I'd like to know the answer to the subject question.
I suspect it's white tea, but I want to be sure.

Thanks in advance,

George

You can take leaf and sun dry it like white tea or roast it like
green. I prefer the roasting which locks in the flavor while sun
drying withers. One man's less processing is another man's less
taste.

Jim

George Cherry wrote:
I'd like to know the answer to the subject question.
I suspect it's white tea, but I want to be sure.

Thanks in advance,

George

Bet it would be the silver needles tea. Can't do much processing with that
or it'll destroy the silver hairs.

One man's less processing is another man's less
taste.

Well, I grew a Camellia Sinensis plant a couple years ago. Only got to be a
foot tall before it started to die. So I harvested the leaves, seared them
a little bit, chopped them up a bit and steeped them, and it was the
sweetest tea I'd ever had. Stunningly sweet, even though the brew was
almost clear.

On Sep 28, 7:21 am, "Slint Flig" wrote:

Well, I grew a Camellia Sinensis plant a couple years ago. Only got to be a
foot tall before it started to die. So I harvested the leaves, seared them
a little bit, chopped them up a bit and steeped them, and it was the
sweetest tea I'd ever had.

Remember that chinese monk who fell asleep under a tea tree and woke
up with a leaf in his water ?
Chopping sounds a bit like over the top.

Karsten

"Slint Flig" wrote in message
...
Bet it would be the silver needles tea. Can't do much processing with
that
or it'll destroy the silver hairs.

One man's less processing is another man's less
taste.

Well, I grew a Camellia Sinensis plant a couple years ago. Only got to be
a
foot tall before it started to die. So I harvested the leaves, seared
them
a little bit, chopped them up a bit and steeped them, and it was the
sweetest tea I'd ever had. Stunningly sweet, even though the brew was
almost clear.

How do you think it would have tasted
if you hadn't seared the leaves?

How do you think it would have tasted
if you hadn't seared the leaves?

Probably about the same. I didn't sear them very well, or for very long, or
on high enough heat. I'd only read about people doing it so I didn't really
know what the hell I was doing.

Great tasting brew though! So sweet. Unlike anything I've ever bought. I
can understand why people started making tea all those thousands of years
ago..

And I chopped them up because each leaf was about 1.5" by 3"..

Well, I grew a Camellia Sinensis plant a couple years ago. Only got to be a
foot tall before it started to die. So I harvested the leaves, seared them
a little bit, chopped them up a bit and steeped them, and it was the
sweetest tea I'd ever had. Stunningly sweet, even though the brew was
almost clear.

Hello Slint!,
What part of the world and area are you located? I would love to grow
one as well. Maybe not for harvesting but who knows? Just a challenge
to try to grow something I really love alot. And I must say that I
have been succesful here in South Coastal Texas for most of what I
have tried Eeeh hawww!!! Maybe the climate here will be good. Has
anyone had any success in a US southern (subtropical) climate? And
where can I obtain seedlings? Do they need grafting?
Very cool job you must have done to get such sweet nice leaves even as
the tree was dying. Wonder if the tree grew for many years how your
harvest would be?
Jenn

On Sep 29, 12:00 am, "Slint Flig" wrote:

And I chopped them up because each leaf was about 1.5" by 3"..

Ah yeah Slint,
Do you have any photos? Must have been some helluva leaf. Maybe an
oolong type?
Jenn

I'm in southern california. I ordered 10 seeds off ebay. Four started, two
turned into viable plants. Unfortunately I went to Europe for 6 weeks and
gave them to my girlfriend who over-fertilized them. When I came back the
leaves were dropping, so I steeped them

You can do it where you are. You will definitely not get the tea plants
that they get in China or India, just as you wouldn't get the same vineyard
growth that they do in France if you were trying to make your own wine.

However, it's definitely interesting. You need to have LOTS of patience
though. It might be years until your plants get big enough to harvest
anything, and then you may only get a cup or two (unless you accidentally
kill yours, then you can harvest them right away


--

"Jenn" wrote in message
oups.com...

Well, I grew a Camellia Sinensis plant a couple years ago. Only got to
be a
foot tall before it started to die. So I harvested the leaves, seared
them
a little bit, chopped them up a bit and steeped them, and it was the
sweetest tea I'd ever had. Stunningly sweet, even though the brew was
almost clear.

Hello Slint!,
What part of the world and area are you located? I would love to grow
one as well. Maybe not for harvesting but who knows? Just a challenge
to try to grow something I really love alot. And I must say that I
have been succesful here in South Coastal Texas for most of what I
have tried Eeeh hawww!!! Maybe the climate here will be good. Has
anyone had any success in a US southern (subtropical) climate? And
where can I obtain seedlings? Do they need grafting?
Very cool job you must have done to get such sweet nice leaves even as
the tree was dying. Wonder if the tree grew for many years how your
harvest would be?
Jenn

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:21:35 -0700, Jenn
wrote:

And I chopped them up because each leaf was about 1.5" by 3"..
Must have been some helluva leaf. Maybe an oolong type?

Is there such a thing, as an Oolong leaf?

I thought Oolong was only a method of processing.


Lars
Stockholm

On Sep 29, 4:57 pm, Lars wrote:
On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:21:35 -0700, Jenn
wrote:

And I chopped them up because each leaf was about 1.5" by 3"..
Must have been some helluva leaf. Maybe an oolong type?

Is there such a thing, as an Oolong leaf?

I thought Oolong was only a method of processing.

Lars
Stockholm

Well I dont know. I have seen them in my cup that was oolong tea, and
they were pretty big, and I also had one fo shou or something like
that was a very big leaf. ANd the green tea leaves look different and
so do the white leaves and well it seems like many look different.
Like india leafs look different. Maybe are sub species of the camellia
sinensis????
Jenn

Well Slint,
Seems like that is a challenge to me. I really like to grow things...
and have been successful. A tea plant would certainly be a challenge.
If I can procure a plant or seeds I am gonna try!!!
good luck to me and may my green thumb show up.
Jenn

On 9 27 , 12 56 , "George Cherry"
wrote:
I'd like to know the answer to the subject question.
I suspect it's white tea, but I want to be sure.

Thanks in advance,

George

Hi George,

I think it depends on your definition of "process".
For white tea, yes, it undergoes limited procedures, but it is wilted,
which is a major process changes some natural parts of tea leaf.
If you mean "the least processed tea close to original tea leaf", I
would say it's green tea. Green tea is not wilted, it sometimes
undergoes steaming or roasting as drying procedures.
I read in some book, there are different methods to distinguish tea
styles, and one of them is "wilting".

There are 2 articles you can take a look, hope they help.
http://www.aurateas.com/tea_origins_...ea-detail.aspx
http://www.aurateas.com/tea_origins_...ea-detail.aspx

oneone

Lars writes:

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:21:35 -0700, Jenn
wrote:

And I chopped them up because each leaf was about 1.5" by 3"..
Must have been some helluva leaf. Maybe an oolong type?

Is there such a thing, as an Oolong leaf?

I thought Oolong was only a method of processing.

You're right technically. But the people who manufacture oolong
generally don't use any old tea leaves; they tend to choose certain
cultivars, and within a tea shoot they tend to use the big leaves far
from the growing tip rather than "two leaves and a bud."

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
recent addition: xiao ma

Do you have a special way of brewing tea in such a pot?

According to Taiwan style, which as in most things, it's probably closer
to the way it was done here in the past. You add your tea until the
bottom of the vessel is covered and then do a quick wash. After the wash,
add your hot, hot, hot water and brew for about 45-50 seconds; this can be
altered depending on how you like your tea. Sometimes if the tea's "qi"
isn't very strong, the first brewing can be longer than a minute.
Whenever my pal comes over, we do the full shebang with sniffer glasses
and all, so I always follow his directions. He has about 30 years in tea
drinking.

If you get some good full roast, pour directly into peoples' cups instead
of using your gongdaobei. If there is too much tea left over, pour just a
little into the gongdaobei and use the rest to season your other pots.
After about 6 or 7 brewings, your gongdaobei will be quite full of tea;
all the brewings mixed together. You can get some really intense flavors
out of that mix. With my competition grade tea, we could only describe
the residual flavor of the mixed-brew as "gram cracker". Awesome stuff!

Thanks. Good advice. I usually use more tea than described, albeit not much more, and far shorter steeps until the last. My rule of thumb, gotten elsewhere, is to fill the gaiwan with leaf so that unfurled it comes to the lid but does not press the lid upward.
Michael