GREEN TEA - TAI PING HOI KUI - TWININGS TEA TASTERS
GREEN TEA - TAI PING HOI KUI, WHERE IN CHINA IS IT FROM?
This beautiful tea comes from the Eastern Seaboard of China. Tai Ping is in reference to the county of Anhui in which the tea is produced, Hoi being in relation to the village that is associated with this tea and Kui being in reference to the gentleman who first produced and developed the particular kind of tea.
Tai Ping Hoi Kui; when you put the words together, mean "Great Peace Monkey King" so you may hear the tea referred to as "Great King", "Monkey King" or simply "Monkey Tea".WHAT IS TAI PING HOI KUI GREEN TEA?
It's a delicious tea, generally plucked just once a year, between April and May when the leaves have been allowed to grow and become really quite long. When the 2 leaves and the bud that cling to the same part of the stem are plucked they are taken to a large wok and pressed against the side of the wok to give an elongated shape. Alternatively the leaves and bud can be pressed in between two clothes.
What you'll notice is the beautiful texture that these clothes now apply to the leaf - a kind of criss-cross or hatching on the outside of the leaf gives it a beautiful texture that can be seen with the naked eye.
THE EXPERTISE BEHIND GREEN TEA
Green Tea is probably the original tea to be imported into the UK, and probably the first tea every imported by Twinings.
It comes from the Camellia Sinensis; the tea plant, and the same plant that our daily black tea comes from, however it is produced in a slightly different to give it the unique flavour we all know.
SO WHAT'S THE KEY TO GREEN TEA
It's simple. The leaves are not given the opportunity to oxidise as with black tea, leaving the teas green in colour.
Oxidation is when the enzymes in the leaf react with the Oxygen in the air, turning the leaves brown, and producing the flavour profile we recognise within black teas.
By gently heating the leaves first, it puts a stop to this chemical reaction, meaning the leaves don't oxidate, and we end up with Green Tea.
HOW TO STOP OXIDATION HAPPENING
The process of stopping oxidation can be done in a couple of ways. The traditional way is to heat the leaves in a large wok. The skill involved is very precise, as the processor needs to ensure the leaves are continually moving, to avoid them burning. This process of heating the leaves kills the enzymes, which avoids oxidation.
The leaves are then prepared to be rolled, and go through the finishing process, much the same as other teas.
The other way to avoid oxidation is to again heat the leaf, but this time by steaming the leaves. This is the preferred method in Japan, where they pass the leaves through a cylinder with high pressure steam blasting through it. It remains there only for a matter of seconds, to heat the leaf enough to kill of the enzymes, producing a very similar effect, but with a slightly different overall taste profile. The output of this method is referred to as steamed Green Tea, or in Japan, Sencha Green Tea.
BREWING, TASTING AND CHARACTER
There are a number of great ways to drink these teas because it is a really fun tea when you look at the shape of it. The smell is simply beautiful; you'll get a very nutty aroma. The liquor itself is pale green in colour with good transparency. The beginning of the flavour offers a head but as it lengthens out it becomes a lot sweeter and more floral.
A QUICK GUIDE TO MAKING YOUR GREEN TEA
- Add 4 or 5 leaves per person straight into your cup, or diffuser if you prefer.
- Pour hot water over the top of it - at about 80 degrees C
- Allow the kettle to boil and leave it for 4-5 minutes to cool before you pour it over
- Leave the tea for 3-4 minutes to brew.
The wonderful thing about loose tea is that you can re-use your tealeaves two or three times. In some households the tealeaves always goes into either the compost, on the roses or around the base of a hydrangea helping to turn the colour of the petals to a deep blue (try at your own risk)
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