The Camellia sinensis or tea plant is grown in dozens of countries around the world and is processed into six main types of tea – black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong, yellow, and pu-erh. And even when taking into account the many different manufacturing styles, why does an oolong tea grown in similar condi- tions in China, and let’s say, Taiwan, which is just a hop, skip, and jump away, across the narrow Taiwan Strait, taste totally different? |
Both countries use similar manufacturing methods. In fact, today many Taiwanese residents are actually Chinese immigrants who learned how to make tea in their native China. So, if you were to compare a tieguanyin oolong from China, with a Tai- wanese tieguanyin, you’d expect them to taste pretty much the same, right?Presumably yes, but they don’t and the reason they don’t is because of their terroir. Terroir (pronounced terr-WARH) is a French terre (mean- |
on the final flavor of a given food or beverage. It is now applied to the tea, coffee, and choco- late industries worldwide.As it applies to tea, I like to think of terroir as the “magic of place,” with all the factors coming together to determine tea’s growth and character. While there remains major disagreement all around on what These natural elements determine the final
Climate – aspects of climate include the temp- high-grown region in eastern Sri Lanka, that experiences dry Cachan
Topography (Relief) – the topography of a place is the India’s Darjeeling tea is Once again we look at Sri Lanka and their unique topography low-grown, mid-grown, and high-grown teas, Geology – these are the physical properties of the soil and the |
The Wuyi shan region in China’s northwestern Fujian Province looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale with tall, rocky limestone peaks, winding rivers, and lush vegetation, with steep, winding roads and sheer cliffs. High atop the limestone peaks the tea bushes are heavily shaded by clouds and mist, with only a few hours of sunlight each day.This is home to Wuyi shan “rock teas” or “cliff teas,” so called for the thin layer of soil an- choring the tea bushes. The thin rocky soil contains vital minerals and nutrients that give these teas unique flavor, making them famous for providing vitality and good health to all who drink them. Wuyi shan Japan differs so Kenya, |