May 18th, 2010
Ever wondered how milk came to be added to tea?
It was in 1680 France that Mdme de la Sabliere, at whose house many brilliant members of the court of Louis XIV met, thought of the idea of mixing milk in with her tea.
Later it wasn’t just the type of tea which became a choice but also the type of milk added to the tea, whether from Jersey cows or their more ordinary cousins!
Not all black teas need milk. The more robust black teas, such as Assam, Ceylon, the Breakfast blends (such as our Earl Grey, Earl Grey Supreme, Canadian Breakfast, London Breakfast) and Keemun or Yunnan black teas from China colour beautifully and benefit from milk.
More delicate and floral black teas such as Darjeeling turn a disappointing grey brown, and generally taste better without milk.
Milk is never added to Green or Oolong teas.
Milk or no milk, do visit our website today and give our black teas a try!
Tags: about tea, black tea, breakfast blends, gourmet tea, green tea, milk and tea, online tea, oolong tea, premium tea, tea canada, tea history, tea information, tea knowledge
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
April 8th, 2010
All tea comes from varieties of the plant Camellia Sinensis. In the wild, the plant grows to the size of a tree. There are, in fact many ancient tea trees still thriving in China, active testaments to a long-standing tea culture in the country where this beverage was first drunk. For the convenience of plucking, most tea plants are pruned down to the size of a bush, often giving the tea estate the appearance of a manicured garden.
Tags: about tea, gourmet tea, online tea store, tea canada, tea information, tea knowledge, tea plant
Posted in tea knowledge | 2 Comments »
September 20th, 2009
“Language of the Leaf searches for the best gourmet teas from around
the world to help you create memorable tea experiences”
There is a tea in China that people say may actually be picked by monkeys. Like many Chinese teas, it has an exotic name that sounds like a character right out of a Chinese fable or even a martial arts film. “White Monkey King” tea grows in the misty Tai Mu Mountains of the southern Chinese province of Fujian where it is said there is a Taoist temple high on a mountaintop encircled by tall and wild tea trees.
Tea aficionados today will tell you that White Monkey King is so named from the fine silvery white down on its exquisite leaves, plucked early in the spring or ‘before the rains’.
But perhaps the legend is more compelling.
Taoist monks of ancient China drank tea as an aid to help them focus during meditation.
Silver haired monkeys were native to the area, and the monks trained the monkeys to help pluck the tea leaves from the far reaching branches. They must have been good at it, for this exotic tea came to be known as White Monkey King.
Gourmet teas with names like White Monkey King may seem intimidating and out of reach to the average tea drinker, but they are a surprisingly affordable every day luxury.
Does the taste live up to the story? Fortunately yes. White Monkey King is a green tea that brews to rich pale gold liquor. The taste evokes a gentle sweetness with the hint of sweet nuts and asparagus found in exclusive green teas. This carefully selected tea is one of China’s most exotic exports exclusively available to a handful of tea importers who understand the tastes of discerning tea drinkers. So would you drink a tea picked by monkeys? Follow the wisdom of the monks.
Tags: Fujian province, gourmet tea, green tea, online tea, tea canada, tea tales, white monkey king green tea
Posted in gourmet teas, green tea | 15 Comments »
April 22nd, 2009
“Language of the Leaf searches for the best gourmet teas from around
the world to help you create memorable tea experiences”
Have you ever wondered what tea Chairman Mao offered President Nixon during their famous 1972 meeting in China? Or what sort of tea the Emperors of China drank? One of the intriguing aspects of people in power is – what do they eat and drink when they meet?
What it shame it would be to have been sitting with Chairman Mao in Beijing only to be served an ordinary tea! Happily, we can say that Nixon was served Chairman Mao’s own personal favourite, an exquisite green tea known as Dragonwell.
Best known among China’s green teas, Dragonwell was long revered as ‘tribute tea’ to the Emperors, who would have enjoyed the sweet, gentle chestnut flavour and smooth ‘mouth-feel’ offered by this distinctive tea. It gets its evocative name from the Running Tiger Spring, reputed in folklore to house the spirit of a dragon. It was the seemly order of things for the privileged to drink tea made from the year’s first leaves using the spring’s water.
Chairman Mao was quite partial to Dragon Well. During his two well documented visits to the Liu Village Villa by the West Lake in the early 1960s, he picked Dragon Well tea with his own hands. The leaves of this tea would have then been shaped to its distinctively flat and smooth shape and pan fired by an experienced tea craftsman in a wok, with the liquor imbibed shortly after. In Mao’s own words: ‘Few things compare to Dragon Well tea infused with water from Running Tiger Spring’. We can only imagine Nixon that enjoyed the tribute. Happily, one doesn’t need to be elected President and be invited to Beijing to enjoy this privilege, for fine and fresh Dragonwells are available to tea lovers who know where to get them. The good news is you don’t need Running Tiger Spring water for a great cup of Dragonwell.
Tags: Chairman Mao, Dragon's Well, gourmet tea, green tea, Green tea from China, Longjing, Lung Ching, online tea, President Nixon, tea canada, tribute tea
Posted in gourmet teas, green tea | 22 Comments »
(905) 369 0024
First Visit
Tea World
Subscribe