TEA AND COFFEE

54 Tea & Coffee Trade Journal | www.teaandcoffee.net referring to "red teas" means talking about fully oxidized teas from China, while referring to "black teas" means talking about fully oxidized teas from other producing countries. These new tailor-made red teas rapidly acquired great fame in the West. According to Dr. Lu Yi, a tea scientist with Hangzhou University, the first of that new tea family are believed to be the Bohea Teas, from Wuyi Shan, in Fujian, which are also named Lapsang Souchong or Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, depending on the dialect used by the producers. In 1875, a dismissed imperial official took the initiative to try full oxidation of the already locally famous Huang Shan Mao Feng spring leaf, which was then named Qimen Hong Cha, or Qi Hong or Keemun, from the Qimen village in Anhui Province. Hugely successful, this elegant red tea is still today reported to be amongst the favorite cups of the British Royals. Another famous Hong Cha created for Westerners was the Yi Hong from Hubei's Yichang prefecture, which was highly appreciated by the Russian market and traveled there on the land road via Mongolia since the early 19 th century. These refined red terroir teas won gold medals at the World Exhibitions in the 1900s and served as models for creating more such delicious cups. Among them are the Dian Hong teas, the delicious large leaf red teas from Yunnan Province, which were launched in the 1960s, and the Chuan Hong from Sichuan Province, which were launched in the 1980s. Three Red Tea Categories An official Chinese tea classification establishes three catego- ries of red teas. The first, the "Gong Fu Hong Cha," are all of premium quality, all of them origin teas and are mostly from large tea varieties, which explains the added on specification of "Gong Fu," which means that they are made with special skill. Indeed, in order to please the western palate and to allow for a rapidly and brightly infused cup, these fine teas underwent an additional production step at the very end of the manufacturing process and just before the final drying: the leaves went into a wooden framed chest and were softly tapped with large wooden blades, which broke the leaves into even particles, which were then graded. Carried out manually, that calibrating needed skill, hence the name Gong Fu Hong Cha. During the past decades all these teas have also become highly appreciated in the domestic market. However, Chinese consumers prefer the whole leaves, and not the calibrated Gong Fu versions. red & yellow teas Two green tea cups opposite two red tea cups, all from China. Consumers gather in a tea shop for a traditional yellow tea cupping.

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