A Matter of Taste: Regional Differences of Tea
Hello common people.
It is no secret that a good cup of tea is one of my favorite things. They didn’t name Earl Grey Tea after me for nothing, after all. (It wasn’t a catchy name when I first told them what to call it, BTW, and a bit of resistance had to be stamped out quickly and some say viciously.)
But as much as I enjoy a good strong black tea (though I like green tea and white teas as well, and don’t let anyone tell you differently), I do also enjoy a bit of the nectar of the gods, the fruit of the vine. And in that frame of mind, I shall tell you a bit about how tea is like wine.
You may have wondered to yourself why it matters where the tea comes from. Why, for example, is Kukicha, a Japanese tea, so different from say, than an Indian tea such as a nice Darjeeling? Like the grapes that will make the wine, the tea plant, and thus the tea leaves, maintain a certain “personality” that comes from the condition in which they are grown. Just as in Italian wine tastes different from a French one, a tea leaf that is grown in a cool, shady area that gets lots of rain will taste quite different from one that is raised in the sun, where it’s hot and dry.
Indeed, climate is the most important aspect in determining the taste of a type of tea. Altitude, rainfall, the condition of the soil—these factors can make quite a difference in the quality and flavor of a tea, The tea plants must get the right amount of nutrients or they will taste bitter, more sunlight may cause the plants to grow faster. There are many factors that determine just how good a tea tastes, and of course, the better it tastes and the harder it is to make, the more money teamakers can charge. Just like wine.
There is an art to the manufacturing of the tea as well. Most teas don’t go from the branch to your cup, after all. Like wine, the leaves must be treated with the utmost respect, prepared in a very specific way to maintain the flavor. A good tea leaf can be destroyed in this process, just as a delicious grape can produce a low quality wine.
And somewhere out there, there are tasters, making sure the tea you drink is of the quality that it says it is, and tastes as it should. Imagine a big room full of stuffy Englishmen like myself, swishing tea around in our mouths, shaking our heads, eyes closed. We’re doing this so that you get exactly what you have come to expect from a good cup of tea. We do it for you.
Of course, you have to be quite a tea connoisseur to notice the difference between, say a good Keemun Panda and a great one. And perhaps you should not expect to ever reach that level. But it’s good to know that experts like myself will never have the wool pulled over our eyes. After all, if there’s one thing I know more about than wine, it’s tea.
Tags: black tea, Climate, earl grey, Earl Grey Tea, Green Tea, Informational, Wine
