Whole Leaf Tea Bags: Green Tea Passion

A few weeks ago I went to Orlando, Florida for a conference. In between sessions, there were coffee, tea, and snacks available. The teas offered were whole leaf tea bags from "Mighty Leaf Tea". I happened to snag a few to take home so I could cut open the tea bag and take some pictures of the tea leaves. The packaging was very generic as you can see from the pictures, but the pouch that held the tea leaves was nice. According to the company, the tea pouches are made of polylactic corn that is GMO-free and biodegradable.

I realized I had some Mightly Leaf Tea bags at home afterwards, not sure where I picked them up from but they were a lot nicer in terms of packaging...maybe it was at a spa. Anyway, it's the tea that should be important, right? (But, nice packaging always catches my eye.)

Nicer designed packaging...not sure how old these are though? -- will try next time.

Tonight I decided to try the "Green Tea Passion" tea. Although some consider tea bags to be inferior to loose leaf teas, some tea bags can still produce a nice cup of tea, are convenient, contain the appropriate portion, and are individually packaged/sealed - so tea bags are a staple in my cupboard too. Once you rip it open, the smell of tropical fruits is quite strong. Observations:

• Dry leaves: cut or broken green leaves, with stems, it also appears there may be some dried flowers mixed in but very little

• Liquid colour: yellow


• Liquid aroma: fruity (as it is a blended tea)


• Liquid flavour: mild, fruity, citrus flavours, taste of the green tea is very light - but as it cooled down i could taste more of the green tea however still mild

• Leaves after: looking at the leaves after, the leaves are cut, not all the same size, green in colour

Overall, I think this tea bag is good in terms of flavour. The fruity fragrance of the tea was also good and lingered.

Tea Tidbid: Introduction Class #2

Japanese green teas are distinctively green due to the "moist" heat (i.e. steam) they use when "killing the green" or inactivating polyphenol oxidase to prevent oxidation as compared to Chinese green teas which use "dry" heat.

What's in My Cupboard: Classification Try #1

I have collected many tea leaves over the past 5 years, most from China or Taiwan. Some I have purchased myself and some were gifts. I don't like to admit this, but some of the teas I have I'm not really sure what variety of tea they are, so I thought it would be good to take them out and practice classifying the teas. In class #2, we talked about classifying the teas by tea leaf and by tea liquor.

My first tea I'll attempt to classify is one I purchased in Taipei in Maokong (貓空) which is in the Wenshan area (文山區). This area is well known for it's tea production and quite beautiful at night as there are many tea houses that light up at night. You can also get a good view of Taipei city from this area as this area is situated on the mountainside.

We went one night in December, it was cold and not many people were around. This was the second tea house that we visited but I don't recall the name. Here are some pictures of the place, it might be recognizable to some that have had the opportunity to have tea in this area.


At the tea house, you have to buy a small tin of tea that you steep or prepare the tea yourself. Unfortunately, the tea did not come with a label and I did not write it down at the time. So, I have this tea that I really don't know what it is except that it is from the Maokong region of Taiwan.


Preparation:
Wt = 2 grams
Water = 150ml infused in a small glass teapot
Temperature = unknown except as I didn't have a thermometer and I don't have a water heater that keeps the water at a specified temperature. I let the water cool for a couple of minutes. I really should buy a thermometer.
Steeping time = 3 minutes (this may have been too long)

Observations:

Observations:

• Dry leaves: dark green long twisted leaves with some light edges/stems, unfortunately my picture didn't come out that great
• Liquid colour: yellow, but had a hint of green when I first poured it (with a shorter infusion time, it may be a light yellow)
• Infused leaves: large green leaves with brownish edges on some leaves, single leaves, didn't appear to have any buds
• Aroma of infused leaves: ?? unfortunately I was not able to describe but fragrant
• Aroma of liquid: mild
• Taste of liquid: vegetative but mellow, became nicer as it cooled slightly
  

Verdict: Lightly oxidized oolong tea.
I suspect it may be Baozhong tea (包种茶) as Taiwan and the Maokong area is popular for this tea (and after doing a few searches after my tasting). At first I thought it might be a green tea but the leaves after infusion look like it was slightly oxidized and the leaves are quite big with no buds. Hopefully I'm right...

Tea Introduction Class #1

My first tea class introduced some basic information about tea ("Camellia Sinensis" is the tea plant genus) such as the definition of tea, history, health benefits, cultivation and production. The production of tea is one of the differentiating factors between tea varieties and is quite interesting (which I'll write about at another time) but I think what equally interested me was the brief discussion about L-theanine, an amino acid in tea.

L-theanine or theanine is almost uniquely found in the leaves of the tea plant. It is believed to contribute to the taste of tea and to provide a calming effect. It has also been proposed that theanine in combination with caffeine results in improving cognitive performance and alertness (E.g. See study from Nutr Neurosci.2008 Aug;11(4):193-8.). The research is quite interesting as there are a few other studies and reviews that support this belief. If this research was utilized to promote tea consumption, could tea be the new mid morning, after lunch, or 3pm break beverage of choice to improve performance and efficiency? Maybe good quality tea should be available to workers alongside coffee.

Tea Tidbit: From Introduction Class #1

1 kg of tea makes about 440 cups of tea, while 1 kg of coffee makes 88 cups of coffee; that's about 5x the amount.