We have excellent things to discuss today.
First, Saturday is the official start of summer. Woo hoo! With this week’s temperatures in the 90s, it felt like the very essence of summer, as if the city had been dragged into a broiler by a surly dragon. But technically it was spring.
We hope the days of roasting are few this season. Either way, we welcome the months of warmth sprawled out before us.
Second, Sunday is Father’s Day. This counts as a bigger deal to Ku Cha than the summer kick-off. Fathers are special people, and on their annual day of celebration they deserve special treatment.
As we cherish our fathers with with extra zest and warmth on Sunday, we might think about introducing them to exciting new things. For example, you guessed it, tea!
Yes, dad has gulped plenty of iced tea over the years. And every once in awhile he dunks a dusty old tea bag from a grocery store in a mug of hot water, and slugs it back.
Trust us here — dad can do better.
Beginning on Sunday, the rest of the week is all about papa. Let’s get him started with a new passion.
Teas for Dad
Organic Golden Monkey
This is a great place to start. Most commercial teas (for example, most of those tea bags picked up in grocery stores) normally are dismal and so bitter they almost demand a sweetener for balance. But Golden Monkey, which comes from China’s northern Fujian Province, is naturally sweet. Many describe the taste as honey-like, and we agree. We also pick up notes of sweet potato and chocolate. It’s round in the mouth, simultaneously delicate and bold, and wonderful. Just like dad!
Shou Mei, aka “Old Man’s Eyebrow.”
Whether your dad is young, somewhere in the middle, or enjoying his retirement with good books and long walks, Shou Mei is a smart choice for the fella.
Shou Mei is a white tea, meaning the oxidation it undergoes is minimal — less than both oolong and black teas. The best whites offer loads of flavor, but the power is more like that from a stiletto rather than a hammer: precise, sharp and potent.
The tea also gets formed into cakes, like pu-erh (more about pu-erh below), and as a result is a wonderful candidate for aging.
But Shou Mei’s fame revolves around its health-giving properties. The tea improves immune systems and skin complexion, and is mildly detoxing.
Keeping dad healthy is important. It’s time to get him sipping Shou Mei in the mornings and throughout the day.
Que She, aka “Sparrow Tongue”
A tea tribute to dad without a rock oolong? Don’t let it happen!
Rock oolongs all come from China’s famous WuYi Mountains, in the northern part of Fujian Province near the Jiangxi Province. The name refers to the teas’ environment: rocky! The highest point in the WuYi’s reaches 7,080 feet — not as high as the tallest peak in Boulder (South Boulder Peak hits 8,549). The mountains appear dramatic, however, as the lowest point in the WuYi range is just 660 feet. Meanwhile, the city of Boulder’s elevation is 5,328.
Tea lovers prize rock oolongs for their distinctive flavors, the result in part of low-yields from bushes that thrive on unusually parsimonious soils. While WuYi counts as a major tea production area in China (in fact, it is believed that both black and oolong teas were first crafted in the region), the best rock oolongs remain somewhat rare, as the mountain bushes do not produce huge amounts of leaves.
Sparrow Tongue rock oolong’s name suggests the especially slender leaves, roughly the shape of sparrow’s tongues (in case you’ve never seen one — neither have we! — it’s narrow). In Chinese, the tea is called Que She.
This tea is soft and fragrant. Sips conjure visions of misty moors, or even April snows.
Dad will fall in love with Que She.
Immortal Tea
The name alone tells you why this is a winning tea for Father’s Day. We want our dads around us forever.
Unlike the other teas in this list, Immortal Tea does not come from Camellia sinensis, the tea bush. But unlike many common herbal teas, it is deeply rooted in Chinese culture.
Immortal tea relies upon two antioxidant and adaptogenic compounds for its power: Jiao Gu Lan and ginseng.
Jiao Gu Lan is a climbing vine from the same family of plants that includes cucumbers and melons. It grows wild in Southern China, and is widely used to fight stress and boost cardiovascular health.
Ginseng is a root found in mountainous regions extending from Russia’s Far East to the Korean Peninsula. Like Jiao Gu Lan, people use ginseng to manage stress and increase energy.
Combined in one tea, the plants provide energy and a sense of calm, without caffeine.
We want our dads to stick around for a long time. Immortal tea can help.
Sui Yue Liu Xiang, aka “The Fragrance of Age”
As it was with rock oolong, no tea-oriented celebration of dad is complete without a ripe pu-erh, the fermented teas sought after by tea aficionados around the world and savored across China.
Tea artisans craft pu-erhs in China’s Yunnan Province, which is in the southern part of the country and bordering Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The key difference between ripe pu-erh and other oxidized teas is fermentation. The process gives all ripe pu-erhs distinctive, earthy flavors that tea lovers crave.
This pu-erh, like most, is formed into cakes and ages wonderfully, especially in Colorado’s dry climate.
Sui Yue Liu Xiang brews strong and smooth, with notes of pipe-tobacco and citrus. It can be re-infused dozens of time in the gong-fu style, an exercise that reveals how the flavors evolve during brewings.
Dragon Well Superior, from the 2020 harvest.
It’s not the fire-breathing creature of myth that inspires us to suggest this for dad (although we think an awful lot of dads think dragons are cool). Instead, in addition to the marvelous flavor, it’s the catechins — antioxidants found in Chinese green teas.
This tea, also called Long Jing, comes from China’s far eastern Zhejiang Province, and is renowned as one of the country’s top 10 green teas. We now stock Dragon Well Superior from the excellent 2020 harvest.
Dragon Well Superior produces a golden brew with a distinct, nutty aroma and a full, round flavor.
It’s got “dad” written all over it.
