; Harrods(Britain) No.14 Breakfast Tea, which blended by India tea, Ceylon tea, Kenya tea, and Darjeeling tea; Fortnum & Mason(Britain) Queen Anne Tea, which blended by India tea and Ceylon tea; They are all famous blended tea.
Many tea brands often take the tea-drinking
time as the allocation and naming principle, such as breakfast tea, noon chai,
afternoon tea, evening tea and so on. Breakfast tea focus on the strong and
thick taste, afternoon tea focus on aroma and relaxed feeling, evening tea
focus on help digestion.
Flavoured Tea
Flavoured tea which has many types of flavor
Add into ingredients such as fruit, flower,
herb, perfume or essence oil into the blended tea, to create a variety of aroma
and rich taste, that’s how flavoured tea make. Flavored tea is the most
acceptable and favorite tea for casual black tea newbies. Earl Grey
is the most classic flavoured tea with a long history. This kind of tea
is from China, blended the aroma from Bergamot Lemon. It is said that Earl Grey, who was the British Navy Minister in the 19th century, loved LapSang Souchong
very much, but it was too expensive to buy. So he asked the tea
merchant from London to copy it by blending the spice which available at
that time, to enjoy every day. And so it spread by time.
Who was the tea merchant at that time
actually? For a long time, the argument of this problem has never disappeared,
the famous tea brands competing for the legitimate founding position, debate.
However, no matter who it comes from, Earl Grey tea, which was originally just
an imitation of LapSang Souchong, has gradually become popular for more than
two hundred years and even become a more popular and daily tea than LapSang
Souchong.
Other common flavoured tea recipes have a
different style from each other. In addition to rose, jasmine, violet, lavender
and other herbal tea, there are lychee, peach, apple, banana, pineapple, grape
and other fruit ingredients. And even caramel pudding, tiramisu tea, really
dazzling.
White tea is characterized by a fine white fuzz on the leaves
White tea is picked from tender buds, which has a fine white fuzz on the back of the leaves. Different from green tea,
it is not frying or rolling during processing. It will be dried
naturally or baked by a slow fire so that the white fuzz is retained
completely on the surface of the tea.
The steeping time of white
tea needs is longer than other types of tea because there is no rolling
in the processing. Summer is the most suitable season to drink white
tea, because of white tea belong cool thing(In traditional Chinese medicine), taste sweet and Heat-clearing and Detoxifying.
Here are 5 representative white teas and their benefits for health.
CONTENT
Silver Needle White Tea
Silver Needle White Tea looks like a needle
Silver needle white tea, Baihao for short,
is mainly produced in Fujian province, China. As the raw materials of fresh
leaves are all tea buds, when it processes into tea, which is shaped like a
needle and covered with white fuzz. It looks like a silver color needle, so it
is called Silver Needle. When steeping the Silver Needle, the aroma is fresh
and the taste is mellow. The tea leaves will stand up in the cup and look very
interesting. Benefits for health
Improve blood sugar balance: In addition to the inherent nutrients of other types of tea, Silver Needle tea also contains active enzymes
necessary for the human body. Medical research has proved that
long-term drinking white tea can significantly improve the activity of
lipase in the body, promote the metabolism of fat, effectively control
the secretion of insulin, slow down the absorption of glucose
in the small intestine, decompose the excess sugar in the blood, and
promote the balance of blood sugar.
Improving eyesight: Silver Needle is rich in provitamin A, it is absorbed by the human body, can be quickly converted to vitamin A, vitamin A can synthesize rhodopsin, can make the eyes see things more clearly in dark light.
Bai Mudan White Tea
Bai Mudan White Tea looks like a flower when steeping
Bai Mudan, a famous tea in the history of
Fujian, China, is made of Fuding Big white tea and Fuding Dahao tea through
traditional processing. Because its tea leaves contain a silver-white core,
looks like a flower, it will full bloom like a flower during steeping,
so-called Bai Mudan. Benefits for health
Anti-radiation:
Bai Mudan White Tea has anti-radiation substances, which can play a
significant role in protecting the hematopoietic function of the human
body.
Liver protection: Bai Mudan White Tea is rich in natural flavonoids, such as dihydromyricetin,
which can protect the liver, because it can accelerate the
decomposition of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of ethanol, into non-toxic
substances, thereby reducing the damage to liver cells.
Gong Mei White Tea
Ole Gong Mei White Tea, it is very expensive
Gong Mei, also mainly produced in Fujian,
China. It is made of the most tender bud leaves of tea, “Gong” means
the best in Chinese, the quality is higher than Silver Needle, also known as
“Shou Mei”. Gongmei nutritional effect and Silver Needle similar,
have improved eyesight and radiation protection and other effects.
Fuding White Tea
Fuding White Tea
Fuding
White Tea is made by a series of delicate processes, such as withering,
drying and baking. Fuding white tea has a special effect, can relieve
from face due to congestion and red, people who drink red wine. Benefits for health
Heat-clearing:
In traditional Chinese medicine, the nature of white tea belongs cool,
can effectively heat- clearing, reduces dryness feeling in the body.
Cosmetology effect:
White tea free radical content is low, often drink white tea or its
related extracts can play the role of beauty. So fuding white tea is
also called “Tea For Women”.
Inhibit bacterial growth: Fuding white tea can prevent staphylococcal infection, pulmonary infection and Streptococcus Pneumoniae infection effectively.
Moonlight White Tea
Moonlight White Tea looks very strange with black and white color
Moonlight White Tea, also known as
“moonlight beauty”, its shape is strange, one bud with one leaf, the
surface is white, the back is black, looks like a curved moon, color contrast
make it feel illuminated by moonlight, so-called Moonlight White Tea. Benefits for health
Skin-care benefits:
the alkyds in tea can help remove dead skin, encourage new cells to
reach the skin’s surface more quickly, and help combat wrinkles.
Lower sterol levels in the body:
tea contains caffeine, amino acids, tea polyphenols and other
compounds, which can promote the decomposition of cholesterol and
triglycerides in the body.
One of the largest black tea producing countries – China
Although there are many black tea producing
countries in the world, except for India, China, and Sri Lanka three major
producing areas, the other region is mainly producing low-priced crushed tea or
CTC tea, for providing tea bags manufacturing, in region characteristic,
importance, and diversity, it is not worth mentioning. But there are still 4
small black tea producing countries are famous for its unique black tea:
CONTENT
Kenya – One of the largest tea producing countries in Africa
Into the 20th century, one of the colonies
of western powers, Africa also became another large-scale development of black
tea producing country after south Asian countries, mainly concentrated in the
East African plateau. Although each country after 2 world war is independent in
succession, black tea still is local important economy crop, cultivate
dimensions and yield all extremely large. Among them, Kenya attracts the most
attention.
Kenya Black Tea Garden
Black tea cultivation in Kenya began in
1902 during the British colonial period. After independence in 1963,
small-scale tea plantations became popular. The main tea producing areas are
located in the plateau and valley on the west side of Kenya mountains, with an
altitude of 1000 ~ 2700 meters. It can be providing all the year, and the best
seasons are January, February, and June.
Black tea produced in there more than 90% is CTC black tea,
only a small part of the small characteristic tea garden produced
orthodox black tea. High-quality black tea from Kenya is full with a
refreshing aroma of fruits, cereals and spices, taste strong.
Nepal – Comparable to the black tea in India
Nilgiri Nepal Tea Garden
Nepal black tea is mainly planted in the
Himalayan foothills, 900 ~ 2100 meters above sea level, close to Darjeeling and
Sikkim in India. Not only the terrain, climate, but the season and soil
conditions are also the same, and because the tea tree and tea planting method
are derived from Darjeeling, the flavor is very similar to Darjeeling, full of
elegant fragrance and fruit aroma, the taste is soft and clear.
Indonesia – The first tea transfer station in the world
Indonesia Bandung Black Tea Garden
Indonesia
is the first tea transfer station in the world. Around 1610 AD, the
Dutch East India company first used the Indonesian island of Java as a
centralized and transshipment point to introduce tea and teawares from
Japan and China, which played an important role in the early history of
the tea trade. (Economic history of Indonesia)
In
the early 19th century, the Dutch East India company first tried to
grow tea trees on Java from Chinese seeds, but it was not very
successful. It was not until the later introduction of Assam tea from India
that it began to develop rapidly. The main planting areas are in
central and western Java and northern Sumatra, where the climate is dry
and warm. Tea is produced all the year round, but the best season is
July, August, and September. Indonesian black tea is light and mild and
is popular in the inexpensive tea market.
Japan – Black tea is a minority hobby
Japanese Ise Black Tea
Rarely mentioned in the black tea world,
but Japan is also one of the black tea producing country; Although the
production is small, from north Nagano to the south Okinawa have production, so
in Japan, we can see the local black tea in the tea shop.
Black
tea cultivation in Japan began in the early Meiji period of the 1870s.
The world trend at that time, black tea has completely replaced green
tea, become the focus of western tea drinking, the original green tea as
the main export products in Japan, had to turn to black tea produced;
With development, to 1955, Japan’s national black tea exports had
reached more than 8,000 tons. After that, as the economy took off after
World War ii, Japanese domestic black tea gradually lost its
competitiveness in price, which was further aggravated by the severe
blow of black tea trade liberalization in 1971.
In addition, there are temperate terroir
limitations, Japan lacks suitable for the cultivation and production of black
tea environment, which produced is entirely different grade from Japanese green
tea. Until now, Japanese black tea has mainly circulated between black tea
lovers and a small group of people who worship local ingredients.
