Chinese Tea Showcase

Salina Hainzl
Aug 21, 2013
3 min read

So you want to add a bit of Ching in your range? Sure, come to our parlour, let’s talk “Yum Cha” (actual translation is Drink Tea).

Chinese is the grand-daddy of tea. It all started in China.

China is the producer of the largest range of tea – you can find pretty much everything there, from black tea to green tea to yes, every type.

Our picks below are sorted by the overall tea type popularity:

GREEN TEA – this is by far the most drunk tea in China. There are plenty of varieties and we are sticking to the very well known ones here.

Long Jing Xi Hu Long Jing Xi Hu (Dragon well) has an olivy and smooth taste. One of the most known Chinese green tea.
Jasmine Green Tea If you like the Jasmine green tea from Chinese restaurants this is even better! Great for digestion.

OOLONG TEA – Oolong is also very popular amongst Chinese tea drinkers. A good Oolong (Wulong) is addictive!

Tie Guan Yin Light Tie Guan Yin “Iron Buddha” or “Monkey Picked” is known for its fragrance and mesmerising flavour.
Wuyi Da Hong Pao Wuyi oolong is reputed to help digestion. Da Hong Pao is known to be a well made Wuyi rock tea.
Golden Dan Chong Golden Dan Chong has a soft and gentle yet flavoursome taste. A match made in heaven!
Rose Oolong Rose Oolong is one of the popular tea in Asia for its reputed properties of beautifying the skin and body shape!
Gin Shan Creme Gin Shan Creme (White Dragon) is a large leaf oolong tea. Light in taste with a welcoming milky fragrance.

BLACK TEA – Firstly, be careful dealing with the name “black tea”. In Chinese tea categorisation, black tea actually refers to another tea type, “Puerh”. Here black tea we are referring to is known as “red tea” in Chinese categorisation – as in English Breakfast tea that dominates the western tea drinking world.

Lapsang Souchong The classic smoky tea of China well known all around the world. Not for the faint-hearted!
Yunnan Red Yunnan Red is a Chinese black tea that contains a bold flavour with a hint of smokiness.

PU-ERH – In Chinese tea categorisation, black tea actually refers to another tea type, “Puerh”. Pu-erh is unique because it is the only tea that storing for a long time is beneficial to the tea both from health and gastronomic values. Puerh is splitted into Raw and Ripe categories. Raw Puerh is naturally fermented and tends to be sharper on the palate for the first 5 years of its life. Ripe is good to drink from 2 years old onwards, and doesn’t have much value to store ripe ones as they don’t mature much over the years.

Pu-erh Ripe Pu-erh yields a strong colour brew but not bitter at all. Good for digestion and gentle to the stomach.
Golden Water Raw Cake Unlike most raw Pu-erh cake under 5 years old, the Golden Water is amazing to drink, with a taste that is yin like its green tea origin and yang like a well aged Pu-erh.
Xia Guan Iron Cake Xia Guan Puerh is one of the well known Puerh cake manufacturers. Sought after by collectors. Raw, about 12 years old. usually sold broken up disc pieces for easy brewing.

WHITE TEA – Known as the most natural tea type, White tea is reputed to supercede all other tea types when it comes to nutritional value. White tea is typically very light in taste.

Jasmine Dragon Pearls Enjoy the unique goodness of white tea from these beautiful hand-rolled Jasmine scented tea beads.
Organic Pai Mu Tan Organic Pai Mu Tan, also known as White Peony, is a good entry point to trying out White Tea.
Silver Needle Silver Needle has a very light velvety brew. Beneficial to detox and overall wellbeing.

HERBS & FRUIT – When it comes to herbs, Chinese probably has a herb to treat any and every ailment! We pluck out a few most popular ones here.

Wolfberry Wolfberry (Goji Berry) has been long touted as one of nature’s most nutrient-rich natural food.
Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum is a popular Chinese herbal drink to sooth irritated eyes and skin. Very mellow and slight sweet taste.
Osmanthus Osmanthus has been used by Chinese for cleansing and nourishing liver and kidney. A great throat tonic.

This is not an exhaustive list but certain a good start if you plan to add more Chinese tea to your offer!

(all links here are going to our new website – testing version. It will go live by Sept 13)