It's All About Tea — black tea

Tea has been a staple in Asian culture for centuries, with various types and flavors that vary from region to region. The popularity of Chinese tea has long outgrown its borders as entrepreneurs introduced tea seeds and plants to other Asian countries. That led to the production of Chinese tea types in other countries.

In today's blog post, we'll explore some of the most popular varieties of Asian tea produced in some of China's neighboring countries. We'll explore the production specifics that vary by each country, and some teas with unique profiles, that stemmed from these bold experiments. We can even offer you some of them in our tea store, too, so make yourself a cuppa and let's dive in! (Read More)

In our previous posts, we explored how tea penetrated countries from Morocco through Russia to Iran. We witnessed the birth and evolution of those countries' unique tea cultures and how they intertwined and influenced each other. Today, we round up our round-the-world journey in Turkey to explore the local tea heritage and traditions around tea.

Let's start with a unanimous fact – Turkey crowns the Top 10 list of tea-drinking countries in the world (based on per capita consumption)! It's hard to imagine tea entered this country a mere century ago. Yet, tea culture in Turkey has a long and rich history. Since its introduction, tea has become an important part of Turkish daily life. Today, it is an integral part of the social culture. Serving and drinking tea together is also a way of showing hospitality. It is common for Turkish people to offer tea to guests as a sign of goodwill and being welcome. (Read more)

Tea is probably the most popular beverage in Iran. The tea tradition in Iran has a rich history. Today, tea is a definite winner against coffee in terms of both popularity and consumption. Numbers state that Iran is in the World's top 4 tea consuming countries, with a 1.5kg annual per capita consumption. As for coffee, it stays outside of the World's Top 30. However, it wasn't always this way.

Being at the crossroad between established tea-drinking nations such as Russia, India, and China, Iran took its time before forging its own tea culture and tea-drinking identity. Let's explore the journey of tea in Iran! (Read More)

Tibetan black tea is made from more mature tea leaves. The picking standard for it includes a bud and up to five leaves. Modern days processing includes typical steps for producing Hei Cha – fixing, rolling, wet piling (Wo Dui – 渥堆), drying, steaming, pressing, and finally, aging. While the processing changed with time, some believe it is namely Tibetan tea that precedes all other types of Hei Cha and served as a model for all subsequent Hei Cha production and processing in other areas of China. 

Tibetan tea processing includes 5 stages and a total of 32 processing steps. The aging period alone requires a minimum of 6 months. Some claim its production process is the most intricate and time-consuming among all tea types. (Read more)

Last week in part one of this blog post, we discovered the relationship between tea and Traditional Chinese Medicine and how tea turned into "a medicine for ten thousand illnesses". We also talked about two of the three most suitable teas to drink in wintertime - black tea and dark tea (like shou pu-erh and Liu Bao). We discussed how they support vital body functions and help preserve our health during the colder months. Now let's go on with the last suggestion - and a bonus mention!  (Read more)