What type of tea is typically served in

a good Chinese restaurant,
a good Japanese restaurant,
a good Thai restaurant,
a good Vietnamese restaurant,
a good Indian restaurant?

....and are they brewed in any special way?

Thanks

hi,

it depends on what you call a "good" restaurant, and also if you mean
a native restaurant (i.e. a Chinese restaurant in China or a Chinese
restaurant in a western country).

in my experience, tea in what you'd call good restaurants is not a
terrific experience. you may be served a good leaf, but sometimes with
awful water (tap water, etc) which ruins the probably good tea.

you may also be served an overpriced mainstream good tea (i.e. long
jing). i recall paying 3 euros for a mediocre "longjing" at shanghai
central train station. but sometimes you may be surprised for good
value at unexpensive places. if in China, you will probably be served
a glass of moderately hot water with a moderate quantity tea leaves
which may taste quite ok.

regarding Japanese restaurants, my perception tells me you'll be
served more than decent senchas.






On Sep 20, 1:55*am, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
> What type of tea is typically served in
>
> * a good Chinese restaurant,
> * a good Japanese restaurant,
> * a good Thai restaurant,
> * a good Vietnamese restaurant,
> * a good Indian restaurant?
>
> ...and are they brewed in any special way?
>
> Thanks

Prof Wonmug > wrote:
>What type of tea is typically served in
>
> a good Chinese restaurant,

Usually a light oolong. Most common is the Foojoy stuff where you can
get a ten-pound bag for about six dollars. Sometimes you will encounter
a better oolong and SOME really good dim sum places have a pu-ehr available
on request.

> a good Japanese restaurant,

Usually a sencha. Yamamotoyama brand seems to be the most popular that
I see... it's not particularly good but it's not expensive.

> a good Thai restaurant,

They don't drink much hot tea in Thailand. What you will find is "Thai Iced
Tea." If it's the real thing, it's a special grade of tea which is
ground up, usually drip-brewed, and served with huge amounts of sugar.
It may or may not have condensed milk added. The real stuff actually has
a strong anise flavour which comes from the tea leaf itself, and an orange
color.

Just about every restaurant I have seen in the US uses a rather poor grade
thai tea which has got star anise and coloring added to it, but it's still
not bad. The real thing is pretty amazing, though. Vasinee brand is not
the real thing.

A lot of Thai restaurants are serving some kind of hot tea now, but it is
really not traditional there.

> a good Vietnamese restaurant,

Most probably "Saigon tea" which is green jasmine tea. Usually you will
see the cheap yellow box Jasmine from China.

Occasionally you will see "Hue Tea" or "Tra Sen Hue" which is a green
tea flavoured with lotus blossoms. It's a very acquired taste and you
may have to do some convincing to get them to give you some.

> a good Indian restaurant?

Masala tea. The cheapest possible black Assam tea, usually CTC-processed
and mixed with spices. Actual spice mixture will depend on the chef's
taste (although he's apt to just buy a prepackaged tea masala from a
vendor) and could include ginger, clove, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon,
etc. Sometimes you will find South Indian restaurants that use black
cardamom, which gives an almost minty aftertaste.

Usually slathered with huge amounts of milk, but they may offer a "black tea"
without milk on request. The black tea should be made with a different
masala than the regular milk tea but often isn't.
--scott

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

On Sep 19, 7:55*pm, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
> What type of tea is typically served in
>
> * a good Chinese restaurant,
> * a good Japanese restaurant,
> * a good Thai restaurant,
> * a good Vietnamese restaurant,
> * a good Indian restaurant?
>
> ...and are they brewed in any special way?
>
> Thanks

In China, the tea served in restaurants is generally the cheapest
stuff they can find. My friends in the biz actually request water
when they go out to eat unless the restaurant is specifically famous
for tea quality or variety; some take their own tea. I know when I
get Dimsum I usually take my own tea, teapot and water.

In the expensive restaurants they might bring out a tea caddy with a
choice of Celestial Seasons and some British blends teabags. There is
no guarantee youre better off bringing your own. They dont even know
how to heat water or if they do you get the oily taste of water heated
in a coffee pot. Most waiters consider a teabag like a cig butt. I
do like Liptons unsweetened tea at the fountains in convenience
stores. I wished I could get that in their bags.

Jim

On Sep 19, 5:55 pm, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
> What type of tea is typically served in
>
> a good Chinese restaurant,
> a good Japanese restaurant,
> a good Thai restaurant,
> a good Vietnamese restaurant,
> a good Indian restaurant?
>
> ...and are they brewed in any special way?
>
> Thanks