Greetings!
I am Akira Hojo from the HOJO TEA SHOP. You are receiving this email because you have registered to be on my list when you visited my shop at The Gardens Mall, in Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur.
The moon cake festival is around the corner. I am sure you have selected very nice moon cakes. But please do not forget about the tea. The taste of moon cake stands out when it is compliments with a very nice cup of tea.
In this newsletter, I would like to share some information regarding the quality of tea and mineral. I always take the mineral content as the key point when I source for my lineups of HOJO TEA.
In addition, our shop at The Gardens Malls just received several new items from Japan. There is some information on new arrival.
Go to HOJO Websie Main Page >>
How to judge the quality of tea?
Some people might say that the quality of tea is a subjective matter and it is all up to the level of taste and expectation of an individual who drinks it. That is quite true.
However, from the business point of view, the quality of tea can not be so subjective. I have to understand the criteria of quality that reflects its price.
So-called good tea usually gives a very long lasting taste. We can feel a lingering taste deep in our throat that lasts for a long time.
If the after taste of tea is deep enough, at the same time we can enjoy its flavor as well. Flavor slowly meanders down the throat. The strength of the after taste is in proportion to the quality of tea, while the type of flavor reflects the character of tea.
The flavor and aroma of tea is contributed by the "organic substances", while the depth of taste comes from "mineral".
If tea is rich in mineral, especially the iron content, it gives a very long lasting taste. Tea that is rich in mineral is defined as high quality tea.
Based on my experience, good tea gives a very strong after taste even if it is brewed in a normal glass teapot. The after taste is enhanced by the present of mineral that naturally exists in the tea leaves.
Based on my theory that mineral improves the after taste of tea, I conducted a small test. I selected an iron-based mineral supplement and added a minute trace amount it into tea. The result shows that the after taste of tea is improved. This experiment draws to the conclusion that mineral improves the after taste of tea. However, it is not common to add mineral supplement in ordinary tea drinking occasion. Under the circumstances, we use fine tea equipments that help to release mineral.
Good red clay, purple clay teapot and cast iron kettle improves the "after taste" of tea. It is because of the additional mineral eluted from the material. Therefore, even if tea contains less mineral, your cup of tea will have a richer after taste if tea is prepared using the right clay teapot or using water boiled from the cast iron kettle.
Lately, we developed a new artist from Sado Island.
He is about 60 years old. He is one of the very few artists in Sado Island who specializes in making natural red clay teapots.
By far, HOJO has been introducing the Sado red clay tea pot from the artist named Watanabe Tozo. Although his product is very popular in the market, the price range is slightly higher due to his fame and popularity of his product in the current market. The teapot made by Shimizu Ken is more towards classical design and the price range is slightly lower. His collection pieces have just arrived in Malaysia. Please visit our outlet at The Gardens Mall to view this new collection.
This is a Japanese green tea which is usually served after meals.
Hoji means bake or roast in Japanese language. Hoji Cha is referring to roasted Japanese green tea.
In Japan, the most exclusive Hoji Cha is made of stem that is plucked in spring season and it is carefully roasted. The stem is part of tea tree that conveys minerals up to the tea leaf. Because of the high mineral content in the stem, you will enjoy a nice taste followed by a mild, dry after taste. Thanks to the traditional roasting method, this tea gives out a comfortably sweet and nutty aroma as well.
Customers usually look for cast iron kettle for 2 reasons:
1. Iron improves the taste of tea. It increases the strength of after taste. Experience its effects not only with tea, but also with coffee, instant noodles and even making the soup.
2. Iron contributes a lot for our health. It is said that human body requires 12mg of iron intake per day. A pregnant woman needs even up to 20mg of iron intake per day. The water boiled with cast iron kettle contains more than 5mg of iron.
In addition, the high percentage of iron contributes to the formation of red blood cells. Improving the number of blood cell is excellent for those:
A recent study shows that it also improves and encourages the fertility rate.
In fact, the same theory is applied in maturation of wine.
The quality of wine becomes better when it is matured. But we shall not forget the fact that wine has to be matured while it is stored inside oak barrels. After the long maturation period, wine becomes good quality as it gives a deep after taste.
The criteria of judging the quality of wine are exactly the same as tea. The flavor and after taste are the two most important criteria to determine the quality. Oak trees only grow in cold countries. Due to the four seasons, it accumulates huge amounts of mineral during winter. During storage, the oak slowly releases the mineral into wine, thus provides a stronger and better after taste for the wine.
Now, since the same theory applied in tea and wine, it arouses my curiosity to carry out another experiment. I poured wine into a fine clay equipment and compared its taste. To my surprise, the taste and flavor of wine changed tremendously and the effect is even greater than what I experience with tea. Treating wine with natural red clay ware gives an unimaginable effect. You will be surprised. If you like to experience the effect, please bring along your wine to my shop. We are always happy to show you the demonstration.
From the application of the technique mentioned above in wine maturation, I was wondering if the taste of tea becomes better when I drink from a wooden cup. I tried this experiment: I drank tea from a wooden cup and compare its taste from a glass cup. I noticed that there was a certain change of taste intensity. But somehow, the wooden cup is too troublesome for drinking tea. The smell of wood contaminates tea and moreover the wooden cup gets wet easily.
Many people believe that the longer aging period of the Pu-erh tea makes its quality better. I, however disagree.
The amount of mineral in tea doesn’t change no matter how long it is kept. Regardless of the age of tea, the intensity of after taste remains the same as fresh material.
The longer storage period only changes the organic substance in tea, such as poly phenol or tannin. These substances get oxidized during maturation and give a mellower taste and produce a matured flavor like dried fruit. This is actually not the improvement of quality, but "the change of character". Long storage of Pu-erh changes the character of tea. It is a personal preference of whether you like fresh flavor or matured flavor. Usually elderly people like a more matured taste, while younger people prefer a refreshing flavor.
After all, mineral is very important for all kinds of food and beverage, not only tea. If we are able to obtain supreme quality tea, we do not even need a good clay teapot or cast iron kettle. However consistently drinking high-end tea is not realistic because of its sky-high price and rare supply. That is why we still need to fortify some amount of mineral using a natural clay teapot or cast iron kettle in order to enjoy a nice after taste.
This tea is categorized as White Tea. Sometimes it is also called as Raw Pu-erh Tea because of the processing method is similar to Pu-Erh tea.
It is not produced from the ordinary tea garden. Tea trees are found in a native forest that is located at 2400m in West Yunnan of China.
The harvesting of the tea bud is restricted as the tea trees are grown on national preserved land.? The bud is only harvested once a year during the spring season. The limited number of plucking allows tea trees to have sufficient resting period in order to accumulate minerals and nutrient from the soil. Thus this practice will enable the tree to produce tea leaves that give a very strong after taste.
When brewed in hot water, Wild White Tea Bud gives a fresh floral note, yet the color of liquor is as clear and transparent as water. Due to the limited plucking practice, the supply of tea is very limited. Once the stock is finished, we will have to wait until the next spring season for the new crop.
The age of this tea tree is a few hundred years old; it is even older than the famous Wuyi rock tea.
Because it is extremely old, the bud of the tea does not really look like ordinary tea. Many of our customers who tried this tea commented that this furry looking tea bud looks more like herbs than tea leaves.
Quite a number of customers who visited our shop thought that white tea contains the highest antioxidant among the different categories of tea.
In fact, green tea contains the highest antioxidant. However we need to note that the antioxidant in white tea is partially fermented.
The fermented antioxidant can be absorbed by our body more effectively than ordinary antioxidants. It is said that those fermented antioxidant improves blood circulation and blood flow becomes smooth.
