Blessed Ramadan

Arab dates and a Taiwanese Oriental Beauty tea pairing

What I look forward to during the fasting month is pairing dates with red (aka black in Middle Eastern countries) tea. The sweetness in these dates is balanced with red tea that intensifies subtle scents and aromas in dates at the same time. Try this at home!

And to my Muslim friends and readers, may the spirit of this holy month enlighten you.

Tea fit for a king - Yunnan Dian Hong

Spring time is here but the temperature took a dip today. I decided to warm up with a delicious cup of red tea from Yunnan, China. Even as this is a largely oxidised and roasted tea, the leaves' aroma smells clean and fresh, slightly reminiscent of green teas. The dried leaves are like a work of art, with specks of gold amidst other greyish slender leaves.

I prepared this tea in a zhuni pot that is extremely well made with bits of high conductivity materials to keep the heat from the boiling water locked in the pot. This certainly helps to brew better tasting teas. The infusion is a mouth-watering mandarin orange-red and is a balanced cup with all elements of spring: floral, honey and woody notes all present themselves very elegantly in this tea. The astringency and slight hint of bitterness quickly fade into a long-lasting, sweet and smooth aftertaste.

Appreciating fine teas is about appealing to our five senses. The tea ware, aroma, and your environment all have their respective roles to play in enhancing every tea tasting experience.