Guru of Tea

You know the drill, after a small dry snack (pretzel anyone?), sad looking sandwich or - if you are lucky(?)- a half decent meal if flying longer, the drinks trolley comes trundling down or a hostess appears with two equally ominous silver-grey pots. “Tea or coffee?” they ask. What to do? After many experiences and trials desperate to find some decent (not even good, just not horrible!) black tea I am afraid I have given up and decline. So whey are the airline offerings so bad?

A number of people have asked the Guru about this citing reduced air cabin pressure causing water to boil at lower temperatures and thus the brewing process not being ideal. This is an interesting idea and we are all told that freshly boiled water - a ‘rolling’ or vigorous  boil - is necessary for a good cup of tea - good advise for black tea. The cabin pressure in a commercial airliner is not though low enough to decrease the boiling point of water significantly. The real reason that black tea offerings are so poor on (most) airlines is simple. Cost. Cost is the biggest driver in the industry and catering supplier are no different. Airlines use catering size tea bags - think 1/3 the size of your Airline pillow and you won’t be too far off!  These are not good quality tea and are the root cause of the poor beverage experience. Low quality & low priority from the crew. A recipe for disaster.  But are all airlines the same? In black tea from the ‘urn’, I am afraid that is the Guru’s experience but in individual serving teas some stand head and shoulders above the rest. These are generally the middle Eastern or Far Eastern airlines and the offerings are led in quality by green and oolongs. Cathay Pacific, ANA (All Nippon Air), Dragon Air & Emirates in the Guru’s experience all provide great offerings. China greens, Sencha’s (Japanese green tea) and Oolongs are all available. Not all are on offer in every class of travel but it is my experience that even if you are not travelling in business or first the staff will always pop over if requested and see what they can do. It doesn’t hurt to ask!

Due to the small decrease in cabin pressure at high altitude aromas tend to evaporate more readily and as the cabin air is recycled frequently food and drink can lose some of it’s appeal due to the lack of aroma. Here green and oolong teas brewed in the cup directly in front of you also have the advantage as the tea won’t be several minutes old before getting to you! Also consider Earl Grey as a very aromatic black tea.

Reduced air pressure is also the main reason airlines encourage you to drink plenty of water as the atmosphere can be dehydrating. In their message to ‘reduce tea, coffee and alcohol consumption’ the Guru feels that this advise is not correct - at least for tea. Tea is not dehydrating and is a valuable source of water all all times - including when travelling. Indeed,  a study carried out at a Himalayan base camp (high altitude) on tea vs. water concluded that even under these harsh conditions tea was equally as hydrating as water - and of course with the additional benefits of a moderate amount of caffeine for alertness, flavonoid antioxidants and fluoride amongst other things!!!

So, keep asking the airlines for better tea, fill in the questionnaires demanding more choice and if push comes to shove, take your own tea with you and just ask for a cup of hot water!!!!!

A senior delegation representing trading interests of the Yunnan province (China) Tea & coffee industries asked the Guru to talk to them about the current state of the UK tea and coffee industry and what issues are most important to the UK consumer. Other presenters included delegate leaders, Bruce Ginsberg of Dragon Fly Tea, Cassandre Maury of the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation and Mr Nicholas McLean of MWM (asia). Below is the transcript I used to base my talk on;

Although we see a Starbucks on every corner the UK is predominantly a tea market although tea and coffee happily co-exist both on the high street and in the consumers mind.  125 million kg. of tea is sold on the UK market.  Tea has a share of throat (vs. all beverages) of over 35%, (coffee 16%, mineral water 5%, alcohol ca 16%) although this is a significant decrease vs. 1970’s (50% SOT) the recent decline in tea consumption has stopped. The UK is a black tea market with over 80% of tea drunk with milk (so called white tea!).
Consumption is driven by in-home consumption with over 90% of tea consumed in home and of that over 90% is in the form of tea bags. Coffee has similar statistics with  over 80% consumed in home & is also driven by convenience with soluble or ;’instant’ coffee being the dominant for consumed.
There is significant overlap between tea and coffee both in consumer’s minds and in their consumption patterns with over 40% of consumers drinking both tea and coffee. Where this is most seen is at different consumption occasions during the day – over 50% of breakfast drinks consumed in the UK are tea with 30% overall consumption of tea is drunk at breakfast. Tea seems more associated with meal occasions whereas coffee is a ‘break time’ beverage or  commuter drink - borne out by the fact that 20% of coffee is consumed Out of Home (OOH). The work environment is the next largest segment - only 10% of tea is drunk OOH but of that 10% over 82% is drunk in the office vs. over 74% of OOH coffee. Significant opportunities for both beverages in home and in the office although the retail environment is a great place to recruit drinkers and make them aware of new and interesting beverages!!!

There is growing interest in speciality tea (green, china varietals, herbals). Interest seems based on concerns about health – seeking a (potentially) healthy alternative to their normal consumption, lower caffeine during the evening etc.
Current interests / trends
The overarching benefit of ‘Health’ is a major driver with health & wellness, sustainability, provenance and organic being major drivers for the market. Speciality tea & coffee are a significant opportunity and some would say uniquely positioned to take advantage of these drivers. Black tea has been commoditized in the UK with large retailers & big brands often using tea as a loss leader to recruit customers to their stores. Speciality tea is growing because people see that it has something to offer that is different from their everyday ‘brew’. UK consumers like products with a story to tell. This can be based on history, provenance, sustainability or (caution needed) health……
A growing trend is ‘certification’, showing that the tea has been produced to certain standards to protect the industry workers, farmers and growers, or the environment, or both. Driven by consumer desire products displaying Fairtrade and Rain Forest Alliance logo’s are increasingly common on UK, EU and US supermarket shelves. Certification means that facilities are audited against agreed standards. Having an independent unbiased 3rd party auditing facilities has more meaning to the often skeptical UK consumer than business owners saying ‘trust me’! UK consumers are not only interested in where their products come from but what impact the harvesting, processing and transportation of these products has on our plant hence growing interest in Carbon and water footprints.

Regulatory challenges in getting product into the EU
The EU is an increasingly challenging environment to do business in. A fact that the UK tea council, it’s members and other tea companies take seriously and work hard  with the regulatory authorities on behalf of the global trade members. Pesticides and other chemical contaminants are a major focus and all UK companies have stringent quality control checks and systems where we rely on our partners in the growing regions to support us. But this is a partnership. Companies, and organisations in the UK are working closely with global partners, informing them of regulations and pesticides/herbicides that must be avoided if smooth export to the UK is to be achieved – beneficial to both parties! All the good news about health can be overturned by press & newspaper stories about contamination - as recently found in Poland - mites in Puer tea cakes.
Getting your message to the consumer – what can you say?
Caution must be also be used with labelling & health claims as in China people are aware of the health connections of tea but in the EU rigorous scientific proof must be produced to support any health claim. Please consider asking local tea research institutes to undertake research & publish the results in international scientific journals. International audiences will need help to understand speciality teas such as Puer in their own languages & using current scientific techniques and recognised medical research tools, biomarkers etc on which to base robust health claims.
I look forward to a long relationship between the UK & Yunnan tea & Coffee companies. End

The discussions and presentations concluded the delegation members then organised tastings of Yunnan teas and coffees with a focus on Puer teas which was a unique opportunity to savour many different types of Puer from the youthful (2 years old) to the venerable (20 years old!).Even flavoured Puers are now making an appearance. This is deffinitely a category to watch!

Fermentation, oxidation or aeration - confused? You won’t be!

I have been asked to further describe these three words in relation to the manufacture of black and oolong teas. I am not surprised that there is confusion and this is a mixture of historical (mis)understanding and modern pragmatism in relation to tea.

We must remember that when tea was first introduced to the west no westerner had even been to mainland China and all they knew about tea was what they were told first and second hand. Until the early 1800’s all tea came from China, through outposts of the European empires and via agents working for ‘John Company’ (otherwise known as the ‘Honorable’ East India Company) who controlled the monopoly in trade between the UK and China and the Dutch East India company controlling trade between the (now) EU countries and China.

Tea and coffee were the first non-alcoholic beverages with widespread consumption (apart from the more often than not deadly water) and most knowledge of beverage manufacture and processing came from the beer and wine (initially mead in UK) industries. Here ‘fermentation’ was and still is ;

noun the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other micro-organisms, especially that involved in the making of beers, wines, and spirits (oxford on-line dictionary)

This most typically is used for the breakdown of sugars to ethanol – alcohol.  Surely the same underlying processes must be happening in all beverage processing? People know that tea did not have the same soporific effect on consumers but the term stuck…… For tea this is both wrong (the conversion of fresh leaf components to ‘black tea’ pigments is generally an oligomerisation or polymerisation – building small units up into larger molecular weight species – although CO2 is also given off) and misleading – no ethanol is produced during this process.

So, we have an inaccurate and – especially for religions who are forebode the consumption of alcohol – misleading term – but what are the alternatives?

How about ‘oxidation’ - noun Chemistry - the process of oxidizing or the result of being oxidized. (oxford on-line dictionary)

Well this is quite limiting. Oxidation requires both oxygen (naturally present in air) and entails the loss of electron(s) from a particular chemical species (OIL RIG – Oxidation Is Loss Reduction Is Gain – for you students of chemistry!). Electrons are the reactive species in a molecule and easily add to or depart from molecules during chemical and biochemical reactions Many chemical and biochemical reactions (those involving enzymes) in the tea process are oxidative – e.g. the conversion of catechins to theaflavins and thearubigins utilizing both oxygen and the natural enzyme ‘Polyphenol Oxidase – known to it’s friends by the catchy nick name ‘PPO’. Please note that EGCG can be known to it’s friends as PIG-3 - a rather amusing corruption of it’s official chemical name Epigallocatechin-3-gallate – go figure! However, not all reactions during the conversion of fresh leaf components to ‘black tea’ pigments are oxidations. Lipase peroxidase and glycosidase enzymes are involved amongst other things so what are we left with?

How about aeration? This charge has been led by the ISO (International Standards Organisation) – the Guru sits on the tea committee. What ISO have said is that tea manufacture is best describes by bulk or descriptive processes rather than by specifics e.g. withering (the bulk removal of water), maceration (cutting, chopping, grinding combination etc.). So aeration is the supply of air – by letting the tea sit in a suitable place or by ‘blowing’ air through a bed of tea.

You will find all three terms used in books, international standards, web sites etc. Descriptions of oolongs as ’semi-fermented’ teas, black as ‘fully oxidised’, green as non-fermented, black as ‘fully fermented etc.

Overall there is no need for concern M’am (Dragnet reference – of course) as for most part we are discussing the correct usage of the term rather than the implicit understanding. We all know that green is green and black is black with oolong sitting somewhere in the middle. But we do look to our experts to be accurate so the Guru would support the usage of the word aeration as more accurate than ether fermentation or oxidation – comments on an (e)postcard please!

KR

The Guru

The Las Vegas Tea expo was smaller than last year but in some ways more focused on the business in hand…promoting tea! The executive program was attended by a small number of interested parties and the open educational forum by many more with the focused tastings being especially well attended. Jen Pettigrew’s (http://www.janepettigrew.com/) tasting on rare teas was especially well attended where teas like Rawandan black tea was received well..and you can guarantee not many of the participants would have tasted this fabulous tea! The guru attended the focused oolong tasting by Philip Parda of Zhong Guo Cha (https://secure.worldsourceintl.com) covered many interesting styles from a Fujian-style Tie Guan Yin to a Nepalese mountain oolong – tips included! On the floor of the expo the stands were exceptionally well put together supplier to the North American trade such as Sungarden tea (http://www.sungardentea.com) to small single estate companies such as Glenburn (http://www.glenburnteashop.co.uk/) showing first flush Darjeeling tea and Darjeeling white tea and Satemwa estate (http://www.satemwa.com/) focusing on to novel processed orthodox, oolong as well as more traditional CTC Malawian teas. Also present were a large contingent of companies from Taiwan who were showcasing Taiwanese (Also known by the historical name of Formosan) tea, tea processing and history. Many other tea producing regions were represented either by tea boards or companies – Kenya sadly being absent). Monday was another good show from the floor and the Guru gave his presentation on White tea - what is it and why is it so unique -to a small but interested audience. People must have stayed awake as the pop-quiz on white tea was answered overwhelmingly in a correct fashion. Well done to all who attended! After the presentation there were many questions (which showed people were listening!) and people stayed on after to discuss issues such as the difference between the terms ‘fermentation’, ‘oxidation’ and ‘aeration’ and to discuss tea growing in Hawaii. Both topics I will cover in future blogs and/or articles. Overall a very exciting & informative expo, roll on 2010!

The 2009 World Tea expo started well in Las Vegas on Saturday with an informative day of seminars and an expo floor with something for everyone! Presentations covered world and US markets for tea, basic introductions to areas such as teas carbon footprint, tea shop related topics such as cashless transactions as well as focused tastings. The US market has great interest across the spectrum from lemon flavoured Iced teas to speciality oolongs from Nepal. Th expo floor was just as diverse with good representations from tea companies in China, India, Vietnam, and Malawi all utilising local skills and knowledge to make interesting and unique teas for the consumer - White and oolong teas seem to have fired the imagination of the producers with examples of these types appearing on stands from around the world. I am looking forward to a fascinating Sunday!

Botanical Illustration of Tea

Tea is an evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis. Originally it was thought that green and black tea came from different bushes - Thea viridis being green tea and Thea bohea being black tea. Now we know that this is not the case but there are two different subspecies the so called Assam-type Camellia sinensis assamica (named after the Assam region of Northern India) and the China type - Camellia sinensis sinensis. It is now known that the process after harvesting is what determines the type of tea that is produced. If left to it’s own devices the tea plant will grow to over 10 meters tall but usually the bushes are kept low by frequent pruning to waist height to facilitate harvesting. The plant originated in area where modern day Assam, Mynamar and China meet. The leaves are harvested and processed to manufacture a beverage that has from beginning as a medicinal beverage grown to be the second most consumed beverage in the world second only to water!

Tea pluckers hand harvesting tea in Kenya

Tea in Kenya has historically been harvested by hand. Pluckers place the leaves as they collect them into baskets which when enough has been harvested are taken to the collection stationand then on to the factory. Most other regions that hand harvest tea have similar systems. In recent years many tea companies have investigated more mechanised versions of harvesting utilising shears and mechanical harvesting methods. Many of these systems are in place in tea growing countries such as Argentina and Japan. This is a reflection of a number of issues including labour becoming both more expensive and in shorter supply.