Few people know that tea and wine are very similar drinks. According to experts, they are the only drinks that educate the palate and that is why a professional sommelier must also know about teas.
Both products have characteristics defined by the terroir in which they grow; this term of French origin comes from the Latin terratorium and designates a well-defined and homogeneous geographical area (not necessarily corresponding to any political division) that presents some striking peculiarity in its agricultural production.
The terroir determines the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a given place will give to the final product. At the same time, it must have a cultural dimension that directly reflects the human society that exploits it.
For example, Long Jing green tea is produced only in the village surrounding West Lake or “Hangzhou” in Zhejiang province, since only tea grown there can be called that. Although the registration of Denominations of Origin is not yet common in China, it is a fact that no one would dare to sell a tea (even a similar one) with that name if it was not grown and manufactured in that region.
Just like wine, teas have both annual (2013, 2014, etc.) and seasonal (spring, summer or autumn) harvests, and experts recognise which are the best for each type of tea. For example, in the case of Darjeeling (Indian tea), the first harvest of the year (first flush) is highly appreciated and in demand in some countries, which makes it reach very high prices, something similar to what happens with Beaujolais Noveau, and in both cases they are not necessarily the best harvests of both products.
Thus, as with wines, we can find low-quality teas at a low price and others of excellent quality with the usual increase in price per kg. In the tea markets of China we can find Long Jing from 20 USD per kg up to 400 USD, and both are from the same region.
We can find teas from 5 USD per kg to 10,000 USD per kg! And although for us as Westerners it seems inconceivable to pay that fortune for a tea, there are those who pay for an exceptional tea at that price. Just like with wines, there are bottles of red wine that cost 30 pesos and others that cost 500,000 pesos.
Both drinks have special utensils or containers for expert tasting and in them we can analyze their color, aroma, texture and of course their flavor, finding such exotic flavors as leather, tobacco, ginger, epazote, mushroom, wood, meat, dairy, etc.
I invite you to stop and appreciate its color, aroma and, above all, flavor when you are going to drink pure tea (without any added flavor), which is what will educate your palate, and of course, whole and loose leaf tea. Try to identify the elements that combine to achieve a certain flavor and, above all, enjoy it alone or in company!
Olivia Medina
Tea Master, EURO TEA
