FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

Scott Dorsey

> wrote:
>I recently spoke with a Taiwanese tea merchant. Although hard to
>understand, he made several interesting comments. One is that you have
>to distinguish between the green, oolong, and black tea "process" and
>the green, oolong, and black tea "tree." Most Taiwanese tea, he told
>me, comes from the "green process" of an "oolong tree." I assume he
>means that their tea is relatively unoxidized and comes from a varietal
>of Camellia sinensis typically used to make oolong tea.
>
>Does that make sense? Or is it more likely that he's referring to
>altitude or ecological factors?

It does make sense. BUT, it's true that altitude and ecological conditions
also affect the tea... and tea from one place and one plant may make an
excellent black tea but a terrible green tea.

>Another question: he brews pu-erh in a large glass kettle, removing the
>leaves every three days but adding them more often, and boiling the
>concotion before each serving. Is this normal? Is it safe?

It doesn't sound normal to me, but I would expect the boiling is going to
kill the fungus and mold that will naturally grow there. May not do
anything about the fungus and mold toxins produced, of course. It does
not sound like a way to make good-tasting tea, but then again I don't much
like pu-ehr anyway.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."