What is your favorite tea?

suxiaoya, Have you tried Chinese black tea? Do you have a pot for brewing loose tea? We are drinking black tea at breakfast during our stay in China this summer. My wife is the expert in this.

I think hankfdh wrote a blog about tea drinking that I came across once. Is that right?

svik, Indeed I am trying to sample one Chinese tea a week ordering them from Taobao. With more than 100+ types of Chinese tea, I am going to be busy for the next two years. If you are interested the link is http://thenetworksense.com/.

hankfdh, that sounds great. I will read what you've tried so far.

svik, yes, I have a proper tea pot at home, so perhaps I'll get hold of some. Would be interesting as a comparison to my usual brew!

Where are you staying in China this summer, out of interest? I hope it's not raining where you are (it's horrible in Shanghai at the moment)!

We are in Hangzhou, but sadly, I realize that we have only a couple weeks left. It rained miserably all day yesterday, but the sun just popped out after lunch.

I think a lot of tea companies here make black tea as a side light to their better known green teas. They tend to be delicate, flavorful when fresh, so by all means try some!

I believe Hangzhou is especially famous for its 龙井茶 lóngjǐngchá, is it not? Have you tried it?

I'm not crazy about it myself, but I have yet to graduate to full-fledged appreciation of green teas.

svik - I hope you enjoy your last couple of weeks! I am so fond of Hangzhou; its mountain trails serve as the perfect retreat from Shanghai.

Regarding the tea in Hangzhou, I'm not a huge fan of 龙井茶 but it is a lot of fun to watch the ladies picking the tea leaves in the plantations there!

It is the famous tea of Hangzhou. I hope you can find a knowledgeable person to make some good green tea for you. The proper glass, and temperature of water, and of course, some really good tea. Green tea doesn't last very long, unless it is kept air tight.

On your other comment you mentioned 人参乌龙茶. Is the ginseng powdered or in pieces? I would think that would make the tea bitter? Well the wulong can be rather strongly aromatic also.

Those trails are great. You can come around a corner and there is a terraced field of tea. We have one more peak to conquer, weather permitting. Last year was more fun, we were here in the spring. I have a lot of tea photos, I need to get some organized to post.

Re: 人参乌龙茶, I assume the leaves are infused with the ginseng. When dry, the tea looks like small, dark army green pellets. As the tea steeps, the pellets unfold and the shape of the tea leaves is distinguishable. No bits and pieces of ginseng floating around, though.

Perhaps the process is similar to jasmine tea...my understanding is that the tea leaves are left on a table alongside a pile of jasmine blossoms. The two do not touch, but the aroma is so pungent that the tea leaves absorb it. I think the jasmine blossoms get "changed out" a couple times.

That's interesting about the ginseng. I have never seen that one. I guess there is no limit to the different kinds of tea. I did get a very nice present of jasmine tea in China once, but surprisingly to me, it was so strong that I didn't enjoy it. I found a friend to give it to, and she liked it. You might be right, because I don't remember seeing any flowers.