Saturday 15 September 2012

China (2010 FAOSTAT data)



Hello Readers,

Today marks a change in this blog direction.  While there will still be periodic reviews of particularly good or bad teas (and as soon as my tea plant flushes a demonstration), I believe the direction of the blog should take a more encyclopedic approach.  Every tea is different, and while I enjoy writing and complaining about certain teas, I as an individual don’t learn much.  Further more, each of us brews are teas differently, and even how teas are stored will affect the tastes. I'm bolding the facts that I found particularly interesting.  Further more most of the data in this entry comes from the UN FAO website (http://faostat.fao.org/site/291/default.aspx) as this is one of the best un-biased sources I could find.  However I question much of the validity of this information but until a better source, it will have to do.

So on that note, let’s start our brains revving as we start to look at as un-biased approach as possible.  And where better to start than with a challenge.  Thus this entry is China; Part 1

China, considered by many to be the home of tea, and it is the world’s leading producer of tea.  According to FAO, in the year 2005, China out-stripped India in tea production.  While how accurate this is, and certainly the FAO estimates coming out of China seem to be growing at an impossible rate (but why would a capitalistic “communistic” country lie?).  In 2010, again according to the FAO, China accounted for 32.6 percent of the world’s supply of tea.  India was at 22 percent.  5 years, to gain a 10% lead is incredible.  See graph for more reasons to be skeptical.  In 2 years China’s tea yields have increase 15.1%

Graph 1, Note figures are in tonnes.  Also to note much if this information was put in by hand, and while I have double check the top 3 producers there is still the possibility of error. 

However China is where the basis of western ways of drinking tea emerged.  Yes the native people of assam had a “brew of tea” and yes the indigenous Burmese have been preserving tea leaves as a form of food for gosh knows how long, but the concept of drinking tea from dried leaves is of Chinese origin.  We could go into the myths and legends that much of China likes to pretend about (see Cultural Revolution and why I say “pretend”). But let’s jump straight in to the different styles of tea production that emerged in China. 

Tang Dynasty = This method is when teas were prepared by compressing into bricks, that were then softened and could then be crumbled with a mortar and pestle.  The powder from this was then mixed with ginger, onion and salt, and drunk like a soup.  The easiest way I remember this method is thinking about Pu-Erh teas that are drunk in Tibet.

Song Dynasty = From the above method the teas were less brick format, and instead turned straight into powder which was then whisked into a white/jade foam.  This is the method that the Japanese Tea Ceremony represents.

Qing Dynasty = This is the final method, the method that we recognize where the tea leaves are dried in the “modern day” format.

China has an absurd amount of area for growing tea.  Quoting the Camellia Sinensis book Tea, History Terroirs Varieties, they put the figure around 3.7 million acres (1.5 million ha).  ((Just shy of the size of Swaziland in Africa)).  What is more impressive is that this number is rapidly increasing, by about 100,000 ha a year.  As the 2012 figures are not out, it would be safe to assume that area of production is now around 1.6 million ha.  What is even more impressive, is the fact all this tea is being grown for export.  Already China vies for the number 2 spot in export list, (Kenya beats it out),  but as China population is not growing, and tea is not a luxury item, I believe it is safe to say this tea is being grown for export.   Huge regions are turning into cultivation, and sadly this does mean a significant decrease in quality.  However what this does ensure that the price of tea stays low, forcing many other countries to suffer.  The other advantage China has, is that the different regions all create different climates, so while quality has been declining, differentiation is occurring at a rapid rate allowing for maximum market exposure.

Quoting Camellia Sinensis book again (and I will be doing that a lot, as it is one of the few tea books that has impressed me), they give rough figures of 73.7% of total tea production is going to green tea.  With black tea composing only 5.6%, and oolongs composing 10.5%, and others (Pu-Erh, yellow, and white teas) composting 11.2%.  If I was to predict variance in these figures, I would expect that the other category, as well as the black tea to increase.  

Going off of the FAO website and Camellia Sinensis book again, China’s exports increased by 2.02% in the years 2008 to 2010, totally 305,857 tonnes.  It will be interesting to note in 3-4 years what the increase on exports will be, as I mentioned above China is rapidly expanding its land area of production.  There is approximately a 3 year delay from planting to harvest as the tea plants mature.  However returning back to the figures; the biggest importers from China were:


  1.  Morocco 61,309 tonnes (7.94% increase from 2008)
  2.   USA 24,821 tonnes (32.03% increase from 2008)
  3.    Russia 21,271 tonnes (16.23% increase from 2008)
  4.    Japan 19,456 tonnes (-29.76% ((decrease)) from 2008)
  5.    Uzbekistan 18,578 tonnes (-2.23% ((decrease) from 2008)

The marked increase in USA imports from China are one of the reasons why I justify my belief that the specialty tea market in China will be rapidly expanding.  Furthermore as USA’s tea market expands, China will most likely fill this void.  Much of USA’s green tea history can be traced to Japan.  This is changing.   I would expect to see this number increase even more drastically in the coming decade.

The last component from the Camellia Sinensis book, and I really enjoyed the fact that they pointed this out, was the importance of beautiful teas to the Chinese market.  While in the west, taste has a higher influence, the way tea looks as it brews is a crucial make-or-break component of teas for the Chinese market.  How the teas sit in the pot, if they stand vertically, how green and fresh they look (regardless of taste).  Blooming teas are another element that is becoming rapidly popular in the west.  However what will be interesting to see will be if this transitions to the western market.  Especially as China ramps up its exports, how the west deals with Chinas over zealous tea production will be interesting. 

I hope the above information proves useful.  Well it probably won't be useful to anyone, but it does put out some facts, and helps to set the stage.  A China Part 2 will most likely follow in the future, but the next entry will be on....(drum roll).... India.

-Tea Fanatic

Sunday 9 September 2012

Dark Fired Malawi 2011

Name; Dark Fired Malawi 2011

Type; Black, Africa, Malawi, OP 1
Price;
£ 3.20 for 50 grams from Anteaques. 
http://anteaques.co.uk/blacktea/darkfiredmalawi

Brewing; 4 grams for .6 litres, 3:30 minutes at 100 degrees.

Review; Africa is perhaps the newest and biggest player in the tea world.  Most everyone has had an African black tea and simply not known it.  Most tea bag tea can trace its origins, or some of their origins to Africa.  Kenya is the number 3 tea producer of the world (FAO 2010), following China and then India.  Malawi accounts for roughly only 1.5% of the world’s tea production at spot number 14, however as the world of tea knows, small is sometimes better.

This Malawi tea has beautiful toasted caramel notes, sultanas and raisins, burnt citrus rind, and iron are all characteristics.  Africa is responsible for taking much of the Ceylon tea market away (when the Ceylon tea board doesn’t drive its customers away like it did back in the 90’s when it advocated the CTC, or better known in recent years when the scandal of importing African teas and then re-labeling them as Ceylon). 
What I particularly enjoy about this tea is the long whole leaf nature of it.  One can see how this tea does compete with the Orange Pekoe that Sri Lanka became so famous for, and won.  Mild tannins and now astringency also serve this tea well.
A new take on a classic tea!

Enjoy

-Tea Fan

Saturday 14 July 2012

Gyokuro 2011


Name; Gyokuro 2011玉露
Type; Green, Japan

Price; £ 9.95 for 50 grams from Anteaques.
http://www.anteaques.co.uk

Brewing; 9 grams for .1 litres, 30 seconds at 60 degrees.

Review; Gyokuros are a beautiful tea, both in taste, appearance, and history.  The un-brewed leaves are long, thin and perfectly pinate.  However to me the most interesting factor of a Gyokuro is its scientific composition.  Gyokuro’s are a Japanese Sencha tea that is shade grown for 3 weeks.  This shade growing changes the light spectrum so that the plant has to generate new types of chlorophyll to match this spectrum.  Meaning that this tea is a “super enhanced” green tea with artificially increased levels of chlorophyll.  What gets even cooler is that plants are only able to produce starch and cellulose molecules in full sun, with a scavenger pathway kicking in resulting in more simple sugars.  This entails that one should expect a sweeter taste to this green tea than a regular green tea.  Or at least I tell myself so.  It is thought that Gyokuro was first made in 1835 in the Uji by Kahei Yamamoto. 

Gyokuro is also the base tea that is used for the making of Matcha in the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  In order to make this fine power, the tea must be stone ground very slowly (talking about producing only a couple grams an hour) lest the power is heated too high from the friction and oxidizes.
Gyokuros are made in a specific pot, that you put in at least 3 times the amount of tea in, with a very small amount of water.  Quick infusions still deliver a powerful kick of flavour that results in multiple different tastes as one progresses from the first infusion to the sixth.  Further more because of its delicate shade grown nature Gyokuro requires 60 degree water so as not to burn the leaves.
Taste wise there are beautiful umami flavourings, as well as spinach, seaweek, sea breeze and a sweetness that leaves the mouth astringent.  Snow peas dipped in butter (and maybe a little salt) in your mouth.  No bitterness or astringency if made correctly.

I’ve also had Gyokuro made other ways including room temperature brewing and ice brewing.  Tea is such a unique and diverse product, and different flavours, aromas and tastes all can change depending on how the tea is brewed.
While this tea is particularly expensive, Anteaques again has provided this high quality tea at an affordable price. 

Enjoy
-Tea Fan

Balasun Darjeeling 2nd Flush 2011


Name; Balasun Darjeeling 2nd Flush 2011
Type; Black, India, Darjeeling, Balasun, SFTGFOP
Price;
£ 8.00 for 50 grams from Anteaques.
http://www.anteaques.co.uk

Brewing; 4 grams for .6 litres, 3:30 seconds at 100 degrees.

Review; If the reader hasn’t caught on yet, Anteaques is usually my go to tea shop when I’m in dire need of a good cuppa.  Anteaques is where I have tasted the finest Darjeelings.  Andrew one of the owners goes to extreme care with selection of his teas and Balasun Darjeeling is a prime example.  Anteaques also has the highest level of selection of Darjeelings in the UK.  As I stated earlier second flushes are usually the preferred brew of a Darjeeling, and Balasun offers a prime example of an excellent second flush.

Balasun Darjeeling is Anteaques’s answer to Goomtee when they ran out of that precious dew.  It’s got much of the same muscatel tones, yet to be completely honest carries a bitterness if it is over or under brewed.  I have had to order this tea many times to get it just right, but it is well worth it.

A friend I was drinking with at the time described it as ‘very subtle, yet lots of perfume’.  I could not agree more, this Darjeeling is too fine for the likes of milk and sugar, and opens up to a beautiful honey liqueur reminiscent of mead and muscat wines.  Subtle start leads to a more complex sweet finish.


 All in all, this is a wonderful tea.  My only complaint would be the price, however that is not justified.  This is half of the price of the mediocre First Flush I drank from Jing, and at a quality that is un-rivaled this year.  

Enjoy

-Tea Fan