It's All About Tea — aged tea

There are two schools: one that says no to boiled water, and one that says that boiled water is totally fine. So some carefully watch (or listen) to our tea kettles, waiting for the perfect time to cut the flame off. It's true, every tea type has the ideal temperature that allows the tea leaves to open up to us in all their beauty. The perfect aroma, perfect taste – balanced brew. It is crucial to learn this.

However, during the Tang Dynasty (618 ~ 907), tea was brewed very differently from what we are used to today. People boiled tea! (Read more)

In China, fermentation is a vital part of the food culture. Sauces and condiments, tofu, pickles, wine, and even nuts. You will find at least one fermented ingredient on every dinner table in China. It is no wonder that fermentation made its way into China's extensive and well-developed tea culture. (Read more)

Pu-erh is a very unique tea type. For many, it’s either you like it or you don’t, and there is no in-between. It is a dark, very robust tea that has often gone through years of fermentation and births a flavor that is unusual to many.

For some, pu-erh is just not for them, no matter how many top-shelf cakes they have tried. If trying pu-erh for the first time we always recommend trying a quality sample. Otherwise, you may end up with a ruined pu-erh that will make you never want to experiment with the stuff again.

So how do we determine what would be considered a good pu-erh? (Read more)

Many of us were lead to believe that it is reasonable to pay an extremely high price for a pu-erh aged 20+ years. Most often it is actually unreasonable.
In fact, older age does not equal better taste, and although there are some longer-aged pu-erhs out there with an exceptional taste, in general, this should not be your area of focus when looking to buy a delicious cake. (Read more)