To read Part 1, please click here.

Jan 17: What is the meaning of Mastery? It is the full command or understanding of a subject, outstanding skill; expertise. Regardless of what stage you are in life, practice, practice, practice and be dedicated to excellence. I believe that repetition and passion for your subject will create mastery. I’m fortunate to choose tea as my subject so practice means sampling and tasting teas multiple times.  Yay…lets get started!

Today we’re going to taste black teas!

I absolutely love black tea not only because of it’s robust flavor and source of sustaining energy, but also because it is packed with health benefits.  The moderate amount of caffeine in black tea promotes blood flow in the brain without overstimulating the heart. Black tea has also been shown to sharpen mental focus and concentration and the trace element fluoride inhibits tooth decay.

We started our tasting today with Darjeeling, a famous Indian black tea from the Darjeeling region in West Bengal, India. Darjeeling is known as the “champagne” of teas. Connoisseurs will assert that without Darjeeling, Tea would be like Wine without the prestige of Champagne. This Darjeeling had a copper-colored liquor with a round, floral aroma.  There was a little bit of astringency and a musky spiciness that is referred to as “muscatel.”  I really enjoyed the sweet cooling aftertaste too. Find out more about Darjeeling in another upcoming blog.

Next we’re on to another popular black tea - assam.  “Assam” generally denotes the distinctive black teas from the Assam region of India. Historically, Assam is the second commercial tea production region after southern China. It is one of my favorite morning teas because of the its rich body, briskness, malty flavor, and strong character.  Wake Your Assam Up produces a beautiful red liquor that has the perfect balance of flavor and strength. Did you know that blends containing Assam are often sold as “breakfast” teas? English Breakfast Tea, Irish Breakfast Tea, and Scottish Breakfast Tea are common generic names. 

Now we’ve moved on to Golden Monkey, Keemun, Ceylon, Yunnan and Lapsang Souchong black teas. These were all great teas but I loved Yunnan the most. This Yunnan had long, golden colored leaves which produced a smooth cup with a rich aroma and a superb taste. It is one of my favorite teas because it has so much depth and a slight peppery flavor. Now if you’re looking for a change and want to try something new and completely different, Lapsang Souchong would be your tea. This is a very unique tea because smoke has been introduced to the tealeaf during the drying process….but it is an aquired taste. There has only been two times when I truly enjoyed Lapsan Souchong; once pairing it with whisky cheese and second using it to steam beef tenderloins. Lapsang Souchong was a perfect complement to the cheese and really created a nice, smokey flavor for the beef.

At the end of the black tea training, Tea Master Chas informed me that part of my certification was to make my own chai blend! Chai actually means tea in many cultures around the world, specifically India. Chai from India is generally made up of:

• rich black tea
• heavy milk
• a combination of various spices (cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper)
• a sweetener

I love chais, especially in the winter, because of its warming, soothing effect. However, chai is great in the summer because it also has a cooling effect. It does this by raising core body temperature above ambient air temperature. I know it sounds strange, but I guess that is why this hot drink is enjoyed in one of the warmest countries in the world, India. Living in cold wintery MI, I always love a hot cup of Masala Chai. While I personally drink tea without sugar, I think chai must have sweetness or the spices seem to lose their full robustness.  As you all know, my sweetener of choice is stevia. I actually created a chai called  ONO Aphrodisiac Chai. I named it Aphrodisiac Chai because of the aphrodisiac spices it contains such as jasmine, ginger, rose petals, coriander, cardamom, and cloves. I can’t wait to start on another chai blend! More about my new blend coming soon.

I learned something pretty cool today. A plucking table in the tea world is the flat top of the hedge of tea plants. It is the level at which the tea “pluckers” operate.

Plucking is also a procedure of considerable skill. Tea pluckers learn to recognise the exact moment at which the flush should be removed, thus ensuring that the most tender leaves are plucked to produce the finest teas. Look at this cool image below.

Tea Master Chas gave me my packet of teas and my huge manual to bring home. Now it’s time to head back to cold Michigan and continue my training and tastings.  More to come soon!