As UN Turns 75, Celebrate With World’s Teas
Delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco 75 years ago this Saturday to craft the United Nations Charter. What a remarkable international achievement. It thrilled us to learn the body’s birthplace was just 1,200 miles away from the Front Range.
Just a year earlier, representatives from China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Dumbarton Oaks, a beautiful research center and series of gardens in Washington, DC, to draft the proposals that became the United Nations’ charter.
We applaud successful and powerful international collaboration like this. The more, the better. Mutual cooperation always beats conflict.
The birthday reminded us of tea’s astounding international relevance. Every country on earth includes tea drinkers. For many countries across Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and the United Kingdom, tea is sipped all day. In fact, it is the most popular beverage in the world after water.
Tea Around the World
- Turkey enjoys the largest per capita tea consumption in the world, which is 7 pounds a person.
- Following Turkey’s per capita consumption is Afghanistan (5.3 pounds), Libya (4.8 pounds), the United Kingdom (3.83 pounds) and Morocco (3.81 pounds).
- Per capita consumption in China, the biggest exporter of tea, is 2.65 pounds.
- Russia imports the most tea in the world. Per capita consumption in the country is 1.95 pounds.
- Thirty-five countries grow tea commercially.
- The top three tea producers are China, India and Kenya.
We import traditional Camellia sinensis tea from most of the major tea producing regions of the world. In addition, we source high-quality non-traditional teas. such as yerba mate and rooibos, from South America and South Africa. Meanwhile, herbal teas are grown and consumed nearly everywhere— we carry dozens. We’re guessing the arctic regions are the only ones that don’t produce herbal teas. But we could be wrong. Some teas are made out of moss.
Let’s visit some of our favorite teas from around the world.
International Teas: CHINA
The world’s leading producer of tea nurtures more than 6,000 different green teas alone.
An Ji White
Despite the name, this unique tea is a green tea that is harvested in early spring and sports silvery-white leaves. This beautiful tea is grown on Mt. Tian Mu in ZheJiang Province, which borders the South China Sea in the country’s far east. An Ji White contains a high level of theanine, a calming amino acid. The theanine turns the tea lightly sweet, and mitigates bitterness.
Tai Ping Hou Kui
The name means “Monkey King Tea” in Chinese, and comes from the foot of Huangshan mountain in the former Taiping Prefecture in Anhui Province, which is in east-central China.
Tai Ping Hou Kui won the “King of Tea” award at the China Tea Exhibition in 2004, as well as a gold medal in the 1915 World Expo. The green tea, one of the country’s most famous teas, is known for its “two knives and one pole” appearance: a pair of straight leaves surrounding a long bud with white hairs. The leaves come from Shi Da Cha, a long-leafed tea variety only found in Anhui Province.
Its beauty carries through from appearance to flavor: delightfully complex with lingering sweetness and subtle melon notes.
Er Mei Snow Bud
A famous Buddhist site in Sichuan Province, Mt. Er Mei, serves as the home for this outstanding green tea.
Er Mei Snow Bud won the 2006 Chinese National Tea expo, and is known for its buttery mouth feel and a fragrance that conjures forest mist, which is interesting: the tea grows in misty conditions at high elevations. Maybe the atmospheric mist somehow infuses the leaves with its flavor? The tender, bright leaves brew clear and crisp, with a subtle, lingering sweetness.
International Teas: JAPAN
Green Kuki Cha + Roasted Kuki Cha
Both of these unique Japanese teas contain stems as well as leaves, which diminishes the tea’s caffeine content. In addition, as Japan has limited natural resources (it is a chain of small, densely populated islands) we appreciate how tea manufacturers in the country utilize all parts of the plant, rather than just the leaves.
Tea artisans pick Green Kuki Cha leaves in early spring and deep-steam them, a common practice in Japan. The steaming process creates the grassy flavors for which Japanese tea is famous. The green version of Kuki Cha offers a slightly sweet finish.
To make Roasted Kuki Cha, tea craftspeople in Japan roast rather than steam the leaves and stems. The roasted stems add extra flavor to the brew.
We adore these teas at any time. Due to the lower percentage of caffeine, we find them especially appealing in the early evening and after dinner.
International Teas: INDIA
All traditional Chinese teas come from the Camellia sinensis plant, which people in China discovered, according to Chinese legend, in 2737 B.C.E. That’s when a tea leaf allegedly fell from a wild tea tree into a pot of boiling water. The Emperor Shen Nong sipped the brew and loved it (of course!).
People in India first encountered tea, again according to legend, in 520. Prince Bodhi-Dharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, traveled from China to India in that year, and brought tea with him.
But tea didn’t become a big part of Indian life and culture until much later, after the British discovered native tea plants in India’s mountainous Assam region. The plants, however, had large leaves. Camellia sinensis leaves are small. Those native plants are a sub-species of traditional tea: Camellia sinensis v. assamica.
Assam Superior
Teas from Assam are considered among the finest black teas in the world. Our Assam Superior comes from the famous Meleng Estate in India’s lush, tropical north-eastern region along the Brahmaputra River.
The tea sports generous golden tips and brews a bright, amber liquor with a rich, smooth and sophisticated flavor and fruity, chocolatey aromas. Like all classic Assams it offers a wealth of maltiness, but Assam Superior is a touch sweeter than pedestrian Assam, and has more depth.
Bombay Chai
No discussion of Indian tea is complete with reference to chai. The word chai is a variation on cha, which means tea in both Chinese and Japanese.
We carry 11 chais. This one is inspired by Bombay street markets, where chai is poured and sipped in abundance. Rising from the foundation of black tea are spice combinations. Ours contains ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and anise seed.
International Teas: SRI LANKA
Tea is big business in Sri Lanka. In 2013 it contributed more than $1.5 billion to the economy, and it employs directly or indirectly more than 1 million people. It’s the fourth-largest tea-producing country in the world today. Brit James Taylor brought tea agriculture to the country in 1867. Ever since, it had grown in size.
Teas from the country are often referred to as “Ceylon,” which is the former name for the country.
Organic Ceylon
We carry a superlative Ceylon, a black tea that brews a smooth, sweet cup with a distinct Ceylon flavor and aroma — malty, with a citrus scent. We find our Organic Ceylon especially refreshing in the morning and afternoon.
International Teas: SOUTH AFRICA
With its mountains, humidity and temperate climate, South Africa grows both Camellia sinensis and Camellia sinensis c. assamica in Limpopo, Kwazulu-Natal, Lusikisiki and Mpumalanga.
But the country is much better known for rooibos tea, which comes from the leaves and stems of a shrub that grows in the sandy, well-drained soil of the country’s Cederberg Mountains. The region is renowned for its spectacular biodiversity, especially a place known as Fynbos Biome, which has a Mediterranean-style climate and landscape.
Rooibos does not contain caffeine. But it is high in electrolytes, which are minerals that provide hydration and help with things like nerve signaling and pH balance.
We carry 10 styles of rooibos, from traditional green to chai to “creamsicle.”
Vanilla Rooibos & Cinnamon Rooibos
Both of these rooibos teas are based on the rooibos plant, the leaves and stems of which are oxidized, turning them red and eliminating most of the grassy flavor that comes with green rooibos (which we sell, and is delicious).
As autumn ripens and winter approaches (the forecast calls for a high of 21 degrees and low of 9 on Sunday and Monday morning — that’s winter!) we turn to baking spice flavors, like cinnamon and vanilla.
A cup of our vanilla rooibos or our cinnamon rooibos will brighten anybody’s mood, and enliven their taste buds. Pro tip: Combine the two teas for a vanilla-cinnamon taste sensation.
International Teas: SOUTH AMERICA
As with South Africa, the continent of South America supports a multitude of climates, from tropical rainforest to desert to high-alpine tundra. Farmers in many places within the range of climates and terrains grow traditional Camellia sinensis tea.
But one hot-brewed beverage reigns supreme across parts of the continent: yerba mate. The traditional South American drink is called “Drink of the Gods” by indigenous people.
Yerba is a species of holly tree, Ilex Paraguariensis, that grows in rainforests near the Atlantic Ocean coast, mostly in Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. As with rooibos, farmers harvest leaves and stems which then are brewed into tea. We appreciate the deep earthy flavor, as well as the caffeine that naturally occurs in the plant.
Organic Yerba Mate + Roasted Organic Yerba Mate
Our standard, classic yerba mate, which is organic, is green and finely chopped. While the herb grows in three countries, we source all of our Organic Yerba Mate from Brazil and import yerba with a minimum of stems. It brews a deep straw color, with bright, sweet and earthy aftertastes.
Our Roasted Organic Yerba Mate is both finely chopped and roasted, imparting a brown color to the brew and a sweet, toasted flavor. The roasting process diminishes the strong earthy flavors in traditional yerba mate.
International Teas: MEXICO
Our North American and beloved neighbor to the south does not produce Camellia sinensis, at least not commercially. But Mexico is famous for its wide range of herbal teas. The people of Mexico drink quite a lot of herbal tea, far more than people from the United States.
Herb combinations number in the hundreds. We are lucky at Ku Cha to count RJ Rivera, a staff member with roots in Mexico, to help guide us through the world of Mexican herbal teas, including a blend that he created, based on a family recipe.
Colibri tea
In RJ’s words, slightly edited:
“Colibri tea is my interpretation of the classic Agua de Jamaica. What is the classic? What my dad taught me and his dad taught him is a combination of hibiscus and cinnamon sticks. But then I changed it. My recipe adds more complexity to the spices, with cinnamon, peppermint and ginger. Cinnamon is spicy-woody and sweet. Peppermint’s menthol quality is cooling and vegetal. Ginger is bolder and has a wonderful kick. Orange peel is bitter and sweet and brightens any tea.
“Agua de Jamaica is a comfort for any Latin. It complements a long line of different aguas (drinks), including pineapple, hibiscus and horchata. I have vivid memories of large, boiling pots of Agua de Jamaica engulfing the house in a floral, tart aroma. We then would wait for that deep boiling noise to stop so we could strain the tea to reveal the deep wine-like color. I was often too impatient to wait for the final steps, and would just drink it straight up, without added water and sugar. I’d suffer through the tartness.
“My recipe is how I show appreciation to my culture, my time in Mexico and my dad. It was source of comfort in Alaska when he moved on his own when he was a young man. And it’s mine when I remember my family. I wanted to share it with everybody, especially to give comfort to those Latinos away from Mexico. Now they can find a bit of home even in a Chinese tea shop in the middle of Colorado.”
