White Tea Review: Snow Buds

We had a lovely cup of Snow Buds white tea today at Temple Coffee & Tea in Sacramento.  Temple mostly sources its own tea, meaning they buy directly from a producer.

Snow Buds tea leaves are from the Fujian province of China and are picked when the leave and buds are new.

We steeped the tea for the recommended 3 minutes and found it a delightful and gentle brew.  Here are a few tasting notes:

Liquor  - a clear golden-yellow

Aroma  - vegetal/grassy 

Astringency - a noticeable but light astringency

Body/Texture - clean with a bit of fullness

Taste - surprisingly, the first tastes did not match the aroma.  The tea was clean and bright with a grounding undertone of nuttiness. After a few minutes, a grassy flavor became more prominent.

Tea and Music: The Kinks

The Kinks

Have a Cuppa Tea

I recently discovered the 1971 song "Have a Cuppa Tea".  It's worth noting since it's rare that a song is all about tea.  The song was written by Ray Davies of the Kinks and recorded on their Muswell Hillbillies album.  In the song, the British-bred band "honors" England's love affair with tea.  It's a rather odd song that credits tea for curing all ailments.

"Take granny's stand-by potion
For any old cough or wheeze.
It's a cure for hepatitis, it's a cure for chronic insomnia,
It's a cure for tonsillitis and for water on the knee."
 
If you're intrigued, you can find postings on youtube of the Kinks performing the song.

Top 5 Tea Producing Countries

     

Which countries produce the most tea?  In 2010, the top 5 tea producing countries were China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey.  China and India combined accounted for 56% of all tea produced by the top 20 countries.  Although China is now in the lead with 1.5 million tons, it wasn't always this way.  India had top honors until 2005, when China took over the title.

Although not shown in the chart, Japan and Argentina have been in a battle for 9th and 10th place.  Japan had the higher spot in 2009 but Argentina increased their production by 24% in 2010 and moved into 9th place over Japan.

I compiled these interesting facts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. If you're a data wonk like me, you might want to turn your analytical gaze to the FAO website at  http://faostat.fao.org

Topiary Teapot

I just love this topiary teapot.  I've seen photos of other topiary teapots, but this one isn't just a garden-grown teapot, it's an entire tea set!  For true tea lovers.

The topiary set is located at the Priory Mill in the town of Lechlade, UK. Lechlade is in the Cotswold area on the River Thames.

The photo was taken by Collin West. You can see other photos of his at panoramio.com.  This photo is copyrighted, but Collin graciously gave me permission to use it in my blog.  It's a lovely photo indeed and many thanks to Collin.

I can only fantasize about what kind of delicious and aromatic tea fills the big pot.

Tea and Art: Claude Monet

Tea is so universally loved that it appears in many artistic forms in the world.  Here is a painting by the French artist Claude Monet (1840-1926).  This painting is called "The Tea Service" and was completed in 1872.  It is oil on canvas and the original is in a private collection in Dallas, Texas.

Monet was a leader in the Impressionism art movement.  He mostly painted landscapes; "The Tea Service" is a rare still life.

The painting includes elements from several cultures, Japanese teacups, Chinese bowl and Brazilian plant on a French tablecloth.

To me, the blending of these cultures in the painting celebrates the worldwide enjoyment and appreciation of tea.