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A lot of people have commented on our photography so we thought we would give you all a wallpaper to download so you can enjoy the sight of fresh spring tea leaves all day everyday.
The tea trees in the photo are Iron Arhat used to make oolong tea. To download please choose the correct size for your display, right click and then select “Save as”.
We’ve been hard at work on a number of videos for the website over recent weeks. Above is our latest effort, on our Dragon Well green tea. The video contains information on the garden from which the tea is picked, the picking, and the firing of the tea and explains how each of these affect the end result in the cup.
Our Dragon Well has an extremely thick and full taste and we believe this is due to the fact that the land on which it is grown has been organic for over ten years. The land not been overfarmed so it is still rich in nutrients and this quality comes out in the thick, juicy buds and leaves on the tea bushes.
Posted by: David.
Wendy and Thomas making the videos
If you have spent some time on our website recently you’ll have noticed that we have been producing a number of videos in the last few weeks. So far we have published two videos showing the scenery, production and infusion of both our Hand-made Gyokuro Supreme green tea and our Silver Needle white tea. We spent two afternoons last week shooting for three more videos which Thomas is now editing. The next video which we will add to the website will be on our Dragon Well green tea, featuring the firing by renowned expert Mr Chen.
We have had some great feedback on the videos already. We think they work well and really help to bring each tea to life, from the scenery where the tea is picked, to the production methods and the final result in the cup. It’s great to be able to put the hours and hours of footage we have to proper use and we are glad you’re all enjoying them. If there are any teas you want to see covered, please let us know.
Pre Rain Organic Anji Bai Cha
We were recently given a pack of Anji Bai Cha from another tea supplier. It really highlighted for us a problem that we see as regrettably widespread, the issue of packing and correct storage. When packed and stored correctly, teas retain their flavour, colour and quality for longer. When care is not taken to package and store tea well, it’s immediately clear from the look and taste of the end product – what ends up in your cup.
When it comes to taste, poorly stored tea will taste flat. There will be hints of the flavours that the fresh leaf contained but they will be muted. The liveliness and freshness of taste of properly stored tea will be in contrast to the flatness of badly stored tea. When it comes to the appearance of the dry leaf, it will be very clear, especially with green teas, that badly stored tea has deteriorated in terms of freshness.
Anji Bai Cha Storage
The photo above shows a poorly stored Anji Bai Cha on the left and our Anji Bai Cha green tea on the right. Both teas were picked in the same year and there has been no photoshopping on the colouring of these leaves. The effect on the colour and freshness of the leaves of bad storage really is that visible in the dry leaf. The left hand sample has lost almost all the fresh spring green leaf colours it must have had at some point.
We package our teas at source as soon after production as possible and wherever possible we use vacuum packing to ensure the tea is kept at its best for longest.
With care and proper storage, tea can be kept as fresh as possible for a long time. Our customers will testify that the Anji Bai Cha they order, receive and drink really does have the same bright colour as the above photos. It’s definitely something to keep an eye out for when buying loose leaf teas.
Following on from Bethan’s latest post on her trip to meet our Gyokuro producer, here’s a video of the tea fields, production of the tea and what makes Gyokuro so unique, not only among Japanese teas, but among all teas.
Posted by Bethan.
As a graduate of Chinese Studies and having spent a few years living in Shanghai and Beijing, my knowledge of Japan was limited before I visited recently to see JING’s customers and suppliers. I would go so far as to say that my opinion was negatively tinted with the Sino-Japanese rivalry that I had been exposed to whilst working in China, and I was certainly a more devoted drinker of Chinese green tea than Japanese.
However, after 10 days, I have been thoroughly converted. The Japanese take intense pride in their tea industry, and hotel rooms contain Japanese green tea and hojicha (roasted tea made from a mix of stem and leaf), without an ‘English’ breakfast tea bag insight. The tea itself is of note.
It was the production of gyokuro tea which really took my breath away though. I travelled to Uji province, and the small town of Wazuka to visit the tea fields and our renowned Japanese gyokuro master.
I had a basic knowledge of gyokuro before arriving, but had my mind truly opened to the skill involved in making this tea. Gyokuro is not well known in Europe but it is the highest regarded tea in Japan. It can be machine produced or hand made, and is made in extremely small quantities in comparison to sencha, which is Japan’s most heavily produced tea, accounting for 70% of national production.
Gyokuro tea bushes lie at a lower altitude than sencha, and are covered for 20-30 days before picking in order to encourage the teas to photosynthesise, producing a sweeter, darker leaf. The finished tea leaf looks like thin needles that could be mistaken as being cut into a uniform shape. However, each leaf is actually meticulously rolled and kneaded in order to create the needles. This requires 3kg of loose leaf tea to produce 550g of gyokuro, and when produced by hand, the process takes 6 hours.
Our master is a national treasure, renowned as the number one gyokuro producer in Japan. He is a native of Uji province which produced the best gyokuro in Japan, but due to his skill, he has spent over 3 years of his life in each tea producing region in Japan teaching the tea masters in each region how to make this tea properly.
In his 70’s now, his expressive eyes glittered as he explained to me that his father taught him how to make the tea, and he has done nothing but carefully produce gyokuro ever since. The result is that he has no finger prints – worn away by rolling and kneading tea leaves over the years, he only discovered this when he was leaving Japan in the 1980s, and they tried to take his prints three times with no luck! His hands felt like thick leather but he seemed non-plussed by the sacrifice that he had made for his craft!
The Japanese Emperor himself has awarded our master with recognition for his work, and only his first tea disciple comes close to his skill in gyokuro production. This man has been taught and worked with him for 40 years, but cannot replace his master in the hearts of Japan.
Tea fields around Wazuka, Uji, Japan
The air in the mountains around his farm in Wazuka was heavy with mist and a light rain was falling when I arrived – perfect conditions for the tea bushes to flourish. The gyokuro season had ended the week before I arrived, so the covers of the bushes lay discarded at the side of the tea gardens, and I was able to drink some of the finest tea I have ever tried.
Gyokuro is not a tea that you should expect to drink in large quantities, it is something to be prepared in quantities of less than 200ml and to savour. The incredible production, results in a thick, glycerous drink which is often described as ‘soup-like’ by first time drinkers. It tastes like nothing I have ever experienced in other foods, heavy with ‘umami’, impossible to describe as it can’t be compared to much, but it is amazing.
The carefully rolled leaves have a blue tint to their dark green, shiny surface, which slowly disappears as the bright green colour comes through when the tea is made. Extremely cool water should be used when making the tea – 40 degree water for the first infusion, waiting 3 minutes to pour, increasing by 10 degree increments and reducing infusion time by 1 minute and then 30 seconds for each infusion.
Eating gyokuro tea leaves - quite delicious!
As the tea leaves themselves are extremely soft, they are fantastic to eat. We had them with a mix of soy sauce and lemon juice, and it was delicious.
I have never met a man like our gyokuro master before, and have never drunk any tea like his either. Whilst my Chinese friends may be disappointed with me saying so, this tea surpasses any other that I have drunk across the world in its uniqueness. Although it will not become my daily cuppa, I will certainly be indulging in it as often as possible in the future!
The tea I drank is available here.
Posted by: David
London’s weather is getting better and better at the moment and hot drinks are sometimes a little too much to handle so I thought I would show you how easy it is to make refreshing iced tea using whole leaf tea and herbal infusions.
Iced Teas and Herbals
Yesterday afternoon I chose a number of teas from our range which I thought would be good iced. From left to right above we have Blackcurrant and Hibiscus, Jasmine Silver Needle white tea, Organic Jade Sword green tea and Phoenix Honey Orchid oolong tea. I added a generous amount of leaf of each (1 and a half times the amount you would use for a hot infusion) and then added cold, filtered water over the top.
Each glass was then refrigerated overnight. I was in the office first this morning so I had time to take some photos of the results before I gave them to the others when they arrived a little later. It’s a good start to the day, especially if you have had a hot cycle/tube ride/bus ride to work.
Iced Teas Lineup
The blackcurrant and hibiscus was lovely, full of rich blackcurrant flavour but without the cloying sweetness of bottled varieties. The Jasmine Silver Needle was probably the best result, very refreshing, delicate and fragrant. The Jade Sword, as when hot, was bright and fresh and the Phoenix Honey Orchid was full of the peach flavour and aroma that this tea is famous for.
They went down so well that they’ve gone back in the fridge for a second infusion for the end of the day! Of course, if you don’t like having the leaves floating at the top you can pour the infusion through a strainer or scoop the leaves out but we find that if you do get the leaves in your mouth, it’s nice to suck the flavour out of the leaves. You can always make them in a bottle as well to take out with you.
As a general rule, if you like the tea hot, it’s likely that you’ll like the tea cold but from our experience, it’s the fragrant teas such as those above that work best. Try out your own and let us know how you get on.
