all this tea and I'm still thirsty

Die deutsche Version findest du unten.

Drank this whole pot of tea and I'm still thirsty. It was a smoky Grand Yunnan, and as much as I enjoy the taste, it somehow didn't affect how thirsty I am. As if I hadn't actually drunk any tea.

Yesterday I noticed that I was rarely satisfied after drinking a Bancha, and Verity Fisher responded with 'I never find green or roasted teas to be thirst quenching, but Indian/African/Ceylon blacks are. Odd, isn't it?'

It was such an interesting comment, and I've been pondering it ever since. Why do some teas simply not quench my thirst? What an intriguing question.

There's probably a scientific answer for this, but I can't begin to assess it. It's beyond my understanding.

But my personal experience? My objective opinion? I have plenty of that.

As much as I love the taste of a smoky Lapsang Souchong, it doesn't make me any less thirsty. And I seem to respond similarly to other smoky teas. I can't make a blanket statement about all green tea, but there are certainly some I can think of that fit in this weird category.

Many strong, dark teas do quench my thirst, so it has no direct connection to that. I know I was a little rigid about milk in my Darjeeling in my last post, but I still put milk in some tea. When I drink those (an Assam Harmutti or Ceylon BOP Uva) with a bit of milk, I know I won't be thirsty afterward.

Maybe you know of a chemical or physical reason why some teas are like this. If you do, I'd love to hear it.

But otherwise, have you noticed that certain tea quenches your thirst more than others? Which tea?



Eine ganze Kanne Tee habe ich getrunken und ich bin immer noch durstig. Es ist ein Rauchtee und obwohl ich den Geschmack mag, hat er irgendwie mein Durst nicht gelöscht. Als ob ich gar keinen Tee getrunken habe.

Gestern habe ich bemerkt, dass ich selten zufrieden bin, nachdem ich ein Bancha getrunken habe. Verity Fisher hat geantwortet: ‚Ich finde grünen oder gerösteten Tee nie durstlöschend, obwohl wiederum Tee aus Indien, Afrika und Ceylon (Sri Lanka) den Durst stillen. Komisch, oder?’

Die Idee war so interessant, daß ich seitdem immer noch darüber nachdenke. Warum löschen manche Tees überhaupt nicht den Durst? Was für eine Frage.

Wahrscheinlich gibt’s eine wissenschaftliche Antwort, aber ich kann damit überhaupt nichts anfangen. Das ist wirklich mehr als ich wissen kann.

Aber meine persönliche Erfahrung? Eine Meinung? Das habe ich natürlich.

So sehr ich ein rauchender Lapsang Souchong gern trinke, er mach mich nicht weniger durstig. Es ist ganz ähnlich wenn ich andere Rauchtees trinke. Ich möchte nichts über alle Grüntee-Sorten sagen. Trotzdem kenne ich viele grüne Tees die auch in dieser merkwürdigen Kategorie passen.

Viel starker, dunkler Tee löscht meinen Durst, so es hat nicht direkt damit zu tun. In meinem letzten Blogpost war ich ein bisschen rigide über Darjeeling mit Milch, aber manchmal trinke ich Milch in meinem Tee. Wenn ich Assam Harmutti oder Ceylon BOP Uva mit einem Schluck Milch trinke, weiß ich, daß ich nicht mehr durstig sein werde.

Vielleicht weißt du einen physicalischen Grund warum das so ist. Wenn ja, dann würde ich das gerne hören.

Andererseits, hast du bemerkt, daß spezifische Tees deinen Durst löschen als andere? Welche speziellen Tees?

Drinking Ceylon BOP Uva and not comprehending Cricket

Have gone back and ordered some of the black teas I was drinking when I began this blog early last year. They arrived last week, and I've been pondering how to reintroduce them. I drank a lot of Ceylon early on, and it seems fitting to spend a bit of time talking about it since the Cricket World Cup Final between Sri Lanka and India is in full swing, as it were.

Just to be very clear up front: I don't know anything about Cricket. That isn't an invitation to try and explain it to me. Many an afternoons sitting in the pub have been wasted by people trying to explain Cricket to me. It's no use. But I can certainly take advantage of the occasion to rattle on about the tea grown in Sri Lanka.

Here's how I talked about Ceylon Bop Uva way back then: BOP Uva, what a name, eh?.

So my question is what do I think of this tea now? Has my opinion changed?

When I talk about green or Oolong tea, I make photos of the beautiful leaves. I took a few photos of this BOP Uva, but it's really nondescript looking black tea. I've spent quite a bit of the afternoon reading about tea growing regions of Sri Lanka, and the most definitive thing I can say about this tea that's labeled BOP Uva, could come from any of a huge number of estates. It's not a small region at all.

What's the BOP part all about? Simply stated, BOP stands for broken orange pekoe. It's described rather well at Wikipedia, but it means that this is medium grade black tea. Rather than full leaves, they're broken into much smaller pieces. It actually looks a bit like very course ground coffee.

The leaves have a very light floral taste, and the tea itself is mildly spicy. Many sources recommend that tea from this region is good with milk. I tried it first without and then added just a bit. It was tasty either way, but the thing that made the tea interesting without milk was completely masked once milk was added.

(later)

As the day progressed, the Indians prevailed in the Cricket. When I imagine the fields of tea plants that I see in photos of Sri Lanka, I wonder if the people picking the tea even got a chance to watch the Cricket, or if they'd even want to.

Tea for the Island Monkeys and the Ostensibly Free

Tonight England and the US meet in their opening game of the 2010 World Cup. If you're in America, you've likely already heard that this is a huge match. If you're English, you'll only consider this match important if somehow the Americans prevail, which is rather unlikely.

The American press is playing this up as if these are two equal sides...or at least nearly equal. This is more than a little presumptuous. The American side is very good. And by New World standards, it's truly a good team. Well coached, well conditioned.

But it's not England. This isn't even a particularly great English side. The Americans could catch the English unaware. As I say, unlikely, but in football/soccer anything could happen.

I plan to be as supportive as I can while watching this match. If I see a player doing something bone-headed, I'll offer him an embarrassing tea. Whether he plays for the Island Monkeys (as the Germans call the English) or for the Land of the (ostensibly) free/home of the (questionably) brave, I will be as even-handed as possible. Or at least I'll try.

I'll start out with the managers before the match has even started. Fabio Capello has his hands full. From me, he'll get a good sturdy Assam Greenwood and I'm sure he'll drink it black or with a bit of sugar. I wonder if he's become a tea drinker while in the employ of the three lions. If he hasn't, this Assam Greenwood is a good gateway tea. Really good.

The US coach thinks tea is for when you're ill, and even then he won't drink it. I'll serve him one of those huge Arizona Iced Teas in a glass bottle. There's enough sugar in there that you can't really taste any actual tea.

Gerrard scored very very early. For that, he gets a Ceylon Bop Uva. One of the nicest Ceylons I know. Heskey almost took the American Goal-keeper out of the game with a very brutal slide. I accept he was playing the ball, but it was a bit too aggressive for my taste. Earl Grey for Heskey.

Dempsey just made shockingly unexpected goal (the English keeper, Green, made a horrible play). For the equalizer, Dempsey gets a Darjeeling Gielle. For the mistake, Green gets a nondescript used tea bag.

Bocanegra almost headed one in on a set piece. Donovan kicked it in from the corner. For that near-goal, both Donovan and Bocanegra get a cup of Dung-ti Oolong each.

Green stopped a near goal from Altidore and for his trouble, he can lose the teabag I gave him and have a true cup of Assam Greenwood like his manager before him.

Now we're in the 89th minute, and it looks like it just might end a 1:1 draw. I'm not making any more tea for anyone until someone shows a bit of passion...

Well it ended at one goal a piece. You lot can all go drink coffee. Hope the matches tomorrow are more interesting than today's.

Milk-in-my-tea crowd

You know, thanks to all of you in the milk-in-my-tea crowd, I've gotten back in the habit of spritzing my tea with a bit of moo-juice. Read something somewhere recently that adding milk to tea destroys the healthy qualities of tea. And my answer to that? So...

Health benefits of tea are extra for me. I drink enough tea without milk or sugar that I'm sure I'm getting all anti-oxidised the rest of the time. Right now I'm drinking this cup for the taste. And some teas taste better with a bit of milk. Am really digging Ceylon Nuwara these days (wrote about it a while back), but for breakfast I'm drinking Ceylon Bop Uva. Tastes fine without the shot of lactose, but am loving it with.

Ceylon Bop Uva-what a name, eh?

Going back to Sri Lanka in my mind today. Firstly to talk about the Ceylon Bop Uva that I’m drinking this morning, but then I want to go a bit into tea processing.

With this kind of tea the higher the elevation of growing, the better quality the tea. So many of the best locations for tea growth have names of Sri Lankan mountains. The Uva region is on the eastern side of the island and appears to have the tea plantations nearest the capitol Columbo.

Almost every source I found encouraged one to drink Bop Uva with milk, so after a few sips of it black, I followed their directions. It’s as advertised-spicy and relatively mild. I wouldn’t want to drink this tea every day, but it is a good, light alternative to the dark teas I normally like. Maybe if I had guests who weren’t into tea, I’d try this as a nice introduction. Not much more to say about it. It’s certainly better than any bagged tea I’ve had. By a long shot. Also makes me think of a Cyndi Lauper song I can't remember the exact name of.

What I really want to talk about though is the way tea is processed. The term that’s used repeatedly when talking about black tea is “fermentation”. When I first started reading about tea production, this was the word that dumbfounded me. Fermentation? Really? But when they talk about it in relation to tea, it means something entirely different from sour-mash whiskey.

After withering the tea leaves with large blowing machines, they are cut. This is where the fermentation starts. A long time ago, I read that if this process is handled poorly, the tea can actually grow mold and become toxic. I’ve never heard of that happening, so I suppose they’ve perfected this process and control it relatively stringently. The factors in this process include how long the cut leaves are allowed to ferment, as well as the humidity and temperature of the room.

Once the tea has been fermented adequately, it is then fired. At first I thought this was like roasting coffee, but that’d kill the tealeaves. The leaves are heated lightly to moderately. In other teas, such as Oolong, where you start firing the leaves, stops the oxidation. The shorter the time, the more like green tea it is. But black teas are 100% oxidized. All the way baby.

I’m sure I’ll explain this process in a more detailed refined way, once I understand it better. Although it’s a brief overview, I’m wondering if any of you out there knew about the sensitive and particular way that tea is processed.

As I turn back to my mug of Ceylon Bop Uva, I notice that it’s cooled. Am off to fill it and add a bit more milk.