Don’t be surprised if the world-renowned Darjeeling tea, known for its characteristic aroma and therapeutic uses, is grown in and around Kolkata, or just about anywhere, in the future. The generations old mysticism and romanticism of the aroma of Darjeeling tea has been shattered by Swati Sen Mandi, a Kolkata-based scientist of Bose Institute, who has found that the incomparable muscatel flavour can be induced in any tea with the right doses of ultra-violet rays.

Following the 2010 finding, officials of Ging Tea Estate in Darjeeling have recently approached her for commercialisation of this method. However, the department of biotechnology did not evince interest in trying to turn the remarkable finding into a viable commercial process.

Mandi received a patent from the Kenya Industrial Property Institute in June 2010. The findings have also been published in two international journals – International Journal of Environmental Biology published from the US and African Journal of Biochemistry Research.

“The aroma and anti-oxidant level of Darjeeling tea, which makes it popular all over the world, is just because the leaves are exposed to an optimum level UV rays in the months of February to June, the season when the best tea leaves are plucked,” said Mandi senior professor of Bose Institute and emeritus medical scientist of ICMR.

Incidentally, in tea trade parlance, these teas are called first and second flush, with first flush tea commanding premium prices in all markets.

The question before Mandi was simple. Both Assam tea and Darjeeling tea contain the same genes and grow in similar soil conditions. What then causes the difference? Why Darjeeling tea had a typical aroma and high anti oxidant levels, while Assam tea failed to produce it? The answer could lie in the altitude, as Darjeeling tea grows at an altitude of nearly 4,500 feet and Assam tea grows at an altitude of 350 feet.

Mandi collected samples of both Darjeeling tea and Assam tea and carried on a series of tests in the laboratory of the Bose Institute. She found UV rays had something to do with the aroma and anti-oxidant level of Darjeeling tea.

She then performed some field trials in a tea garden inside IIT Kharagpur with samples of Assam tea.  Mandi found that when Assam tea was exposed to optimum level of UV rays, the aroma and anti-oxidant levels increased.

The entire project was undertaken by the Bose Institute and funded by the department of biotechnology.

The amount of UV rays from the sun rises with altitude and between 15 degrees – 35 degrees North latitude. This is the reason due to which Assam tea, which is grown in much lesser heights or tea grown in Nilgiris, which is grown in other latitudes, do not produce the same aroma and antioxidants as that of Darjeeling tea.

Mandi said all plants contain an anti-oxidant compound called ‘flavonoids’. The higher the amount of flavonoid, the greater is the anti-oxidant level and greater the therapeutic use. Flavonoids combine with another compound, in the presence of certain enzymes to produce the characteristic aroma. The stronger the combination, the more would be the aroma. The entire process is enhanced by optimum amount of UV rays.

“In my paper I showed that if any species of tea plant is exposed to optimum levels of UV Rays the amount of flavonoids in it increases. In the long run these flavonoids would bring the aroma,” she said

Joydeep Thakur, Hindustan Times
Kolkata, January 13, 2013

The three-piece white porcelain set includes a brew cup, a lid and a 6-ounce tasting bowl. We recommend purchasing 6 at a time, allowing you to compare teas side-by-side in a consistent, standardized method (referred to in the industry as “cupping”).

DIRECTIONS: Add 2.5 grams (approximately 1 heaping teaspoon for most teas) of leaves into the brew cup. Fill the cup with freshly boiled (190 degree) water and cover. Steep for three minutes. While holding the lid tight, set the cup horizontally on the tasting bowl to decant through the grooved teeth opposite the handle. Once the water has completely drained into the bowl, you can evaluate the tea in several ways:

1. HEATED ESSENCE: Hold the empty brew cup (containing only the used tealeaves) in your hand and tip the lid slightly to smell the warm, used tealeaves. Etiquette dictates that you only tip the lid slightly and replace it immediately after evaluating the aroma to retain heat and steam for the next tea taster in line behind you. The heated aroma is critical to the evaluation process. It can tell you many things about the tea’s quality and will flush out any imperfections. Many professional buyers say they can tell which teas they are going to buy based on this first step of smelling the heated essence alone.

2. TASTE: Next, taste the tea from the tasting bowl by sipping directly from the cup or by using a large spoon (not included). TIP: you can dip your used spoon in a cup of room-temperature water between tastings so as not to co-mingle flavors. Professional tasters always slurp their tea loudly and as quickly as possible to spray the tea to all of the different tasting areas of their tough at once. Swirl the tea around in your mouth, paying attention to texture and flavor (initial taste, middle taste and after taste). Also take note of the color of the tea. Professional tasting sets are always made from white porcelain to set the tea’s visual color in high contrast.

3. WET LEAF: After everyone has examined the heated aroma and tasted the tea, hold the cup and lid firmly together and flip the cup over until all of the used tealeaves fall and rest on the lid. Place the lid up-side-down on the cup, displaying the used tealeaves. You can now evaluate the cooled essence (the aroma of the now room-temperature tealeaves) to see how the smell has changed. You can also use your fingers to feel the texture and springiness of the leaves. Look for any visual or tactile similarities or inconsistencies.

TIP: In most professional tastings, a small amount of the dried leaf is also set on a piece of paper or basket behind the tea tasting set so that you can also evaluate the appearance and aroma of the tea at all stages of the brewing process, including before it has contacted water.

TIP: Some experts swear by using boiling water (212 degrees) during a professional tasting (rather than the standard, ideal tea-brewing temperature of 190 degrees) because boiling water accentuates any negative characteristics in the infusion, making any negative flavors more pronounced.

TIP: This style Tasting Set is used almost universally in the tea industry.  However, the grooved teeth on the side of the cup do not work quite as well for small-leaf teas such as rooibos, chamomile and some deep-steamed Japanese varietals.  Although the set will work conveniently and easily for all tea types, when tasting the aforementioned small-leaf teas in a highly professional environment, an added strainer is often used.

TIP FOR WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS: A Professional Tea Tasting set can create a fun, interactive tea class/demonstration for your customers!  We use a set of 12 whenever doing fundraisers, classes or special events.  We start the class with a brief introduction on tea production (the difference between true tea and herbal tea, green and black, etc.) and also discuss topics such as caffeine and health benefits.  Then we prepare a professional tasting of 12 different teas for customers to experience.  A Tasting Set makes it easy.  To maintain hygiene, we put a clean spoon (we prefer white, porcelain Chinese soup spoons but forgot them the day these photos were taken!) next to every tasting bowl and give each customer a small cup to re-use.  Rather than tasting directly with a spoon, customers use the spoon to place a small amount (enough for a sip) of tea into their cup.  We instruct customers to move down the line for the first step (“heated essence”) first, and then they taste the tea during their second trip down the line.

TO PURCHASE:  Click here to purchase a professional tasting set for yourself or your business!  If you work in the tea industry, we highly recommend having a tasting set of your own; we use ours on an almost daily basis and its convenience is much appreciated!

Considering myself a bit of a tea connoisseur, I jumped when an opportunity to document an Octavia Tea Tasting presented itself. Elizabeth Stephano of Octavia Tea arranged with local merchant Graham’s 318 to host the event hoping to educate the community about her company and about tea, in general. Despite my tea pot collection, fancy little brewing mechanisms and collection of teas from all over the world, this class proved to be quite an education for me; I realized I still have a lot to learn.

Elizabeth shared that, next to water, tea is the world’s most consumed beverage. True tea (white, green, oolong, and black tea) is the product of a specific plant: the Camellia sinensis, whereas herbal teas are made up of other ingredients, such as the chamomile plant, peppermint leaves, spice mixes or dandelion.

Having always assumed that white tea, green tea, oolong or black tea were all products of different types of tea plants or mixes of different ingredients, I learned that the type of tea a leaf becomes is actually determined by how it is treated after being harvested. White tea leaves are completely unprocessed, whereas black tea is processed heavily. To make black tea, withered tea leaves are rolled, bruising them and releasing their juices. Sticky and exposed to the elements, the leaves are then allowed to oxidize and, as a final step, are fired to seal in their flavor. This process creates a more brisk and pronounced flavor in the tea, in contrast to white tea leaves which are brewed without any processing at all.

I also learned that, though I’ve tried to give them a great home and care for them the best I could, I’ve been mistreating my poor little white and green teas. Not only have I been putting too much tea into too small a strainer (when one uses a mesh tea ball, the expansion of the tea in such a small space often disallows the center leaves to be fully exposed – Elizabeth recommends a brewing basket or fill-your-own tea bag), but I have also been using boiling water. For best results, Elizabeth recommends that green and white teas be brewed with water which has been brought to a boil, then allowed to slightly cool. And for a stronger tea, use more leaves; do not brew longer. Elizabeth recommends a brew time of 3 – 3 1/2 minutes.

Teas vary in price and quality depending on the origin, how the tea is harvested (the highest quality tea picked by hand rather than by machine), the time of year the tea is harvested and the type of ingredients used. The world’s most expensive tea was recently priced at $35,000 a pound ($200 a cup) due to its use of panda poop during the fertilization process. Since bamboo is both rich in vitamins and minerals and a staple in the panda’s diet, these benefits are said to infuse from the panda excrement into the tea leaf. Someday when I’m rich and famous I plan to give this tea a try… right next to my monkey poop coffee.

Perhaps most importantly, Elizabeth discussed a variety of health benefits teas provide. To simplify, I broke these into the true tea categories, below:

White Tea: The healthiest of the teas due to its unprocessed nature, white tea has the highest levels of antioxidants (believed to maintain health, slow the aging process, and fight disease) and the lowest caffeine content of the true teas. White tea is also high in theanine, an amino acid found only in high quality teas which promotes mental and physical relaxation, boosts the immune system and increases concentration.

Green Tea: Rich in EGCG, a natural and potent antioxidant, green tea is known to promote weight loss and good health.

Oolong Tea: Studies completed in Taiwan and China have shown that regular consumption of oolong tea is linked to lower blood sugar and the lowering of cholesterol. Oolong tea is also believed to reduce plaque in arteries, aid in weight loss and boost metabolism.

Black Tea: Black tea has been shown to have high levels of theaflavins and thearubigens, strong antioxidants linked to reduction of cholesterol and cardiovascular health.

With over ten years in business, Elizabeth has compiled enough expertise on tea to fill a small booklet: Her Tea Guide is available on the Octavia Tea website. Here you can read about further health benefit information, the origins of each tea, tasting protocol, etc.

And just to dwell on the complete admiration I have for my friend’s business, I’ll point out that she not only researches and distributes high quality teas, but she also operates the company and designs all her own labels; her original artwork is found on each package. Elizabeth has a true passion for tea and has made it her life’s work – an accomplishment I deeply respect.

Finally, what would an article on a tea tasting be without my recommendation? Immediately after the tasting, I was found ordering up a cup of the Ginger Peach white tea. I tend to like green and white teas best and loved this blend which (perhaps randomly) was placed first in the day’s line-up.

Now, what better downtime, blog-reading-companion is there than a warm, healthy cup of tea? (Or an ice tea cocktail, as summer’s a-coming…!). I hope you’ve learned something new, here, and that you’re found “trying a spot of tea” sometime soon. Cheers!

An Yanshi, an entrepreneur in southwest China, grows the tea in mountainous Ya’an in Sichuan province using tons of excrement from panda bears living at nearby breeding centers.

The first batch of panda dung tea will be sold in lots of 50 grams that will cost some 22,000 yuan ($3,500) each, a price An said makes it the world’s most expensive tea. Most people use about 3 grams of tea per cup.

An defended the steep price, saying he would channel profits from the initial batches into an environmental fund. Future batches would be cheaper, he added.

“I thank heaven and earth for blessing us with this environmental panda tea,” the 41-year-old former teacher and journalist said at a weekend event to promote the tea.

“I just want to convey to the people of the world the message of turning waste into something useful, and the culture of recycling and using organic fertilizers.”

Dressed in a panda suit to promote his tea, An invited a dozen or so guests to help hand-pick the first batch of tea at his plantation at the weekend.

The fertilizer made the tea a health boon, An said, because pandas only eat wild bamboo and absorb only a fraction of the nutrients in their food.

And pandas make plenty of fertilizer.

“They are like a machine that is churning out organic fertilizer.” An said. “They keep eating and they keep producing feces.”

“Also, they absorb less than 30 percent of the nutrition from the food, and that means more than 70 percent of the nutrients are passed out in their feces.”

After brewing the first pickings, An described the tea as fragrant and smooth. Some of his guests, however, were not impressed.

“It’s sold at such a sky-high price, perhaps this is just hype,” said 49-year-old Li Ximing. ($1 = 6.3227 Chinese yuan)

(Ediiting by Chris Buckley and Miral Fahmy)

IN-TEA’s menu includes not only the traditional favorites like Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong, but some new twists on tea, like their popular ‘TEA-garita’, ‘Mint Mo-TEA-to’ and ‘Mar-TEA-ni’s.’ Their Tea-garita is made using a very concentrated batch of Octavia’s Lime Blossom Green tea- iced, tequila and simple sugar-lime syrup. Easy and delicious!

IN-TEA’s customers came up with over 50 new recipe suggestions during our Fall cocktail contest and the 5 winners are now a part of their permanent cocktail menu.

“We also have a menu section of ‘Mix and Match Spiked Teas’ Customers can choose virtually any tea – iced or hot, and add the spike of their choice,” says an iN-TEA employee. “One of our favorites is Octavia’s Winter Mint with a shot of Irish Cream. Delicious! Or try Octavia’s fabulous Vanilla Coconut with a shot of Coconut Rum or Godiva Chocolate Liquere. We’ll even add boba and a great big straw if you desire.”

The staff at iN-TEA infuses their own green tea vodka, green tea liqueur, and black tea vodka (which they use with lemonade to make their famous ‘Brother Arnold’s Par-TEA’ cocktail). “The best part is it’s such a great way to get all your antioxidants while you relax,” explains an employee. “Our customers are amazed at all the uses for tea and tell us our concoctions are “TEA-riffic”!”

If you are lucky enough to find yourself in Colorodo this summer, please stop by iN-TEA to try a refreshing tea cocktail for yourself! At the very least, we hope this inspires you to mix a few, refreshing tea-infused concoctions of your own.

As you can see from the photo and our tasting notes, not all teas that share the same name are identical. Different gardens and tea producers in Japan sent us their best Genmaicha, but the flavors, aromas and appearances were shockingly different.

The first Genmaicha we tasted used a lower quality Sencha base, giving it an “off” taste. I describe its underlying flavor as strange, metallic and almost clay-like. I find this frequently in low quality Senchas. The second Genmaicha was much better. In fact, it was very good! But compared to some of the other finalists, Genmaicha-Number-Two’s flavor was just slightly flat and one-dimensional. The third Genmaicha was last year’s version, used just for comparison. When we have to switch gardens or teas, we always compare new teas against our original version. The forth Genmaicha was very bland and unmemorable. Although there was nothing overtly wrong with it, there was nothing great about it either. The fifth Genmaicha was fabulous—bursting with the characteristic clear, fresh, grassy/toasty flavor we look for in a top quality Genmaicha. We were also amazed by the vibrant leaf color—we were curious about this one instantly before we even tasted it because the appearance was so unusually beautiful. We had the same reaction to the sixth Genmaicha, which was also wonderful, but triple the price—without being triple as good as the others. We were a little confused by the hefty price tag for number six. I mean it was a great tea, but the quality was only slightly better or equal to the others.

So after spending the morning tasting our top Genmaicha finalists, the decision was clear! Number five is the winner. We receive our first batch from Japan in about 3 weeks.

Please contact Vallie at (630) 335-5225 to register in advance or visit www.ovariancancersymptomawareness.com for more information. Walk-ins welcome.

1. SOMETIMES SMALLER LEAVES MEAN HIGHER QUALITY: Quite often, a large leaf-size is an indicator of quality. However, it can also mean exactly the opposite! For example, most high quality Japanese teas come from tiny narrow leaves that half the size of their lower-quality counterparts. This is because the higher quality leaves come from the young, fresh buds of the tea plant while the lower quality tea comes from the larger, older leaves lower down on the stem.

2. SOME HERBS HAVE SMALL LEAVES BY NATURE: Also, certain teas must have a smaller leaf-size because they naturally grow this way. For example, Red Tea/Rooibos always has a miniature, needle-like leaf size simply because that is how the plant exists in nature. It is impossible make rooibos needles larger without altering the genetics of the plant, just as you don’t see apples the size of pumpkins. Chamomile also contains tiny grains of pollen and delicate petals that are extremely small in size. This is simply the nature of the plant. Every tea type is different.

3. SOME TEALEAVES ARE BROKEN ON PURPOSE: Some teas come from leaves are purposefully broken. Traditionally, Chai and Breakfast teas are made with a broken leaf grade because it gives the infusion more flavor, briskness, and strength—an important flavor requirement for both categories of tea. In other words, a small broken leaf is sometimes desirable to add strength to the brew, and allow it to stand up to milk, sugar, spices and other added ingredients. Because the leaf is broken, you tend to get little bits in your cup, but this can be easily prevented (more on this later…).

THE LEAF SIZE, OR “GRADE”: The broken leaf size, or grade, used in Chai and Breakfast teas is called BOP (broken orange pekoe). In the world of tea, “grades” ONLY refer to the SIZE and appearance of the leaf—grades say little about the quality. There are excellent quality BOP leaves and extremely low quality BOP leaves. The size of the leaf speaks only to the size of the leaf, whereas the quality depends on its flavor, complexity, aroma and freshness.

APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING: Just as you can have both high and low quality broken leaf grades, you can also have both high and low quality large leaf grades. In fact, you can even find two teas that look so identical you can barely tell them apart at first glance … but the difference in flavor is drastic enough that one can sell for $100+ per pound, and the other less than $5 per pound; one can have an incredible, complex, lingering flavor and aroma, while the other tastes flat or even downright bad.
If only judging a tea’s quality was as simple as looking at its appearance! That would make our job a lot easier! But appearance is not meaningless. A leaf’s appearance can sometimes give you hints to its flavor and certain signs often indicate quality (for example, we often look for golden tips on black tealeaves and a silver downy-white gleam on white tealeaves), but appearances can be deceiving. Some great-looking teas taste terrible and flat, while others live up to their expectations.

LEAF SIZE SHOULD BE SPECIFIC TO THE TYPE OF TEA: Every style of tea requires a specific leaf-size and appearance. Think of it like the breed requirements at a Dog Show (a Golden Retriever by definition, cannot look like a Poodle!). A broken leaf grade is normal and expected in a Chai or Breakfast tea, but the same shape and appearance would be abnormal and adversely affect the flavor of other tea styles. For example, most white, green and oolong teas should have a larger leaf size. In these cases, a large leaf-size (in addition to it’s flavor and aroma) will indicate quality because a large leaf is necessary for the specific tea type. Silver Needle should have long, smooth, needle-like leaves with a silver-white hue; the delicate leaf must be protected during picking, processing and shipping. Oolong Teas vary drastically depending on their specific subcategory. For example, an Amber Dragon/Bai Hao should have large, narrow, twisted brown leaves while Silver Mountain Water/Jade Oolong should have green, tightly-rolled pebble-shaped leaves that expand to reveal the full stem and first few leaves in hot water.

SUMMARY: So, although leaf-size is often an indication of quality and bigger is often better, this isn’t always the case; it really depends on the type of tea you are evaluating and it all comes down to flavor, freshness and aroma. Some leaf-sizes are naturally small and others are broken purposefully to achieve a specific flavor profile. Although leaf-size varies depending on the type of tea, the leaf-size should always be correct for type.

BREWING TIP – HOW TO KEEP SMALL LEAVES OUT OF YOUR CUP: Because leaf-size varies depending on the specific tea, different strainers are recommended for different types of tea. For example, oolongs and many full-leaf green teas, pearl teas and certain large-leaf black teas work well in strainers with large holes. However, red teas, certain herbal teas and broken-leaf black teas should be brewed in a fine-mesh strainer or a strainer with incredibly small holes. The strainer is always meant to match the tea type. Our Brewing Basket (by Finum) is our most versatile infuser and works with all leaf sizes. Fill-your-own tea bags (either Tea Pockets or Finum Tea Filters) are also a great option for keeping small leaf particles out of your cup.

You can view these brewing accessories at: http://www.octaviatea.com/categories/Teaware/.

To learn more about quality, flavor and leaf size, please see our Guide to Tea.

“We make the dough in double batches and freeze it. Then when we are really busy, we know we always have shortbread that can be baked within a half hour. The shop smells divine when these shortbread cookies are baking and they taste even better” explains Cindy.

Would you like to try for yourself?

Cindy is kind enough to share one of her favorite recipes with us:

Blueberry White Tea Shortbread:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp. Octavia Blueberry White Tea leaves
1 tsp. Salt
Pulse together in the bowl of a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.

2 cups of butter, softened
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Blend together with pulverized tea and sugar.

Then add:
1 cup powdered sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
Blend in an electric mixer on medium speed just until the dough is smooth.

Fold in:
½ cup chopped dried blueberries (optional)

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and form into logs with flat/square sides. Wrap the log in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or best if overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Slice cookies about ¼ -inch thick and place the slices on a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 1-inch apart.

Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are set and lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes then use a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

NOTE: Cookies can be frozen for up to three weeks. Unbaked dough can be frozen up to three months.

The Pickwick Society Tearoom is located at 122 W. Kansas Street in Frankfort, IL. Cindy keeps a large selection of Octavia Tea in stock. Please stop by and visit! Their website is www.pickwicktearoom.com.

Diane McKay and Jeffery Blumberg (at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Mass) found evidence that chamomile tea has antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties. They also found chamomile tea can prevent platelets that form blood clots from clumping together, noting the anti-platelet effect was significant. In animal feeding studies, chamomile was shown to possibly lower cholesterol as well as acting as a potent anti-inflammatory.

Based on a human clinical trial, the team also has reported that drinking hibiscus tea lowered blood pressure in people with pre-hypertension or mild hypertension.

The researchers also found that peppermint tea shows significant antimicrobial and antiviral activities, strong antioxidant and antitumor actions, and has potential as an allergy remedy. In the meta analysis published in the British Medical Journal (September, 2008), researchers also found that peppermint oil can ease symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

The scientists conclude that herbal tea’s health benefits are not just folklore. The review of data, especially showing the blood pressure lowering effects of hibiscus tea, supports the benefits of daily herbal tea consumption.