When You See Just How Much Variety There Is in the Tea World, You Can't

hen you see just how qualities and fulfill the tea’s poten- but the majority of such teas don’t W much variety there is tial. It would not be correct to say turn out well, like the modern in the tea world, you that oolong, for example, is just a attempts to cultivate Taiwan’s Three can’t help but feel some awe, as well method of processing tea, because Daughters, as well as Chin Shin as a sense of great excitement and that processing was advanced to suit oolong, in Vietnam and Mainland adventure. There is so much to learn, certain varietals of tea. And as vari- China. No matter how nice the so many teas to taste and so many etals have changed, moving from trees or the skill of the farmer, you cups to share! Some of the famous place to place (whether naturally or can’t find the same quality else- varietals of tea are wild mutations, carried by people), so too have pro- where. In other words, a Taiwanese created by the energies of Nature and cessing skills adapted and changed, tea processed like a Wuyi Cliff Tea Earth, while others are the result of creating a whole array of different might be a nice tea in its own right, the genius of generations of farmers teas. but it will never compare to a real and masters who devoted their lives Nowadays, there is a lot of exper- Cliff Tea, at least not by Cliff Tea to the Leaf. And looking back at the imentation. Farmers process teas standards. many millennia of culture, heritage from one region in the way that When it comes to Taiwanese and spirit that have gone into tea, a they are made elsewhere, trying varietals, there is a lot of misinfor- Chajin (tea person) can’t help but be Fujianese oolong processing tech- mation and debate about details. overwhelmed with gratitude. niques on Darjeeling leaves, for This makes it difficult for tea lov- Many authors, especially in example. Like most changes, this ers like us to explore the history English, write that “all tea is Camel- trend is due to faster communica- and science of new Taiwanese lia sinensis and the differences in teas tion, more access to information, teas. But a basic understand- are all in the processing.” There is easier travel and the greater connec- ing is worth the effort, and some measure of truth in this, but tion to the rest of the tea world that listening to different farm- it is also potentially misleading. It modern farmers enjoy. And some of ers’ accounts of local tea is important to remember that pro- this innovation is great. Some new varietals is often interesting, cessing methods developed over teas sparkle with spirit and feel like and often highlights their pride time in response to certain vari- they were made with the insight that and sense of place in the moun- etals of tea, which in turn evolved has always pushed any art forward. tain they were born on. In in response to a particular terroir. Others are created out of market- exploring the amazing vari- Farmers were learning, honing their ing—to make cheap and inferior ety of tea that has made skills through some trial and error, copies of the much better original. Taiwan famous, we can learn as well as through a deep connec- In other words, the new experiments about the heritage, culture and his- tion to a life of tea, trying to pro- do occasionally result in amazing tory of tea here, and also about the cess their local varietals in a way teas, like the purple red tea from amazing variety of energy and heal- that would highlight their greatest Dehong many of us know and love, ing available through tea. 3 Ruby Red Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan Check out the Tea of the Month video to Red Tea learn more! Han Chinese/Taiwanese www.globalteahut.org/videos ~800 Meters Tea of the Month Varietals & Cultivars As you may remember, there hoped these commitments would be art always involves listening to and are two main varietals of tea: small “Immovable.” deeply understanding the medium. leaf and large leaf. Originally, all It should therefore come as no In tea brewing, for example, we try tea comes from the forests in and surprise that the tea trees planted in to brew the tea as it wants to be around Southwest China: Yunnan, Taiwan quickly developed unique brewed. Similarly, master tea mak- Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and East- personalities due to the terroir here. ers adapt their processing to suit the ern India. The original trees are sin- It’s amazing how quickly this hap- leaves, the season, the rainfall, etc. gle-trunked, with large wide crowns pens, especially when skilled crafts- Saying that they processed the tea that can grow several meters in men are involved. Not only do the the way it “wanted” to be processed height. The roots also grow down- trees evolve into new varietals nat- is perhaps misleading, but English wards, often extending deeper than urally, but farmers begin to create lacks the proper sentiment. More smaller leaf varietals. Then, as tea new hybrids, researching the differ- literally, what we mean by this is traveled north and east—naturally ences in search of wonderful new that as new varietals evolved to new or by human hands—it adapted to teas. Here we can make an import- environments, influenced by the colder, sometimes higher, climates ant distinction between varietals and unique terroir there, the farmers also and terroirs. These trees, called cultivars. The former is a natural dis- evolved their processing—testing “small leaf,” slowly evolved to have tinction caused by tea adapting and and experimenting, “listening” to several trunks, like a bush, with evolving in new terroirs. A cultivar, the results as they drank each year’s roots that extend outwards rather on the other hand, is a manmade tea, and slowly changing their meth- than down. The leaves got smaller kind of tea, produced by crossing ods to bring out the best in the tea. and smaller as tea progressed north strains and exerting genetic pressure In fact, bringing out the best quali- into colder climes. In fact, they are on tea trees over many generations. ties of that varietal is what we mean so small in places like Japan that Our tea of the month is a cultivar. by processing the tea the way it when they are rolled, they look like Farmers also adapt their pro- “wants” to be processed. You could little needles (like sencha or gyokuro). cessing methodologies over time, say the same about brewing any par- Like many plants, every tea seed listening to how the leaves want to ticular tea. is unique, allowing it to rapidly be dried. Great skill (gongfu) in any adapt in new environs. And with- out any of the grafting technology used in plantation agriculture today, all the traditional teas were what we call “living tea,” which, as many of you will remember, means that they were seed-propagated, allowed room to grow up (and between each tree), lived in biodiversity, weren’t irrigated and were cultivated with respect. (Sadly, most tea is not living tea these days.) The early farmers quickly realized that when you moved tea to a new location, it changed completely to suit its new home. Because of this, they called it “Immovable,” celebrating that a region’s tea trees were forever bound to that region and that region alone. As a sacred herb, tea has always dec- orated Chinese relationships, from business deals to spiritual trans- missions between Zen master and student, offerings to the gods and even weddings. One of the reasons why tea was used to solidify important relationships is that they also 5/ Ruby Red (Hong Yu, 紅玉) Red tea is then rolled for an exceptionally long time as well, to continue the oxidation and break down the cells. It literally turns into a pasty mass in the process. It is the most oxidized of all teas! History With the help of the Portuguese, With the help of local farmers, “Three Daughters”: Golden Lily Dutch, and later the Japanese, Tai- the Japanese formed the Taiwan (Jing Shuan), Kingfisher Jade (Tsui wan tea production would gain Oolong Tea Research and Devel- Yu) and Four Seasons Spring (Si international repute. From 1895 opment Association in 1926. They Ji Chun). Some of you who have to 1945, Taiwan was under Japa- focused on research into new vari- been in the Hut for a while will nese rule. At that time, the Japanese etals of tea that would be suited to remember that we sent you all three sought to increase all agricultural different terroirs around the island. of Mr. Xie’s daughters. The Three production island-wide, and took a They hoped to optimize desirable Daughters have played a large role great interest in Taiwanese tea. They flavors, aromas and other charac- in propelling Taiwanese tea to such brought many large leaf trees and teristics in Taiwanese teas and also prominence in the tea world over saplings, as well as seeds from east- promote a greater resistance to pests, the last few decades—an eminence ern India, to make red tea planta- perhaps unknowingly foretelling the that has brought positive influences tions, choosing Sun Moon Lake for detrimental effects pesticides could to the island, in the great surge of its accessibility and because the ter- have on sustainable agriculture. And economic growth for farmers and roir is similar to the original homes this organization survived the war, aboriginals, as well as the develop- of these trees.

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