DARJEELING TEA

DARJEELING TEA

The Darjeeling tea, seen as photo below, is my wife's gift. Its original pack of three, Twinning pack with Classics English Breakfast Tea and Origins Darjeeling Tea, is very suitable to be used as a lovely gift. She received it from her friend who must had came out with such a gift after   deep thought, I believed. It was displayed in one of the cabinets and only caught my attention recently, after looking for something to write for my tea blog.

This tea reminded me of my online tea group of friends and I decided to blog it out to kick start of Darjeeling tea and English tea. I believe some of them will take this opportunity to share this tea or experience before I give them a try.

I urge all parties to make use of this platform to have a meaningful dialog. Perhaps we can also have deeper knowledge of Eastern and Western Tea, their differences in term of taste, aroma, their respective preparation and etc..in respect of these two teas.

I was made to understand that this tea is also known as Black tea among tea connoisseurs and it is increasingly gaining popularity. Raised and cultivated in the healthiest environment of the Himalayas, the young leaves are thought to have excellent health benefits from its rich source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. I will share with you its taste once I have tried out. For those who have tasted this tea, please share with us some of your experience. We definitely love to hear from you.

From my understanding this tea is naturally processed. The fresh leaves are carefully handpicked and immediately left to dry; this gives its taste much like of freshly picked leaves. It contains only a small amount of caffeine making it suitable for people with high blood pressure and heart ailments.

The tea is cultivated in the cold mountains of India; they are basically handpicked, air dried, steamed and rolled tightly almost immediately. Once these leaves are completely air dried, it will then be steamed or fired at around 80 degree Celcuis for 2-3 minutes. The leaves can be steeped 3 times, but each steeping thereafter needs a longer period of time. Be mindful not to let the concoction to boil or overheat because it will cause the taste to turn bitter.

Hope you find this article useful and please do not hesitate to put forward your view in this regard. Thanks and have a fulfilling weekend.

 

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

GREEN TEA, JAPENESE

VERY WARM WELCOME TO THIS LIFE ENRICHING BLOG,


Recently I have just tried out the Japanese Green Tea, in Tea bag form, from the hotel I stayed during my boot-camp. I took 2 of the Tea bags for One-Cup; Net weight of 0.2g; New family teabag as shown in the photo below.










I found the OSK Japanese Green Tea which is slightly less than RM15.00 for 50 bags is fairly good in taste and value for the money spent. I was made to understand that you could get it from the major market chains such as Jusco, Carrefour and Cold Storage.


I then recalled my very first experience of the Japanese Green tea, given as a gift from a the late local Professor Yap Han Heng after his return from Japan. I had worked for him under several renowned institutions such as WHO and Sumitomo Chemical Ltd., though less than a year. I felt indebted to him as he is the person, apart from my sister who encouraged me to pursue my study in Form Six. We kept in touch for a number of years after I graduated with my first professional degree locally in 1987, until he passed away last few years ago. It turned out to be a horribly bitter experience for me at that time. I instantly vomited out immediately after my very first sip. I thereafter poured away the remaining tea, which was nearly almost a full glass of green tea. Such a waste, yet it gave me an unforgettable experience.


Below please find a copy of the testimony he had given to me after I met him at the University during my studying when he was there to give a talk on his area of expertise.


However, this powder teabag form of Japanese green tea today gives me a very pleasant taste and I truly enjoyed it. The smell is just like a sort of 'greenish-fishy'. Tell us more how you find its aroma and taste? What is the best quality of Japanese Green Tea that you had tasted? I must admit I know very little about it? Can someone tell me the difference between Chinese, Korean and Japanese green tea.Thanks and look forward to hearing from you soon,



James Oh






Skype me at james.oh18

LOW FAT GREEN TEA LATTE

LOW FAT GREEN TEA LATTE

Hi! Tea Folks,

The two all-time-favourite beverages from Starbucks, Green Tea Latte and Caramel Macchiato, caught me by surprise as it never strike my mind to have tea and its stuff at the Starbucks.

After further investigation, I found that the above two beverages have a lighter option -- Low Fat Green Tea Latte and Low Fat Caramel Macchiato,

The Low Fat Green Tea Latte is a lightly sweetened blend of high quality green tea powder from Japan with steamed low-fat milk and topped with foam, making it appears smooth and creamy. Please share with us your experience with both, if you have tried them out.

I was also made to understand that its’ Low Fat Caramel Macchiato which is sweet and buttery, is made with freshly steamed low-fat milk too. It is also layered with rich espresso and drizzled with Starbucks's signature caramel sauce.

This healthy and popular espresso beverage takes on a lighter dimension with low-fat milk as its formula, rather than the standard whole milk, specially caters for customers who prefer a less creamy beverage.

In addition to the above two low-fat milk beverages, Starbucks's new full-leaf teas are available in five different flavours -- Mint Blend, Chamomile Blend, Spearmint Green, English Breakfast and Earl Grey. It really pampers its customer with choices, so as to deliver their commitment of the highest quality beverages to support their lifestyle.

With the above introduction, I do hope you don't make the same mistake as I did. Just drop at its nearest outlets and try these new menus. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks and seeing you again

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

TEA SHAMPOO

Hi ! Everyone.

 Big congratulation to you for coming to the blog talk about tea, which is second most HIGHLY consumed after water.

This article I decided to illustrate further how tea has been closely associated with our daily life. It has been widely recognized and accepted as one of the important beverage. Its dried tea also can be used as pillow, fertilizer and etc.

Today, my article is going to touch on tea essence shampoo. No doubt, tea has also been widely accepted as a nutritious product in my country, today it is also used to produce tea essence shampoo and is easily available in Malaysia. Perhaps you may find such products in your country. Please update us in the comment column provided below. Thanks.

This uniquely formulated shampoo, with the antioxidant properties of tea, especially Green and White tea essence is able to revitalize hair. Here, anyone would like to share your thoughts or experiences in this aspect. You are always more than welcome here. No doubts, there have been lots of scientific proofs of such properties found in tea leave. Not surprising that some of you may have read or be aware of it..

Append below please find such a product which are available in my country for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks and look forward to seeing you again.

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

WATER

WATER

Hi ! Tea folks,

As some of you may be aware that water is the main component of brewing the best possible tea, apart from having good quality tea. As such, we cannot afford to ignore the significant importance of water. It has two great impacts on tea in term of type of water used and at what level the water is boiled.

In today's article, I am going to focus on the latter to ease the understanding. So, the question arises here is to what level the water should boil at. To answer this question, we need to know what type of tea you are brewing. Append below I have listed down  some useful guide for the respective type of teas:-

a) about 70-80 degree C for green tea;
b) 85 degree C are good for white or lightly oxidated Oolong teas;

It is interesting to know that the ancient tea masters, prior to invention of thermometer,  used visuals or hearing to determine the correct water temperature, for steeping tea, as appended below:-

a) when you see the bubbles like small fish's eyes or crab's eyes, that translate to about 70-80 degree, suitable for green tea.

b) When the bubbles grow bigger and like the size of crystal beads or pearls, indicates to 85 degree C, suitable for white and lightly oxidated Oolong teas.

c) As the billows surge wildly in the kettle, with the size of longans, the water is nearly reaching the boiling point and perfect for for steeping black or Pu'er teas.

That's the main reason for my preference of glass kettle, which I have blogged much earlier. You may read it again at the link below.

Before I pen off, I like to take this opportunity to share a useful Chinese poem in this connection which closely associates the sound of water gurgling in the kettle with other natural sounds from the wind or water flow as belows:-

a) "wind blowing through pine leave" which translates to water boiling at 75 degree C. b) Whereas sounds resembling "spring water spurting out of the stone ' which would be 85 degree C
c) "waves crashing on the shore", translate to 91 degree C.
d) When the water reach the boiling point, there is No sound at all.

Lastly, can you guess which step makes the most noise. Scroll down for the answer.



e)  However, half-boiled water makes the most noise. This phrase I believe is the most well known phrase in life and still applicable in today's world. Here, I write to congratulate those who answered it correctly.

Trust you find the above article not only entertaining, but also enriching as the name of this blog suggests. Please feel free to let us know as how to make this more entertaining and enriching should you have any idea/suggestion. Your valuable feedback is greatly appreciated.

Hope to seeing you again,

To your success in enriching life,

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

HOW TO BREW CHINESE GREEN TEA (VIDEO)

Green papaya cubes with green tea - Effective

Dear Friends,


Append below is the article I received from my contacts and I cannot find it more useful than blog it out. For those who have tried this out, please share with your experience. Thank you in advance for your participation.


This is a really effective, just mix green papaya cubes to the ordinary green tea, my cousin brother tried and found it very effective. I have also shared with a friend with gout to try this (his "toe joints" started to deform), after a week of drinking this formula there is significant improvement, after two weeks the toe joints heal and revert to normal state. It is almost three years now, the joint pain is gone, but he maintain the intake between 1-3 times monthly to avoid relapse. 

其他的朋友喝了都有解決多年痛風的困擾，沒事也可喝，還不錯。  

Other friends suffering from years of gout problem have also recovered. It is good for all, even those without gout. 

好方法喔~~趕快告訴需要的人吧!!!!

Good formula! Do share with the people in need!

中國藥學院--- 賴 教授改良新方式:

An improved sequence by Professor Lai from the China School of Pharmacy : 

將青木瓜切成丁放入水中煮沸後才放入茶葉，泡茶過程和一般茶葉相同。
據實際臨床經驗效果更佳，而且治療尿酸效果更佳(須常期喝) 


Cut green papaya into small cubes, place into the water, bring to boil, then add green tea leaves, similar to the tea-making process. Clinical tests show that this brings better effects for treatment of gout, subject to frequent drinking of this formula. 

青木瓜泡茶 
台南縣仁德鄉後壁村長劉結慶患胃痛多年，把青木瓜當做茶壺泡茶喝，一個月後竟治癒宿疾，家人尿酸過多喝木瓜泡茶也不藥而癒，劉村長因而種了許多木瓜，送給有病的親友鄉親。 

Mr Liu Qing, Chief of the Rende Town in Tainan, was suffering for years from severe stomach pain around the posterior wall of stomach. He used green papaya as a tea pot to prepare the family tea daily, after a month his chronic disease condition was much improved. His family members with high uric acid were also healed by the same papaya tea. For this Mr Liu planted a lot of papaya to share with relatives and friends with similar sickness. 

劉村長說，青木瓜最好選擇果實肥短，容量比較大，將木瓜頂部切開，挖出木瓜內的種籽，再開一個小缺口方便倒茶水，8 F一邊開個小洞透氣，放入茶葉、倒進沸水後蓋回木瓜頂部，並以牙籤固定，泡茶過程和一般茶葉相同。
 
According to Mr Liu, in selection of the Green Papaya as tea pot, pick those whose shape are fat and short, with larger capacity. Cut off the top part of the papaya, clear away the seeds, open a small hole at the upper side wall to facilitate pouring of tea. Create a small ventilation hole at top cover, put in the tea leaves,  pour in boiling water, place the top cover back to papaya, you may use the toothpicks to secure the top cover. Similar to normal process of preparing tea.

Liu like to use Oolong tea as the taste is good. He was pleasantly surprised that the stomach pains he suffered for many years was healed after a month of drinking tea from the green papaya pot, without taking any other medication. He passed some green papaya leaves to a friend who worked at a Medical Center to test and analyse the content. The tests confirmed that healthy the enzyme present in papaya is beneficial to human health. Now as papaya in Mr Liu's orchard is yeilding suitable size fruit, he would share the fruits with family and friends.

Xu Fuchang, an experienced papaya farmers, the green papaya refers to papaya that is not ripe, where the skin is still green in colour. Generally, the papaya takes about four months to fully mature and ripe, but there healing effect would be lost after it is fully ripe. Green Papaya should be harvested when the papaya is approximately three months old, when the fruit is still firm, and the  "papaya milk" contains high papaya enzyme and other healthy ingredients. Not only the green papaya can be used in tea drinking, you may also cut them into cubes, and boil with the ribs, or even slicing the green papaya into fine long pieces and fried with garlic, very tasty, and no adverse effects on the human body.


Thanks for your time reading this article and we look forward to hearing from you,


Your Chief Servant,


James Oh

HOW TO BREW GREEN TEA

Hi! everyone,

In this article, I am going to detail the points you need to take so that you have good hot green tea daily.

1.  Green tea  "when properly packaged", has a shelf life of about 6 months. Once opened, it is advisable to consume it within 2-3 months. Here, properly packaged means that it is vacuum packed or nitrogen packaged. However, if your green tea was not packaged properly and exposed to air, its quality will be adversely affected.

2. The best green tea comes from the first harvest usually either in  late April or early May. However, you can get this throughout the year.

3. It depends very much on the variety, for instance normal Sencha, about one teaspoon to 8-10 ounces of water. Right amount of tea leaves is important to give a good taste of tea.

4. Depending on the variety of green tea again, generally it should be brewed around 175 degrees F within 5 degrees range.

5. Generally speaking, do not steep green tea for more than 2 minutes. The tea will  taste bitter if you steep it for too long.

6. Use high quality water such as mineral water so that the tea can be resolved into water.

7. Green tea is compact. It will expand and hence needs room to open up. You are encouraged to use transparent glass to brew it.

8. You may add hot water up to 6-8 times. You may eat the tea leaves after that.

It is really simple to brew. Please give it a try and share with us your experience, via comments.

Look forward to hearing from you,

James Oh

JAPANESE GREEN TEA

Dear readers,

Green tea makes life easy. There are Green Tea teabags that comes with powder form, very suitable for the city folks who have hectic daily lifestyle. You may purchase it at any supermarket, Japanese  Tea Shops and virtual tea shops.

For the best brew, Japanese Green Tea should be steep in water that is boiling around 150-180° F for 1-4 minutes depending on the grade of the tea. You just take out one teabag and place it at a transparent glass cup before adding the appropriate boiling water into the cup and steep it for appropriate time frame. Thereafter, you will enjoy best brew quality green tea at your pleasure at your selected place.

For those who love high quality green tea, you may opt for Premium Green Tea teabags which are made of spring-to-early-summer selected young leaves. The use of early spring leaves together with the gentle processing give  rise to an outstanding taste without a trace of bitterness. The young leaves, after its harvest, are then steamed before being dried. This process is said to keep the abundant polyphenols from being destroyed, as opposed to the fermentation process used for black tea.

Generally, the Japanese Green Tea is a light and smooth tea. They are often used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The initial steaming step distinguish Japanese green tea from Chinese tea.

James Oh

LONGJING GREEN TEA

Hi! everyone,

In this article, I am going to share with you the green tea I love most. This green tea is none other than Longjing. Longjing tea leaves are unfermented.
I have visited its farm and was first introduced to this great tea. I found it very gentle and sweet and these teas are expensive, its prices depend on grades. It is best consumed in six months times. However, its live span can prolong if you store it in the refrigerator.

At that time, I bought several tins of two main grades, AA and AAA. The AA is packed in green hard paper canister whereas AAA is packed in gold colour hard paper canister. I found it quite easy to brew. Place a few spoons full of tea leaves into a white transparent glass cup, preferably so that you can see clearly its rich flavour. Then pour boiled water with about 80 degrees celsius into the glass with the tea leaves. Steep tea leaves for about 5 minutes before you begin to drink. You can infuse it for 5-8 times by just adding boiled water into it. When steeped, the tea produces a yellow-green colour, a gentle, pure aroma, and a rich flavor. The tea contains Vitamin C, amino acids, and has one of the highest concentration of catechins among teas, second only to white teas. Some even bring the glass with hot green tea near to thier eyes and let its stream rinse their eyes before they drink it. They believe it can cure and improve their vision. I had tried and can vouch for it. Congratulation to those who have practised it. But, for those who have not, please try it out and share with us your experience. Please drink this tea when it is still hot. The tea leaves can be eaten after infusion.

Hi folks! I stopped drinking it because I found it enhances my appetite. As a consequence, I decided to change to Pu'er.



For further reading, please read below:-

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Longjing tea (simplified Chinese: 龙井茶; traditional Chinese: 龍井茶; pinyin: lóngjǐngchá) or Dragonwell is a famous variety of green tea from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China where it is produced mostly by hand and has been renowned for its high quality, earning the China Famous Tea title. Longjing is divided into seven grades: Superior, Special, and then 1 down to 5.

Long Jing is often called the national drink of China and is frequently given to visiting heads of state. It is also a favorite tea of today's top leaders, with a portion of production reserved for government customers.

Like most other Chinese green tea, Longjing tea leaves are pan fired (not fried) to stop the fermentation process. In the world of tea, the term "fermentation" refers to the drying of the freshly picked leaves, resulting in enzymatic oxidation. This oxidation is stopped by frying or steaming the leaves before they completely dry out. As is the case with other green teas, Longjing tea leaves are unfermented. When steeped, the tea produces a yellow-green color, a gentle, pure aroma, and a rich flavor. The tea contains Vitamin C, amino acids, and has one of the highest concentration of catechins among teas, second only to white teas.

The name of this tea literally means "dragon well", a well that contains relatively dense water, and after rain the lighter rainwater floating on its surface sometimes exhibits a sinuous and twisting boundary with the well water, which is supposed to resemble the movement of a traditional Chinese dragon.

It was widely known that to achieve the best taste from Longjing, spring water from the "Hu Pao Quan" was to be used. Water is boiled then cooled to about 80 degrees celsius before being used to brew the tea leaves. Tea experts at Xi Hu insist on using fine china or glasses to brew Longjing (minerals in porous earthenware such as Zhi Sha may disrupt the taste of the tea).

James Oh