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Sunday,
February 11, 2001 |
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Article |
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It’s time for some
Chinese tea
By Veryam Kaur Trewn
CHINESE
tea is popular the world over and is available in several flavours. It
can also be chilled to make iced tea. For this just add a slice of
lemon and squeeze it gently. It is essential that efforts are made to
make perfect Chinese tea. This tea is always taken weak, without milk
or sugar. For this, 250ml of boiling water is used for one teaspoon of
tea. Chinese tea can be made in a teapot or even straight in a teacup.
In case a teapot is being used, warm the teapot with boiling water
first. Now add the required quantity of tea leaves and at once pour in
the boiling water in measured quantity. The water should be at full
boil and leaves should be stirred as water is added. Then cover the
teapot and leave it for few minutes before use. In case we like to
have very weak tea we should add more boiling water, after the first
cup of tea is used. More boiling water can be poured on to the same
tea leaves in the cup. It is considered that the second cup is usually
better of the two. It is lighter and has a more delicious flavour.
Chinese tea is of
different types and can be classified into the following kinds —
black, green, scented, oolong and white. Each kind comprises many
varieties with their own special characteristics which are further
sorted and graded, according to quality.
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Black tea is fermented tea. That undergoes
a chemical change during manufacture. First the green turns red, and
after drying it becomes black and thus derives its name. The Keemun
black tea and the Yunnan black tea are the two main varieties of black
tea. The third variety is the lapsang souchong tea, which, is a special
type of black tea. It is the most popular of all Chinese tea in China
and also suits European tastes.