TEA AND COFFEE

March 2016 55 Currently there are ten or more quality grades on the market, for Dian Hong, Yi Hong, Qimen, Chuan Hong and others. According to Vivien Messavent, who runs the oldest Chinese Tea House in Paris, France, the Western consumers continue to prefer the calibrated red teas, and it seems that so far they are not prepared to pay the much higher prices for the natural leaf grades. The red whole leaf teas from unspecified origins, manu- factured with the orthodox process of rolling followed by full oxidation, were then graded after drying into the international grades of F.O.P., meaning flowery orange pekoe, O.P. and P., and then B.F.O.P., meaning broken flowery orange pekoe, etc., down to fannings, the tiny particles and dust. The third red tea category refers to probably the oldest and most traditional red teas, the former Bohea Teas from the Wuyi Shan mountain area, which are harvested from small leaf tea bush varieties. Grown in higher altitudes, these teas go through an additional firing step where the leaves are spread on bamboo trays over heavily smoking pine log fires, which impart a strong smoky flavor. This third category is comprised of the Lapsang Souchong or Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong and the Tarry Souchong from Taiwan. As demand for fine red teas grows in China, new teas are developed, and one of the most renowned recent red teas comes precisely from the Wuyi Mountains and was successfully launched just a few years ago: the Jin Jun Mei. It is a fine spring pick with many golden buds, neither smoked nor calibrated, with an intense mouth feel and a shiny cup. With only a small volume available every spring, it fetches high prices in the domestic market, far more than Westerners are prepared to pay for their cup. Yellow Teas: An Extra Step The yellow teas have a much longer history than the red teas, they are the tiniest tea category by volume and they all come from specific tea plant cultivars that grow in well-defined areas. These teas are unique and are not produced anywhere else than China. The most famous and most traditional of the yellow teas is the Jun Shan Yin Zhen, which grows on a small island in the huge Dong Ting Lake in Hunan Province. Chinese tea histo- rians report that the output of around 500 grams during the Song Dynasty was later on increased to 9 kilograms (kg) for the Qin Emperor Qianlong. Today, the acreage has been increased to gardens nearby the lake, and the annual harvest is estimated around 700 kg, which explains how these teas are far too expen- sive for the Western markets. The yellow color of the fine leaves, which is transferred into the cup, derives from a very special time-consuming additional manufacturing step: after the withering and the heating of the leaves for fixing the green, i.e. stopping enzymatic activity, the leaves are not allowed to dry, but instead, still damp, they are wrapped into small parcels covered with cloth. Thus captured in their own dampness, with light shut out by the cloth, the leaves are smothered in their own scents and flavor. Remaining in the parcels for 24 hours starts off some chemical changes, which compare to a light oxidation: the leaves turn yellow and their flavors become more intense. There are several other traditional yellow teas, the finest being the Huang Ya or yellow buds from Mengding Mountain in Sichuan Province, and from Huo Shan in Anhui Province, both famous since the Tang Dynasty. They are only made of buds picked before Qing Ming, the day of Pure Brightness, which is a key date for fine pre-Qing Ming teas, and falls on April 5th. By picking more than just pre-Qing Ming buds, going to up to one bud and one leaf, or even one bud and two leaves, there are slightly more yellow teas produced nowadays. Still the total 2013 output has reached just 2,250 mt, which shows that these fine teas remain extremely precious and rare. China's heritage teas continue to attract the West, but increasing domestic demand is making them less available. Barbara Dufrêne is the former Secretary General of the European Tea Committee and editor of La Nouvelle Presse du Thé. She may be reached at: b-dufrêne@orange.fr. HPT HENRY P. THOMSON, INC. Tea Importers EST. 1912 P.O. Box 440| 126 Main Street| Peapack, NJ 07977 P: 908-532-0500 MEMBER OF: OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE: HenryPThompson4C_TC_April14 3/24/14 2:57 PM Page 1 Four grades of Dian Hong or Yunnan red tea.

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