You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'green tea' category.
Our new Matcha Infusion Guide video shows you how to make your own perfect bowl of Matcha.
We receive so many questions regarding the antioxidant levels in our teas. In order to provide accurate information to our customers, we decided to commission tests on our teas by an independent and certified laboratory.
We will be commissioning further research across a much larger range of our teas in the near future.
Jun Shan Silver Needle Yellow Tea - A top performer in our antioxidant tests
The tests we commissioned assessed the levels of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which is the most abundant and commonly found catechin/flavonoid found in tea. Flavonoids are the polyphenolic compounds contained in vegetables, fruits and plant which have been the subject of extensive research into their antioxidant effects.
Pre-Rain Dragon Well Supreme Green Tea - the highest green tea in our results
Below we have included a list of the results, showing the amounts of EGCG found in each of the teas we tested. We’ve then given this in the form of mg/250ml serving.
1. Pre-Rain Jun Shan Silver Needle Yellow Tea – 75.25mg EGCG/250ml serving
2. Pre-Rain Organic Dragon Well Supreme Green Tea – 64.5mg EGCG/250ml serving
3. Organic Gunpowder Supreme Green Tea – 61mg EGCG/250ml serving
4. Organic White Peony Supreme White Tea – 50.75mg EGCG/250ml serving
5. Silver Needle White Tea – 39.25mg EGCG/250ml serving
6. Big Red Robe Supreme Oolong Tea – 26.5mg EGCG/250ml serving
7. Yellow Gold Oolong Tea – 14.5mg EGCG/250ml serving
8. Assam Breakfast Black Tea – 6mg EGCG/250ml serving
On our website, next to each tea, you will also be able to see the total levels of antioxidants for each tea. These figures include results for the less abundant antioxidants – Epicatechine, ECG and EGC.
Posted by: David
We’re very happy to have just launched our first Matcha green tea on the website. It’s a high grade, made using top quality tencha leaves. It has a delicious flavour balancing sweetness and savouriness, a lovely thick texture and a vibrant bright green colour.
Preparing Matcha is intimidating at first but very easy if you follow a few basic and easy steps. Below is a quick guide which will help you to make your own delicious matcha at home. All of the tools that you need to make this tea are available in our Matcha Set.
Matcha Powder in Bowl
First, add about 2g or 2 (chashaku) spoons of matcha into the bowl. If you don’t have a traditional chashaku matcha spoon then about two thirds of a teaspoon will equal a similar amount to that shown in the photo above. Notice the vibrant green colour of the powder – this is a hallmark of top quality matcha.
Whisk and Paste
You will notice that the powdered matcha has a few lumps in it. In order to make really smooth matcha you will need to get rid of these lumps. You can do this by adding a very small amount of cold water to the bowl.
Using hot water to do this will not remove the lumps so it is important that the water is cold. Next, use your whisk to gently make a paste and to remove any lumps.
Hot Water Added
You are now ready to add the hot water, 80 degrees celsius is best. Add about 60-70ml of the water.
Whisking the Matcha
Now to the whisking. Firmly grip the bamboo handle of the whisk with your index, middle and ring finger. Use your other hand to hold and support the bowl. Whisk using rapid wrist movements and try not to let the tip of the whisk touch the bottom of the bowl.
If you move the whisk through the bowl as if you were writing the letter ‘m’ you will be whisking the matcha correctly. 30 seconds to 1 minute is often enough to achieve the desired result.
Finished Matcha in Bowl
When there are no large bubbles left in the match and the resulting bowl looks thick and frothy with many tiny bubbles, as in the picture above, then your matcha is ready to drink.
Posted by Bethan.
I have never knowingly seen jasmine plants or blossoms, and going to see our jasmine pearls and jasmine silver needle be scented was an eye opening experience.
Much of the jasmine tea that I drank growing up was unbeknownst to me scented with flavourings and oils. However, JING’s jasmine teas are all scented with fresh flowers. Jasmine flowers are found in Guanxi province in the far south of China, where along with sugar cane and sweetcorn they make up the main export commodities of the region.
Jasmine Flower pickers in the fields of Guanxi province, China
The countryside in Guanxi is scattered with vividly green jasmine fields. Unlike tea bushes the plants don’t require a slope to grow on and are found at low altitude. Small buds of jasmine are scattered across the bushes, and men and women with metallic wide brimmed hats hand pick the buds from branches, placing them into bags attached to their belts.
Picking jasmine flowers in Guanxi province
An open jasmine flower can not be used to scent tea leaves, and a small yellow bud will not flavour the tea either. The workers carefully pick only the large white buds which once plucked will open a few hours later in the evening and release their scent. Over 3 kilograms of fresh flowers are needed to scent 1 kilogram of tea.
Jasmine buds ready to be picked to scent JING's jasmine teas
I had expected the fields to smell overpoweringly of jasmine, but the fragrance was subtle as the majority of buds had been picked before they blossomed. In stark contrast, the factory where the green and white tea is scented had a beautifully strong jasmine aroma once we arrived at dusk.
JING's jasmine pearl green tea being scented with fresh jasmine flowers
Our jasmine pearls and silver needle white tea leaves were laid out at 7 o’clock in the evening once the fresh flowers, picked earlier that morning, had reached the building. The evening is the best time for scenting as the temperature drops slightly and the flowers open. As flowers were placed on top of the tea leaves, they slowly disappeared under a snow like layer of buds and jasmine scent filled the room.
Jasmine Silver Needle being scented with fresh jasmine flowers
Each of our jasmine teas are scented with fresh flowers for 5 consecutive nights, but when the flowers are first placed on the leaf they are left for 3 days. The tea leaves are incredibly dry compared to the flowers and over the 3 days they absorb the moisture from the flowers and absorb the jasmine flavour more effectively on the following 4 nights.
I tentatively placed my hand into the middle of the tea and flower mix and was shocked by the heat contained within. Our farmer explained to me that the tea leaves will reach 40 degrees after 6 hours of scenting and must be turned by hand to cool them down and ensure that all the leaves are scented equally by the flowers.
Fresh jasmine flowers were tossed onto the tea leaves, and the mix was turned to ensure scenting was even.
As the temperature reached 30 degrees in the scenting room, strong men came to turn the leaves, straining with effort. The smell was incredible and putting the leaves to my nose it was amazing how effectively the flavour had already been absorbed.
My hands smelt of jasmine as I washed them that evening, such great aroma coming from the tiny buds, and it seemed a shame to wash it away!
The fresh jasmine flowers were removed from the tea leaf the morning after scenting, ready for a new batch of flowers to be placed onto them again
The next morning I returned to the factory to see the sorting of the tea leaves. You’ll notice that there are virtually no flower petals in our jasmine pearls or jasmine silver needle, and this is because each morning after a night of scenting, the flowers are separated from the tea leaves and the leaves and dried to help them to retain the jasmine aroma.
A beautiful whole silver needle bud after scenting with jasmine
The tea in front of me was only being scented for the first time, but a batch had been made before I arrived and I drank this with my hosts in the cool breeze of a fan next to the scenting room. The silver needle leaves created a beautifully clear infusion and the soft yet full jasmine aroma came through with each sip. It is certainly easy to see that the painstaking effort of picking, scenting and drying the leaves was worth it! It was incomparable to the jasmine teas of my childhood, which smelt faintly of jasmine but tasted of water with a hint of tannic green tea. It is truly a piece of artisan skill to produce such beautiful flavour.
Posted by Thomas.
When I moved from Germany to London about 8 months ago I would have never guessed that I would be visiting China this year. At the end of April I had the chance to accompany Edward on his spring tea buying trip documenting the journey with my camera. During the course of one week we filmed about 7 hours of video footage which you will see on the website after editing during the next weeks.
As it was my first time in Asia there were so many new impressions and things to see and explore. I was hugely impressed by the gorgeous scenery of the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian where some of our fantastic Oolong teas are produced. We spent two whole days in a tea factory to produce our own very special Tie Guan Yin. We were involved in every step of the production process, from the picking through different steps of withering, firing and baking. Finally we had the chance to taste the tea we made. As we worked directly with the farmers it was stunning to listen to their experiences and feel their years of knowledge while producing the tea.
Wuyi Mountains
There was also a very warm connection with the farmers as we spent a lot of time together experiencing the chinese culture and hospitality. I really appreciated the chinese food. During this week I had some of the most delicious food I have ever tried. I was delighted by the homemade dishes and enjoyed having lunch and dinner with a whole group of people. For the Chinese people it was very important to sit down in company, enjoying food and chatting about tea and life in general.
Chinese homemade dishes
Though the farmers in the countryside live a quite simple life they seem very happy and satisfied. We received a warm welcome and a smile everywhere we went. I’ll definitely go back to China to explore more parts of the country and the people with the liveliest culture I have ever seen. Until then I’ll hang onto my memories of this fantastic experience and have a cup of Wuyi Oolong tea.
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
Thai Food and Tea
I’ve been lucky enough to have some Thai friends stay with me recently so I’ve been enjoying lots of delicious home-cooked Thai food. We’ve been trying out various teas with different dishes and have found that some of the flavours really complement each other.
The photo above shows steamed sea bass in a fragrant stock/soup of ginger, garlic, chilli, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce topped with coriander and prawns cooked with asparagus and long beans, oyster sauce, chilli and garlic. They’re both very fragrant dishes, as is often the case with Thai food and we’ve found that both jasmine pearls and Anji Bai Cha green tea accompany the dishes particularly well.
The fragrant but clean flavour of the jasmine pearls matches the strong fragrant flavours of the food and the sweet green flavours of the Anji Bai Cha complemented the fresh sweetness of the green vegetables in the prawn dish.
The teas also provided a nice respite for when the chilli, (used in liberal amounts) became a little overpowering. All in all a highly recommended combination.
New Long Jing Dragon Well green tea
The highly anticipated new spring teas will be arriving at the end of this week. When Edward arrived back in London last week we all sat down and had a long tasting of all the green teas we’ll be stocking this year. The Dragon Well has a great even shape and the taste is fresh, thick and full.
In addition, we’ll have a Jiande Bao Cha in the green tea range. This is a very special green tea and in our opinion one of the finest green teas produced this year. Personally, I was particularly looking forward to trying the new season’s Anji Bai Cha – as readers of this blog will know, it’s a personal favourite. This year’s crop did not disappoint, the leaves have the same fantastically deep and bright green colour, the taste as sweet, fresh and sappy as the previous crops I have fallen for.
Anji Bai Cha on Gaiwan Lid
Rest assured that as soon as the new season teas have arrived at our warehouse, they’ll be available on our site.
Posted by: David
Posted by: David
Inspired by all the talk of new spring green teas, I thought I would show you one of my favourites, Anji Bai Cha. It’s probably the nicest green tea I’ve ever had. Both the dry leaves and the post infusion leaves have this fantastically deep green colour which I’ve not seen before, even in the freshest Dragon Wells. This time I’m using our One Cup Teapot set which is easy and convenient to use (I have two at my desk at all times aas I alternate between two or more types of tea a day!).
Anji Bai Cha One Cup Teapot Set
A couple of good pinches of the dry leaves and then 70 degree water added.
Anji Bai Cha Full Cup
3 minutes for infusion and you’re left with a full cup and no water left in the teapot (they’re the same size). Anji Bai has a lovely sweet, fresh and sappy flavour and I enjoy every cup without fail.
Anji Bai Cha Green Tea
I’ve tried to show what I mean about the depth of colour in the Anji Bai leaves. To me they just look so fresh and healthy and I can’t help but feel that along with being delicious it’s also doing me good!
Anji Bai Leaves
I’m looking forward to the new batch at the end of the month!
Last year, I talked to the farmer at our Dragon Well (Long Jing) farm near Hangzhou over a glass of spring tea, about what an amazing job he has done. Typically, with his diligent and modest attitude (he’s one of the last people I know who needs to be modest), he asked me what more he could do to make the tea better.
Absolutely hand-made
We went through everything, noting how he had over the years developed outstanding tea bushes from nurturing the soil through more than a decade of organic farming on previously wild land. This shows itself in the fat, juicy buds on the tea bushes which produce so much flavour and body in each cup. He has carefully nurtured saplings from wild seeded trees. He has also made sure the tea keeps its freshness through having vacuum packing and cold storage on site.
So what more could be done? The shaping could be improved. The firing could bring out the aroma more in order to make the very most of the great raw tea leaves.
I said, to make the tea as good as any Dragon Well in China, I suggested he brought in a top master to make the shape of the leaves during firing perfect. This meant taking on one of the top firing masters in the province. I suggested this hoping (but not expecting it) it would happen.
Mr Chen, expertly firing our Dragon Well green tea
When I arrived at the farm for the beginning of the spring picking this year, I saw someone I had not met before – Mr Chen. He was expertly pressing and turning leaves in his wok, effortlessly, with a look of relaxed focus and care. I chatted to him and got to know about his history. He had been brought into fire tea in the mei jia wu and shi feng – two of the traditional, oldest Dragon Well areas. He agreed with what I think, that the tea leaves here are better in quality than in West Lake with a much fuller thicker flavour by virtue of rich soil which has not been over farmed and fertilized. Sadly, this over production has really damaged the quality of the tea from West Lake, something which I can’t see changing due to increasing demand.
The next day I tasted the tea Mr Chen had fired with expectation. The look of the leaf was exactly what I had wanted. Beautifully consistent, incredible classic Dragon Well aroma and the taste, thick and full. We compared it to some top mei jia wu dragon well and it won the test. This was a really great feeling of achievement. More than 10 years of work on the land, investment in a new factory with state of the art equipment for packing and storage. Finally the investment in the skills of Mr Chen, an expert in the age old skill of hand firing the tea in a hot wok.
Add water and the tea leaves looks almost as fresh as when they were picked
Our new dragon well will be available at the end of the month. We’ll let you know as soon as its in!!! If you want us to tell you when it arrives, just email us though the JING tea website via contact us.
Posted by Ed.
This village up in the hills outside Hangzhou (the famous Chinese tea capital and specifically the place for Dragon Well green tea) is such a special place. If you want to experience what the Chinese describe as good ‘kong qi’ or, to put it very simply, ‘really fresh air’, this is the place. There is no sound of cars as there are none for miles, and you are surrounded by the most amazing variety of trees, mountains and wild life. Green tea has been produced here for hundreds of years and life here is natural, simple and unspoilt.
Chinese village near our dragon well tea farm
One of the best things about the village are the houses. If you’ve been to China, I am sure you will agree that the scenery is great but often the buildings can be a little uninspiring. Here, it’s different. The rust-coloured rooves and cream coloured walls look great.
There are small fields of rape, great forests of bamboo with pointed bamboo shoots ready to be pulled up and eaten. I find that the natural ease of the place (it feels like millenia of natural ease) seeps into me and I feel calm and awake.
fresh bamboo shoot
The whole area has been organically farmed for more than 10 years. I’m going to write more about how this has affected the tea in a good way and how it is superior to West Lake Dragon Well as a result. Being someone who rates taste above all else, I never buy organic tea simply because it’s organic. But the tea here is better because it is organic with the fat, juicy tea buds that the land produces. This cannot be said for every organic tea by any means…more on that later.
Pre Rain Orgnaic Dragon Well Supreme
We came across this article detailing the health benefits of drinking green tea in the Times yesterday. It quotes some research from the Athens Medical School and focuses mainly on the effects of green tea, first on the heart:
“Black and green tea comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. To make green tea the leaves are steamed immediately after harvesting and chopping. This stops an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase from oxidising the most powerful super nutrient in the tea plant, known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). In a nutshell, green tea is full of EGCG, whereas black tea has very little”
“According to scientists from Athens Medical School, sipping a cup of green tea has recently been shown in volunteers to widen the artery that runs from the shoulder to the elbow by 4 per cent within half an hour of drinking, suggesting a short-term benefit at least on large blood vessels. This may help to explain why studies looking at large populations of people appear to show lower rates of heart disease and stroke in those who drink four to five cups a day”
Secondly on weight:
“As for your waistline, there have long been mumblings in the nutrition world of green tea having potential effects on fat-burning mechanisms in our bodies. New research in the Journal of Nutrition supports the notion, indicating that it could be fat around our tummies that is the first to be burnt off. The study, on 132 obese adults, showed that while all had the same calorie intake and did the same amount of exercise, those drinking green tea lost 2.2lb more weight (with larger reductions in abdominal fat) over 12 weeks than those who had only a caffeine-containing beverage.”
The article then points out that over a long period of time, this could make the difference between being overweight and a healthy weight. The conclusion scientists have drawn is that “it may be EGCG that speeds up the rate at which fat is broken down in our bodies.”
Thirdly, potential effects of green tea and cancer prevention. Research has shown that “extracts from green tea that include EGCG stop or slow down the growth of some cancer cells”.
While this could potentially be great news, it’s important to note that research is still being carried out in this area and as the Times article explains, Cancer Help UK say “that evidence from human studies has yet to prove that drinking green tea has a cancer-preventing effect in real life”.
Here at JING, we aim to keep up with all the health news surrounding tea and we’ll keep this blog updated with anything we see which is well researched, authoritative and clear.
